THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Jasmine’s POV

Calmly, I squat down beside the pool and let my hand touch the water as a smile touches my lips, even though it is cold.

I am intrigued by the beauty of this pool and it is tempting me to go inside.

I am not really an expert when it comes to swimming but I love water so much. But I don’t have a swimsuit and I can’t go in my full clothes.

Sighing loudly, I sit at the edge and let my leg drift into the waters, calming my entire existence and taking me to another world of imagination as my eyes drift close.

I don’t know how long I am sitting here or how long I have my feet in the water until I hear the approaching sound of someone’s feet.

I flutter my eyes open immediately and turn slightly with a cold glare, thinking it is the guard again. The other one must have stayed back in the house.

Surprisingly, it isn’t the guard. It is the one person who makes me feel a whole lot of emotions. The same person who makes me feel irate and the same person who makes a shiver of anticipation run down my spine. The same person who sends ripples of nervousness through me and also a searing pleasure shafting through me.

Realizing what I am doing as he approaches me with long strides and a cold glare just like mine, I decide to ignore him as I let my leg move in the water.

“What are you doing here?!” I hear him ask from behind but I don’t intend to answer him. I have every right to be anywhere I want to as long as I am not outside his home which is exactly what he wants.

I continue to swing my leg in and out of the water until the water begins to splash everywhere, touching me.

A squeal leaves my mouth in excitement at the feel of the cold water on my body. Forgetting about the bad man behind me, including that no-meaning kiss from earlier as well as the sight of Vicenzo which I am sure won’t escape the rest of the torture prepared for him, I continue doing the swinging of my leg in the water as I begin to laugh like a maniac.

“Woman, I asked what you are doing here!” He yells at me again from behind. The voice is closer now but I don’t bother to turn back to see the angry expression on his face.

I am just a replacement. I am not the real person who ought to be here punished for the crimes she committed. I should be able to do whatever I want to do.

Before I know what is happening, he yanks at my hand from behind making me shriek in fright as I struggle to get out of his strong grip.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Instantly, he lets go of me and I find myself stumbling into the cold water. As soon as I fall into the pool, a gasp leaves my mouth and I struggle to get out of it.

He must have seen the fear in my eyes. He might not have meant to push me into the pool. He must have thought I couldn’t swim because the next thing he did was dart into the water to grab me out.

I am not a swimming expert. That is because I am still learning. I love warm water but this one is extremely cold and I might get sick as a result.

His hand wraps around my waist as he pushes me forward out of the pool. Barely breathing, I get to the edge where I was sitting before I got pushed. Without waiting for him or saying anything to him as another heat of anger rushes into me, I climb out of the pool with my wet clothes as I shiver.

Thankfully I didn’t come out with my phone, I began to walk away.

“Andre!” I hear him call behind me, intensifying my rage. “Hey!”

He is really fast because he catches up with me before I get to the front door. He grabs me and spins me around to face him. “Hey!”

“I am Jasmine. Don’t call me that damn name!”

“You think I care?!”

The burst of emotions as we both breathe heavily is surprising. I feel like he knows. He knows there is something different about me but he doesn’t want to admit it. He is too egoistic and arrogant to admit that I am not her.

All he wants is to get his hands on her before finally admitting that I am Jasmine not Andre.

“Let go of me, you are hurting me”, I say calmly, finally taking my eyes away from him.

He doesn’t let go until I shift my attention back to him. I see a flicker of an emotion I can’t place and I wonder if he remembers the kiss from earlier.

Damn that kiss.

I thought I promised not to think about it again. It should mean nothing because I am sure such kisses will mean nothing to cold-hearted men like him.

This is one more reason why I should stay away from him. I feel vulnerable around him. I feel unsafe. I feel like he is going to take advantage of me.

If he knows I am thinking about that kiss or the fact that it was my first kiss, he might use it against me. He might make me like him and he might let it happen again.

I won’t allow that.

After a moment of silence, with just the sound of our hard breathing and the hard stares on our faces, he lets me go.

“Go pack your things, we are going to Italy by noon”, he announces, dragging a hand through his wet hair.

I blink and look at him, expecting him to repeat what he just said, thinking I misheard him.

“Did you hear what I said?!” he goes back to snapping, which almost gets me snapping back. “Go pack your things, we are going to Italy”, he repeats as if hearing my thoughts.

Finally, it sinks in as curiosity nudges at me and I begin to wonder just what the hell we are going to Italy for.