THE MAFIA’S MISTAKEN BRIDE

Andre’s POV

In a moving car and with a banging headache, I flicker my eyes open. The brightness from God knows where makes me shut my eyes back immediately.

Then I open it back only to collide my gaze with that of the strange. The strange familiar man from earlier. The same man I found attractive and damn good looking.

It’s bewildering how attractive I find him. His dark brown hair looks thick and silly and the little stumble on his jaw accentuates his manliness making me suck a breath.

The tuxedo he is changed in now makes him look like a god.

I suck in another breath when it sinks it. I was in the dressing room after a strip dance when Andre and Mathew came in and I lost consciousness.

My eyes widen in fear as I let it shift to the man before me again.

Fear slither down my spine at my mistake. My yet again recklessness. I should have known he was working for Xavier. I shouldn’t ignore my instinct but I was too drawn by his attractiveness allowing it to cloud my mind.

All I can think of just by staring at him is what having sex with a god like him will be like. All my life, I have been with only two men; a stupid boyfriend of mine from high school and a random guy from a club.

They were both meaningless. They meant nothing to me and even changed my sex view. I felt sex was overrated. That doesn’t stop me from admiring an attractive man when I see one and the man before me is one.

When his face lights up in a smile, it causes a fluttering in my stomach. Then I remember I have been kidnapped and I find myself rising immediately and taking a position to fight him off.

His face turns grim and suddenly, it becomes funny as he bursts into laughter, making embarrassment fill me up.

I look around the dark-moving van until the torch goes off again. When it comes on, I see two men tied to a chair unconscious. I strain my eyes to see who they are all to no avail as he comes to block my view with the torch in his hand.

“What were you thinking, Amore mio?” His rash breath fans my face and neck region, making me back away till my back hits an end.

Thinking he will step forward and have me pinned to the van, I wait but he steps aside instead, flashing the torch towards the men.

I look at them for a while until recognition kicks in. It is Andrew and Mathew.

Andrew is Xavier’s right-hand man. I know Ethan to be the next in line but I don’t know what Mathew’s role is. Seeing them in this position makes me wonder who this man is again and if he is really working with Xavier to get me back to New York.

Unable to find my voice, I try to clear my throat and clear my mind of the forbidden images running through my head.

“Who are you?!” Finally, I drop my hand. His gaze does not leave my hand as he continues to smile like he is born for that. “Where are we going?”

He does not answer. There is silence except for the movement of the van on the road. From the space in here, I figured it is a van.

He steps forward. “If you are that curious, Bella, why don’t you tell me who these men are.”

Watching his dark hooded eyes, another form of relief washes through my entire body at the realization that he has got nothing to do with Andrew and Mathew or Xavier.

How did he manage to rescue me then? What did he do to them? Are they dead? Where the hell are we going?

“Catch got your tongue, sweetheart?” His voice is thick with his Italian accent, making me wonder what he is doing here in London.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I roll my eyes at him. “Cat got yours too?”

Now, I am no longer scared. I was scared because I thought my plans had failed and I have to go home to meet that devil and the harsh scoldings of my father.

Now that I am here, I don’t care what happens as long as I don’t have to go to New York.

Still trying to be careful and ignoring the smile on his face because of my question, I ask again. “Where the hell are we going?”

I fold my arms around my bosom, waiting for his response. Suddenly, his eyes leave mine and settle on my chest.

“Pervert!” I snap at him when I realize he is staring at the see-through to see my breast.

He laughs and looks away. He moves to a chair and sits in, grabbing a phone and barking orders into it in Italian. Suddenly, a door from somewhere opens and another till brightness fills the entire place.

“What do we do with them?” he points towards Andrew and Mathew’s lifeless body.

Without knowing what to tell him, I shrug nonchalantly. I don’t care. If he hadn’t rescued me, I would still be in their grip, probably on Xavier’s jet back to New York.

I should be grateful to this man even though he is a pervert. For now, he is the least of my problems. Once he gets rid of Andrew and Mathew, I can begin to think of how to deal with him on my own.

“Should I kill them?” he demands, making me raise a brow at him.

“No, just get rid of them now!”

Like a dove, he does not argue with me. He just stands up from the wooden chair and moves towards them. I watch him squat in front of them with his back to me, making it difficult to see what he is doing.

Before I can lean forward out of curiosity to see what he is doing, another door opens behind them and he uses his leg to push the chair they are tied to. Slowly, the chair begins to go down towards the door which is slightly bent and before I know it, Andrew and Mathew are gone.

Out of the van.

The thought that they might die from the fall hits me but I decide to completely ignore that. I shouldn’t be concerned about that.

Reminding myself that I now have this pervert to deal with, I face him squarely without any atom of fear as I demand from him sharply. “Who are you? Why did you rescue me? What do you want from me?”

The serious look he has on his face disappears immediately, getting replaced with that smug look.

“Which of these do you want me to answer first, Amore mio?” he saunters toward me slowly, finally pinning me to the door behind me.

When his minty breath hits me again, I almost lose it by grabbing him and crashing my mouth to his but I know better than to act impulsive.

“Who are you?” I ask harshly, staring at his handsome face.

He grins and replies. “I am Alex Rossi. What else do you want to know?”

I want to ask him who Alex Rossi is but I keep mute instead before asking again. “Why did you rescue me?”

He steps back in surprise. Then, he shrugs nonchalantly. “Helping a lady in distress shouldn’t be much of a big deal, should it?”

I don’t nod. I just ask the last question sharply. “What do you want from me?”

Men like him don’t help without expecting something in return. I am sure he wants me to have sex with him. That is why he has been coming to the clubs for days now. He doesn’t seem like someone based here in London. Perhaps he is here for a business deal and all he wants is to get under my skirt before going off his way.

“I want you”, he murmurs, more in a whisper, making cold shivers run down my spine.

“I want you to be my woman”, he rasps out again after a moment of silence and my stomach does a flip in anticipation.