THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Xavier’s POV

Pulling up in front of Frank Costello’s mansion, I snap my head to scan Jasmine in her beautiful black armless peplum dress, showing a lot of her cleavage and making me conscious of it.

When she notices I am not getting out of the car even though the driver has pulled the door open for me, she turns to me with a questioning gaze.

Then she smiles but it doesn’t reach her beautiful brown eyes and it makes me wonder what is wrong with her.

Since noon when we arrived and after that kiss, we haven’t seen much of each other. I had some things to attend to but I made sure she was safely back home and ready for the party before rounding up and going home for a quick shower.

I am wearing a black suit, matching it with leather Italian shoes and also a black rolex wristwatch.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

I barely attend parties unless necessary. But coming to Frank’s party is one of my duties.

I don’t smile back. I just turned back and stepped down from the car before going to the other side to help her out.

My emotions are all over the place and I am sure she feels the same way. This is about what happened between us earlier. I didn’t plan that. I never planned for any of those kisses to happen. They just happen and I don’t know why.

The mere thought of how I told her I liked kissing her makes me feel so mad at myself when it is so clear that I am doing the wrong thing with the wrong person.

Jasmine is not Andre.

Andre is not Jasmine.

I am not supposed to feel this way for either of them.

I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to be good to her till it is time to leave. Andre will be back home soon and Sebastian will be caught real soon too.

With this, there will be no more reason to keep her.

Unless of course, she wants to stay, which is highly impossible.

The moment she steps down from the car, I loop my arms through her before walking towards the front door of the mansion. The place is already booming with soft melodious music and guests trooping in and out.

Frank Costello used to be my Father’s consigliere. He is still a member of the Mafia group and I hold him in high esteem. We haven’t seen each other in months but when I received the invitation to this dinner party just yesterday, I knew I couldn’t miss it.

In silence, Jasmine and I walk in. Pride fills me up as soon as everyone’s attention begins to shift to us.

She is beautiful and I am handsome. We make a perfect pair.

With Ethan and two other bodyguards behind us, we are led to a seat.

I pull the chair out for Jasmine and she settles down on it graciously but before I can take my seat, my eyes catch the sight of Frank.

With a smile tugged on my face, I push the seat back in and turn to Jasmine. “I will be right back.”

She nods obediently but before I can signal to the guards to stay put and have their eyes fixed on her so she doesn’t leave her seat like the other time at the party when we bumped into Vicenzo, someone appears and rushes to hug me.

“Xavier!” she shrieks in excitement, embracing me tightly.

I stand still and stiff.

Catherina Costella.

Frank’s first daughter.

When she pulls away from the hug, she smiles sweetly at me, pulling my cheeks. “Oh my God, I missed you.”

Before I can say a word to reduce the tension or perhaps introduce Jasmine to her as my wife, she pecks my lips quickly and I step backwards.

“Catherina, meet my wife, Andre. Andre meets Catherina, the host’s daughter.”

For no reason, I feel so ashamed of what she just did. This isn’t the first time she is doing this but having Jasmine around makes it feel wrong.

We’ve had a thing in the past. That was before Andre came into the picture.

Frank Costello was like a second father to me but when he made it known to me that he wanted Catherina and I to become married, I refused.

I don’t know why I kicked against that idea. Probably because I didn’t want to be married then but Andre came into the picture and marriage was the only way I could punish her.

Now, instead of Andre, I am married to Jasmine and I feel unfaithful right now.

I see jealousy flare up in her eyes as she turns slowly to Jasmine who is still sitting.

Probably dazed by the performance between Catherina and me earlier and still trying to recover from it.

I watch her gulp slowly before rising to stretch a hand towards Catherina who only glares at her, fuming mad.

Placing my hand on Jasmine’s back, I pull her closer to me. “Frank didn’t tell you I got married?”

Jasmine is tense but she still manages to have a joyless smile tugged on her face.

Catherina on the other hand is just staring at Jasmine. Apart from anger and jealousy, I can’t seem to figure out what other emotion she is feeling right now.

“No”, she answers sharply, flipping her hair proudly and folding her arms, her gaze not leaving Jasmine’s.

We stand awkwardly for a second before she finally takes Jasmine’s hand. “Hi, I’m Catherina Costello, Xavier’s girlfriend.”

Jasmine’s smile fades as her mouth drops open. Then she turns to me quickly.

I didn’t expect Catherina would introduce herself as my girlfriend and I don’t even know how to react to this.

I never knew I was going to meet her here. She has been away in London for a while and she is barely in America. Now that I think of it, I wonder why Frank never told her I was married and if she is speaking the truth.

“Catherina”, I find myself boiling in rage when she smirks, enjoying herself and the drama she is creating. “I just told you this is my wife. We haven’t seen each other in like fifteen months, I see no reason why you should introduce yourself as my girlfriend. We were never a thing, remember?”

Instead of replying to me, she flips her hair once more, and throws me a cold glare before turning back on her heels to leave, her bodyguard trailing behind her.

Happy that the media’s attention is not on us, I face Jasmine squarely but she only flashes me another one of her fake smiles.

Obviously, she is hurt.

But I am having some thoughts about why she is. First, I just said Catherina and I weren’t an item and secondly, she has no right to be angry over my past.

I wasn’t caught cheating and even if I was, she isn’t even Andre to begin with in the first place.

“Xavier Rivarivelo”, a familiar voice calls to me as I continue to stare at her smiling face with a hard expression, suddenly mad at her.

I whirl around slowly to meet the blue-eye of the old Frank Costello who reminds me more of my father. He was my father’s best friend.

He engulfs me in a hug before patting my shoulder proudly and leaning backwards to examine me. “You look good as always, son.”

“Thank you, Frank”, I say in appreciation with a little smile. Even though I am tempted to ask him if he truly didn’t tell Catherina that I was married, I believe this is not the right place to do that.

Frank and I have a lot of catching up to do.

His gaze shifts from me to the woman behind me who is still standing with a smile like a statue.

Realizing that Frank has never met with her since he wasn’t available during the wedding, I move backwards to hold hands with her and do the introduction.

“Frank, meet Andre, my wife. Andre meet Frank Costello, the host of the party”, I introduce, hoping she would be able to connect the dots and realize this is Catherina’s father and he is just like a father figure to me.

Nothing else.

Suddenly, it dawns on me that I do care what she thinks after all, unlike my earlier anger about why she feels threatened or feels bad about the whole Catherina’s drama.

Frank takes a step closer, scrutinizing her carefully and taking her outstretched hand.

“Good day, Frank”, she greets politely, maintaining her calm composure.

Frank nods and pecks her hand before leaning upright and asking. “Is this Andre Moore?”

Of course. Who else would it be?

I nod intermittently.

Frank has a confused look on his face as he shakes his head suddenly.

“This isn’t Andre”, he mutters all of a sudden, making my heart skip a beat and Jasmine turns to me quickly with wide eyes.