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For he had restored my shattered heart and broken soul.
Alessio had breathed new life into me.
Chapter 49
Ayla
I was walking out of my room when I saw Alessio limping up the stairs, his face and hands bloodied. “Alessio!” I exclaimed in panic.
He grimaced. “Ayla, I thought you were downstairs,” he muttered, his voice laced with pain.
“I was in my room. I was headed downstairs now to help Lena and Maddie with dinner,” I said. Bringing a hand up, I was about to touch his face but then stopped, scared that I would hurt him further. “What happened?” I asked worriedly.
“Nothing. I was just sparring with Viktor and Nikolay.” He flicked his wrist and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, as if it didn’t matter.
“Sparring? You are bloody and hurt. What type of sparring is that?” I took his hand and pulled him toward his room. “I’ll clean your wounds.”
“No. It’s okay. You have to help Lena. I’ll do it.” He tried to pull his hand away but I tightened my fingers. When he hissed in pain, I quickly let go.
“You are hurt, Alessio. Let me help,” I said, my chest aching at seeing him in pain. He smiled and bent down, placing a quick kiss on my lips.
“I’m fine. Really. It just looks bad because I’m not cleaned up. I’m not even that hurt.”
“But…”
He cut me off with another kiss. “Ayla. Go. Stop worrying so much.”
He gave me a wink and walked into his room, closing the door behind him.
Most of the day was spent with Alessio. We ate breakfast together in my room and then went to the creek. After our confessions this morning, we didn’t talk about it again.
I thought I could let him go, but I couldn’t.
I just hoped that he wouldn’t hate me when he learned my whole truth.
After tying my apron around my waist, I strode out of my room but stopped when I saw Viktor and Nikolay standing in front of my doorway, both of their expressions unreadable. They were clean compared to Alessio but I could see the bruises on their faces and hands.
“Can I help you?” I asked nervously.
Nikolay stayed quiet, so Viktor replied. “No. We just wanted to see how you were doing.”
Confused, I played with the hem of my dress. “I’m doing good.”
We stared at each other in tense silence and then he cleared his throat. “Good. We heard you weren’t doing so well this morning. It’s good to see you smiling again.”
I took a sharp intake of breath at his words and then nodded. “Thank you.”
Just then his phone rang and he answered the call. “Yeah?” He listened for a moment, his face growing frustrated. “Okay. Clean up the mess before the police comes.”
“Was that Phoenix?” Nikolay asked when Viktor hung up.
He nodded. “Yeah. There’s a mess at the club. I’m going to check it out. Phoenix is cleaning up.”
“I’m coming,” Nikolay said.
Viktor chuckled and then shook his head. “Let the boy on his own a little. I think he can handle it without you being a mother hen.”
Mother hen? Nikolay?
I hid my laugh with a cough.
“I’m not a fucking mother hen,” Nikolay growled, glaring at Viktor before sending me a glare of his own. My laughter quickly died but the smile was still there.
“Then don’t act like one.” Viktor laughed, quickly walking away.
“Fuck you.”
Nikolay rubbed his face, making a frustrating sound.
“Is Viktor always like this?” I asked.
“Annoying as fuck? Yes,” he replied.
“I think he is funny,” I said with a shrug.
“Don’t ever say that to him. He’ll never stop then.”
This time I let out a laugh, while shaking my head.
I saw his expression soften and then he nodded. “It’s good to see you like this.”
I ducked my head shyly and mumbled a quick thank you.
We were both silent and from the corner of my eye, I saw him lean against the wall beside my door. Nikolay sighed and then cleared his throat. “After the incident in the bathroom, we had a few guesses but never asked because we didn’t want to push you,” he said. “I know what happened.”
“I—”
“I’m not telling you this to make you feel ashamed. I’m telling you this because I want you to know that no one would think of you any different just because of what happened to you. We all have a past here. All of us have secrets so we wouldn’t judge you. One thing you would find here is that no one is ever going to judge you. We are all fucked up, you know.”
His words brought tears to my eyes and I quickly blinked them away. Nikolay proved me wrong every time. I remembered the first time I met him. He was so scary, mean, and rude. He appeared heartless, ruthless, and emotionless. Just like Alessio.
“Especially Alessio,” he continued. “He is a good man.”
