A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Matteo

As I grew anxious, I ran towards Alexei and Mikhail. They were heading to

until I stopped them in their steps.

their car and had completely ignored my calls

While Mikhail and Alexei had an umbrella to cover them from the rain, I was already soaking wet as I stood in the rain. I knew how foolish / looked especially as the Sicilian leader but when it came to Alena, I was left with no choice.

Angelo had followed me but when he tried to offer me an umbrella, I politely declined and asked him to stay where he was. A few of my men were watching me from afar and I knew they felt pity for their leader; I had never made a fool out of myself. Now, I only embarrassed myself in front of the Bratva leaders.

Alexei clenched his jaw and for a short few seconds, I could see the sympathy in his eyes while Mikhail stood closer to the car, probably considered myself as a pathetic man.

"What are you doing, Matteo?" Alexei asked, shaking his head.

"You can't take Alena away from me."

"You've failed to protect her. It's better if we take the responsibility away from you,"

Responsibility. It felt like a hard slap to the face but I knew I needed to take it all in. Ever since Alena's kidnapping, I hadn't stopped blaming myself-couldn't sleep at night, kept getting throbbing headaches and even had nightmares whenever I fell asleep. My biggest fear had became a reality and for the first time in my life, I was scared.

"Mr. Lerclerc?" Angelo called out, asking permission if he could provide me an umbrella but I held my hand up, preventing

im from doing so.

"Matteo... we're not trying to start a war here. Alena is and always will be Russian. If things ever go wrong like this, we have the right to protect her ourselves." Alexei said, silencing me.

I shook my head, "We're married. She's my wife. How is it possible for me to let her go? I can't just let her go."

"You should've thought about that before this happened."

"It wasn't my intention!"

"It was nobody's intention but you failed regardless. You've proven that you're not worthy to take care of our Alena. What will you say if this happens again? What will you say to try and convince us? Words don't matter in this situation, Matteo. I sighed deeply, "I know but let me prove myself this time. Let me prove to you and Mikhail that I can take care of Alena. I know this isn't the first time but I assure you, this will be the last time. I'll die first before anyone can hurt her."

My eyes stared directly into his own as he stood quietly, probably processing his own thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, he was thinking of other things to say or considering any other options.

"What do you think this is, Matteo? A business transaction? We're talking about my daughter's life," Mikhail stepped in, in a

serious tone.

"I didn't mean it that way,"

"As a Sicilian leader, you should know better to overcome your enemies. You should know better to take care of your family.

45

If you

can't take care of your wife, what makes you think you're capable to take care of anyone else? Maybe, we're lucky we lost Marco."

I looked up into his eyes. The words had surprised Alexei as well as he stared at his father, not expecting him to bring up Marco. "Papa," Alexei frowned.

"I don't think you could protect Marco either, Matteo."

"Papa, that's enough."

My hands were clenched into fists as I held myself back from hurting Mikhail. If I listened to myself, I would've probably punched him straight in the face until he passed out. The past few days were stressful for me and I felt pressured by him, I had only managed to control my anger because I kept thinking about Alena.

I kept reminding myself that Alena was important. Her family was important.

"We're leaving," Mikhail said, through gritted teeth as he entered the car.

Alexei stood at the same spot for a few seconds, eyeing me. I knew he could sense my anger but he also knew he couldn't do much-he was a coward, from the moment he let Mikhail decided Viktor as Alena's future husband and he didn't try to stop his father. One of the reasons why Alena ran to me for help.

It turned out to be a blessing in my life, despite the situation.

"Alexei ... please,"

"Matteo, it's over. We're leaving,"

"No, please. I'm begging you," I had dropped down on my knees in the rain which had caused Alexei to stop in his steps. "I'm begging you, Alexei. I'd do anything. I swear to God, I'd do anything to bring her back to me."

"Matteo, you're embarrassing yourself in front of your men."

"Please, let me bring her back and please don't take her away from me."

Alexei turned to look at me, sighing.

However, instead of saying anything else, he turned around and got in the car. As soon as he closed the door, their chauffeur drove out of my territory-leaving me on my knees in the rain, my fists on the ground. Angelo had ran towards me, opening the umbrella.

I stayed still for a few minutes, trying to process what had happened.

"Boss... you'll get sick. Do you want to go inside?" Angelo asked, slowly.

Angelo had been with me through thick and thin, even during Sofia. He had watched me succeed and also through my greatest downfall-never once did he wanted to leave. He had stayed loyal and proved his loyalty through every hardships. I could never imagine losing Angelo. He was one of my greatest men.

Alexei was right, being in this position had only embarrassed me in front of my men but for once in my life, I didn't care if they saw me as weak. They could see how much love I had for Alena and how much happier I was when she was around. They knew I was slowly losing hope.

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They could leave if they wanted to. They could choose a different leader but my men were loyal, they never considered my downfalls as my weakness.

I slowly stood up before making my way back inside. My clothes drenched in water as I took off my shoes, feeling lifeless. I didn't realise the questions being asked by Angelo because I felt numb, I felt empty.

"Mr. Lerclerc?" Angelo called out, for a few times before catching my attention.

"Yes, Angelo?"

"Luca is here."

Within seconds, I saw Luca walked in the front door. The moment he saw me, he seemed surprised yet he didn't utter a single word except gesturing for Angelo to leave the room.

It was just the two of us now.

"You look like shit." Luca said, pointing at me.

"It's good of you to check up on me,"

""What happened? You didn't fight back?"

I scoffed, "Fight what, Luc? Put a bullet in their heads?"

"Mikhail's a fucking asshole. Alexei's a coward."

"No shit Sherlock," I muttered under my breath.

Luca went to the glass cabinet before taking out a bottle of whiskey. It was one of the collections I had kept for awhile-it costed me a lot of money and thought it was better as a display. Usually, I never let Luca anywhere near my booze but at this point, I didn't care. I needed something to numb me even further.

He placed the bottle of whiskey in front of me with two glasses.

"You look like you need this," he said.

"I probably need a whole bottle."

"And intoxicate yourself? Sounds like a pretty way to die."

""Shut up, Luca."

"I have good news,"

My eyes widened at him as I took a sip of my drink, waiting for his response.

"You've found her?" I asked.

"Almost but trust me when I say this, we'll get to her before the Russians do

"Fuck, then why are we still doing nothing?"

"You're not well, Matteo. Leave it to the rest of us,"

I shook my head, taking a full shot of the whiskey before placing the glass down. I didn't understand if it was the whiskey or the adrenaline building up but I felt as if I could kill people now, especially the ones who hurt my wife

"That's not going to happen. I'm going to save my wife," I replied,

"Fabulous, Give me two hours top and we'll be on our way to Alena.

Just like that, Luca went to the living room with his laptop and I made my way up the stairs, wanting to take a refreshing shower. As much as I had the urge to tell Alexei and Mikhail about Alena's whereabouts later, I knew it was best to keep it to myself and my men. The Russians hated me. They always did.

This was my chance to prove to them I could protect Alena. I could protect my family.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and realised how miserable I looked. My cheeks were sunken and I looked as if I had lost quite a lot of weight, the visible dark undereyes were doing a great job at showing my lack of sleep, too.

I glanced down at my wedding band, kissing it.

"Wait for me baby. I'm on my way to you." I said to myself, getting myself ready to save Alena and kill the bastard who did it. That man was going to be six feet under, only after a few rounds of torture. A few rounds of teeth pulling, a few rounds of skin slicing and a few rounds of nail pulling.

Anything for my wife.