A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Chapter 82

Matteo

"Let's talk outside," Mikhail said before gesturing forto follow him.

| trailed behind him down the hallway until we reached the balcony near his office, where it was secluded and

quiet. Angelo and Luca were down the hallway, watching us from afar but | had assured them to stay calm as

long as everything was going according to plan. Alexei was in the room with Alena, keeping her company until

the doctor came.

The night sky was clear with stars and | immediately thought of my wife, about her obsession with stars. She

enjoyed a night out to count the stars until she fell asleep and it was one of the things | loved about her, she

enjoyed the simplest things.

Most women were hard to impress. They were impressed with money and fancy items. Alena was the perfect

type of woman who had provedotherwise because of her simplicity. | had never met a woman who enjoyed

looking up at the stars as much as she did. "Do you smoke?"

The question had caughtoff guard. Not because | didn't smoke but because | hadn't smoked in awhile, only

during certain occasion. Most of the men | knew were heavy smokers, swere social smokers and the rest

never liked to smoke. Sometimes, the smell of smoke could causea headache.

"Sometimes." | replied, looking at Mikhail.

He took his pack out before handing

one toand | took one cigarette.

I had borrowed his lighter to light up the cigarette, placing it in between my lips afterwards before I inhaled the

nicotine. It had been months since | last had a cigarette and | almost forgot the taste of it-l wasn't a big fan of

smoking, especially ever since | met my wife. | assumed this was one of his ways to bond or to avoid the

awkwardness.

"Do you think I'm a bad father, Matteo?" He asked, catchingoff guard for the second time.

"Why do you ask that question?"

Mikhail exhaled the smoke before he continued to speak, "Alena's not happy. Not with me."

| kept quiet, waiting for him to continue speaking. Instead of trying to be honest about it, | decided it was best to

keep quiet.

I didn't expect him to speak about personal things with me, especially since he pointed a gun at me.

you

"I know didn't chere to talk business. So, let's talk about whatever it is you cto discuss. Man to man.

Father-in-law to son-in-law." He added, surprisingbut | had kept my cool, not wanting to asswe were a

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one big happy family.

Mikhail probably felt guilty when he saw Alena's condition. He wasn't stupid and he knew he was the cause of

her stress. Maybe, this was one of his way to redemption, he tried to make things right by hearingout. I just

didn't know if it could turn out good or bad. "I want to bring Alena hwith me. I'm still her husband,"

you think you can "You failed to protect her twice. What makes you think you'll be able to protect her again?

What makes gain my trust after what happened to her?" The questions were straight to the point. Even though |

didn't have an answer to his questions but | knew my responsibility.

| had blamed myself for what happened to Alena. | knew | should've been more protective over her but at the

stime, |

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08:12 Tue, Nov 5

Chapter 82

didn't want to take away her freedom. She deserved her free will and her own space, | may had overlooked the

risks.

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5

"If I have to be truly honest with you, Mikhail, | hadn't stopped blaming myself for what happened. | never

wanted her to get hurt. | only want what's best for her and | know after what happened, it's not easy for you to

trust me. We're talking about your daughter's life." He nodded, "You brought your dangerous world into her life,

Matteo. You have enemies a lot of enemies and when they want to cafter you, she becomes the main

target."

I glanced down at my cigare?

love."

before inhaling, "We live in the sdangerous world, Mikhail. We both have the woman we

"So, she's not happy now and it's my fault."

My eyes were looking at Mikhail, trying to get a closer look at him. He was older, way older but he was also

wiser-he had been in the mafia for decades and he had more experience when it cto deal with enemies. The

Russians and the Italians weren't exactly friends to begin with, we just decided on better terms.

After Alena and | had eloped, it didn't exactly bring happy tears to her father.

"I don't think you're a bad father. | might even do the sif | have a daughter," my respond may have caught

his attention because he immediately turned to look at me.

"It doesn't matter because right now, I'm the villain in Alena's eyes. She seesas the bad guy who wants to

take her away from her beloved husband. She doesn't seetrying hard to protect her or prioritise her safety.

All she wants is her freedom," he replied. "Because she's not a child anymore, Mikhail. She's a grown adult

"She doesn't understand the risks."

"You can't keep her locked up."

He sighed, "Whenever you and | are reachable by our enemies, we aren't the first ones to be their target. It's the

woman we love. It's the family we have. | thought you know better than that, Matteo. You should know the risks,"

| looked away before | inhaled the cigarette again, "What else am | supposed to do? It wasn't my choice."

"The sacrifices we have to make for the sake of our loved ones, Matteo. You need to always keep that in your

mind. We've made it this far because our families have sacrified a lot. We can't just throw it all away," he said.

"I won't be in the mafia for long..."

Mikhail frowned as he turned to look at me, "Why? You're still young."

"| can't risk losing Alena again and she can't risk losing me. This whole mafia thing was fine before | met her but

for us to live a normal life, it's something I have to give up. Luca would be just fine to take over my place." The

reply was straight forward.

| had thought about it in awhile. It wasn't just a day or two decision because the mafia had been my whole life. In

order for Alena and | to have a normal life, where we were able to feel safe, | had to let go of my spot in the

mafia. | had to choose a different path. Once | was out of the mafia, | never wanted back in.

"Have you talked about it with Alena?"

"We've included it in our conversation before Marco. | just haven't brought it up yet,"

He nodded, "When do you plan on stepping down?"

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Chapter 82

"Once | find out the person that kidnapped Alena. Once | make sure he was dead."

FD

My eyes wer

staring out as | said those words. It had been awhile since | had killed anybody but | knew the urge to kill kept

increasing every t| thought of the man who hurt my wife. He had made her suffer, he had starved her, he

had tortured her and after everything he did, he didn't deserve to breathe any longer.

It was better for him to be six feet under.

However, only after he had received an endless amount of torture.

Luca could helpwith that. He was the master of physical pain, he knew the spots to hurt, he knew the ways

to hurt. If | compared myself to Luca, he a lunatic when it cto torturing someone. He never showed any

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sympathy and it was as if he was a different pe

"We've been looking for him, too."

"He's like a ghost."

"He's smart but | know we'll find him,"

Mikhail and | stood quietly as we finished our cigarettes. His gaze was empty, somehow lost and confused but |

knew he had a lot to say. It was our first thaving a conversation alone without anyone else interfering-I could

see a glimpse of his heart.

He prioritised Alena. He prioritised his family.

For a man like Mikhail, they thought they were doing their best for their family. All he wanted was for them to be

safe and he had pushed aside their feelings, whether they were happy or not. After Alena was found hurt, it had

made him thought differently. Instead of prioritising his daughter's happiness, he decided to prioritise his

daughter's safety.

Any man, any father, never wanted to see their daughter like that.

I knew | wasn't able to if I was in his shoes.

Even after losing Marco, | almost lost

my

mind.

| couldn't imagine if | lost my son or my daughter to a monster.

The two of us turned around as we heard a knock on the sliding door, seeing Luca standing there. "The doctor's

here and he's checking up on Alena,"

"I'll be there," | replied and he nodded before he walked away.

As | was about to step back inside, Mikhail had stopped

"Do you really love my daughter, Ma

| turned to look at him, "More than my life."

"One last chance."

"Mikhail-"

1. me.

He cutoff, "One last chance to prove that you love my daughter more than anything else. More than anyone

else. One last chance to prove that you can protect her. | don't want to see her hurt anymore, Matteo and |

swear, I'll be the one to kill you if it happens." The words were a promise. A sealed deal.