THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Xavier’s POV

He plasters a fake smile on his face to hide whatever he came here to do but I know what it is already.

This is about Andre.

First, it was his wife and now him. I believed strongly that his wife knew about Andre’s disappearance and whereabouts all along but I can’t believe he also deceived me.

We made this agreement together.

Why then will he support her disappearance?

“Believe me, Xavier, it’s not what you are thinking”, the smile vanishes from his face immediately as he speaks. He must have figured that out already. I know that Andre is here and also his wife.

Staring at Jasmine’s face to be sure she is truly asleep, I close the door, signaling to the driver to stay put while I walk back into the club.

I can’t risk talking to him in the car with Jasmine. I don’t want her to hear our conversation and even hear about the fact that Andre is indeed here in Italy like she told me and about how I know that she isn’t Andre.

I don’t turn to see if he is following because I know he dares not do otherwise.

Securing a quiet place on the other side of the club, I take long strides towards there and slouch to a seat while he does the same.

“Believe me, Xavier. I’m telling the truth. It’s not what you are thinking”, he repeats, fear crawling all around his expression

“What am I thinking, Nicholas?” I demand from him calmly. I can’t let my anger take over at the moment. If I do, I will have him chained in the next couple of minutes suffering for the mistakes of his silly daughter. I know better than to do that and I know it won’t bring Andre back either. She does not care about her father or mother or what happens to them when I am involved.

“You must be thinking that I have a hand in all of this; Andre’s disappearance and her whereabouts but I assure you that I don’t.”

“Really?” I throw him a sarcastic question and he shakes his head seeing that I am not convinced with his words.

“I’m telling the truth, Xavier. Remember I promised to let you know as soon as I get her…”

“Why are you here, Nicholas?” I cut him short, leaning backwards and staring at him in the face to catch any emotions he might want to hide.

I watch him gulp before relaxing and sitting forward as if he wants to whisper something into my ears. He doesn’t lean forward like I assume he will. He just sits still, debating on whether to tell me what this is all about or not.

Did he come here with his wife?

“I traced Vanessa down here”, he responds, opposing my assumptions about him coming to Italy with his wife to see Andre without any iota of knowledge that I was also here. “She has been acting suspicious for a while now and I concluded that she has a hand in all of these. First, it was the missing money in my account which was wired to a strange account and then the suspicious phone calls. When I confirmed it was Andre, I had to follow her here. She told me she wanted to come for a business meeting but I wasn’t convinced. I was so sure she was coming here to see Andre because of Andre’s last text to her. It was from a strange number but my guts told me it was her.”

He falls silent and a smile creeps to my face.

He thinks he can make a fool of me again. I can’t believe whatever he is saying when he never told me anything until now.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

This wasn’t our agreement.

“Do you expect me to believe that?” I point my index finger at him, wishing to get a cigarette at the moment. At the remembrance of my promise to Jasmine not to smoke again, I curse internally and drop my hand.

He trembles beneath my gaze. “I’m not lying….”

“If you are not, what evidence do you have?”

He goes silent again but his gaze on me does not waiver.

“I don’t have any but I assure you I know nothing about this. All I wanted to do was to make sure I had her before letting you know. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your wife”, he mentions and at that, I perk up in curiosity. “I told her I wasn’t going to sit back and watch another person suffer for Andre’s mistakes. I told her I was going to find Andre if not for anyone but for her sake.”

My hand grabs his throat instantly as I drawls out. “You did what?!”

“Xavi…er…”, he chokes, hacking coughs as I release him, glaring daggers at him with my head spinning with questions.

Jasmine know? What the hell did he tell her?

“What else did you tell her?!” I shout, my head whipping around his way.

“Nothing else”, he coughs again, adjusting in his seat.

“Why the hell did you tell her that? When did all of these happen?”

I am beginning to wonder what steps Jasmine is taking to get to the root of these. And if she has been contacting him behind my back.

Does she know that I know she isn’t Andre but pretends to make me think she doesn’t?

He doesn’t answer me. He continues to cough, holding onto his throat.

Anger continues to simmer through me at the unanswered question and I am tempted to grab him again.

“You better answer me, Nicholas or your wife will take the fall for all these”, I threaten with a deep voice, my eyes red with anger.

He surged to his feet, his voice cracking. “No, Xavier. Don’t do this. I promise to take care of it. I am working on it already. I will have my hands on Andre before the week runs out.”

I don’t fucking care.

What I care about right now is what Jasmine knows and doesn’t know.

“Then tell me what you told her. Tell me every f**king thing you discussed with her!” my heart is racing at the thought of her knowing it all.

“Nothing, Xavier. We didn’t say anything other than that. She only asked me if I knew she wasn’t Andre and I told her yes. We haven’t even seen each other or spoken since your wedding. I tried to convince you not to go ahead with the wedding, remember? I knew she wasn’t my daughter. I could feel it. She was different from Andre.”

I feel like grabbing him again and slamming him against the wall for admitting to Jasmine behind my back that she isn’t Andre.

Is this the reason why Jasmine wanted to meet with him on several occasions but couldn’t because I had forbidden her from going there since our wedding?

What else does she know? What other plans does she have?

I drag a hand through my hair to control my anger. I am almost vibrating with anger and it dawns on me that it scares me to know how she would feel when all of this is out.

It scares me more to let her go.

Why? I find myself asking.

This is not just about Andre or Sebastian. I just don’t want her to go. Not back to that life she was living before she became my wife.

Is this why?

Why then does it scare me to let her know that I know she isn’t Andre?

“I’m sorry, Xavier. I never knew I wasn’t supposed to say that. I thought you weren’t aware too but now it’s obvious you are”, I snap my head towards him, taking slow threatening steps towards him as he backs away in fright.

He mentioned he would get his hands on Andre before the week runs out.

Right now, I don’t even know the level of my desperation to have her back. I don’t even know if I care about her coming back when I made a promise to let Jasmine go as soon as she is back but I know I want to punish her so badly.

I want her to realize the gravity of her actions. To make her mother cry for sacrificing Jasmine in place of Andre.

“Where is Andre?!” I thunder, caging him to the wall, my eyes igniting rage.

He stutters for a while before closing his eyes as if to summon up enough courage to look me in the face as he slides his eyes open, this time with less fear. “Don’t worry Xavier, I will bring her to you, I promise. My men are on her trail.”

“Where the hell is she, Nicholas?” I bark at him again, wanting nothing but for him to answer me.

He gulps down a huge lump and stares at me for a second before blurting out. “She is on her way to Paris at the moment.”

My jaws drop in extreme shock.