Page 120 of Humility

“Jasmine, please….”

“No. You yanked me back into your life after you ripped my heart out of my chest. I believed in you. I believed in us, and all I was to you was a golden egg. Your ticket to the top where you always wanted to be.” I smacked my forehead as things began to snap into place. “This is why you wanted to elope. You wanted to make sure I was tied to you first. Unbelievable.”

“It wasn’t like that. I stole it for us,” Angelo said, and I marched forward and shoved him hard in the chest.

“Don’t! Don’t you dare turn this around. I cried when it was stolen. The only thing of hers that had been in the family for generations, and it was ripped away from me by the same person who stole and destroyed my love. Just don’t.” I wheeled around and looked at Dario and Enzo, who wore similar expressions of sadness, but I couldn’t separate them on this one. “I can almost understand why Angelo would go to such lengths and then not tell me, but you two as well?”

“I have no excuse for my behavior. We never should’ve stolen the egg, and I suspected you didn’t know and didn’t say anything. I chose to keep quiet,” Dario said. “Losing you seemed like a worse fate than to hold my tongue.”

“I felt the same way. I’m sorry, Jasmine. I didn’t know you then, but I do now, and I…I felt like an asshole and didn’t want to lose you either,” Enzo said.

I laughed, but there was no joy in my heart. They had stolen it all. Looking between them, I shrugged. “But you lost me anyway.”

“Jasmine, don’t go. Let me tell you the whole story. I’ll tell you everything, anything you want to know,” Angelo said, grabbing my arm.

“Let go of me.” I jerked in his hold, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Jasmine, it’s not what it looks like,” Angelo said, his fingers firm on my arm.

“It doesn’t matter why you did it. Not anymore. You played me. You’ve had weeks to tell me the truth and ensure I heard it from you. But, you kept quiet and tried to manipulate me into a fast wedding.” I shook my head. “If Ciro hadn’t shown up tonight, I still wouldn’t have known. Right?” He didn’t argue with that. “Let go of me, Angelo, or so help me God, I will call Papa and tell him where you are. Right now, and only because I foolishly still love you, I will pretend I never saw you. That’s my parting gift to all of you. You get to continue living your life, making money, fucking anyone you want, and striving for the top, free from my papa’s wrath. If I were you, I’d take the deal.”

“Let her go, Angelo,” Dario said as Angelo’s hands shook. Dario walked over and touched Angelo. “Let her go, she wants to leave.”

I hated the terror and sadness in his eyes, and I hated myself more for caring that it was there at all. One finger at a time, his hands loosened, and I stepped away.

“Goodbye,” I said, looking at all three of them. “I love you. I love all of you, but you don’t deserve it.” Ciro slowly stood and walked to me. “Let’s go home,” I said, walking out of the office door and leaving them behind.

The scabs that had formed over the scars on my heart had just been ripped open, and they were bleeding raw in my chest. I knew I would never heal from this. I might never love another again, but I couldn’t stay, not now. There were too many lies, too many secrets, and too much pain.

“I’m sorry, I thought you knew,” Ciro said as I slipped into the back seat of his car.

“It doesn’t matter. I should’ve known. He should’ve told me.”

“Would you have forgiven him?”

“I don’t know, but it would’ve been my choice. Instead he kept me in the dark.”

I looked out the window at the large home and the three men standing outside. I held their stares until we pulled out of the driveway. As soon as we were alone, Ciro pulled me into his arms, and I cried as the other half of my heart withered like a rose.

Chapter Fifty-Two

ANGELO

The toxic storm of rage and despair rode me as I tore my office apart. Nothing was safe. When I ran out of bullets, I grabbed my knife.

“Ah!” I yelled as I pulled the last of the foam from the leather couch. I stood back, breathing hard, and looked at the chaos in what had once been a neat and orderly room. The books were torn, my monitors were smashed, and pictures were ripped from their frames. Dropping to my knees, I stared at the gold tiger statue just out of reach, and the agony gripped me as surely as a hand around my throat. Crawling to the golden figure, I picked it up and sat down against the wall.

Each breath ached as I tried to get air like my lungs had forgotten how to work with the thought of never seeing her again, never kissing her sweet lips good morning or holding her as she fell asleep at night. I lost her. I lost her all over again, and there was no one to blame but myself. Every decision I’d ever made mocked me.

I slumped against the wall and couldn’t tear my eyes away from the tiger. No matter how closed the door felt to Jasmine in the past, I’d always kept hoping that I would make it home and win her back. This felt final like I’d written the last chapter in our book before I even recognized it.

No, I wouldn’t accept that. Jumping up, I walked to the bookshelf and pulled on the book that released the hidden panel. Twirling the knob on the fancy metal door, I unlocked the first of three separate locks for the walk-in vault. Placing my palm on the last one, the door hissed as the seal separated. Yanking it open, the lights flicked on, and I grabbed the black go bag and quickly unlocked the second smaller vault that held everything I’d stolen from Don Falcone. I hadn’t spent a dime or sold anything I’d taken. It was never to better myself financially. Jasmine had that wrong. I would do what I should’ve done long ago and give this back to Don Falcone, and I prayed that Jasmine would hear me out. No, I would find a way to make her hear me out. That was the end of it.

As soon as everything was zipped up tight, I walked out into the office and locked the vault back up. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I hit Riker’s number.

“Come on, answer, answer,” I mumbled as I marched around the room, gathering anything else I might need, including my guns.

“Riker, here.”