Chapter Twenty-Seven

Evangeline took a deep breath as she walked into Luca's office. She smiled as Alessandro wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She looked at Luca with that same smile. "What's up Luca?" She questioned as she leaned into Alessandro.

Luca sighed heavily. "There's something that I need to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to react." He said as he leaned his forearms against the edge of his desk.

She frowned as she studied him. "What is it?"

He cleared his throat. "It's about Aurora." He said quietly.

She felt the air leave her lungs as she studied his face a bit closer. She could see the worry lines on his face and the concern in his eyes. "Is she okay? Is the baby okay?" She demanded as she started playing and tugging on her hair.

Alessandro frowned as he looked down at her. He had noticed that she started messing with her hair when she was anxious or nervous.

"They're doing okay but," He started. "The doctor says that Aurora may have to be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. That they have to get the rest of the test results back but he's almost positive that these health issues could be dangerous for the both of them." He explained.

She could feel the tears gathering in her eyes. She could feel the agony already ripping through her heart and soul as she asked in a shaky voice. "How dangerous?" She demanded as she yanked on her hair rather roughly.

Luca rubbed the back of his neck as he said. "We could lose them both if we're not careful."

Evangeline had lost people that she had been close to before. She hadn't been as close to them as she was to Aurora. Yes, her relationship with Aurora had started very rockily. Over time they had gotten closer and Evangeline now looked at Aurora as a sister. A large lump seemed to form in her throat from the sudden surge of emotions. She cleared her throat a couple of times before asking. "Where is she now?" She demanded in a rough voice.

Luca frowned. "She's at home in bed. Why?" He asked.

She stepped away from Alessandro and turned towards the door. "I'm going over there." She cleared her throat again. "I'll take work with me but I am going over there right now."

Luca held his hands up. "Go ahead. I was going to close the office down early anyway."

She gave him a nod and quickly went to her desk. She quickly and efficiently packed up her things before shutting her computer down. She glanced up as Alessandro walked up to her desk. "I'm sorry love. I know we were supposed to move my stuff into your house today but I have to check on Aurora. I need to know if she's okay with my own eyes."

Alessandro shook his head as he cupped her face in his hands. "You have nothing to be sorry for, angel." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'll go to your house and get all of your things. Send a list of everything that you want me to grab to my phone. I'll pick it up and bring it to my house."

Evangeline sighed as she leaned into him with her head against his chest. "Thank you, love." She whispered.

He kissed her head and pulled back with his hands on her upper arms. "Come on angel. I'll drop you off before going to your house."

She grabbed her things and followed him to his car.

The entire ride to Aurora's house she was filled with anxiety and worry. Aurora was family and she didn't know what she would do if she lost her. If she lost them both it would destroy part of her soul. If Aurora survived, but lost the baby, Aurora would be destroyed. It would break her heart if Aurora had to go through that.

She sat in silence while playing with her hair, going back and forth between twirling it around her fingers and tugging on it rather harshly.

Alessandro pulled into Aurora and Luca's driveway and put the car into park. He turned to face her and gently turned her head so she was facing him. "It's going to be okay my angel. We're going to take care of her and they're both going to be healthy."

Evangeline rubbed a hand over her face. "How are we supposed to take care of Aurora and make sure they're both healthy if we don't know what's wrong with her?" She demanded as tears started gathering in her eyes.

Alessandro undid her seatbelt and pulled her onto his lap. She sat with both legs on either side of his hips. He placed his hands on either side of her face and pressed his forehead against hers. "We're still waiting for the rest of her test results. The doctor will tell us what's wrong and how we can help her. We just have to be here for her. Right now there's nothing that we can do besides that."

Evangeline sighed heavily as she closed her eyes. "I can't lose her." She whispered. "I've lost too many people already. The way that I look at it, there's only one way I'll keep her. That's if they both survive. Even if she survives, but loses the baby, we'll still lose her. At least a part of her. She won't be the same after losing her baby." She sniffled. "Believe me. I've seen a couple of women lose their child and they were never the same. One still isn't the same."

He frowned. "What happened to the other?" He questioned quietly.

Evangeline cleared her throat a couple of times as emotion clogged her throat. "She begged me to kill her because she couldn't take the heartache." She took a deep breath. "She had been pregnant with twins. She hid it from Nikolai for as long as she could but once she started getting bigger it was nearly impossible. I did everything that I could to help her, but I couldn't bring the dead back."

Alessandro swallowed a couple of times before asking. "Were the twins Nikolai's?"

She shook her head. "No. Their father was another assassin." She blew out a rough breath as she looked at the roof of the car. "When Nikolai found out she was pregnant he was furious. If she was pregnant and had to take care of two helpless children she wasn't killing people for him. So he came in the dead of the night. We were all asleep and we both heard him too late. He tore her from her bed and dragged her out of her bed. Because I tried to fight to get to her he made sure I was there in the torture chamber when he did it."

"Did what?" He asked almost breathlessly as he felt his saving angel's pain.

"He practically carved the twins out of her. By the time that he was finished the twins had been torn from her and she could no longer have any more children." She said in a harsh voice.

"How far along was she when this happened?" To do that to a woman was cruel and heartless. To force Evangeline to watch it was not only cruel but it may have also been a message to the other women.

Evangeline sniffled. "Seven months." She whispered. "She was having twin boys. She was going to name them Jasper and Simon. She and Ray were so excited. We both did everything that we could to make sure that she was hidden or on a fake mission of some sort whenever Nikolai came in. We weren't expecting one of his assassins to come into our camp and learn our secret. She reported it to him and he made sure we all paid for it. He tortured both me and Ray in front of her. He kept her awake while he killed her boys. Forced her to endure more torture after that." She shook her head with agony in her eyes. "He took everything from her. Ray was the love of her life and those boys were her only lifeline to her humanity. Once she lost the three of them she was nothing but a shell. In the end, I could barely even recognize her. Then when she.." She broke off as she felt the tears slide down her cheeks. She took a deep breath before continuing. "When she couldn't take it anymore she came to me in the dead of the night. She woke me up and asked if we could talk privately. We had a spot that no one else knew about. Almost as soon as we got there she got on her knees in front of me. She broke down in tears and she was a mess. She held out my dagger to me and said word for word. 'I don't know how to go on. I can't live in agony anymore. He took everything from me and I just want to be with my boys again. Please help me end it. Please help me take the pain away.''" She knew that there was nothing but anguish and heartache in her eyes when she looked at Alessandro once again. "At first I couldn't even move or say anything. I was so shocked. I knew that she wasn't doing well. She was hardly eating. She slept most of the time and she never got motivated for anything. I hadn't even seen her smile in the slightest since she lost her three boys."

He held her close and gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm so sorry my angel."

She sniffled as she wiped at her eyes. "I didn't know what to do. I tried to talk her out of it. Hoped that she'd change her mind but even as I did that I knew that her resolve would be the same. She wanted to die. She couldn't handle being in this world anymore. It honestly didn't take her long to convince me to end her life."

"What did she say to convince you to do it?" He asked as he wiped her tears away.

Evangeline sighed. "She told me that if I didn't do it she'd have someone else in the camp do it. I knew that if anyone else did it they'd laugh at her and drag it out. Torture her to death." She inhaled shakily. "So I did it. I hugged her as tightly as I could and told her to find her happiness in heaven. To be free of her pain and find her boys again. Then I ended her life as quickly and painlessly as I could." She shook her head. "It was a bit hard for me after that. I lost two dear friends and two godsons." She let out a small laugh. "They didn't have too many options for godparents but I was honored nonetheless. I was actually looking forward to it, but it was all ripped away."

He tightened his arms a bit more to show that he was there for her. "I wish I could have found you earlier. I could have helped you."

She let out another small laugh. "If you would have found me sooner then I wouldn't have gone through some of the things that I have. I wouldn't have met some of the amazing people that I have met." She sighed. "To be honest I feel like perhaps, despite it being as horrible as it was, I was supposed to go through life the way that I did. That if things hadn't gone the way that they had, my life would be so very different and I wouldn't have some of the amazing friends that I do have now. Because of my past as a trained assassin."

Alessandro took a deep breath before pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "No matter which path you would have taken I still would have found you." He said softly as he pressed his forehead against hers. "I just would have found you sooner if you had been with your family." He said with a small smile. "However, I believe that all things happen for a reason and perhaps you wouldn't be the strong, amazing woman you are if things had been different."

She let out a small laugh. "Well, we both agree on the fact that everything happens for a reason." She said in a soft tone.

He leaned forward a bit and nipped at her earlobe. "I'm sorry for your friend angel. I'm here for anything that you need."

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before leaning into him with a small sigh. "I'm going to head inside. I'll send you the list of things that I'll need from my house." She said in a quiet voice.

He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Go on angel. I'll pick you up in a bit."

She gave him a loving smile before getting out of the car. She grabbed her things and made her way inside. She let herself in and set her things on the coffee table. She walked upstairs and barged into Aurora's bedroom, startling Aurora. "Jesus Christ Evie." She said as she pressed a hand to her chest. "I'm sorry Rora." She said softly as she sat next to her on the bed. She sniffled a bit as she wrapped her arm around Aurora's shoulders. "Luca just told me what happened." She whispered.

Aurora took a deep breath as she leaned into Evangeline. "I wanted to wait until we knew for sure what was going on. I know how you can react sometimes." She said in a whisper.

Evangeline looked at her with tears in her eyes. "I wish you would have told me." She sniffled. "I understand why though. I can overreact at times." She gently brushed Aurora's hair out of her face as she laid her head on her shoulder. "I'm going to be with you through the rest of this. I'll be at all of the doctor appointments and I'll be here for a few hours every day."

Aurora let out a small laugh. "You don't have to do that. I'll be fine."

Evangeline scoffed as she pressed a kiss to Aurora's temple. "I don't want to hear anything about it. I will be with you through the rest of this. I will make sure I do everything I can to make sure that you and this baby are perfectly fine."

Aurora giggled as she sat back against the pillows she had piled against the headboard of the bed. "Alright." She held her hands up in surrender. "I know that there's no use in arguing with you. You're going to be here with me no matter what I say."

Evangeline winked at her. "That's right." She sighed heavily as she ran a hand through her hair. "How bad is it really?" She asked in a whisper.

Aurora shook her head with a frown. "My doctor said that they aren't one hundred percent sure yet. They're waiting for the rest of the test results to come back." She blew out a rough breath. "Unfortunately he's worried that it isn't going to be good." She stretched her arm out to indicate the bed. "Hint why I'm already on bed rest."

Evangeline nodded and jumped up. "Here lay down." She said as she pushed the blankets back.

Aurora groaned as she looked at Evangeline, who simply motioned for her to lay down. She rolled her eyes but laid down. Evangeline pulled the blankets over her and slightly leaned over her. "Now if you need anything, even to get up and go to the bathroom, you yell for me. Do you understand?" She demanded with serious eyes.

Aurora groaned as she threw her head back against the pillows. "I knew you were going to be like this once you found out." She muttered.

Evangeline gave her a wicked grin. "You're not going to get rid of me. Anytime Luca isn't here I will be."

"What about work?" Aurora demanded. "And Alessandro?"

Evangeline waved her off. "I can work from Luca's office and I can see Alessandro once Luca is here. Or Alessandro could come over and spend time here." She shrugged. "Knowing him he'll be in and out if only to make sure that I eat."

Aurora smiled in adoration. "You two are just the cutest. I'm really glad that you have someone to take care of you."

Evangeline smiled. "Yeah. It's going to take some getting used to but he is just as stubborn as I am." She shook her head. "He can certainly calm me down easier than most. He also has a habit of getting his way."

Aurora laughed. "That's good. You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes."

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "Do you need anything before I get set up in Luca's office?" She asked as she moved Aurora's hair out of her face.

Aurora waved her off. "I'm okay for right now. If I need anything I'll yell for you. Luca's office is right next door anyway."

Evangeline kissed Aurora's forehead before going downstairs to get her things. She pulled her phone out of her purse and shook her head at the message from Alessandro. 'I need that list of things my angel.'

She quickly sent him a list of things that she wanted to take with her. Then she took her things upstairs and got set up in Luca's home office. She pulled out her laptop and got set up on her work email. She picked up her cell phone and called Luca. "Hey, Eva. Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. Everything is fine. I have Aurora laying down right now. I told her to yell for me if she needed anything. Even if she had to go to the bathroom." She explained.

Luca chuckled. "Of course you did."

She clicked her tongue. "I was calling to let you know that I am taking over your home office. If you're not here with her I will be. I will work from here while you work from the office. If there is ever anything that you need to sign I will leave it on your desk. I can scan and email any novels to you that I believe are good enough. I'll need you to forward my work calls to my cell phone though. It slipped my mind."

Luca laughed. "I'll do that now, but thank you. I don't like leaving her alone." He said in gratitude.

Evangeline sighed. "You don't have to thank me. I'd be here no matter what.'

"I know." He said softly. He blew out a rough breath. "Alright. Calls are now being forwarded to your cell phone."

"Thanks, Luca." She hung up and got to work.