THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Jasmine’s POV

To be honest, cutting him off with a kiss wasn’t the plan.

I never thought I would do that. Never in my wildest dreams. I never knew he was going to even show up or find me.

But here he is.

And I am gripping the back of his shirt as the gentle kiss he is pressing onto my lips is doing unimaginable things to me.

Things I have never felt in the 24 years of my existence.

Not having him here has been killing me. It has me worried for my safety and scared for what awaits me outside his mansion.

I guess that is why I haven’t been able to summon up enough courage to get the hell out of here. Out of New York. And back to Chicago.

The thought of Vicenzo still haunts me, even though he is dead now. But I am still scared for my life. Sebastian is still very much alive and he will do worse than Vicenzo if I ever get into his hands.

Xavier promised to protect me.

But I ran away.

Now that I think of it, I remember just how much I was boiling in rage when the realization dawned on me that I had been treading on a path of deceit all along.

He deceived me but here I am kissing him with so much vigor like my life depends solely on this.

He tricked me.

He used me.

Instead of pulling away, the kiss becomes more rough. I find myself brushing my tongue against his to gain entrance into his mouth. I find myself tracing the outline of his mouth, kissing each lip and biting on them slowly, earning a low grunt from him.

Then I stopped.

I flash my eyes open to meet his bright blue eyes, watching me with curiosity and surprise.

He is shocked at my idea of a welcome after five days of being apart.

Five days of being miserable and lonely. I have never felt so lonely like this in my entire life. Even while in his mansion, before we got along and he had me locked up in that room downstairs, I didn’t feel lonely like I felt for the past five days.

That sort of loneliness that makes you sick, gripping you to the bed and making you feel feverish like you are going to die or pass out soon.

Just yesterday, I decided to go out and find something to do. I found a bookstore and that is where I spent the entire day.

“You are shivering”, he says, wrapping his arms around me and walking me to a car.

It has stopped raining now. Just drizzling.

I close my eyes, mentally scolding myself for kissing him and staring at him like that like a deprived sex addict instead of slapping him and running off.

He used me.

I am supposed to be mad at him.

I feel so stupid right now because my anger has dissolved into thin air because of that kiss. What is left inside of me is a breathless, scared shit woman who doesn’t know what the future holds for her.

The ride is silent. Within a minute, the car stops and I look out to see we are at the hotel. This is when I realize I didn’t even know how he found me or got here.

It took him months to find Andre but took him just five days to find me. I should probably learn some basic fleeing skills from Andre before trying to run off again next time.

A touch jerks me back to life. It is Xavier and he is helping me out of the car as though I am a baby who needs help with walking.

When we get to the reception, I catch sight of Ethan and a flash of relief crosses his expression and disappears as soon as it comes.

I almost smile.

He learnt well from Xavier.

Xavier is one cold devil and Ethan is another.

Before I know it, Ethan is right in front of us walking with confidence as though he knows where my room is.

Surprisingly, when we get to the room, he turns left and unlocks the door while Xavier helps me in.

This is when it hits me that I could barely walk but with the help of Xavier, I am shivering.

I get cold easily. I do not know why I had to go out in the rain like that instead of waiting back at the store till it stopped raining.

Xavier helps me to the tiny bed. Without any exchange of words between him and Ethan, Ethan takes the exit, making me admire the connection between them.

They understand each other so well. If only he wasn’t as cold-hearted as Xavier, maybe we would have gotten along well like Mathew.

Mathew would have been my best friend but he is barely around. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him.

“Are you ok?” His concern-filled tone demands from me, making me open my closed eyes.

I am sleepy and cold.

There is a blanket around me already and a towel suddenly hits my head. A warm towel.

Where the hell did he get that from?

After several minutes with my eyes drifting open and closed, he takes the towel and bowl of water away, finally taking off his wet jacket.

It dawns on me that I haven’t done the same. I am in bed with my wet clothes.

Rising swiftly, I step down from the bed and then move to the closet to pick up a cloth to change in.

I had to do some shopping earlier today. I came here with only one cloth and I needed more to survive. Xavier’s credit card was in good use.

I’m glad I didn’t return it. Spending his money is enough to make up for his harsh behaviors towards me but that can not make up for his deceit.

“Are you ok?” he asks again with concern and a furrowed brow as he touches my hand while I change.

Yanking my hand free, I continue to change. When I am done, I move back to the bed and slide in, uncaring about the wet bed sheet.

I am too tired to do anything else.

I just want to sleep.

“Jasmine…Jasmine…”, he stutters for the very first time since I have known him.

I stare at him.

Not mad. Not annoyed. Not upset.

Just satisfied with his presence.

Feeling annoyed, I turn away and close my eyes. “Go away.”

I’m sure he heard me but he isn’t moving or saying a word, tempting me to open my eyes to see if he is still close to my bed.

I resist the temptation.

My eyes remain closed and my mind begins to wander while my head spins with questions.

Why is he here?Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Why did he lie to me?

Does he like me?

I begin to drift to sleep slowly, hoping within me that he will still be here when I wake up in the morning just like how he was by my bed the other day in the mansion when I collapsed.

Just before sleep finally overtakes me, it dawns on me that those two moments when I had to wake up with him right beside me with creases of worry on his forehead were the very moment that things changed between us.

That was it.

The first time it happened and the second time.

That was when I began to fall in love with him slowly and now I don’t know where I stand, whether it is one-sided or mutual.