THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Xavier’s POV

With a smoke, I watch the strippers as they dance around the pole with their eyes fixated on me.

But she isn’t here.

She isn’t among the strippers like I thought she would.

I came here because of Andre but now that she isn’t here, it feels like all of this isn’t even real. It feels like Andre and Jasmine are one and my doubts about this whole thing is dumb.

Mathew saw her. More reason why I need to know that this is real but I feel stupid, not finding her, wasting my time searching all around for her while she continues to run.

The fact that I haven’t been able to catch up with her is what angers me the most because I know how happy that would make her.

I detest her.

Catching my gaze, one of the strippers began to make her way towards me with a smile tugged on her face.

Maybe she isn’t here. Maybe the news about her being in Italy is just to take me off the trail.

Suddenly, I feel a touch. Then a seductive whisper follows, making me let out a puff of the smoke and turn to face the lady with irritation flashing across my expression.

“You want a lap dance?” she continues to rub her hands over my lap as she whispers again, ignoring the look on my face.

Now, I regret why I asked for a seat alone in the VIP section. Perhaps, Andre had seen me and that made her run away.

I shouldn’t have come alone then. I came home because I didn’t want to raise suspicion. She is smart enough to know when something is amiss.

When the lady’s hand touches my groin, I groan. “Fuck off!”

She jerks backwards in fear before scrambling to her feet and going back to the dance floor after throwing me a harsh glare.

At the moment, I feel bored. I have lost interest in all of this.

This chase.

This hatred in my heart towards her.

The thought of how she would feel.

Now, I don’t even know why exactly I am doing all of this. I don’t need to find Andre before letting Jasmine go. I can just let her go without having to get my hands on Andre but it just feels right for me to get her first to pay for her sins before letting Jasmine off the hook.

Now that I think of it, a fresh stab of guilt hits me.

I don’t want her to go.

Perhaps, it’s because it’s still unsafe for her.

But I don’t need to find Andre to let her go. Jasmine and Andre are two different people with different personalities. The striking resemblance between them is just fucking with my brains.

Shooting to my feet, I dump the cigarette in my hand as the music turns into a loud one, irritating me.

I begin to walk away from the section, making my way towards the first exit which is less crowded, unlike the second exit.

My phone rings and I dip my hand into my pocket to bring it out when the ringing sound stops. Lazily, I drop it back in my pocket, making a mental note to call whoever it is once I am in my car. My car is waiting outside.

As soon as I raise my head up, a few distance away from the exit, I catch the sight of a familiar figure, making me come to a screeching halt.

Andre?

She enters hurriedly from the second exit and before I know it, she disappears.

Quickly, I move backwards, striding towards the second exit so I won’t miss her again. Even though I had just seen her, something seemed off.

I saw her face clearly but her hair is different. It’s just like the fake wig Jasmine always has on her head, making me wonder if my assumption about Andre changing her hair color just to take me off the track is indeed real.

When I get to the second exit, I don’t see her. It is a bit more crowded than the first and I spin around, anger simmering through me.

Then I see her again.

She does not seem to be in a hurry which means she doesn’t know I am here. Maybe she is late to work. I heard she works here.

I struggle to walk towards where she is standing when I see her talking to someone in a pink dress.

Then it hits me.

This isn’t Andre. This is Jasmine.

The lady in the pink dress is Sophia, my step-sister.

I don’t have time to think about how I have just mistook her for Andre again when rage ignites inside of me.

What the hell are they doing here by this time? I was smoking earlier just to get rid of my guilt about what happened between us. I was thinking of how to face her again after seeing that fear on her face.

Before I can get to them, Sophia disappears leaving Jasmine all to herself and then Jasmine begins to go away towards a door.

I force myself out of the crowd of dancing men and women but by the time I am in the particular spot I saw them standing together earlier, Jasmine was gone too.

“Hey”, Sophia slaps me over the shoulder from behind. “How did you know we were here?”

I whirl around to see her holding two glasses of alcohol.

“Why the hell did you bring her here?!” I bark at her in frustration. Just this morning, she was almost shot or kidnapped.

Who knows what Sebastian’s next move is? If there is anyone on earth I don’t want Jasmine to associate with, then it’s Sophia. She is reckless and wild. I know how convincing she must have been to force her down here.

She doesn’t look a bit hurt by my snapping. Instead, she shrugs nonchalantly, passing me a glass.

“She was moody so…”

“Fuck off!” I growl, pushing her aside before moving away from her.

Without hesitation, I moved towards the door I saw Jasmine take, with numerous questions running through my head.

I take the door, glancing all around for her but she is not in sight. I continue to walk further until I see another door which I open, darkness descending upon the room as I enter.

“Andre?” I hear a voice call out in the dark and footsteps follow. “Andre, is that you?”

Andre?

Was that Andre?

Is Andre and Jasmine here at the same time? Why did Jasmine come this way? Does she know Andre?

The voice sounds familiar but I know it isn’t hers. Jasmine and Andre have almost the same voice so I know.

“And…”

“Mom?” another person calls out, interrupting the first speaker from calling her name again.

My heart is still at the realization. But before I can assimilate anything else, the light is flickered on and I see Mrs. Moore with a smile tugged on her face.

Her gaze collides with mine and the smile disappears. Taking a gentle hold of my gun, looking around for the sight of Andre, someone else comes out from her hidden spot and I point the gun at her.

Her back is to me but the first thing I see throws me into a fit of confusion.

She has dark hair. Just like Jasmine.

And she is dressed just like Jasmine.

Perhaps, she must have seen how Mrs. Moore was watching me with wide eyes because the next thing she did was to turn back slowly to see me with a gun pointed at her.

And I know instantly that Andre has fooled me again.

This isn’t Andre.

This is Jasmine.