A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

35

It was the day of my discharge, and I was excited than when I first attended prom. It felt as if I was having a new beginning with my husband by my side, he was with me every single night when I was at the hospital-if he wasn't busy during the day, he was there with me, too but if he had things to settle, he asked Mama to accompany me. Well, he was a little bit busy during the day because he said the things with Sofia weren't settled yet even though she was dead.

They needed to find the culprit.

The person who started everything.

The person who took five years to attack.

Matteo was worried about my safety because he knew the enemy was targeting his wife. I had gotten hurt before, and he didn't want me to get hurt anymore. He wasn't willing to sacrifice losing me.

as Sofia died, it was the end of everything.

I thought as as soon as I was wrong because I realized she wasn't the main culprit. She hadn't planned anything and the person who planned everything was still on the loose. She had played her part and she nearly succeeded which made Matteo admitted I needed more safety. Sometimes, I had to calm him down on certain things because he was too worried. He kept overthinking about what could have happened if he wasn't there in time if Sofja had shot me somewhere fatal.

He didn't want to go back to the circle he left.

He didn't want to keep blaming himself.

Like the way he did with Sofia.

Then, somehow, she turned out to be alive.

Matteo was busy packing the rest of my stuff into my bag while I sat still on the edge of the bed. He didn't let me help even though I told him I could pack on my own. He kept insisting on packing for me because he said I needed to sit down and

rest.

T

had been resting for almost a week now.

At least, I needed to move around.

"Let me help you, Matteo. They're my stuff,"

He shook his head, "Just stay where you are. I'll tie you to the bed if I have to."

"I'm feeling a lot better now. I can pack my own clothes."

"Don't you dare, Alena."

His light brown eyes were staring into my dark green ones, and I decided to stay still, not wanting to make him angry. He was being a good husband-all I needed to do was enjoy the princess treatment. It had been a while since I received such treatment.

"Can

you come and kiss me for a few seconds?" I asked, pouting.

He raised an eyebrow before slowly making his way towards me, cupping my face to kiss my lips. I was smiling when I felt the softness of his lips against mine-knowing he could never resist that one request. "You're so needy," he whispered.

"You love it when I'm needy."

A smirk appeared on his face, "Only you, Alena Lerclerc."

Then, he continue to pack my clothes inside my bag before heading to grab my toiletries. He placed everything in the duffel bag, double checking in the bathroom in case he missed anything. He checked the shelves and the drawers, too. Once everything was settled, we went out together.

I was sitting on one of the seats as he settled the bill, paying the full amount. I told him I had insurance, and we could wait for a couple of hours, but he didn't want to wait-he said the insurance company could decide to repay him within five business days. As ironic as that was, I let him be.

I didn't even have to wait long at the lobby when he went to take the car. He came in to stop in front of the lobby before quickly grabbing the bags, not letting me help at all. Once the bags were inside, he held my hand to help me into the car. I smiled, loving the way he was treating me.

I changed the music in the car as he entered, locking the doors before driving away.

One of his hands was on the steering wheel while his free hand was resting on my thigh, caressing it. It felt nice because his hand was warm and it felt as if we were back to our regular routine, leaving the unnecessary things behind. I leaned back on the seat, closing my eyes as I listened to the music.

Papa and Alexei came to visit yesterday. They were talking to me, asking about my condition and to my surprise, they were also making conversation with Matteo. It didn't quite surprise me because I knew about what happened at the warehouse. Then again, it was nice to see them treat Matteo nicely.

Matteo deserved to be treated nicely and it was a great feeling.

When Papa was left alone with me when Alexei went out with Matteo, he apologized. He held tightly onto my hand as he apologized, and I knew he meant every word. He was being sincere, and I had forgiven him.

2

He didn't mean to hurt me, let alone raised his hand at me, but when he realized what he was doing, it was a little bit too late. Luckily, Matteo was quick to save the day.

All he wanted was for me to be safe and happy. He had stopped trying to take control of my life because he knew I was an adult. He also saw how Matteo treated me and he knew he could make me happy. wasn't wrong. He was entirely correct.

He

So, here I was, beginning to realize everything was falling into place.

Matteo had removed his hand from my thigh as he pressed harder onto the gas pedal which caused me to open my eyes, looking at him.

"What's wrong? Why are you driving so fast?" I asked, trying to reach for his hand.

"We're being followed."

"What?"

I looked a at the side-mirror, seeing a black car following us closely.

"I'm going to lose them."

Matteo pressed harder onto the gas pedal, swerving, and moving away from other cars. I was gripping tightly onto my seatbelt because I was starting to worry if we were going to crash and die but I had put my entire trust in my husband. He drove better than anyone else and he wasn't going to hurt us. I yelped when we almost hit a car, but he took a sharp turn.

That was f****g close!" I screamed, leaning back on my seat.

My eyes widened

as soon as I saw they were shooting towards us which caused Matteo to curse under his breath. "Get down!"

"F***k. f****k, f***k!"

The situation had gotten more intense as he kept driving faster, wanting to lose the car behind us as soon as possible, but it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Matteo pressed onto the call button before it was directed to Luca.

He didn't get a chance to say anything when Matteo interrupted him.

"We're being followed."

"Who's in the car with you?"

"Alena."

I

"I'm heading to the warehouse. Can you make it there in five?"

"I'll inform the other men. Try to lose them, Matteo."

Then he ended the call.

Another round of shooting started, and I had leaned down on my seat, afraid if I was going to get shot. Matteo, on the other hand, was trying his best to lose our shooter. We managed to get further away, but the shooter was just as good. They were professionals. They didn't lose us. "Stay down, Alena!"

I listened to my husband, not wanting to risk any of our lives.

My heart began to beat fast, almost thumping out of my chest as I tried to cover my head. I was trying to calm myself down or try to help Matteo, but there was nothing I could do.

Papa had taught me how to shoot and how to fight.

Owever, when Sofia attacked me, I had realized I never had a real-life experience.

All those trainings were useless because I panicked, just like how was panicking now.

3

Matteo muttered curses in Italian under his breath as he glanced at my direction, still trying to check on me before taking another sharp turn. The side of my arm knocked on the door, yet I managed to shout, I'm okay!' in order not to make him worry.

"Stay down, baby." He added, pulling onto the handbrake.

Just like that, the car was swerving to the side.

Everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion as Matteo grabbed onto his gun underneath his seat, pointing directly at the shooter. The car was drifting, and Matteo didn't miss his shots-they were targeted directly at our shooter. But it didn't hit him. The windows and the car were bulletproof "Fucking hell."

Matteo changed gears, pressing harder onto the gas pedal before driving into a narrow street. Pedestrians were screaming and running away which gave us more space to drive. I was worried if we could hit any one of them, but Matteo was focused, he knew what to do. "Are you hurt?" He asked, grabbing onto my hand. I shook my head.

"Good, just stay down."

You

You

Matteo knew he couldn't lose the shooter so he decided to drive as fast as he could. When we were down in an open road, he kept glancing back through the rear-view mirror. The shooter had stopped shooting, but he wasn't giving up on following behind us. I kept quiet and stayed still.

When we reached the warehouse, Matteo pressed onto the brakes which caused the car to stop abruptly.

"I need you to grab this and run in as fast as you can." He

grabbing my hand before placing a fully loaded gun.

What about you?"

"Look.

"Look, you need to run as fast as you can, baby."

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Alena, , we don't have time for this!"

"You'll get hurt."

"Please.

Matteo

Alena! Please, just listen to me."

"You matter to me more than anything. I can't let you get hurt anymore. Please, run as fast as you can. Don't look back. Just keep running."

Tears were forming before they streamed down my cheeks as I gripped harder onto the gun, pushing the door open and

scared.

running as fast as I could. I wasn't looking back to see what was happening behind me because I was

I listened to his every word.

I screamed when I heard shootings coming from behind, but I kept running.

I almost tripped but a pair of strong arms managed to save me from my fall. As I looked up, I saw Luca. Once he knew I was fine, he quickly made his way towards Matteo with a few other men while I was being pulled over by Angelo. "Keep her safe. Away from the sight of fire." They pulled me away and I let them, my eyes couldn't look away from what was happening. My eyes were wandering around to look for my husband-I needed to know he was fine.

"Angelo, where's Matteo?" I asked.

"Stay back, Alena!"

I was growing anxious as I leaned back, staying still.

My eyes widened as soon as I saw Matteo. He was risking his life as he shot at the enemy. However, instead of one shooter, many came to attack. They had planned this, and they knew how vulnerable Matteo was going to be if I was around. He was too worried about me. He wasn't as worried about himself.

I stayed down, wanting to stay safe because I didn't want Matteo to worry.

The men were shouting in Italian as they moved forward, guns in their hands. I couldn't keep my eyes away from my husband as I watched his every movement-he moved swiftly, and he didn't miss his shots.

Maybe, in a different life, I was watching my husband playing basketball as he tried to make his shot but that wasn't happening.

I was in my own life, where my husband was the leader of the Italian mafia. He was risking his life every single day, and I was his wife. I couldn't do anything to help because I didn't want to make him more worried than he already was. "I muttered under my breath; tears were forming in my eyes.

Matteo

As soon as he turned to look at my direction, I saw him looking directly at me. Just as I was about to wave at him, he was already screaming in pain as he was shot in the thigh.

I screamed, trying to push away from other men and run towards him.

But

But

the

Malleo!

held me tight, and I couldn't fight their strengths.

"No, stay back!" Angelo shouted, pointing at the other men.

I didn't stop screaming his name as he was trying to find a safe spot. Luca appeared next to him as he helped him away, shooting at the enemies.

My heart was breaking into two at the sight of him. It wasn't the first time I ever saw him getting shot, but this time it was more heartbreaking. There wasn't anything I could do to help him, and it made me feel useless. "Angelo... do something!"

The rest of the men were targeting the enemies, shooting.

One by one were finished off as they fell to the ground.

08:27

While

my husband, Matteo, was gripping hard onto his leg. He was trying to ignore the pain, but I knew it was too much to bear. Without thinking any further, I made a run towards him-ignoring the shouts from his men. They were informed to protect me, yet I was making a run for it. "Baby, I told you to stay back." Matteo said, as I cupped onto his face.

I pressed onto his wound, causing him to curse. He was speaking through gritted teeth as he closed his eyes, trying to hold back the pain. I was doing my best to avoid him from losing too much blood even though his pants were soaked in red.

"Stay with me, Matteo. Stay with me, please." I begged, shaking rhy head.

"You never listen, do you?"

"We

don't have time for that."

"Stay down, Alena!"

I leaned closer to my husband, wrapping my arms around his body before letting myself cry. He was holding onto me as well and I could feel his heart beating fast.

"I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to, baby. You're fine."

Thou

The shooting had stopped, and we were left staying still. A few of Matteo's men were on the ground, dead while some were injured, but most of them survived the attack. Luca came to our side immediately before he called Angelo, asking to bring the car as soon as possible. "You're going to the hospital." Luca said, looking at his best friend.

"We just got back from there,"

"Well

Well...

you're going back."

I didn't let go of Matteo's hand as he continued to nod, ensuring everything was fine.

"Why did you run all the way here? You could've gotten yourself killed!" Luca said, this time he was directing it towards me Instead of saying anything to defend myself, I knew I was wrong and I decided it was best to keep quiet.

Matteo was beginning to lose a lot of blood, as his skin grew pale.

He wasn't saying much either and the grip of his hand around my arm was loosening.

"Hey Matteo, stay with me. Stay awake."

Both of his eyes were closing as I tried to talk to him, wanting him to be aware of what was happening, but he was getting weaker. I began to cup onto his face, shaking him. "Matteo!"

I kept shouting for his name, wanting him to stay with me until Angelo came by, stopping the car beside us.

Hhadn't let go of his hand.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.