I did not expect my heart to race the way it did when we got into the hall. What if my plan was not going to work? I knew that Olivia was going to hate me for my plan, but what if she hated me for life? I did not want her to hate me,I wanted her to want me. I could not decipher why I had that strong urge to keep her in my life, but I did, and did not want it to get ruined.
What if she saw through my plan? She was smart, and even though I carefully planned everything out, I was scared that she would see through everything that I did. I had to be careful. I wanted to get everything right.
I slid my hands down to her waist, and I could feel her body stiffen. I tightened my lips to prevent myself from smiling, or she would see me from the corner of her eyes, and get more tense. I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. There was a saying that my father taught me as a child. 'A prey doesn't feel if it's a prey unless the predator acts like a predator'. I needed Olivia to feel comfortable. I wanted Olivia to feel comfortable, and in control so she would not see what was coming for her until it hit her.
I showed her to a successful Spanish businessman called Rowan. She spoke to him, and her nerves began to calm down as she smiled, getting more comfortable. I had called Rowan there because I knew her line of work and was aware she would be interested in collaborating with him, and he would be equally interested in working with her. Watching her talk to Rowan so passionately about her business and potential partnership, it was clear Rowan was genuinely interested in working with her. As they immediately struck a deal, I made a hand signal, indicating it was time for my next line of action.
A man walked towards us, and my face tightened. Both Olivia and Rowan noticed the tension in the air as the man walked towards us. Rowan excused himself. Wise man. He had an idea about who I was, and did not want to involve himself with whatever I did. He has played his part by talking with Olivia and striking a deal. I was happy that he excused himself.
"Long time no see Alexander. I see you got yourself yet another toy to play with. You never seem to change", the man said with a chuckle.
"This is my wife-to-be Maximilian. She's not a sex toy. And it's a pleasure to see you here. I knew you would make it here after trying to use a woman who may have been innocent to try sabotaging me", I said, gripping Olivia's waist tighter.
She looked more angry and intrigued than uncomfortable. It was as though the tight grip on her waist had nothing on her. She was clearly angry that Maximilian had called her a sex toy, and she was intrigued because he talked like he was the one that sent Jade to us. That was exactly what I had planned. But the truth was that Maximilian did not know all of my plans. He just knew the role that he was supposed to play, and knew that he was lying to Olivia. But he did not know the complete truth. He did not know why I was doing all that I was doing.
Maximilian was what one could call a frenemy of mine. Our families hated each other due to a wealth and power struggle. His family had refused to form an alliance with mine when my parents had wanted them to, which had caused major problems between our families and led to the breach in Maximilian's and my relationship. Despite this, we stuck together, helping each other whenever we wanted, although we both didn't trust each other enough to be close friends. It wasn't wise to be best friends with someone whose family wanted you destroyed.
I knew Maximilian liked a lot of drama, and we both had the common interest of playing with people's minds especially women. When I told him his role, and exactly what he was supposed to do, he had immediately agreed to go on with the plan.
But I had given him a stern warning against hitting on Olivia behind my back or at any time, as it was strictly against the plan. He had chuckled and teased that I was falling in love, but I ignored his jests. I had never fallen in love before, not after witnessing how my father treated my mother during my childhood, not after the multiple sexual assaults I suffered as a teenager, and not after my training to become a powerful Mafia lord, which had taken a toll on my mental health. Those experiences had left me with a dark and unpleasant past. It was impossible for me to be in love. Yet, the truth was, I didn't understand why I felt a certain way about Olivia. I could rationalize that the feeling wasn't love, but what was it, then? Why did I feel so protective of her? Why wasn't I drawn to other women anymore? I was eager to uncover the truth behind my emotions. And if Maximilian's guess was correct, I was in for a rollercoaster ride.
"What are you accusing me of this time? I have no idea what you're talking about", he said, claiming to be innocent.
I clenched my jaw tight. Maximilian was good at this. His voice sounded so convincing, and if I was not the person that organsied all this, I would think he definitely did something.
Maximilian did not send anybody to me. I doubt that he had ever met Jade in his life, and here he was sounding suspicious.
From the way Olivia looked to me, and then to Maximilian, I could tell that she found Maximilian suspicious. That was the plan anyways.
"If you'd excuse me, I would like to take my princess to dance with me. This conversation with you is boring", I said.
"I know you deal with many illegal businesses, and you're a head of a Mafia. But unlike the rest of the Mafia, you don't lay so low. The media knows you, but you have been able to paint yourself as a good person to a lot of people, and you have always been able to commit crimes without ever getting arrested. One day your time of reckoning will come, and not even your wealth would be able to save you", Maximilian said, with a smile.
It was obvious that he enjoyed what he was doing too much. As much as Maximilian was helping me, he was also doing this for himself. He also loved annoying me very much, and what he said was not exactly part of the script though he did a good job still. My genuine annoyance to what he said made the whole acting seem more convincing.
I ignored Maximilian, taking Olivia to the dance floor.
"Who is that?", she asked, as Alexander led me to the floor to dance.
"Maximilian. My number one enemy", I said.
The next one hour at the masquerade ball felt like heaven. I could not take my eyes off Olivia. She looked like a goddess, and though she avoided my eyes like it was a plague, I still looked at her brown eyes anytime that I could. I also stared at her lips that were inviting me. All I wanted to do was to pull her into a kiss. I also looked at her deep brown her which was long, soft and alluring. I wanted her to rub it all over my body. I also watched her body sway as well danced. I had the urge to push her against the wall, and have sex with her so much that she would lose the ability to work. But that was not possible now considering the fact that we were in an open space with noble and wealthy people. And the fact that she would not let me do such a thing like that, not when she was love sick about her psycho boyfriend. Also, if I made my way with her now, it would spoil the plan that I had. I had to use all the self-control I possessed to withhold myself from carrying out such an activity.
People were watching us as we danced. Who wouldn't want to watch two powerful people from powerful families dance together at a Masquerade ball? A lot of people did not know who we were because of our mask and costumes, but I could bet that a lot more knew who we were still, and they watched. It was a private ball party, so pictures were not taken. But a lot of people still talked, and influenced other people to believe whatever they wanted them to believe. I and Olivia had to act as loving couples as much as we could. They were deals that I had to carry out, and those deals would favour me more if people knew that I was going to be married with someone that I 'love', instead of having multiple partners. I did not know why having multiple partners was a big deal for some business owners.
"Look at me, Olivia. Look into my eyes. People are watching",I said.
She reluctantly looked into my eyes, but when she did our gazes locked.
"Do you look at every woman like that? All your whores and sex toys?", she asked, stammering at every word.
Was she jealous? My god! At that moment, she just unlocked another version of me that I never knew that I had. I wanted to tell her that she was the first person I ever liked at the way I was doing. That I wanted her to myself, that I wanted the passion that burned in her eyes to never go deep. But the words could not leave my lips.
"I have a confession to make", I said, my eyes not able to leave hers, and my palms getting sweaty.
"What is it?", she asked.
I could tell that she was as nervous as I was, or more.
If only she would quit denying that we have some kind of connection. If only she could leave her psycho boyfriend, and focus all my attention on her, maybe the road to discovering what I truly felt for her would be easier and shorter.
"I like you. You're annoying, but I feel different when I'm with you", I said in almost a whisper.
That could not compare to how I truly felt about her, or what I had intended to say, but those were the only words that I could force out of my lips. And they were the truest things that I had ever said to her.