THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Jasmine’s POV

Now, I remember it all.

Everything about last night. The alcohol. The urine. The kiss and finally the puking.

I shut my eyes in embarrassment, his scent intoxicating because of the nearness of his body to me which is serving as a reminder that he is here.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

How will I look him in the face now after all that drama?

I was too preoccupied with my plan of stealing Mr. Moore’s number from him to even try to remember how we got home last night or what happened.

I only assumed I was drunk because of the banging headache which is done now after he gave me a pill and coffee to take.

“Are you ok?” His voice jerks me back to life, making me slide my eyes open to meet his amused expression.

He is still mocking me.

It is apparent that he is enjoying himself doing that.

Feigning annoyance, I shift my gaze from his face before looking out of the window. We are on our way home.

Back to New York.

Funnily, I don’t feel sad about leaving Italy or overwhelmed about going back to New York. I don’t even feel anything.

Except for my worry about Grandmother. We didn’t even bid her goodbye and I couldn’t suggest that to Xavier because I haven’t spoken a word to him since he announced how I dragged him into the ladies and crashed my lips on his.

Shit! I curse out loud and a laughter erupts from him.

I close my eyes again, wishing to be courageous just this once to face him and talk about what happened. If I don’t, this will go on and he will continue to use this against me.

Just a day ago, I was asking him why he kissed me and now I was the one who initiated it.

What was wrong with me?

I was drunk.

Yes, that was it.

This is surely the answer to the question of what was wrong with me. I shouldn’t be embarrassed since I wasn’t in my right frame of mind. I know I have low tolerance for alcohol and I should have rejected the bottle when Sophia offered it.

Feeling confidence enough to face him since I now have an answer, I turn to face him squarely. There is a seat opposite me but he chooses to sit beside me just to mock me.

“I’m sorry for kissing you. I was drunk and I didn’t know what came over me. In fact, I didn’t remember until you pointed it out. I’m sorry for that and also for puking…” I trail off, realizing I am more embarrassed about being in his presence than the kiss.

Perhaps, it’s because it wasn’t our first kiss.

A wicked glint appears in his eyes, making me speechless all of a sudden, my confidence dissolving into thin air.

“You don’t need to be sorry”, he sounds serious as he utters, making me nod pitifully. “I enjoyed it so it’s fine.”

“What?!” I exclaim rather loudly, making him face me again with a smirk. “You did what?”

He does not say anything as the smirk wipes off his face. He continues to stare at me for more than a second before raising his hand to put the pleat behind my ear.

“I enjoyed it”, his reply comes out in a low whisper, making shivers run down my spine at his touch and the tone.

“You enjoyed what I did?” I find myself asking to be sure I understood him well enough and not to get the wrong idea.

He nods and my heart all but stops at this instant, my mind reeling back and forth and spinning with lots of questions.

When he isn’t saying anything else, I force myself to continue gazing up at him even though my insides are in disarray. “You like my kiss?”

My voice is shaky. As though I am on the verge of crying.

I can’t explain how I feel right now but I know I am in between the emotion of joy and sadness.

I can’t comprehend what it all means or where this is going.

With his right hand still on my hair as we face each other squarely, he nods with a genuine smile on his face, which almost gets me crying.

Xavier likes my kiss.

Does that mean he likes me? Does he mean he wants me like a man wants a woman? Does it mean he loves me?

At the last question, my head takes a turn when it dawns on me that he called me Andre a while ago meaning this feeling or whatever this is all about is for Andre, not Jasmine.

Silence falls between us.

A pin drop can even be heard because he isn’t looking like he is ready to expatiate and I am totally speechless and confused.

I hope we can talk about this. This recent tension between us. What it means and where it is leading to but I am afraid. I am scared shit of what I will find out at the end of it all when all of this isn’t even guaranteed from the start.

I don’t want to think about my fears of being with him other than how I feel safe with him. I don’t want to think of anything else but this moment even though it won’t last long.

When the silence between us is becoming awkward, I decide to take my eyes off him and sit back then stare out of the window when he holds me back.

His hand is now on my arm.

My eyes drift to how he is tenderly holding my arm.

It is not rough like how he used to grab me and I wonder what has changed.

When I look back up, his eyes flash and he crashes his lips to mine, making me sit stiffly in amazement. His hand cups my face, making my heart pound hard within my ribcage as he deepens the kiss, his tongue running across my bottom lip.

I don’t know why or when it happened but I feel wetness on my face.

He must have felt it too because he didn’t stop the kiss but trailed his finger on the wetness, spreading it across my face and making a low whimper leave my mouth in between the kiss.

If I wasn’t kissing him right now, perhaps I would have broken down in tears and cried for hours because of how I feel right now.

I want it all out.

For no reason.

All of this is coming to me as a shock. I know I liked him. He is sinfully handsome and all but I never thought in my wildest dream that Xavier would like me back.

Despite liking him, I can’t overlook the other side of him that scares me. I might feel safe with him and around him as a person but my heart is in trouble if I end up falling for a man like him.

My fragile heart will be torn to pieces.

Why I am thinking of love and my heart is what I can’t figure out right now because I can barely think straight with his tongue slipping in and out of my mouth. It makes me feel like a fool for even thinking in that direction.

Before I can continue with my analysis, a cough interrupts the moment, making us flutter our eyes open at the same time.

We stare at each other for a second with our noses on each other before he pulls away immediately, regret flashing across his expression when he gazes at Ethan, that serious-looking right man of his.

He doesn’t like me and I don’t either.

Ethan’s cold eyes leave mine before focusing on Xavier who is as calm and natural as ever, as though we weren’t caught just now making out.

I wonder what is wrong with that. I am his wife.

Why is Ethan making it look like what we just did is forbidden?

“We have landed, boss”, he announces with a bow before turning back to leave.

Xavier turns to me and says. “We have a dinner party to attend tonight. I will have a dress delivered to you before noon and I will see you as soon as I am done with work.”

He isn’t looking like someone who just kissed me. He isn’t breathless like I am. He isn’t smiling like he was just a while ago.

Just serious and natural.

Realizing this is meant for me to get down from the helicopter alone, I nod and rise, hoping he would at least smile at me in assurance that everything is fine and is going to be fine.

He doesn’t do that but opens his laptop as I amber towards the exit slowly, my legs heavy with regrets.

Just before I can turn to the stairs, I turn back to see his attention on the laptop. As if knowing I am watching, he looks up and a smile eventually curves up the corner of his mouth.

Relief floods through me.

Instantly.