The Billionaire's Accidental Bride

Chapter 5: Humanity

Azure P.O.V

"I told you this wasn't the best idea you ever had! If father finds out - Ugh! You could have ruined the entire mission by what you just did! Do you know that?!" Richardo hissed at me on our way back to the mansion from the club. I just rolled my eyes at his behavior. This was the exact reason why I hated the rule of Richardo having to escort me if I go out of the mansion.

"Oh, would you just try to f*****g relax already?! I had to see him first before the council meeting. I froze seeing him tonight! What if I had left it and froze the moment I saw him at the council meeting, huh? What then? Then the mission would have been royally f****d!"I ranted on at Richardo. It was true, I felt like I needed to see Xavier before the mission.

I was already disguised, so Xavier wouldn't have thought much anyway. Richardo just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he knew I had a good point and that it would have been no use to even try and argue with me. Ïm going to talk to father and see if there's no other way to maybe send one of the other female soldiers in to carry out the mission. Perhaps Jennifer could go out, yeah .. she's still a little too young but -"I instantly flung my hand over Richardo's mouth in an attempt to stop him from even talking further.

"NO! I have to be the one to carry out this mission! He was the one who slit my mother's throat and I will ultimately be the one to slit his! No one else, but me! Please, Richardo, just try and understand that I need to do this for my mother" I retorted back at Richardo, hoping that he would at least try to understand. Richardo just stared back at me blankly and I struggled to decipher what he would do. Shock, pain, and admiration were clearly visible on his face. He was torn. He leaned closer to me, his face merely inched away from mine.

Richardo brought his hand up, lightly caressing my face. I just closed my eyes. desperately wishing for him to rather pull away, I turned my head to the other side, earning me a sigh from Richardo. "Luckily we pulled up at the Salvatore mansion. Never in my life had I gotten out of an SUV as fast as I did tonight. I rushed up to my room, hearing Richardo call out after me. Running as fast as I could, I sprinted up the stairs and up to my room, slamming it shut just in time.

Richardo knocked on the door, "Come on Azure, please open the door. We need to talk about everything that happened and what will still come!" Richardo shouted from the other side. I just stood by the window, looking out over the ocean while Richardo wasted this breath. Again, he knocked. "Azure! I know you are listening to me. Fucksakes, woman! If we are to be wed soon then you at least have to try and be in the same room as I am!" Richardo shouted frustratedly.

'Yeah, f*****g right! I'll find a way out of this stupid arrangement somehow!' I thought to myself as I walked over to the bathroom and turned on the shower, hoping that Richardo will get the message if I don't answer him for long. As I stood in the shower, I kept thinking about everything that happened tonight.

*Flashback*

"My name is Carla, Carla Luciano," I said as Xavier looked at me with so much curiosity painted all over his face. Xavier signaled over for one of the waitresses serving his table. "Mr. Cortez, is there anything I can help you with? Does the Miss. need something to drink?" She asked. Xavier looked over at me, seemingly asking me with his eyes if I wanted something to drink. "I'm fine thank you," I said sincerely as Xavier smiled at me before turning his attention back to the waitress. "Just a pack of ice, please," he said before dismissing her.

"Well, your ankle looks to be swelling some, so I think you might have definitely sprained it. Are - are you okay though?"Xavier asked as he lightly caressed my throbbing ankle. I closed my eyes, hoping - praying that he would stop. Xavier noticed my discomfort, placing his cold hand on my ankle while undoing the strap of my heel. "Don't worry baby-doll, I'll sort this out for you soon!"Xavier said pulling me closer. Everything inside of me wanted to take my knife from my garter and just jam it straight into his throat. Xavier's hand moved further up my leg from my ankle.

He left goosebumps everywhere his hand traced. My breathing started to get faster each time he slowly inched up my leg. "Mr. Cortez? Here's the ice you requested" the waitress said, luckily resulting in Xavier aborting his mission up to my private area. I released the breath I was holding as he applied the ice to my ankle. Xavier leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my ankle, looking up at me as he went to work on icing my ankle. I just stared at him, curious.

*End of Flashback*

After my shower, I walked over and flopped down on my bed, beyond exhausted. I cuddled further into my pillow as I knew that in two days the most important mission of my life would begin, in two days my life would change forever. I quickly wrapped my ankle up in warm bandages before switching off my lamp, thinking about Xavier and his actions tonight, his soft caressing touch, those lips. With thoughts of Xavier consuming me, I drifted off to sleep.

***

I woke up to a loud banging on my door. "Azure!" An all too familiar voice shouted from the other side of the door. Ugh! I crawled further into my pillow. I seriously didn't have the energy to deal with Richardo this early in the morning. "Azure! Get up! Father needs to see you in his office, urgently!" Richardo shouted. My eyes immediately flung open as I stormed toward the door, pulling it open. Richardo just stared back at me with a wide smirk plastered all over his face. "Five minutes, sweet legs!" Richardo said with a smirk. It was just then that I realized I stood in front of him with just a baggy t-shirt on, covering the bare minimum.

I immediately threw the door shut in his face and ran over to the bathroom, heading for a quick shower and getting dressed. Walking down to Marinio's office, I couldn't help the nervousness that crept up my neck. I carefully knocked on Marinio's door, waiting for him to tell me to come in. Walking into his office, I saw my dad, Richardo, and Alrikia already waiting for me. "You wanted to see me, boss?" I said as confidently as I could.

"Yes, yes! Come sit down! Alrikia told me that you have made significant progress on your training and that you are, in her opinion, finally ready for this mission. I am truly incredibly proud of you and I'm sure your father is proud as well!" Marinio said looking over at my father. My father just gave me a curt nod of his head, acknowledging me. 'Wow! So much enthusiasm!'I thought to myself, inwardly rolling my eyes.

"Yes, I'm ready for this mission, come hell or high water, I won't fail - not at this!"I said with so much determination in my voice that I could see the admiration in Richardo's eyes. "Yes, I know - take the rest of the day off, even try and test some of your newly taught skills on Richardo! After all, the both of you will get married once you return from this mission!" Marinio said, causing Richardo to smirk at me. 'Yeah, f*****g right!' I thought to myself.

"May I please be excused, boss? I Uhm, I need to make sure that I have everything ready and set for the council meeting tomorrow! I lied with the hope to wiggle myself out of the conversation. Marinio just laughed before he nodded his head, excusing me from the office. I gave a curt nod of acknowledgment before turning on my heel and rushing to get out of his office and back to my room before Richardo could try and corner me again. I stormed into my room and shut the door before flopping down on the bed. Again, my mind kept racing back to last night at the club.

*Flashback*

"So, what is a pretty lady such as yourself doing alone in the club? Leaving you exposed to all of the vultures out here?" Xavier asked, sitting back in the booth and sipping on his whiskey. He just stared at me intently. I sipped on my wine, looking back at him, fully knowing that Richardo was downstairs, keeping an eye on me from afar.

"Well, I just needed a distraction for life so I ended up here, and yeah, the rest of what happened you pretty much saw. " I lied to him, hoping that my story would have at least be believable. Xavier just looked at me curiously before slightly nodding his head. As he wanted to say something, another guy slid into the booth right next to me. I shifted uncomfortably in an attempt to get away from him.

"What's up, pretty lady? Here to give the owner a reason to smile for once or provide some different services?" the guy said with a cocky smirk, looking over at Xavier. Xavier just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before looking over at me, apologizing with his eyes. I knew this was my way out of the club, to get away from here before he tried to do anything. "Carla, this is my brother, Xander. Xander, this is Carla" Xavier introduced us uncomfortably. I just faked a surprised look at him.

"W-Wait ... you ... you are the owner of this place?" I said with a fake gasp, trying to scurry getting all of my stuff together. Xavier just looked at me concerned. "Uhm, yeah?" he said hesitantly, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. I quickly pulled on my heel and shot up, wobbling toward the stairs. "Thank you for the help with my ankle!" I shouted over my shoulder, running down the stairs as fast as I could manage.

Once downstairs, I looked up to the VIP booths, to see Xavier staring back at me with so much hurt and curiosity in his eyes. I felt a bit guilty but I also knew that if I didn't leave now, then I could possibly ruin the entire mission.

*End of flashback*

I threw my pillow over my head, frustrated that I even dared to go to his club last night. A knock on the door brought me from my inner thoughts. "Richardo! Please! Just give me one day of f*****g peace and quiet! Please!" I shouted from my bed, really not in the mood for dealing with him. "It's Alrikia!" came a voice from the other side of the door. "s**t! Now what?!" I inaudibly mumbled to myself walking over to the door. Opening the door, I saw Alrikia standing there with loads of shopping bags in her hand and a fake smile plastered all over her face. "I thought you would need some supplies for when you go out on your mission!"

I just looked at her skeptically. "Look, I know you don't like me much, but I'm rooting for you, Azure! I really want you to succeed with this. It's about time that Marinio retires. I know no one around here likes me much, but for what it's worth ... I really love him." Alrikia said in the most sincere voice that I ever heard her speak in. Wow! Looks like she actually had some form of humanity. I took the bags from her, offering a small thanks before putting them in my closet. I walked over to the window, just staring outside and thinking of how the next few weeks were going to go down.

A second knock on the door brought me back to reality. It was most probably Alrikia bringing some more bags. I opened the door to reveal my father standing there with a disapproved look on his face. 's**t! What did I do wrong now?' I thought to myself as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest.