Page 59 of Queens and Monsters

The capo was listening to every word.

Jasmine pointed her finger at him. “He doesn’t want me to marry you. He wants me to marry Zsa-dan, Zsa-Zen.” She shook her head. “Zhdan Myshkin.” She shook her head. “He scares me.”

Throughout the ride, I kept her upright.

She laid her head against my shoulder. Her voice was softer. “I think I could love you.” Her crystal-blue stare looked up at me. “Do you think you could love me?”

I brought my lips to her forehead. “I know I could.”

Jasmine exhaled. “I’m a stray.”

My forehead furrowed. “What?”

“A stray…you know…stray…unwanted.”

The capo growled, but my attention was on Jasmine. “You need to rest.”

Again, she tipped her chin up to me. “You said you wanted me.”

“I do.”

Sighing, she laid her head back on my shoulder. As the elevator doors opened, I scooped her into my arms. Her head lay back and her eyes were closed.

“Give her to me,” Dario said. “I’ll take her upstairs.”

I hugged her against me. “I’ll take her upstairs. You can come with us.” I looked down at my shirt speckled with vomit. “No sense dirtying your suit.”

She didn’t stir as Cat pulled back the blankets and I laid her on her bed. Looking around, I saw her bedroom as I hadn’t the night I’d snuck in. It was filled with bright colors, perfectly representing Jasmine’s energy.

Since that time, Jasmine was checked over by the outfit’s doctor. He confirmed that vomiting was her best treatment. The amount of drug she ingested would determine the length of time she was unconscious. Her vitals were good. Each time I was allowed to see her, I tried to convince myself she was merely sleeping.

Showered and dressed in Dante’s clothes—Catalina took mine to wash or burn. I wasn’t quite sure which—Dante, Dario, and I worked side by side to learn what we could about what exactly happened at the restaurant. When Dante gained access to the security footage we had our answer.

Before the altercation near the bathroom that Camila described, Zhdan sat at the bar in a stool at Jasmine’s side. Before she noticed his presence, he pulled a capsule from his breast pocket and quickly sprinkled powder into her nearly-finished drink.

“That’s why he followed her to the bathroom,” Dante said. “He thought she’d consumed the roofied drink already.”

“But she hadn’t,” I observed. “If Camila and then Giovanni and Piero hadn’t followed…”

The capo shook his head.

Following the bathroom exchange, Zhdan went back to the bar. He didn’t approach his seat, only gesturing to the man with him to leave.

As we rewatched the video together, at the sight of Zhdan sprinkling the drug in her drink, my blood boiled. “He’s a dead man. Where can I find him?” I asked. Turning to Dario, I added, “He doesn’t deserve Jasmine.”

Dario nodded. “He doesn’t. Do you still want her?”

I couldn’t believe he would ask the question. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” When he didn’t speak, I added, “Yes. I want her. I’ve told her that and I meant it.”

The capo defeatedly looked at Dante. “This will fuck up things with Myshkin.”

“Things are fucked with him as it is.”

“When she wakes,” the capo said, speaking to me, “I want to talk to her. If this is what you both want, it will happen. There won’t be a big wedding—not because Jasmine doesn’t deserve one. A celebration would be a way to flaunt your marriage, to Myshkin. We can get a priest here tonight, and you two will be legally wed before you take her to California.”

“Mí padreandmadre.”

The capo shook his head. “Jorge won’t travel to Missouri with what happened in Culiacán. It wouldn’t be safe. I won’t allow you to take Jasmine unless you’re married.”

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