Chapter Twenty-Three

Alessandro made his way to Jesse's room. He knocked on the door and hoped that someone was inside. After a couple of minutes, Jesse opened the door shirtless and breathless. "Do you ever wear a shirt?" Alessandro asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jesse chuckled while he ran a hand through his hair. "Not while I'm in my room." He said with a smirk.

Alessandro shook his head with a smile. "I was wondering if Sabrina was here. Evangeline needs some clothes and they're about the same size."

Jesse looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Give me just a minute." He said before quickly closing the door.

Alessandro shook his head again with a knowing smile. Sabrina and Jesse had most likely been getting intimate when he interrupted. He knew that they had been trying to have a baby so it made sense.

Jesse stepped into the hallway with an armful of clothes after another couple of minutes. "Sabrina said that Evangeline can keep these." He rolled his eyes. "It's not like she isn't constantly shopping." He clicked his tongue as he handed the clothes to Alessandro. "The underclothes are brand new. Never even took the tags off. Sabrina said to let her know if Evangeline needs anything else."

"Thank you, Jesse," Alessandro said as he took the small pile of clothes.

Jesse nodded. "Anytime Alessandro." He rubbed his hands together with a wide smirk. "Now if you'll excuse me. I have a baby to make."

Alessandro rolled his eyes as he walked back to his room. He frowned when he walked in and found Evangeline still chained to his bed. "Why didn't you guys unchain her?" He demanded as he set the clothes on the dresser and quickly made his way to his bed.

Alexander cleared his throat. "Well right after you left the room Dimitri made a little comment." Alexander shook his head as he looked between his kids with a smile. "We all agreed that it'd be safer if she stayed chained up until you came back. She seems to be calmer and more in control when you're around her." Alexander explained.

Alessandro laughed as he made quick work of unchaining Evangeline. "Why exactly did you agree to stay chained up?" He asked quietly as he sat on the bed next to her.

She laughed as Alessandro helped her sit up. "I would've kicked his ass and he'd be on the floor in pain." She said simply.

Alessandro laughed. "That's a good reason." He said as he nodded along with her. He kissed her temple as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Sabrina said that you can have those and that the underclothes are brand new." He said as he gestured to the pile of clothes on his dresser.

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, love." Give me five minutes." She stood up, grabbed the clothes off the dresser, and made her way into the bathroom.

Evangeline sighed as she set the clothes on the counter next to the sink. She looked through the clothes and grabbed a matching black, lacy bra and panty set. She pulled Alessandro's shirt off and put the bra and panties on. She threw her hair up into a high ponytail and washed her face.

Once she was done she looked through the clothes again and put on a pair of low, hip-hugging yoga pants and a tight crop top.

She walked back into the bedroom with a small smile. "Alright. I'm ready."

Alessandro walked up to her and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You look beautiful." He whispered into her ear.

She blushed as she looked down at her bare feet. "Thank you, love."

He kissed her forehead before turning to face her family. "Let's head to the gym to give the old man some reassurance." He said with a wink to Alexander.

Evangeline let out a loud laugh as Alessandro held her close.

Alexander chuckled as they followed Alessandro and Evangeline to the small gym they had in the house. They hadn't had a chance to upgrade everything yet but it worked whenever someone needed to burn off some rage.

"Wow," Dimitri said in astonishment. "You guys really let this place go."

Alessandro playfully hit Dimitri's arm. "I've been meaning to get someone in here to completely gut it and remodel it but with everything that has been going on over the last couple of years it just slipped my mind." He explained.

Dimitri shrugged in understanding. "Alright. Now for the reason that we came down here." He said with a wide smirk as he rubbed his hands together.

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "You want to go against me to test my skills?" She questioned with her arms crossed over her chest.

He chuckled. "Sure. This will be fun." He said as he pulled his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves.

Evangeline scoffed as she stood on the old gym mats that were in the center of the gym. She watched him as he stood in front of her. They both waited a few minutes before he attacked. They went back and forth, getting a few small hits in on the other until finally, Evangeline pinned Dimitri to the floor. She smirked as she looked down at him as they both tried to catch their breath. "Do you give up?" She asked with a wide smile.

He groaned but nodded. "Yeah yeah. Now get off of me." He said before grumbling to himself as he stood up.

She laughed as she stood next to Alessandro. "Are you okay Max?" She asked as Alessandro wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

He grumbled but nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Alessandro laughed as he held Evangeline close. He looked at Alexander. "Are you satisfied with her abilities, old man?" He asked with a smirk.

Alexander shook his head with a wide smile. "Yes, I am." He looked at Evangeline with adoring eyes. "I'm still going to be worried about you every single second until all of this is over with." He said softly.

She smiled with glassy eyes. "Thank you, daddy."

Evangeline let out a sigh. "As much as I would love to stay and talk with you guys some more I need to go to my house. I have work in the morning and I need my work stuff." She said quietly.

Alessandro pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'll drive you home, angel." He said softly.

Evangeline smiled as she looked up at him in adoration. "Thank you, love." She looked at her family. "I'll be back tomorrow when I get off of work." She sighed heavily. "I'm going to have to make so many phone calls over the next few days." She muttered as she walked towards the doorway.

She hugged each of her family goodbye before leaving the house with Alessandro. They drove to her house and sat in the parking lot once they made it there. They were each in their own thoughts as they sat there. Alessandro took a deep breath as he turned to her and gently took her hands in his. "Look, Evie." He said softly. "I know that you've been through a lot over the last few days but there's something that I'd like to talk to you about." He said as he looked into her eyes.

She nodded as she looked into his eyes. "Of course. I'm listening."

He let out a slow breath as he closed his eyes for a minute. "Okay. As you know I am the leader of the biggest mafia in Milan."

She nodded along with an adoring smile on her face. "Yes. I know and I accept you just as you accept me."

He grinned and kissed her knuckles. "Now that you know about me being the leader of the mafia there's something that I think you should know. I've been wanting to tell you this since the moment I first laid eyes on you but there was so much happening." He inhaled deeply as he turned to fully face her. "When you're in the mafia there's a darkness that slowly starts to consume you. You don't notice it at first. You can't even really tell that it's there. Over time it gets worse though. The more we kill to protect our family and the more horrific things we see the more the darkness consumes us. Soon we start to lose our humanity. We start to forget what it's like to be human." He shook his head as he looked down at their intertwined fingers. "For me, it's worse because of what happened to my family. My mom, dad, and little sister were all murdered while Charles and I were out of the country for some business our father decided we were ready to handle ourselves. I was barely eighteen when it happened. I wasn't ready to take over the family. My father had said that he thought I was ready but I was never sure. I always second-guessed myself." He chuckled lightly. "My father always thought the best of everyone until you gave him a reason not to. He never let anything really bring him down. With the help of my mother, he was able to always stay calm and happy. He was her saving angel."

Evangeline furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What's a saving angel?" She questioned.

Alessandro smiled as he felt his heartbeat pick up slightly. "A saving angel is the one person for someone in a mafia family. He or she," Alessandro chuckled. "We never know what others are into." He said with a shrug. "Anyway a saving angel is the one person who can calm the darkness down. The one who can make us feel again. They make us human again." He whispered.

She bit her lip as she looked down at their intertwined fingers that were sitting on the middle console. "Sounds like this saving angel person can help you." She said quietly.

Alessandro nodded. "Yes, they certainly can."

"Have you met yours yet?" She asked in a whisper.

He grinned. "Yes, I have."

"Oh." She said in a sad voice.

He chuckled as he gently took her face in his hands. "You're my saving angel." He said softly. "You are the one for me. I know it's early but I can't sleep without you. I can't stand it when you're not close to me. I have to have you in my arms as much as possible. When you're not around me I feel that darkness coming back."

She looked into his eyes. "You said that the darkness is worse for you." She said quietly. "What did you mean by that?" She asked as she gripped his fingers.

He sighed heavily. "After Luca and I found our family murdered I went off the rails. The man that was responsible for their deaths has his own mafia family. He killed my family, the people that I loved and cared for the most in the entire world. So I broke down. Like I just said I went completely off the rails. He took the people that I cared for the most so I did the same. The only thing he ever cared about or loved was power. So I took his power away. I destroyed his mafia family." He shook his head with a frown. "During that period of my life, a beast formed in my mind. I can keep it caged up in my mind most of the time but there are times where I can't contain it. Sometimes it just comes out and up until I met you Luca has been the only one who could bring me out of it. It's not a pretty sight angel. It's like when you go into a blackout."

She frowned. "And you say I'm your saving angel?" She asked with hope in her eyes.

He nodded. "Yes." He said softly. "You are the only one that can keep the darkness away. The only one who can keep the beast under lock and key." He blew out a rough breath. "Even now, as we're sitting here talking about the most painful time of my life, the beast in me is purring in content. It knows who you are to me and it loves being around you."

She smiled brightly. "What are we going to do about it then?" She asked softly as she looked up at him from under her lashes.

He cleared his throat as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a key to his house. He had made the key a few days ago but hadn't found the right time to give it to her. He held it up in between them. "I was thinking that maybe you could move in with me."

Her eyes went wide as she looked between him and the key. "You want me to move in with you?" She asked in a whisper.

He nodded. "Yes. I knew you were the one for me the second I heard your voice. You make my day better just by being in the same room. I sleep so much better when you're with me. I want you to be with me all of the time. I can't think of a better way to spend more time with you."

She gave him a bright smile. "I would love to move in with you Alessandro." She said as she leaned closer to him.

His grin stretched from one ear to the other as he pressed his forehead against hers softly. "You have no idea how happy you have just made me my angel." He whispered against her lips.

She let out a small giggle. "Oh trust me I do." She took a deep breath. "Pick me up after work tomorrow and we can grab all of my things."

He grinned. "Sounds perfect, angel."

She pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'll see you when I get off work tomorrow then love." She whispered.

He scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "I'll see you in the morning, my angel. I'll be taking you to work."

She laughed. "Okay okay. I'll see you in the morning my love."

He leaned over and pressed another kiss to her lips one more time. "Goodnight my sweet angel. I'll see you first thing in the morning."

She gave him a bright smile. "Goodnight my love."

She grabbed her purse and walked into her house. She sighed as she set her stuff down by the door like she always did. She went upstairs and kicked off her shoes. She quickly changed her clothes and laid in bed. She flipped the lamp off and laid in the dark as she thought about Alessandro until she fell asleep.

Evangeline groaned in her sleep as she tossed and turned. Nightmares from her past haunted her sleep more than usual. She didn't understand it but all she wanted was for it to stop. She swung her arm out as someone attacked her in her nightmares. She didn't realize that she was so close to her nightstand until she hit her lamp, effectively breaking it and sending the pieces to the floor.

She ground her teeth together at the pain but noticed that the pain was helping the nightmares go away. Without waking up she sat up and reached into her nightstand drawer. She grabbed her sharpest dagger and pressed it to her wrist. She hissed as she dragged the knife up her arm, making a long gash that slightly brought her out of her nightmare. She moved the dagger to her other wrist and sliced a long gash into it. The cuts on both of her wrists went to her elbows. It wasn't enough though. The nightmare was still running behind her eyelids. So she lifted her camisole and started cutting into her side. The deeper she cut the more the nightmare went away. Soon enough the nightmare was gone completely.

She gasped as her eyes shot open. She looked down at her wrists and side and saw the blood. She moaned as she quickly dropped her dagger and reached onto the nightstand for her phone. As she lost more blood the phone slipped out of her hand a couple of times before she finally managed to dial Alessandro's number.