A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Chapter 53

Matteo

Angelo had managed to track down Alena's phone last night. The moment my call went through and it began to

ring, | didn't waste any tto get Angelo-even though | couldn't stop calling Alena, hoping she was going to

answer, it didn't matter because at the end, we

figured out her location.

| called Alexei, letting him know the good news.

However, he wasn't as excited. He seemed rather dull and faking his reaction which I instantly knew, he had

figured out his sister's location all along.

He just didn't want to tell me. | didn't understand his purpose.

So, here we were, standing in the living room of my vacation-villa.

Alexei had his hands in his pockets while | stared at the note on the coffee table:

'She belongs tonow."

Ever since we arrived here thirty minutes ago, | had been frozen in the exact sspot. Angelo guarded the

door with my other two men while | tried to figure out the culprit. Angry. Upset. Disappointed.

towards my wife-more | didn't know which one to describe my emotions but | knew | felt them all at once but not

towards myself. | was angry at myself for never checking out this place. | was upset at myself for not knowing

my wife any better. | was disappointed at myself for letting this happen.

"Matteo..." Alexei called out, breaking the silence.

My hands were clenched into fists as | tried to hold back from hurting anyone. To be exact, | wanted to throw

everything onto the ground and scream as loud as | could but | knew that wasn't a solution to this problem.

| needed to stay calm. As calm as | could.

"You knew. You knew but you didn't tell me," | replied.

| turned to look at my brother-in-law, feeling betrayed. | had cto see him and begged for his help-believe me

when | said it, | had never begged for anything or anyone in my entire life but | knew my wife's safety was more

important than my ego.

Now | knew, | had begged for nothing. | had embarrassed myself.

"She wouldn't let me."

"She's my wife, Alexei. | deserve to know."

"I've asked her to tell you. Believe me."

-I shook my head, "I don't know what to believe. Now her life's in danger and we're back to square one."

Square one. The very beginning.

Just when | thought I had found my wife, she was out of my grasps again. This time, every second mattered

because it was a matter of life and death. Alena could be in danger right now and | was standing here wasting

my time.

09:36 Sat, Oct 26

Chapter 53

| needed to find her as soon as possible.

00000.83%t#

FD

| slammed my fist on the coffee table as | crumpled the note, trying to hold back my tears from falling-l had cried

every night ever since she left me, couldn't even get myself to sleep even if | was exhausted.

For once, | thought things were going to go according to plan but | was faced with another disappointment.

"If you told me... this wouldn't have happened." | added, turning to look at the blood on the floor.

It wasn't a pool of blood but a few drops of it was easy to tell it belonged to my dearest wife. She had been

beaten up, probably punched or kicked and | was nowhere near to protect her. | had failed as her husband. Alexei

clenched his jaw, "We'll find her."

"No, I'll find her. And you'll be the last to know,"

| walked out from the living room and went straight up the stairs, towards the bedroom. My eyebrows furrowed

at the sight of clothes in her luggage and a few scattered on the floor but what attractedmost was her phone

on the bed. | went to pick it up, looking at the lockscreen; it was still a photo of me.

There were a few missed calls fromand | knew she didn't even heard it when | called-she was probably

downstairs when the tragedy happened. If | had called her earlier, she was probably going to pick it up.

I could've made it to her earlier.

No, she was hours away from me.

| sat on the edge of the bed, holding her phone tightly as | grabbed one of her clothes. | began to smell her

clothes and before | knew it, the tears had fallen. As much as | wanted to hold myself from crying, it was a little

bit too late. Her clothes smelt like her. They all did.

It had been weeks since | had smelt her again. The svanilla and candy smell, the ssmell that had

seducedfrom the moment she walked into my office and the ssmell of her body whenever she was near

me.

| gripped hard onto her clothes, feeling my anger clouding me.

"Fuck, fuck!" | breathed, trying to calm myself.

Angelo had ran up the stairs but once he saw my condition, he stood still in the doorway. He immediately

reassured my other two men that everything was fine-my curse may have alarmed them.

It was his first tseeinglike this, yet he respected my privacy as he closed the door behind him.

"Baby, where are you?" | muttered under my breath, holding her clothes to my chest.

When | had married Alena, | never thought | could lose her one day. Being in the mafia never reassured my own

safety and | knew it could risk my wife's safety as well. Even her father had trained her to protect herself but she

was never interested and she never continued the training once she started medical school.

| shouldn't have dropped my guard down when it cto her safety but | was too eager on making her happy. |

needed to show her how much I could trust her in which I did, | just didn't trust her to be safe whenever | wasn't

around.

I had feared this the most.

My heart felt like it was crushed into pieces.

The rage only increased and | knew | had to start searching for her, even though it would takedays without

sleeping. |

09:36 Sat, Oct 26

Chapter 53

needed to find my wife as fast as | could.

"Angelo!" | called out and within seconds, he crushing in through the door.

"Yes, boss? Something wrong?"

"I need you to alert Luca. We need to find Alena,"

"Of course."

83%1

FD

"We're going to find out who did this and when we do, leave that person to me." | said through gritted teeth,

imagining ways of how | could torture the son of a bitch.

That person had crossed the line by hurting and kidnapping Alena. He knew better than to mess with someone

like| had many good relationships with the other mafias and my respect had only increased when | married

the Bratva princess. This situation had involved not only the Sicilians but the Russians. Two of us combined, that

motherfucker was going to suffer. He was asking for a death sentence.

He was begging for a death sentence.

| had been slow on killings ever since Alena cinto my life because | needed a calmer life. My men, on the

other hand, finished my job for me. It was to ease Alena, she wanted to make sure | was safe whenever | left the

house.

She had a habit of checking my fists whenever | chome. It was her way of knowing if | had beaten someone

up or if my day was clean from all those crimes.

Anything to keep my wife happy, even though | found satisfaction in hurting my enemies.

| had kept my beast on a leash for her.

Now, it was tto unleash that monster.

SEND GIFT