Page 108 of Humility

My mouth fell open, and I held out my cup for her. She took the cup and closed her eyes, sniffing it like a whiskey she was inspecting. The thought conjured the image of her at the distillery, and my smile fell. As it turned out, that bottle was safe. The chemical analysis results had come in this morning, but it was still terrifying to think of what could’ve happened.

“Mmm, this is delicious.”

“You can have mine if you want to swap. I’m easy,” I said. “Well, not easy like that. I just mean that I’m easy about what to drink, and I’m going to stop talking now.”

Jasmine’s laugh made me smile. Her eyes lit up and reminded me of the first day we met. It was hard to believe it was only a few weeks ago when it felt like years had passed, all in a single day.

“It’s okay. I love my coffee, but I will take you up on one of those sometime.” She held out the cup, and my fingers brushed against hers as I took back my cider.

Clearing my throat and ignoring my dick which had a mind of its own, I turned to the long tables that were still mostly empty.

“Would you like some help setting up?”

“You don’t mind?”

“Are you kidding? I’d much rather hang out with you than sit in on another of Angelo’s meetings with Riker’s lawyers.” I made a snorting noise, and Jasmine smirked.

“I’m happy to have the help. It will feel like when we first met,” she said and looked down. “I should apologize to you as well. I was upset that you were untruthful with me, but I gave you a false name and lied about why I was here.”

Reaching out, I ran a loose curl through my fingers, loving the soft silky feel. “I’m pretty sure me filling your home with cameras and then sneaking in with Angelo negates any lie you told me. You could probably tell me a hundred more and it still not make up for what I did.” I ran my hand through my hair as I thought about what to say. “I really am sorry. I…shit. Surveillance is part of what I do for Angelo, and I hardly knew you, not that it makes it right, but you know we live differently than most. He asked me to put cameras in every corner of your house, and I took him at his word.”

“I know.”

“And the sneaking in…I didn’t want to, I…shit, I still did it. I own that, but it never felt right.”

Jasmine waved her hand, stopping me. “Let’s not rehash all of that. I don’t approve of what you all did, not even in the slightest. The thing is, I can either be pissed off for the rest of my life and leave Angelo, you and Dario behind or…I can let it go and accept that Angelo is the way he is, and I’m never going to change the asshole he can be when he wants something. It’s behind us, and I’d like to keep it there for my peace of mind.” She held up a finger. “But don’t tell him that. I prefer for him to believe I’m still angry. It’s better that way.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Sitting my cup down, I picked up the bag of soil Jasmine had slit open and dumped it into the tabletop she was working on.

“I know we don’t have a history like you do with Angelo and Dario, but I do really like you. I was never faking my feelings for you. I was going to leave Angelo, tell you the truth and ask you to run off with me. I know stupid plan, but I knew that if I didn’t fight for you then Angelo would cut me out.”

Jasmine squatted and cut open more bags, and I obliged by dumping them where she pointed.

“I like you a lot, too,” she said, and I smiled. “You were really going to go toe-to-toe with Angelo?”

“I was. I’ve never felt like I had someone to fight for before. You are different, you were from the the first second you opened your door. I’m never believed in love at first sight, but…um…anyway the point is, I was never faking how I felt.” I’d already fallen in love with her, but it felt too soon to tell her.

“That’s good to know. I can’t deny that I was hurt thinking you were only coming around to see me as part of your job.” She didn’t look up as she evenly patted the soil and I felt terrible for ever making her feel that way. “I don’t remember you at the same school as the three of us.” Jasmine wiped off her hands and took another sip of her coffee. I needed to stop staring at her lips before I threw the cup away and kissed her. “Enzo? You okay?”

“Huh?” My eyes snapped up to hers. “Yes, um….” My brain raced as I tried to remember what she asked. “I didn’t go to the same school. I didn’t meet Angelo until he came to Chicago. I was already there working and doing odd jobs for different people, but when Angelo came to me to figure out who was attacking his family from the inside, he hired me full-time.” I shrugged. “We’ve been together ever since.”

“What do you mean his family was attacked from the inside?”

“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to talk about the details,” I said, and she crossed her arms and glared. I swallowed hard. “Okay, I’d rather deal with Angelo’s wrath. It was the whole reason he went to Chicago in the first place. His father was fed information that his Chapo and all those working directly under him were dirty. They were supposedly stealing and looking to take over. Don Esposito ordered their deaths and sent Angelo to run everything and finish killing the traitors. When Angelo arrived, he discovered that all the documentation and videos were doctored and false, but not before he’d cut through dozens of men. The family business was stripped down and needed to be rebuilt, but everyone was now terrified to work for him. Whoever set up the Esposito’s made them kill themselves like a snake eating its tail. A smart and deadly plan.”

“That’s why he suddenly said he had to stay and cut off all contact,” Jasmine muttered. She rubbed at her chin. “My father would never have let me go to Chicago, especially if he thought there was unrest and I might be in danger.”

“Correct. I remember Angelo mentioning that he was trying to negotiate a deal for the woman he loved, but her father wouldn’t answer his calls. I remember the night, he and Dario cut off contact. They both got shitfaced and passed out on the floor of the office. I found them like that the next day. He didn’t tell me all the details. We weren’t close yet, but it had to be you. No matter what you saw, the only person he ever talked about was you.”

“Are you here to get me to forgive him for the fiasco at dinner?” Jasmine tilted her head.

“Hell no. Angelo deserves whatever you want to throw at him, no pun intended, but in all seriousness, talking down to you like that was…fucked up. I wouldn’t let him off easily.”

She smiled. “Good, I plan on making him grovel.”

“Fuck can you film that for me, please,” I asked, and Jasmine laughed. “Anyway, almost every coveted position needed to be filled while Angelo looked for the person responsible. We still didn’t know when we left, but at least trusted people were in place.”