A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

was going to ruin

it for me.

It for me.

Zach was a great friend. We had quite a lot of shifts together and he kept the working hours bearably because he

was always putting in silly jokes.

But when it was tto focus, he had never let anything distract him.

Other female doctors tried to flirt with him-Zach was on the attractive side. He was tall and lean, soft-spoken,

and funny. | guess, those three traits were enough to attract anyone.

"Thirteen hours."

"Yikes and here | wonder how you can still maintain to look beautiful at the end of the shift later?"

rolled

I my eyes, "Only you, Zachary. You and your flatteries."

He laughed. "Oh, con. My flatteries are always the highlight of your day. You can't help but to expect them,

can you?" "Maybe, maybe not. It It depends."

"But hey, you looked a bit off when | cin. Everything okay? How was your day off?" He asked, the concern

was sincere.

"Everything is okay and my day off was fine. You don't have to worry,

He smiled,

revealing his straight teeth. "Okay, if you say so. I'll cby later to see you for breakfast." "Which is like

thirteen hours later."

"Exactly!" He said, making his way down the hallway before waving.

The hours passed by like a breeze and it was quite a surprise to see the sun already rising. | looked down at my

wristwatch to see the time-realizing my shift was coming to an end soon. | took care of things in the emergency

room this morning and honestly, many doctors dreaded whenever they were assigned to help in the ER, but |

had always thought it was fine. Assigned to help in the ER just meant twas going to pass by quicker.

Many crazy things happened in the ER. Sguy cin with blood pouring out of his arm because he

accidentally

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Chapter 5

drilled his anni.

I mean, who was in the right mind to drill in the middle of the night?

| didn't have tto think or complain because he was literally streaming in pain.

Truly glad that was over.

As | walked towards the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee, | was surprised to find a familiar figure standing in the

lobby-he had both of his hands in his pockets as he made his way towards me.

Crap. What was he doing here? What did he want?

Our eyes met in instant, and it was s**id ofto turn around as if he didn't seein the first place. | was

contemplating on whether | should pretend | didn't see him and run straight to the cafeteria or just accept that

he was here to see me.

"Hi.

Hi, wifey."

My eyes widened at the nicknbefore | turned to look at him.

Zach was going to cdown in any minute now and he was going to wonder-I couldn't have my colleagues ask

questions about Matteo, | wasn't ready to answer them yet. | kind of expected to surprise them that | might've

eloped or something: they were going to ask many questions. For instance, where did we met, How did we met,

how long had we been together. | wasn't ready for any of that.

What are you doing here? How do you know where | work?" | asked, looking around.

Please, | didn't want anyone to see us together. Especially not Lily.

"How

can

| not know where my future wife is working?"

"Shh, keep it down. People will hear you."

| grabbed his arm, but he didn't budge. "I thought you wantedto show you off in front of everyone as my wife

or did you "decide to change your mind?"

Matteo was raising an eyebrow, a challenging look on his face. He was enjoying this. He was trying to turn this

into a ghe wantedto change my mind, to prove that | wasn't serious. Well, he thought wrong because |

wasn't going to change my mind. Not when | had rhy future on stake.

"I just know about of the teas, whey." He workplace in strands at hair tehind my

just doing my part of the deal, wifey." He tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear. It was a sleek move, and it

was

sudden.

"Stop callingthat. And | didn't expect you to-

"I'm leaving for Berlin. | won't be back until Saturday," he cutoff.

That was four days away. Matteo call the way to my workplace to letknow that he was leaving to Berlin.

"You

You

checked've called or text me." | replied. "It wouldn't be a surprise if you got my number from one of my

background

He smirked, "I'd like to see my wife before | leave."

"Future fake wife

Chapter 5

"Now don't go around flirting with other men. | won't like it."

You're already controlling my life, now?"

"Not controlling, baby, just setting a boundary for what's mine. Je leaned in, his warm breath on the side of my

temple as he whispered. "There is one thing you can expect from me, Alert... it's loyalty. | can play my part as

your loving husband, but you need to play your part as my wife. | may never love you, but | don't want you to go

around f***g other men, either or there'll be consequences. You know what I'm capable of My whole body

shivered at his words. What was getting myself into?

Then, he leaned back, placing his hand underneath my chin before caressing the side of my cheek. It was short

but he was sealing his promise-he meant every word he said. | needed to keep reminding myself who | was

dealing with. He was no regular man. He was dangerous, deadly and a criminal. | was going to marry a mafia

boss, who was capable of lot of things. | may have managed to escape Papa's control. but | was falling into

another man's powerful

I've assigned Angelo to be with you, at all times. Don't worry, he'll be out of your sight. It's just for safety

purposes." He said, turning serious.

Why would need someone to look after me? | was fine being on my own. | never needed anyone to look after me-

Papa may have assigned to look afterfor the past years, but he never toldanything. Besides, ever since

he retired and Alexei took over as Pakhan, he may seem to be respecting my privacy more.

"I don't need a bodyguard, Matteo. I'm fine on my own." | shook my head, disagreeing-

"I have alliances, Alena. | also have enemies. If you're to marry me, | need to make sure you're safe. | can't risk

your life."

"You seem to forget that my father was the Pakhan,"

"It never slipped my mind, but you'll soon be my wife-the Russians have no business to bother with what's

mine."

His

"I'm not going to be yours. Don't flatter yourself."

"On paper you are." He took a glance to look down at his wristwatch, "I also expect you to move in with me

before I return."

Oh, this was not going according to plan. Maybe, | didn't think it through when | went to his office and asked him

to marry me-I thought | was going to decide everything, and he'd just follow but | was truly mistaken.

"I can't move in with you this weekend. | don't have the time."

"All you need to do is pack your belongings and I'll handle the rest."

"We aren't even married yet. | don't have to move in with you this quickly,"

"Either way, you'd move in with me. It is bound to happen sooner or later."

Con, | was dealing with a mafia boss. He wasn't going to back away that easily.

| thought it was going to be easy because he said he wasn't going to commit. This was starting to becmore

like a commitment, or did he mean a different type of commit! said you weren't going to commit."

"This is not committing, Alena. Committing to you is surrendering my whole self and expecting the thinking of

you and no one else."

You

sal

Committing is

Chapter 5

me.

"You expectnot tis f***k-anyone else, but you're allowed to?"

"When did | say anything aboutf***g anyone else?"

"You just said committing is thinking ofand no one else. So, I'm allowed to think of whoever | want but I just

can't have a relationship with them?"

"Mm, right. You're finally catching up."

"This is ridiculous." | scoffed, crossing my arms.

You can always change your mind and I'll be glad to walk away

You

know | can't do that"- it's settled then

"Okay, it's settled the

Matteo stood with confidence, and it didn't pass bythat women kept glancing at his direction. He was a

masterpiece which he knew very well. Nobody was able to tell him otherwise.

It was very clear, he loved the control. He would always get what he wanted because he could do so. Even if

those things were out of teach, he was able to make sure he got ahold of them. He had the power, the money,

and the time. | wanted t to

o learn more about him. Mostly about his past but | knew I didn't have enough resources to do so. His personal

information was out of reach-Igor couldn't givemuch when | asked for his background check. Besides, Alexei

could suspect something. "Alena!" Zach called out my name, makingturn around.

At first, he was looking at me, but his eyes quickly turned to look at Matteo's figure behind me. He didn't take

any further steps as he gestured for us to head to the cafeteria, and he nodded as a sign of understanding when

| told him to wait. "I got to to go," I said. "Who is he?" 'Matteo asked, staring into my eyes.

"My colleague."

He didn't say anything else afterwards, but his next action surprised me. He was leaning really close, as if we

were kissing. However, instead of his lips meeting mine, they brushed against my cheek.

His breath was warm, and the kiss lingered.

My eyes closed shut at the feeling as | felt his hand on the back of my waist, holdingin place. It was silly of