A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

"Takeinto my office."

Two of his men helped him up as they made their way to his office. | followed behind them closely and watched

their every move. When we got inside. | was hesitating at first because | remembered when he told me, | wasn't

allowed to be in here. | wasn't allowed to be in his room and his office.

But he didn't seem to bother at the moment. He did ask his men to bring him to his office, so | stepped inside

and made my way towards him, who was sitting on the sofa and groaning lightly in pain.

"Bring her the things she needs and leave us.

Within minutes, they placed medical tools and a first-aid kit besidebefore leaving the office.

| was left alone with Matteo

| was staring at him for a few seconds, seeing he was indeed in pain. His lips were red and slightly busted-

maybe, he was punched on the face a few times before he got shot. He looked rough and | had never seen him

like that before. Whenever we ran into each other for the past months, he always looked in a hurry and busy.

"I'll cut your shirt off."

He nodded, leaning back as | run the scissors to cut his shirt. Once | cut them, he was sitting in front of me

te**ss. If we were in a different situation, | was probably going to take my tand stare at him because the man

in front ofwas looking like a Greek god, but he was hurt.

He was injured. | had no right to stare, anyway.

| frowned at the gunshot wound and sighed in relief when | was that it wasn't too deep. It was a graze, and it

missed any important **o*ns-he was going to heal just fine. All he needed was enough rest.

| kept quiet, disinfecting the area properly before beginning to remove the bullet. He did groan and grunt a few

times, but he managed it well by staying still, only gripping tightly onto his torn-up shirt. "You can ask me. You

look curious," he said slowly.

I cleared my throat, "Who attacked you?"

"We were just transporting drugs when we got attacked. Angelo will try to figure out who it was because

everything happened too quickly. | couldn't see who it was and then | got shot."

"Is this a normal

reoccurrence for you?"

He smirked. "Very much so. This isn't my first time."

""You've been shot before?"

"And | survived each one!

"You might leaveas a widow sooner than | thought,"

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The corner of his lips lifted as he shook his head. He was finding the conversation amusing but | didn't pay much

attention to him or his stare. | was paying attention to his wound even though he was looking at nothing else but

me. It had been a while since | saw him smile, too or heard his voice

"They can't kill me, Alena. It's not that easy"

"And if they do get to you one day. They'll probably cafter me, too. If they don't cafter me, I'm left with

your debts to pay

His expression turned serious, "That won't be happening. Even if | die, you'll be taken care of. You wouldn't have

to worry about anything. Nothing in your life is going to change."

"Do you t

think about it. Matteo!"

"About dying?"

"Mm, in your line of work. you keep getting closer to death when you leave the house.

He hissed as | took the bullet out but when he felt the relief, he leaned back.

"You're lucky it didn't hit any of your o***ns. It was just a graze." | spoke again as he kept watching me. It was

starting to makefeel uneasy and a bit nervous, but | tried to ignore the feeling.

| couldn't tell what he was thinking but | knew if | looked at him | wasn't going to be able to look away. His

beautiful eyes were always tempting, and | was bound to get lost in them. They were always strongly affecting

me.

Who said brown eyes couldn't hypnotize? They were lying.

Told you I'm lucky." He breathed, "Besides, it's not justnow

"What do you mean?"

"I can't always risk my life. | have to remember that | have bigger responsibilities, now."

is that?"

""What is

"our

Just like that, our eyes met in an instant. | was fool to think | could look away or ignore his gaze, but he seemed

to surprisewhenever | least expected. | swear to God, | wanted nothing but to kiss his lips because | missed

how he tasted-he had that effect on me, and | couldn't shake it off.

"You just don't wantto marry someone else." | said, jokingly.

He chuckled, "Maybe. | like knowing you have my last name,"

There it was. Another word and it gave butterflies in my y stomach

We kept quiet for a while as | cleaned his wound, still ignoring his stare. He wasn't groaning or hissing in pain any

longer. Both of his hands were resting on his sides, so it tookby surprise when | felt him reaching out to lift

my chin.

His touch was soft and all he needed was forto look into his eyes.

"What's wrong? Am | hurting you?" | asked, trying to ignore the rhythm of my heartbeat and the butterflies in my

stomach.

He shook his head, "I just miss your face."

"Don't don't do that."

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Chapter 13

"Do what?"

"Say those things to me. We both know we'll be back to ignoring each other tomorrow. We've been doing that for

months." | looked away, returning to stitch his wound before slowly patching it up and placing a bandage.

"I didn't mean to."

"Then, why did you?"

"It's complicated"

I sighed, feeling my legs hurt because | was being on my knees for too long.

When Matteo didn't get a response from me, he continued to talk. "Why didn't you have a boyfriend?"

Our faces were inches apart. | felt self-conscious as he eyed my every feature. It was as if he was counting my

freckles across my cheeks-they weren't too visible, but they were obvious if someone was standing too close.

Anyhow, we had been closer than this. Just not close and not doing anything.

"| did until he decided he wanted to break my heart."

"What did he do?"

I knew he was curious, but | appreciated the gentleness in his voice.

"He cheated on me. | found him having sex with his colleague in our apartment. | continued to speak, "We were

in love for four years or | thought we were. Maybe, it was just me. So, when he was busy kissing and sleeping

with someone else, | made it clear to myself that | never wanted to go through that pain ever again. | stayed

away from love. | never got to know anyone else after him. | just didn't want to give anyone my trust."

"Did he try to get you back in his life?"

| scoffed, "Oh he did. He did it a few times until he gave up. He gaveall the cliche answers whenever | asked

him. I wasn't a kid, Matteo. | knew he was a big fat liar and couldn't keep his d***k in his pants."

-He smirked, "He wasn't worthy of you. If he really did love you, he wouldn't cheat on you."

"Exactly, | told myself that many times whenever I felt lonely"

"You felt lonely?"

"Of course. Anyone would feel lonely when they're alone,"

He continued to look atbefore reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. It was a gentle gesture

even though it was quick, but it made my heart skipped a beat. Our eyes were staring into one another as | tried

to control my breaths.

To my surprise, he leaned in to kiss my forehead.

It was a long kiss, and his lips were warm as | closed my eyes, enjoying the moment.

When he leaned back, | slowly opened my eyes to find him looking away.

Thank you for helping me, Alena."

Just as | was about to say

head "You're welcome. Don't push yourself too hard. There are painkillers in the fridge if it's too painful,"

onething. Angelo opened the door and stepped inside. | quickly stood up before nodding my

This was never a normal occurrence. If it was a normal person getting shot, | might ask for immediate scans to

check for internal injuries, but it was Matteo and he seemed fine.

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Angelo spoke to him in Italian, and | knew it was my cue to leave

"Just go to a hospital if you're still hurting." | added before walking out.

1 did catch a glimpse of his face, but | didn't want to look at his eyes.

"Wait, Alena."

| stopped and turned to look at him. He was already standing up as he spoke to Angelo in Italian. Once they were

done, Angelo excused himself and we were left alone, again.

"Is there something wrong?" | asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong. They were just leaving."

"Oh, okay. | guess | should too?"

"Alena, can you please helpto my room?"

The question tookby surprise. So, in one night, | was allowed to be in his office and his bedroom. He was

literally askingto help him into his room which he made very clear, he didn't wantanywhere near it. He

even said the word "please and he seemed sincere, too.

Did getting shot change him or something?

"Sure, I'll help you up.

| placed my arm around his waist and slowly walk with him out of the office. He wasn't putting his whole weight

onbecause he knew he was going to crush me, but he did lean in for support. His other hand was wrapped

around my shoulder in case he was about to fall. When we reached for the stairs, | saw his men leaving.

Angelo was talking to them in Italian as they closed the door.

-Matteo and | walked up the stairs, straight into his room. When we got inside, | slowly help him towards the bed,

but he didn't completely let go of me. | stole a few glances around his room and there wasn't anything weird-it

was a normal bedroom with light colored decorations.

His room was spacious, bigger than mine. It was clean, too and everything was in place.

"Do you wantto help you clean up?" | asked before | could stop myself.

| was supposed to help him into his room and leave. | knew myself too well. | could never walk away easily

whenever he looked or touched me, and | was pulling myself deeper into him, | was hoping he said no, and |

could leave but | also wanted him to say yes. "Are you okay with helping me?"

"Yeah, 111 need to replace the bandage anyway once it's wet."

"Mm, right

As he slowly unbuttoned his pants, | immediately turned around A soft chuckle escaped his lips when he saw my

reaction. | didn't understand what was going on with me. He had his hand and fingers inside me, but | was

blushing to be in the sroom as him because he was undressing.

Why was it botheringso much?

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Chapter 13

""You can look if you want to,

"I shouldn't Letknow when you're covered,"

"I'm covered."

| turned around, seeing him standing close and naked. My eyes widened before closing, "Matteo, don't do that!"

Another laugh escaped his lips as he reached up to cup my face. | was forcing my eyes shut even though

another part ofwanted to look. My hands were staying still too because | was afraid if | might've touched his

private part if | moved around.

"Are you blushing, Alena?" He asked, his voice low and deep.

Tm not. Please cover yourself,

"I can't take a shower with clothes on."

"Then, can you please go into the bathroom?"

e clean up"

"You said you wanted to helpcle

"| didn't think you were g going to be naked

"Just open your eyes,"

""No, | don't think I should"

"It's not something you haven't seen before."

"I haven't seen yours.

"Well, you can now."

"Matico!"

He chuckled, caressing my cheeks. "Open your eyes, Alena or we can just stand here. | don't mind doing this all

night but I'm feeling a bit tired, and | can't stand so long without hurting myself."

| opened my eyes, but they remained focusing on his eyes. Due to our height differences, | had to lift my head to

look at him and he had to look down at me. Both of his hands were still cupping my face. "Your cheeks are

warm," he added. "Stating the obvious. Thank you."

"Helpinto the bathroom, please."

Once we got into the bathroom, | couldn't help it any longer. He was standing in the shower facing the wall and |

was standing near the door staring at his butt. They were looking great. | was silently wishing I could touch them.

"Can you please take the body wash for me?" He asked, turning on the shower.

| made my way towards him with the body wash in hand. As soon as | reached him to give the body wash, he

grabbed my hand and pulledclose. My body slammed into his and he let out a wince, groaning at the pain. |

accidently touched his

wound

Im sorry. | didn't-

He cut the off. "It's fine."

"You're going to get ine wet"

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He smirked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at me. Both of his hands were cupping my face again and |

knew where. this was heading. He didn't bother to hide he was checkingout-my white shirt was clinging onto

my body as the warm water poured onto us, "Can we just stay like this for a while?"

"Tm soaking wet, Matteo

"Take your clothes off."

"What?"

"Take them off

| was staring at him, trying to find any sort of amusement but he was serious, When | was standing frozen at my

spot, | found his hands going down to lift my shirt and | didn't stop him. Once my shirt was off, he threw them

out of the shower and went down to unbutton my

skirt. They fell off with just a slight pull.

He kicked it out of the shower, too,

So, here | was, standing in my undergarments in front of my naked husband.

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