𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐌

54| C I N Q U A N T A-Q U A T T R O

ALESSANDRO'S POV

So this is what it feels like to collapse in nervousness under someone's stare. And not just anyone's stare, it's the pierced, burning hazel of Akila's gaze, the mysteriously yet furious glare she maintained on my face.

All my plans to tell her, to discuss this, suddenly disappeared. It felt almost impossible to speak the words but she didn't stop. She simply waited because I will speak tonight no matter what.

The moon appeared in the sky, lonely without his glamour stars. It's certainly past one in the morning, the wind settled to a cold breeze. "Tick tock, tick tock"

I sighed, slowly meeting her eyes, she had one hand on her side while the other held her face. Her facial expressions didn't change much, this curious smart look never left her nor me to rest for a second. I'm in big trouble, am I?

"Okay, I need you to sit up for this" I spoke my first words in minutes, she seemed to understand and followed my instructions. She sat up, legs crossed, arms stretched behind her back, resting on the grass. I positioned myself like her and took a deep breath. I started playing with my own hands, unable to get this straight. I need to figure this out, I need to do this right, I need to do this right for her.

So I reached for my only focus, my only will. I grabbed her hand and held it tightly in mine. Here we go.

"When I went to pick up my grandparents, it was supposed to take a day nothing much but as you already saw, it took me a whole week" I stopped, allowing myself to breathe. Akila is a smart woman, it's doubtful if she doesn't know where this is leading. "And that's because they didn't come alone" my voice is tough, firm. There's no need for anything else, the truth is out and it's about to change everything.

"They're here" she let out, no longer looking at me. My heart raced against my chest, my body was growing uncomfortable. I hate not knowing what to do, I hate being stuck somewhere with nowhere to escape.

But I have to be strong, I have to be strong for the newborn child til the thirteen years old girl who got abused, who got beaten up most of her life when she deserved warmth and care. This is the time to be there for her, this is the time to push through the past she once had to go through alone. Now, she got me.

"How many are they" the question is forced out of her teeth. I know she doesn't want to know, I know she's not interested in the slightest bad or good information about them, yet she has to know. If we want to deal with this, we have to know, to learn and to move.

"A lot" I confessed, remembering their huge numbers. "Everyone came, uncles, aunts, wives, husbands, step siblings, nieces and toddlers, everyone" I shook my head, still not convinced why they had to do all of this, they know I won't need their precious help or number in war. If I have to take down the Russians alone, I would do it in a blink. There has to be something behind it, a whole family and a future generation don't just show up after years of hiding. They're selfish, they wouldn't make the sacrifice.

"They will come after me" I looked up and she's already staring at me, her gaze is cold and numb, just like any other day of our lives. "They will find out who I am in a glimpse and they will try to take me away Alessandro" her back is straight, her shoulders lean high and her chin is fixed. "I won't let that happen" my other hand found hers and pulled her closer to me. She had to know we are in this together. This is her story, this is her journey and fight but I will stand by her side and win this battle for her, for us, for the broken past and the future. Akila ran away eleven years ago. She left everything behind to start a new life and find herself. She never went back, she never set an end to the old times because she didn't care, she left and never looked back. She should've continued her life without this, without an open door but the past revealed itself because she entered my world, she showed herself into my life and now I brought her nothing but worry and agony from the past.