Page 3 of Queens and Monsters

Aléjandro was the first to respond. “Papá, you knew about Myshkin?”

Jorge nodded. “How did you respond?”

“Capo and Dante are family. The famiglia is our family. I responded that we are one.”

Jorge’s cheeks rose in a smile. “Mi hijo. Estas listo.”

Andrés bristled as Aléjandro replied, “I have more to learn.”

I gestured toward the door. “This discussion stays in this room. The women don’t need to worry.” Everyone nodded. “Now, let’s celebrate before we take care of business.”

Dante remained at my side as the others filtered out of the office. “Thoughts?” he asked.

My forehead furrowed. “Jorge seemed pleased with Aléjandro. You know them better than I do. Thoughts on Reinaldo and Emiliano?”

Dante inhaled. “I thought Jasmine wasn’t an option.”

A scoff escaped my lips as I shook my head. “Who said anything about Jasmine?”

“You’ve been making deals. Jorge wasn’t upset about you involving Myshkin.”

“Jorge wants to defeat Herrera.”

Dante lowered his voice. “He also wants Rei married. He’s pushing Jano to make more decisions. If you ask me, he’s securing his legacy—his family.”

“Jasmine isn’t a Luciano,” I replied.

“I’m not blind and neither are you. Jasmine is beautiful, sweet, and smart. If Rei wants her, after what I did, it could help cement this alliance.”

“This alliance is cemented,” I growled. “We have a war to fight, one we have to win. Besides, Rei isn’t the only one with an interest in Jasmine.” I could hardly make myself force out the words. “Myshkin wants her for his son, Zhdan.”

“Fuck,” Dante murmured. “You can’t send her off to the bratva”

“We need a ceasefire with Myshkin.”

Chapter

One

Jasmine

The night before

My knees tucked beneath my robe, I hugged them to my chest as I leaned back against the window seat wall in my bedroom and stared through the frosty panes. Snow fell steadily from the dark sky. Stories below, the sidewalks were growing less distinguishable, their surfaces and the grass becoming one, hidden beneath a blanket of fresh accumulation. Illumination from the streetlights sparkled on the wet and slick streets like holiday lights.

I held the small kitten, keeping her cuddled against my skin.

Warm within my cocoon, my memories warred between the life I mostly recalled and that which was beyond my recollection. There was something magical,or perhaps tragic, about the first snowfall of the season that surfaced bits and pieces of memories buried deep within the recesses of my mind.

Despite my luxurious surroundings, my fingers and toes ached from phantom cold, a deep-seated chill that couldn’t be warmed. When I was young, I used to wake on the night of the first snow to fears I found impossible to articulate. I would make my way to the bedroom next door to wake my sister, Josie. She’d take me back to my room and climb into bed with me, telling me that we were now warm and safe.

No matter how difficult my questions or how many I could produce, Josie patiently answered each one. She recounted the time after we lost our grandparents when it was the two of us against the world. There were nights spent wrapped in blankets in her old car and mornings spent at a truck stop to shower before school. Rarely did she discuss our mother. I knew the subject wasn’t one Josie liked to remember. We went to live with our grandparents after our mother was convicted of manslaughter in a drug deal gone bad and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Until our grandparents died in a car crash, we had a decent home for the first time in our lives.

As time passed and I grew into adulthood, I became uncertain if the memories I recalled were my own or those given to me through Josie’s stories. The fact that my hands and feet were numb despite the tempered glass and abundant heat was evidence that the past still lurked in my subconscious.

Tipping my forehead to my knees, I let out a sigh.

My mind knew that I’d never again suffer as we hadbefore moving in with Dario Luciano. He’d taken us both under his protective wing. Even today, years after my sister was stolen from us, Dario was here for me, supporting me, and providing for me. His influence couldn’t be understated.

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