THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Jasmine’s POV

My stomach lurches at his request while I continue to watch him with folded arms, hoping for a spark of warmth, love and comfort in his blue eyes.

But there is nothing.

They are just hard and cold. Reminding me of the man who kidnapped me four months ago from Chicago.

It feels like the Xavier I fell in love with is different from that man.

His so-called brother on the other hand is still gaping at him, making me irritated. I don’t know if this irritation is from the mere fact that he had a thing with Andre or because I am still mad from last night.

Xavier isn’t even trying to make me feel better. The jerk is pretending as if nothing happened.

What exactly does he mean by asking me to accompany Alex to Andre’s place?

I am tempted to tell him a big NO. I want to defy him for once but on second thought, I want to use this to my advantage.

I should see Mr. Moore.

It is still early and if we can leave now, I should be able to see him.

Without a word, I walk past both men; Xavier whose head is bent as he pretends to go through a file after giving me the order to accompany Alex and Alex who is staring in amazement at me and my hair.

I know he has a lot of questions to ask me but I am in no mood to answer any of them. If he had arrived a day earlier, maybe I wouldn’t be acting this way towards him.

The sound of footstep follows behind me and I know it is Alex.

Xavier is indeed a jerk and I can’t wait to give him a piece of my mind again once we are alone.

He didn’t come into the bedroom last night even though I was in no mood to see or talk to him but the absence angered me more.

I haven’t seen him since I stormed off last night after coming down from the car. I’m just seeing him and the first thing he says to me is to accompany his brother to that brat’s home.

I wonder what she has with this Alex guy but I don’t care.

He has a little resemblance to Xavier. Perhaps, because they are brothers.

From the look of things, they are not getting along well or this is just Xavier’s way of handling things.

If he is not on good terms with Sophie and now Alex, then who is he on good terms with? I wonder why he makes everything so difficult for himself.

A car is already waiting with the doors open. I enter and sit in while Alex does the same. The car kicks life immediately and it drives towards the gate.

The silence isn’t as awkward as that of my ride with Xavier back home last night. I’ve never been so furious in my entire life. I was so angry to the point of tears but I managed to hold it back.

“You are not sisters with Andre?” Alex’s voice jerks me back to reality. I turn slightly to face him and he flashes me a cute smile. “Sei bello (you are beautiful), just like my Andre.”

I ignore him.

I don’t understand Italian and I don’t want to know what he just said.

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“Are you dating Xavier?” he asks again, this time with a tone of curiosity.

I do not answer. I am looking out of the window with my arms folded.

“You know what? If it wasn’t because of your hair, I would have sworn you were her…”

“I am not Andre!” I bark at him in frustration. “I thought I told you that already?”

His face falls. And guilt pricks at me instantly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you”, he mutters before falling silent. I look away, ignoring the guilt settling inside of me.

This is not me. I am not the type to get so angry to the point of transferring aggression to other people. Especially someone who isn’t even responsible for my anger in the first place.

Aside from that, Alex seems like a nice dude. He is the total opposite of Xavier.

He was full of smiles earlier even though he wouldn’t stop gaping at me.

“I’m sorry”, I blurt out, closing my eyes in shame. “This is unlike me.”

“Obviously. It’s fine, though”, I am not seeing him but I can detect the smile from his tone. “I have dealt with someone more stubborn and aloof than you are so it’s cool, Mia Cara.”

Andre.

He is talking about her. She is the aloof one. Curiosity hits me and I almost begin to bombard him with questions.

“First, I don’t understand Italian so I would really appreciate it if you stop speaking unless you are willing to translate. I’m willing to learn.”

He laughs and a smile creeps to my face.

“Second, I am not aloof. If there is anyone on earth who is jovial and as kind as Mother Teresa, then it’s me.”

Laughter erupts from his throat. This time, it is not as short as the first. Making me take note of the richness of his voice

“Third”, I smirk, enjoying myself and the way the conversation is leading to. “I am Jasmine Cooper, not Andre and we are not sisters. I don’t even like her.”

“Are you serious?” He gasps with wide eyes. “You two are not biological sisters?”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

At that moment, I remember what Costello told Xavier at the party. How can I be so sure that we are not sisters? I haven’t questioned that yet.

“Wow. Unbelievable.”

Silence falls.

For a minute, I thought he had fallen asleep or gotten tired of the conversation. “I miss her, dammit!”

My curiosity comes back in full force.

“You two are dating?” I ask, peering down at him intensely.

He gives me a boyish smile and shakes his head. “Not really.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To claim what is mine. She is my woman.”

I scoff.

So she ran off because she had someone else she was in love with? Really? Does Alex even know the whole story of why I am here and why Andre has been away? Did she tell him?

I am tempted to tell him everything. Every single thing. I am tempted to discourage him from going to meet her or even think of loving her more than he already has but I know that will be in vain.

I should be happy instead.

It means Andre doesn’t like Xavier. But I don’t know if Xavier likes her.

If Alex is in love with her, then it means Xavier doesn’t like her. Even if he does, he might want to get rid of whatever he feels now that he knows what Alex feels about her.

Why do I even care?

I wave the thought away, not wanting to think about Xavier because I am still mad at him.

He lied to me. He deceived me into believing he didn’t know that I was not Andre. Now I don’t trust him anymore.

I don’t even trust him with Catherina and now Andre is in the picture.

Catherina called me last night. She told me everything. She told me Xavier knew from the beginning that I wasn’t her but he needed a replacement to heal his bruised ego so he kidnapped me, pretending to believe I was Andre.

I was filled with rage but I managed to go meet him at the restaurant.

I didn’t want to stand him up.

I wanted him to prove Catherina wrong but she was right. He said he didn’t know at first until the day before our wedding. What difference does that even make?

She also told me he was using me and once he was done using me, I would be dumped like a piece of trash.

I didn’t want it to get to me but it did.

“How are you coping with him?” Alex’s voice breaks into my thoughts and I shrug nonchalantly. “Do you like him?”

I turn to him sharply. He has a cute smile on his face which manages to dissolve my uprising anger.

Why the hell am I getting angry so often these days?

“No, I don’t,” I answer, turning away from him.

He nods in understanding and remains silent. Just then, the car slows down and comes to a stop in front of the Moore’s building.

When the gate opens, the driver drives into the parking lot where he finally stops the car.

Before he can come down to open the door for me, I beat him to it and Alex does the same. He is looking around admiring the exterior design of the building.

Just before I can show him the front door so we can go inside, a voice stops us. A voice similar to mine, making my heart skip a beat.

Slowly I turn to see her.

Andre Moore in all graciousness. Standing beside her mother who has petals in her hands. Andre is wearing a skimpy dress with tiny straps, exposing her body and showing a tiny tattoo on her shoulder.

I don’t have that.

Just then, it hit me.

Xavier rolled up my sleeves that night in Chicago. When he saw my tattoo, the one on my left hand, he was fully convinced that I was her.

Why do we have the same tattoo? Does it mean Xavier is speaking the truth about not knowing I wasn’t her that night?

“Alex?” she calls again, her eyes wide open in shock. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She begins to move towards us slowly while I continue to examine every part of her.

Everything about her is just like mine, except of course her red-hair and curvations which are extremely dominant.

I finally shift my gaze to her mother who is still standing with the flowers in her hands. Guilt flashes through her expression but it disappears as soon as it comes, replaced with a sad look.

Alex grins and opens his arms wide to receive Andre. A slap jerks me upright and I turn to see Alex holding his cheeks with his right hand.

Andre is staring daggers at him and I finally see it.

The tattoo. The tiny baby tattoo with an alphabetical A beneath it

It’s just like mine.