A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Matteo

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" I asked, positioning myself against the wall.

Luca grabbed his gun from his pocket, gesturing the other men to come follow. We had came here fully prepared because we didn't want to leave this place with losing anymore of our men.

These men had families and loved ones. It was too much to risk their lives in order to save Alena-they had devoted themselves to the mafia and they knew the risks when they joined. They knew their families were going to be compensated if they died but their lives were too valuable, any amount of money couldn't replace that. "I'm sure." He replied, nodding.

"You're confident?"

confident.'

"Let's go then," I signaled for my men to make a move, each of the groups to crash the entrances and wait at the exit.

Luca had spent weeks investigating and finding this place. At first, he was unsure because this place didn't have any suspicious activities during the first few days but he trusted his guts and he investigated further.

During his i investigation, he didn't tell me anything.

He only asked me to wait. Truth be told, I couldn't w

I

wait any longer as my mind was going crazy. Mikhail and Alexei were pushing me to my very limits while I tried to stay as sane as possible. It was hard on me, losing Alena, not knowing where she was and everyone around me just ended up avoiding any lights before leaning against the door.

blaming me for everything.

T

ran in the the dark,

I had promised myself on

f on the way here. I was willing to risk my own life to make sure Alena was safe. It didn't matter if I leave this place or not, as long as Alena was taken away to safety, with or without me, During times like these, I needed to stay focus.

Luca stayed close behind me and before we knew it, we had already rushed in.

We had expected a dozen of men to come running after us with guns pointing at our heads but we came into a dark and quiet hallway. The only sound available was the leaky pipes and droplets of water on the already wet floor. to look at Luca, who seemed just as surprised.

I turned

However, we marched forward as we looked around-this could be a trap and we could get ourselves killed. We needed to search every room for any clues we could find. We weren't going to leave this place emptyhanded.

"I'll search here. Get Angelo to follow you," Luca pointed.

I nodded and within seconds, Angelo was already standing beside me. We were careful with our steps as we walked forward, glancing at every corner until we reached the end. My eyes remained focus on the door, wanting to open it. It didn't surprise when it was locked.

I stepped aside as Angelo went forward to kick the door open which only took him two tries.

G.

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Angelo stepped in and Hfollowed closely, trying to look into the dark room. My eyes widened as soon as I saw Alena laying on the floor with her hands tied behind her back, her face was swollen and bruised, so was the rest of her body. I rushed towards her, slowly lifting her head.

Tears began to escape my eyes as I looked down at her body. She had lost too much weight and she was in pain-the bruises, the marks, they were proof that she was beaten up. I felt my hands shake in anger but I tried my very best to hold them in, wanting to take Alena away from here.

"Baby, can you hear me?" I asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

Alena tried to open her eyes but she closed them back, "Matteo?"

I'm here, Alena."

"I'm here. I'm

"You're not... you're my imagination."

I slowly wrapped my arms around her body before lifting her up, carrying her in bridal style. My heart ached when I felt her weight like nothing, she looked as if she hadn't eaten in days or even weeks, she was suffering.

The guilt came rushing in and I continued to blame myself.

What kind of husband was I?

How could I let this happen?

Angelo followed closely behind me as we walked out of the room, heading back down the hallway. Once my men noticed what was happening, they began to signal the others and some were getting ready to leave this place while the others continued to search for the I**ic behind this. He could've already left the building. That b***rd.

It didn't matter. I had to think about that soon but for now, Alena needed to be treated.

We stepped into the car immediately and I hadn't let Alena go. She was safe with me. This time, she wasn't going to go anywhere. My hand was softly rubbing the back of her body but with every movement, it ached me even further because she felt like bones. "Call the doctor, now!"

Angelo did as told, without wasting any time.

The chauffeur drove as fast as he could down the road and straight back to my house. If we rushed into the hospital, we were at risk of answering different questions. I was probably going to be accused of domestic abuse. Even if

if we could pay off the police like we always did, we were going to involve a lot of people. I

"Hey, hey, baby, It's okay," i tried to calm her down sleep as she cried.

"Marco."

Just like that, she stopped crying as she snuggled close to me. We were almost reaching our home and as soon as we did, I saw the doctor was already there-luckily enough because if he wasn't here on time, I was probably going to start throwing things. My wife was in danger. She was in pain. G

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I rushed in, placing Alena on the bed in the guest room. Angelo and the doctor came rushing in as well, bringing the tools he' needed with him. As he began to check for her heartbeat, a frown had appeared.

"We can't do this here. She has a broken rib and a fractured arm. We need to bring her in to my clinic. There will be enough equipments there," The doctor said, panic in his voice. "She's also dehydrated, we need to get her started on drips as soon as possible." I had picked her up again and we were back on the road to the clinic.

Once we had arrived, I stayed beside her throughout the whole process. The doctor had sedated her and gave her painkillers to ensure she stayed asleep throughout the surgery. It was risky to get it done without being at the hospital with a team full of professional but it was a risk we needed to take.

An hour turned into three hours and only after five hours, it was settled.

Alena was sound asleep on the bed with the machine monitoring her heartbeat. Her injuries were treated and the IV drip had started to make sure she could hydrate herself, only until she gained back her strength.

I stared

I at her face, cursing myself for letting her experience those pain.

She had took a beating. The doctor even said she was lucky to be alive-she was a fighter.

Someone

e knocked on the door and I didn't have to turn around to know it was Luca. He had closed the door shut behind him as he walked in, standing beside me.

"She's stable now," I muttered.

"That's good to hear."

"Have you

found him?"

lound

He shook his head, "Not yet."

I clenched my jaw before sighing, "How can he just disappear? He can't be far."

"Don't worry about him. I'll make sure we find him,"

I held tightly onto Alena's hand before soothingly rubbing the back of it, even if she couldn't feel it now, I never wanted to leave her side anymore. We had spent weeks away and it was full torture, this could never happen again.

"What do

What do you want to do with him?" Luca asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sunspeakable things."

you want him captured alive?"

"If you can."

Luca went to sit on the sofa, leaning back.

"That fucker is good. He didn't leave a single trace," he spoke.

My eyes remained focused on Alena, watching her as if I was afraid if I looked away, she was going to disappear. It was a pain to watch her like this but it gave me the clarity I needed for my revenge-once I found him, he was going to be in a worst condition. He was going suffer longer and I was going to make sure he reached his limit.

"Who do you think it is?" I asked.

"I wish I could say. We have no clue."

I sighed, "What does lie want?"

You

I'm sure of it."

"And drag my wife into this?"

"Because he knows, Alena's your weakness."

A^^ole.

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"I muttered under my breath.

I kissed the back of Alena's hand as I looked at her, seeing her sound asleep. It was mostly the medication taking its part to calm her body because the moment she woke up later, she was going to experience pain-one of the reasons why the doctor had prescribed painkillers sto be injected later.

Alena had went through a lot. She didn't deserve any of this.

I was the cause of her sufferings.

Maybe, Alexei and Mikhail was right, I was incapable of being responsible. I was incapable of taking care of her because this all happened after she met me. This all happened after we got married and her life became hell.

Alena deserved to be happy. She deserved to be safe.

Maybe, I couldn't give her that.

I couldn't make her happy.