Page 109 of To Have and To Hold

Jasmine turned to me. “Don’t be.”

“I am. I’ve learned that not everything I was told was true.” I leaned back. “Honestly, I feel like my whole life has been a lie.” I turned to her. “You don’t have to forgive me. You probably shouldn’t. I just wanted to tell you that we were mean.” I inhaled. “I was mean. It was wrong.”

She smiled as Rei came and stood beside her chair.

“Is everything all right out here?” he asked.

Jasmine nodded and looked up at him. The love I saw in both their gazes made me hope that was how Em and I appeared.

“Catching up is all,” she said.

He leaned down and kissed her lips. “Mia is getting the dessert ready. It’s flan.”

“Flan,” I said. “Liliana told me about that.”

Jasmine stood. “It’s the best. I don’t even care if the sugar gives me heartburn.”

“Does sugar give heartburn?”

She laughed. “Everything gives me heartburn.”

Em reached for my hand as we entered the living room. Tugging me toward him, he leaned down and kissed my lips. “I can do that anytime I want,” he whispered.

“Sí, jefe, anytime.”

His eyes sparkled as he curled his lips into a menacing smile.

Chapter

Forty

Isabella

My things from Mia’s house were now in our bedroom. My new home was filled with more people than I could imagine. The capo, Catalina, Ariadna Gia, Dante, and Camila arrived late last night, all of them staying here. If I had known that Dario was down the hall, I would have been a lot more self-conscious about the sounds that came from my lips during the night.

It wasn’t my fault.

According to Em, I was a good girl, and good girls get to come.

I did, over and over.

It’s strange how I’d been trying to prove to everyone that I was an adult and the wordsgood girlfrom my husband caused my insides to twist and my nipples to bead. Em stayed true to his word; everything was oral. I told him I wanted to try part two again after our ceremony.

He proclaimed he was going to exhaust me with orgasms so I would tell him about the wedding dress we bought. He did his part, but I stayed strong. Well, strong until I passed out in his protective arms. When I woke this morning, I found a note telling me that we were to not see one another until the ceremony. He told me that he was going over toel Patr?n’suntil closer to the event.

Imagine my surprise when I entered the kitchen in the morning and was met by none other than my cousin, the capo.

I continued my boundary pushing and walked up to him and his cup of coffee. “Thank you, Dario, for approving our wedding.”

He nodded in the way that said, yes, I am God of all those around me.

I turned to walk away when he spoke. “Isabella, I didn’t send you out here to fail.”

I spun toward him. “Did Mia tell you…?”

“She did. I never thought you would fail. Mia needed help. I was recently reminded that no matter how much we want to clip children’s wings, they deserve to fly.”

“Thank you. My parents?” I asked.

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