A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

FD

Chapter 76

Matteo

'l know she's with you."

The message said, leavinganxious and somehow out of words. | had stared at my phone for five minutes

because | didn't know if | was supposed to reply or let it be. It was obvious Alexei knew that Alena was with me

but the main question was, how?

The laughters and chatters were loudly heard from downstairs which calmeddown a little bit, knowing they

weren't coming upstairs to check up on me.

Then again, | didn't want to hide things from Alena anymore-I did it before for her own sake. Was | supposed to

hide about this as well? What type of good was going to cout from it?

Another message cin and | looked down at the sender: Alexei.

‘Mikhail doesn't know."

| read, blinking a few times as another message went through.

'Well, not yet.

| immediately turned to look at the door before shutting it close and heading out to the balcony, occasionally

glancing at the door incase Alena stepped in. | didn't want her to overhear my conversation with Alexei, at least

until I heard about the things he wanted to say first. Without wasting anymore time, | pressed the screen to call

Alexei.

It took him a couple of rings before he picked up the phone.

"Look who decided to callback," he said from the other line!

"Are you alone?" | asked, ignoring his sarcasm.

The question was simple. | just needed a confirmation from him if Mikhail was in the room with him or he was

alone-it was safer if he was all by himself. | couldn't trust Mikhail and | couldn't trust Alexei either but at least, he

was keeping Alena's whereabouts a secret for now.

Maybe, he was finally coming to his senses.

However, it was still too early to judge.

Alexei chuckled from the other line, "You're worried?"

| kept quiet, not wanting to play around. | just wanted an answer and if he didn't want to giveany, there was

no use for us to talk anymore. | always had my doubts with the Russians but ever since | had fallen in love with

one, | tried to be positive sometimes.

"If it's Mikhail you're worried about, he's not here." He added, givingthe answer | waited for.

I sighed, feeling a little bit better.

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"Why did you call me?"

"Just to clear the air between us after what happened."

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07:40 Mon, Nov 4

Chapter 76

"I can't help it that | don't feel the sway," | replied.

"Do you think I'm being cruel, Matteo?"

My eyes wandered to the door again before looking out from the balcony. Memories of Alena and | from last week

replayed in my head, when we were stargazing that night and made love in the morning. It felt as if it was just

yesterday.

Good moments seemed to past by rather quickly. One of the reasons why we needed to appreciate everything

because we were scared of never experiencing them anymore.

"I don't have an answer to that. Men like us aren't exactly saints."

It was the truth: despite being the hard truth but men like us, we didn't deserve anything good in our lives. If

another lifetever existed, | would've probably chosen a different life where | wasn't the villain. | wanted a

calm and peaceful life instead of having to worry about my loved ones.

However, we weren't all bad. Most of the money we earned were given to charities, probably just one of the

ways to cover up our money laundering. Then again, our hands were always going to be dirty from the men we

killed despite how many times we had washed them.

"True. We're condemned to hell, aren't we?" He scoffed.

"What do you want, Alexei? Just be frank,"

"Don't you want to ask how I found out about it? | know you're curious."

"You can tellif you're eager,"

My respond seemed to make him laugh, as if it was a joke.

"Let's just say | owe my sister a favour. Let's just say I'm trying to be even."

"What do you mean by that?"

Alexei kept quiet for a few seconds before he continued to speak, "I was there that night when he hit her. As

much as | respect and look up to Mikhail, | don't exactly tolerate abuse especially when it's towards my sister.

Don't getwrong, it never happened before but there isn't a single excuse to make up for what he did."

"In a way, you're making up an excuse for him."

"Shit, then. I'm trying not to."

I scoffed, "I saw the bruise."

"I blmyself for not doing anything after that. | can't hate him, Matteo even if | wanted to." He continued to

speak before sighing, as if he was having a hard tto choose the right words-he had his own battles to fight,

he was just good at hiding them.

"So, should | thank you?"

"No, | don't need that. Just bring her htonight."

"How can | trust you that she'll be safe?"

"Alena's my sister. I'll protect her with my life."

"Yet, she got hurt when you were there."

"| take the blame. | really do," Chapter 76

We both stayed quiet for awhile until we ended the call. | stared at my phone for a few minutes before | heard

the door being pushed open and | saw Alena stepping in, looking around the room for me. Once she saw my

figure on the balcony, she made her way towardswith a smile plastered on her face

"Hey, you." She said as she grabbed my hand.

"Hey... you," | replied.

"Who called you? You took so long."

| stared at her as she continued to look at me. There was something about her eyes, | was always drawn to her

every twe stared at each other-it could be the colour of her eyes or even the way she held her gaze but she

was the death of me. Whenever | was anxious, her presence could calmdown.

My heartbeat was steady every tshe was near. It was as if my body could finally function properly if | had her

besideand my body could somehow self destruct if she was nowhere near me. It was a weird feeling

because | never felt that way but | wasn't complaining.

"Your brother."

"Alexei?" Her eyes widened.

| nodded and a frown appeared in between her brows.

"Why are you so calm about it? Shouldn't we be worried?" She asked, this ther grip on my hands had

tightened.

"Because he won't tell Mikhail. He said he owed you one,"

"Owedone? Owedwhat?"

"For not doing anything when he hurt you."

Alena sighed, trying to hide the fading bruise. If it were up to me, | would've slammed my fist onto his face and

let him bleed on the ground. He said he was capable of protecting my wife as if | had failed, but he raised his

hand on her. What kind of protecting was that? "I don't blhim."

""You should."

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"I should blhim?"

I nodded, "He was supposed to protect you."

"Sometimes people explode."

"But they don't hurt the ones they truly love, Alena."

My wife stayed still in her spot as she looked up at me, somehow finding the truth in my statement. I didn't

waste any tbefore grabbing her face, caressing her cheeks. It never occurred toof ever hurting her, even

if she truly tested my patience because she was a woman | had to protect. She was my responsibility.

"Matteo..."

"Yes, baby?"

"I don't want to go."

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Chapter 76

"I don't want you to."

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Tears were filling her eyes as she blinked them away, letting them fall down her cheeks. | managed to quickly

wipe them away before pulling her close towards me, resting her head on my chest.

It was foolish ofto ever let her leave but | had to. This time, | needed to cup with a different plan and a

solution- we couldn't do this forever. We couldn't sheak out for the next few weeks, those were temporary

solutions and | wasn't going to settle. "I'll find a way, baby. | promise you." | whispered, rubbing her back.

She kept quiet as she snuggled close, wrapping her arm around my waist.

We spent the next few minutes in each other's arms until we both decided to pull away. Our eyes met once more

as soon as we pulled back and | saw the dried tears on her cheeks but | tried my best to make her feel better by

kissing her entire face.

| started to kiss on her right cheek before moving to her left cheek. Then, from her cheeks, | went down up to

kiss her forehead and her nose. Last but not least, her beautiful lips.

The kiss on her lips was slightly longer than the rest of her face. It was to show her how much | missed her and

how much I loved her; hoping it was enough for now. We kissed passionately and | could feel myself growing

needy.

A tear had left her eyes as we kissed and | knew of her heartbreak.

We weren't ready to let go. We weren't ready to be separated.

Thad promised my wife and myself to cup with a solution. As tough as it could be, | needed to push through.

This time, | wasn't going to bring my men in for a fight with my father-in-law but I was only going to bring myself

for a discussion. If he was truly the man he said, he was going to respect that.

As much as | respected Alena.

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