Page 13 of Humility

“What if it did?”

“What do you mean?” I narrowed my gaze and stared at my friend.

His eyes flicked to my hand, and I realized I was rubbing Jasmine’s arm to help get her warm.

“I mean, what if it did matter how you felt? Would you tell me then?”

This felt like a Venus flytrap, and I’d already flown into the gaping mouth. “If it mattered, then yes, I would tell you,” I finally admitted.

“Okay, then tell me, do you like her?”

I glanced down at her and couldn’t believe I was going to say this out loud. “Yes, I do.”

“Okay then.”

“What does that mean?”

He shrugged, laid his head back on the chair, and closed his eyes. “Just means that we will figure something out, but we have years before we need to worry about it. By then, we may hate her or hate each other. So, for now, I’m going to sleep.”

Jasmine shivered and drew my attention back to her. I couldn’t picture hating her. Then again, I couldn’t have imagined my parents hating one another, but they divorced, and now my mother was in Switzerland with her new boyfriend.

Although, that was because of my older sister’s death. Trauma should have brought our family closer together. Instead, it drove a wedge between my parents. They were vicious with one another and struck out with words like a wooden stake to the heart.

My father was overprotective, and my mother wanted to let Catia grow up and have a life outside of the Mafia family lifestyle. They fought constantly about it, but in the end, my father won out, and it drove my sister to sneak out in the middle of the night to meet up with her boyfriend.

I remembered my mother’s scream all too clearly. It was like her soul was ripped from her body. I raced downstairs, and the police stood inside while my mother bawled on the ground. My father looked shocked as he stared at the men who had delivered the news.

They called it an unfortunate accident, but after they left, my father called Don Esposito. Of course, I listened in on the conversation of how they found her dead from an overdose. My sister never took drugs, hated them, and was very open about it. She threatened to cut my nuts off if I ever started taking the product the other families sold, and I believed her.

They found her boyfriend trying to flee the country, and I asked to watch the execution. My father beat him until his face was unrecognizable before shooting him between the eyes.

“There are times when a man does what is necessary to protect his family. Remember that, son,” my father said.

That was when the blame game started. My mother blamed my father for being too strict, and my father blamed my mother for being too lenient.

I never wanted to end up like that. I’d rather remain single forever, but if Angelo was serious…it was almost too much to hope.

Chapter Seven

ANGELO

I was so tired. Yawning, I ran my hand through my hair. I’d stayed awake for hours as Jasmine leaned against me or Dario until he insisted on carrying her into the villa. He looked startled the first time she changed positions and laid her head on his shoulder but settled into it, and I smiled at the dumb look on his face. Jasmine touching Dario didn’t bother me, but when I thought about her in that library with Lucas, I wanted to punch a wall or his face.

He claimed that Jasmine had sucked him off, but she was terrible at it, and he kicked her out of the library. I didn’t believe it. Maybe that was stupid, but I just didn’t. It pissed me off that he purposely turned the girls against her like he was trying to ice her out or make her vulnerable. I wasn’t letting Lucas do something fucked up to her. If that meant I had to follow her around, I would, no matter how much she complained. I didn’t trust him.

Annoyed, I marched downstairs to get something to eat. Like the other mornings, the dining hall had a long buffet, and my stomach growled with the smell of fresh food. I went straight for a cappuccino and loaded it with sugar before chugging it down. How did my father drink this black? Looking at the selection, I grabbed some berries and circled the table like a bird of prey before shoving three bite-sized frittatas in my mouth. Then I grabbed a pancake and smothered it with jam. Folding it in half to take with me, I walked outside toward the field where the guys were playing football today.

I really hoped they didn’t invite the girls to play, and I was looking forward to ‘accidentally’ tripping Lucas. Some guys were hanging out on the pitch, and I nodded in their direction but didn’t see Dario.

My ass no sooner found the bench when a muffled scream shot me to my feet. I looked around for the source, searching the surrounding trees. I knew Jasmine’s voice all too well. A group of guys stood outside the locker room, and I had a bad feeling as I jogged over.

“Let go of me,” Jasmine said.

“Open your mouth, now,” Lucas growled.

Like fuck this was happening. I shoved guys to the side as I pushed through the crowd. I expected to see Lucas with his pants down, not Jasmine pinned on the ground as Lucas tried to shove her shoe into her mouth.

She smacked at him and got him hard across the cheek. There was a collective gasp from the room. Lucas raised his hand, and as she closed her eyes and looked away, something inside me snapped.