A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

Matteo wouldn't stop kissing my entire face, regardless of the tears. He cupped my face and held it close to him, as if he was afraid if I was going to disappear. "Alena... I can't believe you're here," he said, in disbelief.

I smiled as I looked up into his brown eyes, "Neither can I. Mama planned it,"

"I know. She texted me this morning about the plan. I swear to god, I was restless waiting for you to come." we don't have forever."

"But, we don't

"We still have this weekend. We'll figure it out, okay?"

My smile was starting to

to fade away but I nodded a few times, assuring him. I wasn't going to waste my time by being sad over something uncertain-we were going to be together for the weekend and that was enough for me, at least for now. The two of us had to take any opportunity we could get in order to be together. We couldn't be greedy when it came to our time because it wasn't somethint we both had.

If it weren't for Mama, I doubt it was possible for me to plan the escape. I didn't have my phone with me, Papa had taken it and probably locked it somewhere. Either way, I needed to have my phone with me soon due to work related but I knew the reason he took my phone was because he didn't want me to contact Matteo. Matteo leaned I in, kissing my forehead.

"I love you, Alena. I love you so much," he mutter as he gazed into my eyes.

My heart broke at the sight of him, looking miserable. The dark circles under his eyes were too visible not to notice, the sunken cheekbones and dry lips-he hadn't been taking care of himself and it drowning in work for a distraction.

"I love you, too." I breathed, earning another kiss from my husband.

was too obvious. He probably had been

1:1:0

My eyes wandered around his office, seeing different files on the ground along with other crumpled papers. I also noticed a

messy sofa. few unwashed cups, some leftovers and the

I knew my husband well, he wasn't the type to leave things untidy. He was very particular when it came to hygiene and the tidiness of his places. One of the reasons why his office had turned out this way was because of me, I had left him to suffer. Once again. Even though this time, I had no intention to.

you

been sleeping at the office, Matteo?" I asked, looking around.

"Have) He sighed, somehow feeling embarrassed as he tried to tidy things up. I stayed still at my spot, just watching him picking up the files before placing them on the desk, "I can't go home, Alena. I just can't be in that house anymore."

"Why? You'll get sick if you don't take care of yourself."

"That house doesn't feel like home because you're not there. Why should I bother going back if it's empty?" He shook his head, somehow despised the thought of being home and alone.

"Matteo... I muttered, feeling defeated.

G

"Alena, I can't live without you. Everything is wrong."

I caressed the side of his face and it didn't take him long to lean in. I had always loved the appearance of his five o'clock shadow but it had grown longer-he hadn't shaved for days. Despite the slightly longer facial hair, he never failed to make me feel attracted. It was just a different appearance for me. It was new. "Why didn't you tell me about Papa? About Alexei? About how they threatened you," I asked as I watched him continue to clean up his office, throwing away the crumpled papers into the lustbin.

bother

nt

The office was a mess but it didn't

the moment, he deserved to take his time and take care of his health better. He didn't have to worry about the tidiness of his office just because I was in here.

"I just got you back. I didn't want to worry about losing you," he replied.

"Don't you I want to fight

them back?"

"I can't just kill them off, Alena. They're important to you."

I sighed deeply, keeping quiet.

Matteo stared at me before reaching out to touch the side of my face. A frown had appeared in between his brows as he tried to get a closer look, "I didn't notice this before. Is it a bruise from when you were kidnapped?"

My eyes widened for a few seconds as I took a few steps back.

I didn't expect him to notice the small bruise because it had been a week since it happened. Apparently, Papa's slap had been a bit too hard on my skin, leaving a bruise the next morning. It should've disappeared completely but I hadn't been consistently icing the area. "Alena? What happened?" He asked, this time in a serious manner.

"Nothing. Nothing happened."

"Don't lie to me, please. Who did this to you?" the

I tried to cover my cheek with my hand but it was already too late. Matteo had noticed the bruise and it was stupid of me not to cover it up before I came here-then again, if we were staying together for the weekend, he was bound to notice them anyway.

"It was from the kidnapping." I responded, the lie didn't exactly convince him.

"You didn't have that before. The ones you had from the incident had already disappeared,"

"It's nothing, Matteo. Don't worry about it."

He clenched his jaw, "Did Mikhail hurt you?"

I stared up into his light brown eyes, trying to proceed with another lie but the moment our eyes met, I had remained frozen. I couldn't simply lie to Matteo because he was important to me, even if I wanted to protect Papa, even if I didn't want Matteo to hate him despite the things he had done. I kept quiet, looking away.

"I'm going to kill him." Matteo said, clenching his hands into fists

"Hey, hey, he didn't mean it. It was anContentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

accident."

n accident? An accident is when you trip and fall. This wasn't an accident. He intentionally hurt you." He took a few steps closer to me, slowly reaching out to touch my face.

The anger was clear in his eyes but he was trying to hold it in. If Papa was a stranger, I knew Matteo wouldn't bother to hold himself back from hurting him but Papa was my father, Matteo had to prevent himself from doing anything crazy.

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Why did he hurt you?"

"I probably made him upset,"

"Not a reason to hit you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

You're sorry?"

"What?"

What?

"You're sorry for him? You're sorry because he hit you?"

"I don't know what else to say."

We both kept quiet for a few seconds.-..

-Matteo sighed again before pulling me in for a hug, wrapping his arms around my body. I felt close in his arms, despite the weight he had lost, I was still very petite. Every time he had hugged me, I always felt safe. It was a feeling I never had with anyone else except Matteo. A knock was heard on the door and I immediately flinched, somehow afraid if we were caught but it was just Mama and Igor. "Can we come in?" Mama peeked through the door, smiling.

I nodded, gesturing for them to come inside. I had forgotten about them because I was lost in my husband's arms and as soon as they came in, Matteo slowly let go of my arm but he rested his hand on my waist.

"Igor and I will come back on Sunday to pick you up here." Mama said.

"Wait, you're not coming with

me?"

She shook her head, "No, honey. I'll be at home making sure things are fine."

""What if

Papa

comes home early?"

"Alena, don't worry too much. Just enjoy your weekend together.

"He's capable of hurting Matteo."

Mama frowned, "We'll figure something out. We always do,"

Igor stood by the door as he watched us but he didn't bother to say a word. It was probably a bit weird for him to be in the Italian territory, he was so used to working with Papa, He had been with the Bratva for years until he decided to retire because he wanted to focus on living a quiet life. I had felt sorry for him because he couldn't be with his family.

I

"We need to. Now that he has gotten Viktor involved," I responded.

"Viktor? The same Viktor you were arranged to marry?" Matteo asked, interrupting.

T

I nodded, remembering that I hadn't told Matteo about that yet.

"What do you mean he's involved?" Another question escaped his lips as he raised an eyebrow, somehow being impatient for

the answer.

I turned to look at Mama, unsure of the words to say. I knew I couldn't find any better words to say to Matteo about the current situation but I couldn't bear the hurt on his face if the words came out of my mouth.

"Has he lost his mind?" Matteo clenched his jaw, "That won't happen!"

"Mikhail is working on to file a divorce for Alena on you. Then, he wants her to marry Viktor." Mama said, holding onto my hand; she was always there for me through everything, she knew how much I needed her support. пазе "We'll make sure it won't. Whatever it takes.'"

I took a few steps towards Matteo before grabbing onto his hand, trying to calm him down. His eyes had soften a bit as he looked at me but I knew, he was growing anxious. We were going to lose each other if we couldn't figure something out to solve this and we couldn't risk that.

"Matteo...can't lose you. I can never lose you." I said.

"I can't lose you, too. You're everything to me, Alena."

"We need to figure it out. We need a plan."

The four of us were quiet as we continued to look at each other. Mama seemed genuinely concerned and Igor was mostly sympathetic. As for Matteo and I, we were using each other's touch as a way to regain our strengths.

"Have you thought about running away?"