A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

For the next three years, | could see myself with Matteo in a fake marriage. | couldn't exactly expect what was

going to happen in another three years after that. | was hoping we were at least friends.

We needed to develop a friendship for both of our sanity.

| mean, nobody was going to remain strangers for that long. We could drown in work and ignore our marriage but

at the

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end of the day, we were going to head to the shome. We were going to bump into each other every morning

before we leave work. We couldn't avoid each other for as long as we wanted.

It was going to be difficult.

| had no problem with Matteo.

| was fine if he wanted to becfriends but for the tbeing, he wanted to set boundaries. Maybe, we just

needed to set boundaries to avoid any sexual encounters from happening again, but we didn't have to ignore

each other.

That was the plan. | just needed to know if he was going to follow the plan, too.

"We're flying to Sicily tonight." Angelo said, surprising me.

| turned around to find him standing in the doorway.

cinis in?"

"When did you c

"Just now."

I didn't hear his footsteps, nor did I hear him coming in. Matteo did a good job in hiring him as a bodyguard to

protect me. He was really good at being a ghost-1 knew he was going to be around the estate especially now that

Matteo was not around, but | didn't expect him to barge in when | was deep in thoughts.

"Okay, I'll pack later."

"We're leaving at six."

As soon as we got into our flight to Sicily, we didn't bother to make a conversation. Matteo arranged for a private

flight for our comfort and privacy-it wasn't a surprise, either. Papa had more than one private jet and it was

always available whenever we wanted to fly around. So, Matteo was rich like, really rich and it was obvious he

had more than one private jet.

It was a long flight to Sicily, and | was growing restless.

| couldn't stop thinking about my life. It was going to change, and | had to make that change in order to keep my

peace. Papa was probably going to disown.me, but it was a risk | had to take. Mama knew | was always stubborn.

She was going to supportin anything even if Papa didn't agree to it. "When did he tell you about us flying to

Sicily?" | asked, after staving quiet for the past six hours.

Angelo was minding his own business, scrolling on his phone, and reading the news while | was listening to music

and watching a couple of movies. | couldn't fall asleep if | wanted to because | was anxious about what was

waiting forin Sicily-about who was waiting for me. Well, if he was waiting for me.

"He called earlier this morning saying we had to fly to Sicily tonight," he replied as he kept looking out the

window, seeing utterly nothing but the night sky. "Did you have any problem with it?

"No, | called in for an emergency leave. It should be fine."

"What about tomorrow?"

told the hospital | was going to my hometown and as soon as | got back, | was going to go to work."

He nodded at my response, and it was just like that, we chose to keep quiet again.

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wed,

Chapter 9

When we landed in Sicily, it was already morning. The six-hour tdifference were taking a toll on me, but |

tried to stop thinking about it because | didn't want the jet lag. My body was aching and all | could think of was

heading to the hotel and sleep in for a few hours. Angelo and | were walking down the airport and straight to the

exil.

| saw Matteo leaning against a black SUV. He was wearing a black buttoned-down shirt and his sleeves were

rolled up to his elbows, as usual and he was mouth-watering. His dark brown hair was messy from the wind, but

it made him look more attractive. Maybe, it was the sunglasses or maybe because | hadn't saw him for days. He

was wearing an all-black, too.

As soon as he saw us, he started to make his way towards us, and | couldn't keep my eyes off him. | couldn't

exactly see hist eyes behind those Ray-Ban sunglasses, but | assumed he was looking directly at me, too.

| immediately looked down at his hands, especially his knuckles when | had the chance. It surprisedwhen |

didn't see any cuts or bruises. He wasn't here for his mafia business, or he didn't beat up anyone. | couldn't tell.

The moment he took his sunglasses off, | was staring into a pair of beautiful brown eyes.

The seyes that gothypnotized when we first met.

There was a frown on his face from the sun.

| needed to know the secret he was hiding from me-how could he look attractive every day? How could he get

more attractive every t| saw him? It wasn't possible. He could be in a ten-hour flight and remain attractive

while | was sure, as of now, | wasn't looking too appealing

I was sure | had dark circles and eyebags. And of course, my hair was messy but not in a sexy way. It was more

like in a "I just got off an eight-hour flight. | need to sleep,’ kind of messy.

What surprisedmore was when Matteo leaned in and met my lips.

Literally, he was kissing my lips. It tooka few seconds, but | managed to kiss him back and tried to enjoy it-

he was not a bad kisser. Not at all. He was a great kisser, but he caughtoff guard and | was scared if |

couldn't kiss him just as good. He cupped my face and within seconds, our tongues were somehow fighting. We

were kissing as if we were the only person in this airport.

| knew Angelo was standing a few feet away from us and people were probably staring but Matteo didn't seem to

mind. He kissedas if he missed me, as if he couldn't live another day withoutand it was starting to play

tricks with my mind. Was he doing this for show? Did Angelo not know about our arrangement?

| didn't think he knew he did tellthat it was only his lawyer that knew.

There were butterflies forming in my stomach when he leaned in deeper into the kiss. It was like he couldn't get

enough of me. It felt more than an act, but | knew better. He was doing a great job at the whole pretending, and

it almost fooled me, 100.

| started to feel warm, and | didn't have the chance to stop myself from letting out a moan when he bit my lower

lip.

Oh, damn it.

Matteo broke the kiss, but he didn't take a few steps back. He was still cupping my face and staring into my

eyes. His lips were red and swollen from the kiss-I was sure mine was too.

"I missed you, baby." He said, smiling seductively. "How was your flight?"

"Oh it was fine. | almost stuttered but | managed to cover it up and place my hands on his chest, "I missed you,

too. The long flight was torture without you."

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Chapter 9

"Mm, is that so? You must be glad you're in my arms, now."

"Of course." | glanced around us, seeing Angelo standing near the car-he wasn't looking in our direction, he was

looking around in case we were in any danger. Besides, the airport was loud from the crowd, and it was almost

impossible for him to hear our conversation.

However, he was probably already fooled from our kiss.

"You look a bit tired... did you get any rest?"

"| couldn't sleep."

"Let's head to the hotel, then. You need to sleep, he grabbed my hand before gesturing forto enter the SUV.

As soon as we got inside, Angelo sat on the passenger seat before saying to the driver that we should go. As for

Matteo, he didn't let go of my hand, so | assumed our act wasn't done yet. We still had to pretend in front of his

men.

He didn't trust them. Not fully. He wasn't going to risk our secret being exposed.

The car ride was quiet. Matteo didn't say a word as he looked out the window but the grip of his hand on mine

remained the same-occasionally brushing his thumb against the back of my hand but | pretended not to notice.

When we got to the hotel, he stepped out to open the door for me.

Then, he continued to hold my hand.

We walked inside the hotel lobby, and we were greeted by the staffs. They were smiling at us as we passed

them, but Matteo didn't bother to slow down. We kept walking to the elevator and as soon as we got inside, he

let go of my hand.

Just like that when we were alone, he dropped the act immediately.

ta

| felt something in me, but | wasn't going to call it a disappointment. | knew what we were getting ourselves into

and | shouldn't feel bad about myself.

"Are we going to married today?" | asked, breaking the silence.

"Tomorrow morning. At the beach," he replied without looking at me. "You should rest today. You had a long flight

and I'm sure you're tired"

"Oh shit, | forgot something. | didn't bring any white dress with me,"

He shook his head, "It's fine. We can look for one."

"Matteo.. | have something to ask you."

Before | could proceed, the elevator doors opened, and he stepped out. | had to quickly follow him into our hotel

room. We were in the villa suite and the view was breath-taking. My eyes widened at the Temple of Concordia

from the large terrace, and | had completely forgotten my question.

We were at a five-star hotel.

The suite was spacious. The large terrace. The indoor jacuzzi.

| was smiling at the view until Matteo brokefrom my thoughts.

You were saying, Alena?"

"| just needed to know, Matteo.

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Our eyes met. Even though we weren't standing close to each other, it felt as if he was still holding onto me. My

lips were still swollen from our kiss, and | was holding back everything infrom running to him and getting a

taste of those luscious lips again. ""About what?"

"If you want to change your mind."

He smirked, looking away. "I didn't have to fly you all the way to Sicily if | wanted to change my mind. We made

an agreement, and we signed the contract. All we have to do now is get married."

"I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want

"Nobody forcedinto anything, Alena." He took a few steps towards me, "You need to understand that. And

when you do understand, you need to remember who | am. You may have forgotten who you're dealing with. You

may have forgotten the kind of authority | have."

It was my fault. | did forget who he was-the ruthless mafia boss. | needed to constantly remind myself that he

was capable of killingif he wanted to, but he didn't. He wasn't a regular businessman. He was dealing with

money-laundering and if he was going to be charged as a criminal, it was possible for him to face a death

sentence.

"You won't gain much benefit from this."

"I won't but I'm looking forward to seeing the look on Mikhail's face when he finds out about us. | have to be

honest with you, | never liked the Russians and by marrying you, it will show just how easy | got the Bratva

princess in my arms. You'll get your freedom and I'll get my respect

"I'm glad we will both get what we want, don't we?"

"I'm glad, too." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "We just have to play the husband-and-wife act

beautifully. Are you going to be ready for that?"

"| thought we were already acting”

"Mm, only you, Alena

When we heard a knock coming from the front door, Matteo left the room to let Angelo in. He was carrying my

luggage and a couple of other bags before he placed them on the sofa.

"Thank you, Angelo. | completely forgot about my stuff.

"It's fine."

I nodded, smiling sincerely as he walked towards the terrace.

Matteo made his way towardsbefore running his hands on my back, resting on my hip. If he moved lower, he

was going to get a grip of my bottom, but he remained still. Our bodies were close that | could feel his warm

breath on the top of my head. He was being close and playing our act because Angelo was in the room, so he

wanted to show our affection.

He placed a couple of kisses on my temple, "Do you want to take a warm bath after this?"

A warm bath sounds really nice," | muttered.

Would you liketo join you for that bath?

His voice was deep and husky that it madefeel something. | was holding onto the bit of sanity | had left to

control myself. | couldn't let him sense | was losing my mind, so | nodded, my hand reaching out to touch his

necklace.

| noticed the necklace before, but | never paid much attention until now.

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Chapter 9

It was almost like a crest, maybe it belonged to his family.

"He's outside. He couldn't hear us," | whispered.

"We're practicing."

"For what?"

"For when we have to pretend. So, it'll look natural."

""Right we're going to do a lot of that after this."

Matteo caressed the side of my face as he lifted my chin, gesturing forto look at him. Due to our height

differences, | had to look up to meet his eyes and whenever we kissed, he had to lean down so | didn't have to

stand on my tiptoes as

much

| was almost lost in his eyes.

It was starting to get confusing, but | didn't want to look away, | was too attracted.

How could I resist him?

"Boss," Angelo called out, causing Matteo to look at the figure behindand drop his hand from my face. Then,

he started to speak in Italian-causing Matteo to sigh.

"I have to leave for a while. You should get srest," Matteo said, kissing my forehead before following Angelo

out,

| was left alone, and | was glad. It was what | needed to clear my head.

As | looked down at my hands, | noticed they were cold, and | was nervous. Matteo was starting to makefeel

things | never felt before.

And my wedding was tomorrow,