A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Matteo

had overslept this morning and when I woke up, I couldn't find Alena beside

1. me.

Panic rushed in and I immediately went ahead to check the bathroom until I heard laughters and chatters coming from downstairs. I went down the stairs until I reached the kitchen, seeing Alena and Luca were having a conversation-my wife was sitting on the stool while my friend stood near the kitchen counter.

As soon as they saw me, they turned to look.

""You're awake," Alena said, smiling.

I made my way towards her before leaning in to give her a kiss, like I always did. My hand rested down her back as I stood beside her, "I'm sorry, I overslept. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were tired. I just wanted you to get some more sleep," she replied.

I kissed the top of her head, nodding. "Thank you."

Luca took a sip of his water as he watched us. It was a normal occurrence for him to stop by whenever he wanted to but for the past few days, he didn't have the chance-I was always at the office. He enjoyed eating the snacks I had and the food in the fridge, even though he could buy them on his own.

When Alena was around, she somehow got used to it. Actually, it never seemed to bother her whenever Luca stopped by because he would always bring food and today was not an exception either, there was a paper bag on the counter.

"Good morning. I bought us breakfast," Luca said.

"How did

you know Alena would be here?"

"I didn't. I only bought two,"

"You can have mine," Alena interrupted.

I shook my head, "No, baby. You and Luca should eat, I'll order something else."

Alena continued to look at me as a way to ask if it was really okay for her to eat my food. I knew she was starving because we didn't eat anything last night and I should've woken up earlier this morning to cook for her, I just didn't expect to oversleep. "Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

"Yes, you can eat mine."

The sides of her lips curved up into a smile as she nodded.

Luca brought out the food before giving one to my wife. It was a six-inch sandwich, something he had always enjoyed eating in the morning.

"You didn't tell me Alena was back," he said.

"She's only here for the weekend."

"How did you do it? Did you finally settle things with Mikhail?"

Alena and I both looked at each other, somehow wishing we could've given a different answer. It was disappointing because

we truly wanted to settle things with Mikhail and resumed our lives but everything was on hold until we could truly figure

<

07:40 Mon, Nov 4 T.

things out.

45

I shook my head, "Mikhail and Alexei are out of the country for the weekend. Alena's mom helped her sneak out. She has to go back tonight,"

My heart sank at the thought of sending her back but it was a deal I had to follow. I didn't want another fight with Mikhail or Alexei, it was best to come out with a better plan next time. Time was our enemy at the moment and it never stopped for anyone.

Alena grabbed my hand before slowly rubbing the back of it.

I looked down at her, not knowing how to react. I never blamed her for what happened because it wasn't her fault to begin with, everything just happened the way it did. We had the biggest heartbreak when we lost Marco and we both needed time to heal. Then, Alena was kidnapped and tortured but the culprit was still free out there.

Now, we were facing a problem with Mikhail and Alexei.

Only when we just had each other, we were separated again.

"I haven't heard that word in awhile." Luca replied, smirking. "Which word?"Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"Sneaking out. Are you like sixteen, Alena?"

Luca was always known to be sarcastic whenever he could. He never liked it when things were serious-he was the jokester sometimes. Yet, he was a killing machine, he had no mercy for anyone who crossed his path. He was loyal, too.

Alena laughed, "You're a dick, you know that?"

The smirk dropped from his face before he turned to look at me again.

"Have you figured things out yet? Between you and Mikhail."

"No, we're still thinking about it. In the meantime, we can only cherish the time we have." I replied, rubbing Alena's back as she ate her sandwich.

By tonight, Igor was going to pick her up and she was going to return back to Mikhail's mansion. We were going to be

and cons. separated again for awhile, not knowing when we could see each other-there were different possibilities of how things

pros could turn out and I was considering a few options, still opting out the

"Violence is not allowed?" Luca asked.

""No, we're talking about Alena's father."

"But, you do have a shitty father. And a shittier brother," he replied to Alena who didn't bother to deny the fact.

Alena was angry at Mikhail and Alexei, even if she wanted to back them up. She loved her family with all of heart and she never wanted any harm to come to them but she had grown frustrated in trying to follow their ways, she deserved freedom to live and choose. "Well, you can't just back off. If diplomacy is needed then, it's what you should do." He added, this time it was pointed at me.

I nodded, "You'll be with me?"

"Always. We'll settle this."

"Thanks, man."

07:40 Mon, Nov 4 Chapter 75

Last night was the first night where I had gotten a good sleep. The past few nights were tiring but I couldn't sleep even if wanted to-I couldn't function properly during the day because was exhausted. However, the thoughts came rushing in at night and I spent hours thinking about ways to get Alena back.

Knowing I had Alena with me last night, it brought peace to me and I could finally sleep.

I watched as Alena continued to eat while Luca was busy grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge. I couldn't keep my eyes away from my wife even if she was doing nothing because I was scared if I could lose her any second.

Time envied us and we needed to be together, spending most of our time together.

We couldn't waste time by being away. Even if we were just laying down and doing nothing, it was better than having to do something without each other. Everything else could wait for the next few hours while Alena was with me because I knew, I was going to miss her. Mikhail had things planned out for his daughter, he was determined to marry her to Viktor. However, it wouldn't be as easy as he thought. I wasn't going to sign any divorce papers and his plan was going to fail. If he thought he could control me, he was wrong.

When he had his gun pointed at me that night, I didn't mind dying but I saw the look on Alena's face and it broke me. I knew she needed me here to protect her which was one of the reasons why I decided to let her go. If I died that night, she was going to be left alone. Who was going to be there for her? Who was going to protect her?

It was my responsibility.

Alexei was only a distraction. Mikhail was the mastermind.

I knew Alexei had the power to choose because he was the leader. Ever since Mikhail retired, he had lost the power to control the Bratva but his son was letting himself being controlled. When Mikhail controlled Alexei, he was controlling the Bratva as well. He could defend his sister if he wanted to but he was scared. He was scared of Mikhail as if he could end him, he had somehow forgotten he was more powerful.

Alexei was the topic everyone talked about when he became the leader. He was ruthless and powerful, he didn't show any mercy when he killed and everyone was scared to mess with him. Even though he was young and new, he followed his father's steps.

However, as someone who was more powerful than him, I always had a reputation. People talked about me, they knew my story but only because of the things I wanted them to know. Nobody could control me even if they tried and I had only decided to slow it down when Alena came into my life, she became my priority.

I never wanted war with the Russians and I never expected to fall in love with their princess but things never seemed to turn out the way we expected, it turned out better.

I needed to remember who I was again.

Luca and Alena continued to talk about a few other things as they enjoyed their sandwich while I drowned in my own

hands away from Alena and she seemed to let me, even if it was just a rub on the back. thoughts. I couldn't keep my "Where did you buy this? It's really good," she said.

"That's a secret. I don't want you to know."

Alena scoffed, "What? Why not?"

I could hear my phone ringing from upstairs and I needed to check incase it was something important. I kissed the top of

07:40 Mon, Nov 4 T.

Alena's head again before stepping out of the kitchen and went up the stairs, straight into our room.

The phone had stopped ringing but my heart almost dropped when I saw who it came from.

I grabbed onto my phone, hesitating.

Ever since they took Alena away from me, he never called.

Everything around me had somehow went silent as I was in my own world. I unlocked my phone and went to the notification centre to read the text that came in from Alexei:

'I know she's with you.""