𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

The Ball Is Rolling.

(First Edit)

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

As soon as dinner reached its conclusion, the nine of us — Dad, Damen, Sabrina, Françoi, Henri, Annette, Evelyn, Collette, Valentino and myself — headed to the library to begin our discussion as this was the quietest room in the whole mansion.
As soon as we took our seats, Carol and Kayla came in with coffee and dessert: espresso with slices of almond ricotta cheesecake.

"So, Mrs Guerrero," Collette said teasingly as she crossed one leg over the other while balancing her plate on her knee. "How goes the married life?"
"It's fabulous," I say as I cut into my cheesecake. "Val loves me, he cares for me and we have an open, trusting relationship."
"Sounds like a dream."

"It does seem like that at times. But then I wake up in the morning and I see my husband's face and I realize it's all very real." I turned to Valentino, an affectionate gleam in my eyes. "He's in my life, my heart and he's in every breath that I take."

"Not to mention your kitty cat," Evelyn snickered.
"Are you kidding? He practically lives there," I giggled. "Not that I'm complaining mind you. If he wants to become a tenant he'll simply have to pay rent."
"Why pay for something I already own?" Valentino smirked, causing me to blush while the girls gave me sly grins.

After a few more minutes of leisure conversation we got down to discussing business.

"Now then, the main reason we invited you and your family here Don Henri is to discuss our plans for the future," Valentino began. "As you know, the Sangue Mafia is a well known Italian crime family, undoubtedly one of the most powerful in New York. And we have forged alliances with others just like us. We'd like to add you to that list of allies."

"I see what you mean. You want the Beaumont crime family to be allied with the Sangue Mafia," Henri mused. "Give me one legitimate reason why you think we should agree to this alliance."

"My father says approximately four months after your arrival in New York, you managed to take over Cooper Square and establish your own territory in The Bowery and Chinatown, none of which are easy feats to accomplish. This attests that you can carry your own weight. What I want, Don Henri, is to meet you halfway. If the Beaumont crime family were to align with the Sangue Mafia, this would prove beneficial to both parties in terms of wealth, power and protection. I hope you understand where I'm coming from."

"While we're inclined to agree with you Don Valentino, how do we know we can trust you?" Françoi asked dubiously. "It would be foolish to form an alliance with a family we've only just met."
"And that is precisely why we invited you here this evening," I said. "Trust is the the foundation of any friendship, relationship or partnership. And in order for you to voluntarily agree upon this alliance, trust is imperative."

"My daughter-in-law is correct," Dad spoke up. "I propose we take some time to get further acquainted with each other before we make any major decisions in regards to aligning our Mafias."
"Of course. But before we go any further into our discussion, there are a few things I'd like to clarify," Henri stated.
"Certainly. What is it you'd like to know?"
"Before dinner I distinctly remember Collette asking Jasmine why her surname was Petrova when she's married into the Guerrero family. Why is that?"

"Petrova is actually my maiden name. You see before I married Valentino, I was a student at St Francis College and everyone knew me as Jasmine Petrova," I explained. "To prevent the school authorities from asking any questions, I continued to use my maiden name."
"I see. So did you belong to any other crime family prior to your marriage?"

Hesitant to answer, I turned to face Valentino. There wasn't a Mafia, crime family, triad, gang or hitman on the East Coast who didn't know my father or wasn't associated with Kazimir. There was no telling how Don Henri will react if he found out I was Ivan Petrova's daughter and Kazimir's sister-in-law, the latter of whom was a ruthless man; cruel, heartless and incapable of showing remorse, compassion or even integrity.