A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23
Alena
Matteo gave me the space I needed after he left my room. So, instead of being gloomy in my room for the night like I had originally planned, I gave my little sister a text.
1 got a bit anxious waiting for her reply because if she was asleep or if she was busy, I had no other choices. Matteo couldn’t easily be lied to, and I wasn’t going to take any risks.
The text was short and simple, ‘Are you free tonight? Let’s meet up for a drink’ and she responded back asking for the location. So, in a short amount of time, I was taking a shower and getting ready in different clothes.
I did my makeup, but it wasn’t too much, I just wanted to look as if I was out on a girls’ night.
When I went downstairs, I found Matteo was already in the car waiting for me. So, I didn’t bother wasting anymore time and decided it was time to go.
I put the location inside his car, so the screen was rerouting. The only reason I did that was to avoid talking to him even though I knew he had a lot of things to say.
Apparently, I saw the takeout on the kitchen counter, and I had assumed he didn’t eat any of them yet. The whole hour I was getting ready, he was probably already waiting in the car.
I didn’t say a word and neither did he. He was driving quietly, eyes focusing on the road as one of his hands was gripping on the steering wheel and the other on his thigh. If I hadn’t treated him the way I did in my room, that hand was probably on my thigh instead.
My eyebrows furrowed as I saw bruises and a few cuts on his knuckles.
And I instantly knew, he was dealing with something. More accurately, someone.
I couldn’t miss the cut across his temple, too. It wasn’t too deep or anything and it was a short cut, but it was visible enough –it looked new, just like the cuts and bruises on his knuckles.
It felt miserably awkward in the car. He didn’t bother to turn on the music either as he drove, as if he was the only one in the
car.
I wanted this kind of treatment, and he was giving it to me. But why was I feeling upset about it?
When we arrived, he stopped in front of the car as he took a few seconds to look around. He was probably checking the surroundings and my hand was already reaching out to the door, but he hadn’t unlocked it.
“Can you unlock the door?” I asked, grabbing my handbag as I turned to the door without looking at him.
“I need to talk to you first,” he replied abruptly, his body facing me.
“We can talk at home.”
“Please, Alena? Let me talk to you.”
“Fine, what is it?” I leaned back on the seat and my eyes met his instantly. Those brown ones were red and highlighted by his dark circles-he was exhausted from work, and it was clear. The hollows of his cheeks were prominent, too. He looked like he had lost a few weights because he hadn’t been eating properly.
He grabbed my hands, caressing the back of them.
“I really want to know why you’re acting like this. Did I do something wrong?”
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“Why do you think yourdid something wrong?”
“Because you’re acting like this towards me. I must’ve done something.”
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We hadn’t broken the eye contact and I couldn’t simply look away, either. He was holding the eye contact with genuine concern. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and jaw was clenched, he wanted to solve this, but he didn’t want to push me.
“Matteo …”
“If you’re not in the mood for something, just let me know. If it’s something about work, you can always tell me if you want to. If you don’t feel great because of your migraine, I can give you a massage to make you feel better. If you’re feeling emotional, let me know why. I can’t read your mind, baby. I can’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me.”
He sounded desperate. I was growing weak.
“I just don’t feel like talking to you or anyone at this moment.”
“But you’re meeting your sister, Alena.”
“Because she’s the only one I want to talk to now,”
“You’re pushing me away, Alena. I don’t know why.”
“I’m not. I’m just asking you to give me some time!” I pulled my hands away, sighing. “Can you at least respect that, Matteo? I’ll talk to you whenever I’m ready. So, please unlock the door. My sister is waiting for me inside,”
Matteo leaned back before unlocking the doors, causing me to immediately step out.
If Ana and I decided to leave later, I could always call a cab.
I didn’t take another glance back at him as I walked straight into the bar, seeing my sister sitting alone but her
soon as she saw me.
She pulled me in for a hug, “I didn’t expect you to invite me out for a drink.”
“Well, I kind of need alcohol in my system and we haven’t done anything like this.”
“I was underage, remember?”
eyes
lit
up as
We took a seat near the bar as we ordered beers, wanting to start off with something light. I needed to warm up my body from the cold. Ana looked at me as if she knew something was wrong, “Is everything okay with you and Matteo?”
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“I saw you left the car looking grumpy.”
“Lover’s quarrel. Nothing for you to worry about,”
“Got it.”
“Actually, let’s do something more than just drinking. Do you think we should go clubbing?” I asked, causing both of her eyes to widen.
Ana didn’t expect me to randomly ask that question, but it felt right. I hadn’t been clubbing ever since my life as a student ended and I kind of needed to hear the loud music surrounding me. I needed more intoxicating liquid streaming in my blood.
“Yeah, sure.” She scoffed, eyeing my face as she took sips of her beer. “Wait, you’re not joking? You really want to go clubbing?”
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“Yeah, let’s go.”
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“We’re not really dressed for clubbing…” she blinked a few times before an imaginary lightbulb lit up. “Let’s head back to my apartinent and change into something more appropriate. If you’re really up for it,”
“I’m up for it, Ana.”
“Are you really my sister?”
The question caused us to laugh as we quickly left the bar after getting a cab. The drive to Ana’s apartment was short because it wasn’t too far away. She was living in a luxury apartment, and I knew, Papa was paying for all of this. He wanted his daughter to be comfortable.
Well, he wasn’t going to be proud to know her daughters were going clubbing.
Once we got up to her apartment, I was amazed by the interior. The view was overlooking the city and it was mesmerizing, to say the least. I could spend hours and hours sitting there watching the sky.
“You can always crash here whenever you want.” She said as we walked to her room.
“You’re staying here all by yourself?”
herro” end
“Mm, sometimes my boyfriend would stay over but there’s a guest room. In case you end up in another lover’s quarrel,” she joked before opening her wardrobe and I saw a lot of designer clothes.
“Did you spend your own money buying all of these clothes, Ana?”
“Mostly Papa paid them for me.”
“They’re thousands of dollars.”
“Mm, you can always borrow them. We’re the same size,”
I went on to grab one of the dresses, feeling attracted to a pink dress. It was strapless and tight; it was bound to cling onto my body like a second skin, but it was pretty. I never had any insecurities with my body shape and with that dress, I was going to accentuate my curves.
“Give it a try. I think it’ll look hot on you,” Ana added.
I stepped out of my clothes and went on to slip the dress. I wasn’t wrong when I said it was highlighting my curves because it was making me stand out. I was showing the right amount of cleavage, too as I turned around to look at how the dress fitted- me. The short dress ended right below my bottom.
If I bended over, I could show what was underneath.
The dress wasn’t hot pink. It was more of a soft, champagne pink.
“Oh my god… Alena, you need to wear that dress.”
“It does look good on me, doesn’t it?”
“It’s perfect on you. You look s******y.”
“Come on, let’s choose yours and we can get ready.”
Ana decided on a white bodycon dress. It ended down to her knees, but the dress was hugging her curves as well, showing the right amount of skin and cleavage-it had a thin strap. We were both looking at the mirror, being happy at how we looked.
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We looked carefree and ready for the night.
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So, when we took a cab to the nightclub. The driver couldn’t stop staring at us through the rearview mirror, but it felt like a shot of confidence rather than causing us to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t say a word to us, and I appreciated that.
We arrived at the nightclub and as soon as we got inside, loud music was banging in the walls. I was seeing people dancing, drinking, and kissing-they were having the time of their lives. The smell of sex was too clear to deny.
“When was the last time you went clubbing?” I asked, holding onto my sister’s arm.
“A couple of days ago. Come on, let’s grab a drink.”
We walked to the bar to order our drinks, something strong. It didn’t take us long to realize we were feeling lightheaded. It was finally kicking in me that I was getting myself drunk but my body felt as if I was floating on a cloud and all my problems flew away.
Ana and I were dancing in the middle of the dancefloor, our hands above our heads as we moved to the beat.
A man came in to dance with Ana, grabbing around her waist as she grinded on him. It was starting to get hot and sweaty for me, but it didn’t mind me at all. For once in my life, I needed to feel free again. I needed to feel the fun.
It took me a while to realize a stranger was dancing behind me, too. He had placed his hands on my hips as he danced with me. I turned around to meet a pair of blue eyes and a perfectly straight teeth as he smiled, our faces inches apart.
He looked a bit blurry but that was probably just because I was drunk.
could feel him running his hands all over my body, feeling every curve.
“What’s your name?” He whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine as he pulled me closer.
“Gabby,” I lied. Obviously, I wasn’t going to simply give strangers my name. As drunk as I felt I was, I could still control myself.
“Well, Gabby… you look stunning. I’m Damian,”
We continued to dance, my body grinding against his as he pulled me close until our bodies were plastered against one another. I felt his arms around my waist, sometimes they were running all over my body, stopping on my hips and my thighs. I was occasionally glancing at my sister, who was laughing and dancing with a group of other girls.
At least, she was safe, and I could be less worried.
I turned to look at Damian as I took another sip of my drink, realizing it a little bit too late that I wasn’t supposed to randomly drink from strangers.
ར་ཁྱབ་བ
His blue eyes were somehow shifting to brown. Instead of his own face, he started to look more like Matteo, and I began to feel
cheeks heating up. I was upset at Matteo but why was he here with me? I couldn’t make sense of the man in front of
me.
my
My eyes closed as he leaned into my neck, trailing hot kisses.
Both of his hands were caressing my body and I gave in, I wanted Matteo to kiss me. So, when my vision continued to get blurry, I couldn’t see anybody else but Matteo-even though I wasn’t so sûre myself.
He cupped my face before kissing my lips, a bit too rough. It didn’t feel like Matteo was kissing me because it felt different, but I didn’t bother thinking too much about it. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
My body got hot immediately, and I knew I wanted more than just kissing.
The stranger-who apparently began to look exactly like Matteo began to pull me away from the crowd, near the sitting
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area. It was secluded and he closed the curtains. They weren’t blackout curtains and people could see us from outside, but it wasn’t going to be clear.
The man sat down, grabbing me to sit on top of him.
I could feel his erection and I knew he wanted to do something more, too.
We were kissing until we were losing our breaths. His hands were running through my hair before going down to my dress, slightly lifting it up but he stopped as he decided to grab my breasts.
I moaned, feeling him kissing my neck.
“Matteo …”
The loud music was camouflaging my moans as he continued to kiss me. Instead of letting me sit on his lap, he pulled me up, so I was bending over the sofa-my head was beginning to spin by the sudden headache. I continued to lean forward, feeling him lifting my dress.
To my surprise, a loud shattering sound was heard which caused me to turn around. I furrowed my brows at the sight of two men fighting but one of them was on the ground while the other throwing punches.
I sat down, watching everything unfolds.
લો પ્રલય નો સ
I blinked a few times to see Matteo punching Damian on the ground, causing him to cough out blood. Matteo was in rage as he continued to beat him up until he wasn’t moving, only breathing slowly.
Come on, Alena. We’re leaving,” he said as he grabbed my hand.
“Mm, where are we going?”
“Home.”
As soon as he noticed my struggle to walk, he began to pick me up bridal style. My eyes were closed shut as I tried to ignore the headache, ignoring the blinding lights. I finally felt safe in his arm, and he smelt more like Matteo, because he was Matteo.
“Wait… Ana, where’s Ana?” I mumbled.
“She’s fine,”
Everything passed on like a blur and as soon as I got inside the car, I saw my passed-out sister. We were both in the backseat as Matteo stepped into the driver’s side, another man sitting on the passenger seat. I had never seen the man before, but I was too busy focusing on my s**y husband.
I began to run my hands down his chest from the backseat, “You looked s***y when you were beating that guy. Why did you do it, baby?” My words were slurry.
“Sit back, Alena.”
“I thought it was you …” I muttered, “I thought it was you, Matteo.”
“It’s fine, just close your eyes.”
I leaned back on my seat, closer to my sister before closing my eyes. My body felt hot, and my vision was blurry—what was
in that drink?
I didn’t realize when we got home but I saw the other man picking up Ana, bringing her to my room. As for me, I was being carried by my husband, who was bringing me in to a different room.
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He was bringing me into his room.
Wait, I wasn’t allowed to be in his room.
“Matteo, I’m not supposed to be here.”
“What do you mean?”
“This is your room.”
“Just go to sleep, Alena.”
I sat up on the bed, trying to undress myself.
Matteo, on the other hand, was standing in front of me but I couldn’t make out what he was doing. As soon as the dress was on the floor, I naked and in full view. I didn’t mind if he was staring at my body because I wanted him to.
To let him stare but he couldn’t touch or do anything.
Instead of taking me against my will like I expected him to, he put an oversized shirt on me. My eyebrows furrowed as he slowly laid me on my back, pulling the covers to my chest.
“I found out about you, Matteo.” I muttered, causing him to stop moving.
He didn’t say a word, but he was staring at me, tucking a few strands of hair away from my face.
“You’re a liar and I hate liars.” My tears were streaming down my cheeks, “How could you lie to me? You said you loved me.”
It didn’t take me long to cry my heart out and sobbing until I was hiccupping. Matteo was pulling me in close for a hug, rubbing my back. He didn’t say a word to comfort me, but his actions were soothing enough.
At first, I was pushing him away because I remembered I was upset.
When he wasn’t going to let me go, I let him hold me close. My tears were probably wetting his shirt, but he didn’t seem to bother as he continued to calm me down.
Until I fell asleep in his arms.
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