Jasmine's PoV

"Jasmine!"

I barely recognize my mother's voice yelling for me as I roll over. It's far too comfortable in this bed and I know it is far too early for me to be awake. I mean, for fuck's sake, I worked last night! 

Nope, it's too early for me to deal with anything. I'm going back to sleep.

"Jasmine!"

Come on, Mamma. Let me be for a little bit longer. God, if you're listening, please give me 5 more minutes in this heavenly bed.

"Jasmine Alessandra Luciano! If you aren't down in this kitchen in the next 5 minutes, so help me!"

"Alright, Mamma! I'm up!"

 Per l'amore di tutte le cose sante (For the love of all things holy). What could this woman want with me so early? 

I guess it's time to get up and see what is so urgent. I mean, seriously? It's 7:07 in the morning. Someone better be dying. No, on second thought, the whole family better be dying. After a few minutes of stretching and yawning, I make my way downstairs and head to the kitchen.

As I get closer, I can already smell something delicious cooking. I can't figure out what Momma could be starting to cook this early in the morning because it definitely doesn't smell like breakfast.

"What's going on, Momma? Why do you need me up so early?"

"I need your help to get dinner started. We have quite a bit to make and I need to have it cooking soon in order for it to be done in time."

"And why do we need to make so much? What's going on tonight?"

"Jasmine, I know you know exactly what is going on. Tonight we are having the family dinner. Just like every other month. So, can you focus and help me get the bracciole started already?" 

"Naturalmente, Mamma. Let me wash my hands and I'll start rolling the meat."

How could I forget that tonight was the monthly family dinner? I'm guessing Kaiden forgot as well since he didn't mention it last night. I'm also guessing that we will have to push our little "meeting" to another night. I can't imagine it will be very pleasurable trying to have sex with both sets of parents in the house. I will also need to mentally prepare myself because Lord knows my father will want to talk business like he always does when Kaiden and his parents come over. 

After spending around an hour helping Mamma get dinner going, I make a bowl of cereal and a piece of peanut butter toast before heading back to my room. I decided to take a nap for a few hours before getting ready for dinner. I end up waking up around 1 and decide to jump in the shower. Now all that's left is finding the right outfit, doing my hair and makeup, and getting in the right mindset. 

I need to find an outfit that is appropriate yet sexy. Even if I can't have Kaiden tonight, I still want him thinking about having me. 

As I am going through my closet, my eyes fall on the perfect outfit. Not too exposing, but still sexy. It's a black long-sleeved crop top with a long black and white striped bodycon skirt. Once paired with a nice pair of black heels that really accentuates my ass, I am satisfied. I decide to leave my hair down, but volumize it with big loose waves. I don't put too much makeup on. I want the "natural" make up look after all. Once I am completely done, I go to my floor length mirror to see the final result.

I almost feel bad for Kaiden.

Almost.

Alright, Jasmine. Just focus. Take a deep breath. We're probably not even going to discuss anything of real importance tonight. Dad and Sal will just talk about what  is going on with the business on a daily basis. Just the comings and goings of the warehouse. No need to let your anxiety get out of control. Rein it in. It's just dinner.

I'm brought back to reality as I hear the doorbell ring. Time to go and greet our guests. At least they are all people I love. Like, extended family. I'm almost at the bottom of the stairs when I hear a slight groan come from Kaiden's mouth. I can't help but smirk.

Definitely the perfect outfit.

I see Kaiden and his parents standing next to the front door with my parents. Salvatore is wearing a casual dark grey suit with a grey and white striped tie. His dark black hair is slicked back which only makes his chocolate brown eyes pop. It's easy to see where Kaiden gets his good looks from. Marianna is wearing a white lace top and grey pencil skirt. For a mom, she has great taste in clothes. Her fawn colored hair is pulled back into a perfect bun. Her bright blue eyes and red lips are surrounded by laugh lines.

They wore matching outfits again. Too cute.

"Sal. Marianna. It's good to see you both again. Well, I saw you last night, Sal. So, I guess I meant that it's good to see you in a casual setting," I laugh as I am giving Marianna a hug.

"You too, kid," Sal says while giving me a quick hug before walking away with my father.

"Look at you! I swear you get more beautiful everytime I see you, Dear. How are things?"

"Things are good. Just keeping busy. You know how that goes, Mari. How have you been?"

"Oh, you know. Same as always. I'll have a word with your father about working you too hard, shall I?"

"Good luck with that."

I can't help but smile at Mari's kindness. She can easily put a smile on anyone's face. She is like a burst of sunshine. Far too good for our world if you ask me.

Finally, I focus on Kaiden and I can't help but to hold my breath for a couple of seconds. His navy blue suit goes so well with his toffee colored skin and really makes his eyes standout. He has his black hair pulled back into a manbun.

Dio mio (My God). Focus, Jasmine. Breathe.

"Hey, Kaid. You look good tonight."

"You're looking pretty good yourself," he replies while giving me a quick once over.

I really hope our mothers were too focused on their conversation to notice us checking each other out.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to eat. I've had to smell this food cooking all day. Shall we?"

"Jasmine, you can wait until we have caught up with our guests," Mamma replies.

"I wouldn't say 'no' to some food right about now," Kaiden chimes in.

"You can wait too, Kaiden. Where are your manners," Mari scolds.

"Let's get to the dining room before we get the wooden spoon, Kaid. You can help me set the table while we wait for them."

"Sounds good. Lead the way."

As we make our way to the table, I can already see that Dad and Sal are deep in a whispered  conversation. This only causes my anxiety to start kicking in. They are talking about something serious. The only question now is whether or not it gets discussed during dinner.

Kaiden follows me to the kitchen cabinets. I hand him 6 plates and 6 bowls to pass out while I grab the silverware. As we are setting the table, we manage to run into each other and try to discreetly touch each other's hands. Even the slightest bit of physical contact with Kaiden gives me goosebumps. I notice my father watching us a little too late though.

Please let him think it was an accident! I really don't want to have this talk with him. Wait a minute. Why am I even worrying about this? There's no way he knows. That could've happened to any two people setting a table together. Totally natural. Stop being so paranoid already. Get your shit together and get through this dinner.

As Mamma and Mari are making their way towards the table, I grab the wine glasses and the wine. Dad makes his way to the head of the table leaving the seat next to Sal for Mari. Kaiden takes one of the seats across from his parents leaving the one next to him for me. This means Sal and I will be sitting next to Dad.

$100 says we will definitely be discussing business tonight.

While Mamma grabs the bracciole dish, I grab the bowl of salad and tongs, and we make our way to the table.

"It smells and looks delicious, Alessia."

"As much as I would love to take full credit for this meal, you should also be thanking Jasmine. She got up early just to help me with it," my mom replies to Kaiden.

"Don't get any ideas in that head of yours. She made me get up to help," I tell him. I can already see the mischievous gleam in his eye telling me what he is thinking.

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm not special enough to wake up early and cook for," he asks while putting a wounded look on his face.

"Hate to break it to ya, but you will never reach that level of importance."

As he chuckles, I glance around and notice that everyone is looking at us. I almost feel like a science experiment being observed so closely. Then it hits me.

Do they know? No, right? How could they? No, it's not possible. Once again, I am just over thinking everything.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I'm ready to dig in. Here, Dad," I say as I pass him the bracciole dish.

Once we have all put our food on our dishes, the small talk begins. This is the part I hate. We all know about pretty much everything going on in each other's lives. That's what happens when you are as close as our families are. Then my dad starts.

"Jasmine, Sal tells me that one of our shipments was short."

"Apparently so."

"Why didn't you feel the need to tell me about this?"

"Probably because this is the first time that I have seen and talked to you today. I already had him make a record of the details from that shipment and told him to notify us immediately if any more shipments are short though. This way we can see if someone is intentionally cheating us."

"Next time I want to know right away."

"Noted."

"Do you know why this is happening?"

"No clue, but I assume you have an idea."

"Word is getting out that you will be taking over once I step down. We are being tested to see just how strong we still are. Really, you are being tested. You are not seen as anything but our weak princess at the moment."

"I am not weak!" Once my hand slams on the table, I realize I am getting worked up. I can't stand being called weak.

"We know that, but to anyone outside our group, you are."

"Well, I am guessing you have a plan in the works to change this. Let's hear it."

"You need to get married."

"I do not need a man to be a strong leader. This is a ridiculous idea. How exactly will getting married make others think I am not so weak?"

"Because, as you already know, no mafia has been lead by a woman before. If you get married, everyone will assume your husband is leading. This is also a good opportunity to form an alliance."

"First of all, how would this marriage make me look stronger in the eyes of our enemies if they will believe that my husband is running our mafia? Secondly, I already have a way of strengthening our family without making me look weak."

"Either way, you still need to get married at some point. You will need to produce an heir."

"I am 22. I have plenty  of time to 'produce an heir'. I don't need to worry about a husband anytime soon."

"Jasmine..."

"End of discussion," I say as I stand up and start to walk away.

"You do not walk away from me unless I dismiss you! I am still your boss!"

"Not for long."

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