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“Down the hall,” my mother answers. “First door on the left.”
“Thank you.” Jasmine rushes to her feet, and I rise with her. She touches my arm gently. “Please, stay. I’m fine. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Are you sure? Will you be able to find the bathroom?”
“It’s unmistakable,” my mother says. “First door on the left in the hallway.”
“Thank you,” Jasmine thanks her again and flashes me a smile before walking out the door.
As soon as she’s out of earshot, I turn to my mother. “I don’t know why I’m disappointed. I should be used to your attitude by now, but I keep expecting more.”
“Oh, please.” Mother waves me off. “What do you expect? That because you brought her over, she’s entitled to my goodwill and politeness? You must be joking.” She leans forward. “She doesn’t belong here. If you know what’s good for her, you will let her go.”
I smile at my mother and shake my head. “You know you seem to think I brought Jasmine here for your approval, but that’s far from the truth.”
“What do you mean?” My mother frowns.
“I didn’t bring her here to be approved by you or Dad.” I glance at my father, who is picking at his plates. “I’m a grown man who is capable of making his own decisions, and I’ve already decided that Jasmine is mine. I brought her here out of courtesy, so you’ll know I didn’t reject Eve for nothing.”
“Eve’s father is a billionaire,” Mother counters heatedly. “Not to mention that her family has deep roots in Sicily, which is an untapped market for us. Imagine being married to Eve, and all this will be yours. Jasmine’s father is a retired teacher! Her mother is a clinic laboratory assistant. People like us don’t form meaningless relationships; we have to think with our heads.”
“I will not sacrifice my happiness for this business, Mom,” I answer solemnly. “I’m sorry, but I won’t. All these things you mentioned can be achieved. We can take our products to Sicily, invest in aggressive marketing, and the rest will fall in place. I don’t have to marry Eve to do that.”
She turns to my father with angry eyes. “David, say something!”
“Alec,” my father starts, and I almost roll my eyes at him. Sometimes, I swear he acts like a puppet whose strings are controlled by my mother. “I need you to consider this carefully. This isn’t just a minor detail; it’s important enough to affect every part of our lives. Do you realize that?”
“I don’t think so, Father. The only reason we want an alliance with the Sicilian Corps is for ease and speed. Everything we will get by working with them is still the same things we will achieve on our own in a few years. There’s no going back to Eve.”
“You’ve known Eve for years!” Mother fires. “How long have you known this girl for? She’s a gold digger. I’m sure of it.”
Laughter trickles out of me when I remember that it’s barely been over twenty-four hours since Jasmine learned who I really am. She definitely isn’t a gold digger.
“Mom, that’s enough. I don’t care about anything you have to say concerning her.”
“She is not welcome here, and I will remind her of that with every chance I get.”
The door opens, and Jasmine walks in again, her eyes smiling and polite. She settles into her chair, and the table remains awkwardly silent for a few more seconds before she leans into me. “Can we go now?”
Chapter nineteen
Alec
“You’re ready to leave?” I whisper, and she nods, an apologetic smile on her face. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ears and turn to my parents.
“Mom, Dad, thank you for lunch. Jasmine and I will leave now.” I rise to my feet, curling Jasmine’s arm around mine.
“Oh.” My dad walks toward us to give us a brief hug. “Jasmine, thank you for coming. It was lovely to meet you.”
“It was lovely to meet you, too,” Jasmine says and turns to my mother, who is still seated, her gaze deliberately turned away.
“Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Ace. It was nice to meet you.”
My mother doesn’t respond, and we don’t wait. I pull Jasmine out of the room and hurry out of the house and into our car. Jasmine visibly relaxes when we pull out of the compound, and it’s only then I realize how tense she really is.
“Jasmine…”
“Please, Alec,” she sighs. “I really want to be left alone. I need to think.”
