Page 109 of In the Dark

“I don’t know if we have it in her exact size. It’s a custom, and the length would—”

“Tell the designer I’ll pay whatever the cost is to get it done.”

From there, once she came back out of the fitting room, I took Jasmina’s hand, and we met her cousins in the lobby only to see that my men were letting in Monte and Perla.

Perla rushed forward to hug Jasmina, and Monte hugged her, too, before he turned to me, his face grim. “Callahan.”

“Monte.” I knew my tone held malice, but in my mind, it was warranted. “You’re finally here for your niece.”

“What? Of course I’m here. I’m here for her always.”

“Even when she’s bleeding out on Paolo’s floor and you don’t take her to a hospital to have work done?”

Perla gasped, and Jasmina’s hand was on my arm as she murmured my name. “It’s not his fault,” Jasmina said.

“No?” I frowned at her uncle. “Do you not take care of your own?”

He looked down in guilt. “Callahan, it’s not … my resources are spread thin. Telling anyone she was hurt would have shown weakness, and—”

“And you were a coward to not pursue it,” I finished for him, holding his eyes. “Didn’t want me to go back on the deal?”

“No, I … It’s not what you think.”

“Don’t play me for a fool unless you want me to kill you like you are one, Monte.” My words had my men taking one step closer to us all, and Monte felt the tension.

“I deserve that.” He nodded, accepting my words for the truth that they were. I could see in the way he looked at Jasmina that he wanted her forgiveness more than mine, and Jasmina wanted to give it. So I took a breath and let him say his piece. “I trusted the doctor, though. He’s good at what he does, he’s always been honest. It’s what you wanted, Jas.”

I stood in front of her because of course he’d be able to coax her with their family bond. “And I expect you to always give my bride what she wants unless it harms her,” I told him. “Don’t ever risk her life again.”

His eyes narrowed slightly as if he couldn’t tell whether or not I was serious about caring for her. Monte then said quietly, “Jasmina knows I only wanted what was best for my family.”

“And now, Jasmina is going to be a part of my family, Monte. So, let me be clear: If you ever do anything like calling a cobbled-together animal doctor to check on her again, I’ll make sure it’s that doctor who tears you apart piece by piece.”

Monte still looked hurt as he turned to Jasmina. “I never meant to risk your life; you know that, right?”

Jasmina took a breath and nodded, but I saw her shoulders sag as if some weight had been lifted.

And in that moment, she smiled so genuinely that my hand went to my pocket, where I rolled my fingers over what I’d been holding most of the day. It was a statement I wanted to make, and making it in front of her family seemed fitting.

I pulled a velvet box from my slacks, and then I got down on one knee to turn to her. “Jasmina …”

“Callahan.” She was staring at me with a question in her eyes, and then I saw the tiny smile playing on her lips. “I already said I would marry you.”

“And even still, I need to ask you: Will you be my equal by choice rather than force, because you know I won’t have it any other way?”

Her gaze ping-ponged from her family to me, and then the ring. It was ten carats of sparkling blue princess-cut diamond. “Yes,” she murmured as she held my gaze.

She didn’t correct me and say it would only be for two years.

She didn’t stop me when I put the ring on her finger.

She didn’t pull away when I took her face in my hands and kissed her in front of her family.

She did say “yes.”

And I was holding her to it.

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