Chapter Nineteen

Evangeline let out a soft moan as her eyes fluttered open. She went to rub her eyes when she felt the handcuffs and chains around her wrists and ankles. She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at her wrists. She looked down at herself and her eyes went wide. There was blood on her legs and she was sure that there was blood on her shirt but because it was black she couldn't be certain until she took it off. She quickly looked around the room and found Alessandro fast asleep in a comfortable-looking chair. "Alessandro." She whispered.

He jerked awake and sat up straight when he saw that she was awake. "Are you alright, little angel?" he asked softly as he moved to sit next to her on the bed.

She frowned and shook her head. She gestured to her legs with one of her restrained hands. "What happened?" She questioned with a creased forehead.

He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a slow breath. "Do you remember anything before you passed out?" He asked quietly.

She looked at the ceiling as she thought for a minute. "I remember the movies and the clearing with the stars." She whispered. "I remember coming back and telling you about my past." She said in a thick voice. "I don't remember anything after that."

He nodded and gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "You went into a blackout." He said quietly.

She groaned. "At least I was chained up." She mumbled as she looked at the ceiling.

Alessandro cleared his throat. "About that…" He trailed off as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Please tell me you didn't." She said as she looked at him with wide eyes.

He sighed heavily. "Once you were passed out from the taser hit I unchained you." He shook his head when he saw her panic. "I didn't think you would wake up. I thought that you would stay asleep and in bed."

She groaned as she closed her eyes. "At least tell me that I didn't hurt any good people." She muttered as she opened her eyes and looked to him for answers.

He shook his head. "You went down to the dungeon and took out the couple of prisoners that we had down there. I promise they were all bad people and were guilty time and time again."

She nodded slightly. "Alright. That's okay then."

He gently caressed her face. "Would it be alright if I took these chains off of you now?" He asked in a whisper.

She gave him a small smile. "Yes. I would love to get cleaned up." She said softly.

He quickly unchained her wrists and ankles. "Stay put. I'm going to get the bath started." He said as he stood up.

She smiled in adoration as she watched him rush into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later she heard the water turn on. She sat up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She ran her hands through her hair as she took a few deep breaths. "Come on my queen. Let's get you cleaned up." Alessandro said as he stood in front of her a few minutes later.

She looked up at him and took the hand that he had held out to her. He led her into the bathroom and she froze in the doorway. "What is all this?" She asked in a shocked whisper.

Apart from starting the bath for her, he had lit more candles along the edge of the tub and on the sink. It also looked and smelt as if he had put a bit of bubble bath and rose petals in the tub as well. "Well, I thought that you could use the relaxation. You could have a quick shower to get the blood off before you hop into the tub."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You did this all for me?" She asked in a small voice.

He cleared his throat as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I wanted to help you relax after everything that happened." He shrugged. "I just want to take care of you, my little angel." He said softly as he tucked her hair behind her ear as it fell in front of her eyes.

She looked at him with a small smile. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much all of this means to me." She said in a choked voice.

He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Feel free to use any of the soaps that I have in the shower. I'll be right out in the bedroom when you're done." He said softly.

He left her to shower and relax in the tub while he went to his room.

She looked around and felt her heart race in her chest at what Alessandro had done for her. She knew that there would be a fresh set of sheets and a clean blanket on the bed once she was done. She knew that everything would be taken care of because Alessandro seemed to be taking care of everything for her lately. She quickly stipped and got into the shower. She stood under the hot spray as she thought about Alessandro and everything that he had done for her in such a short time.

He had brought her love. He took care of her the way no one else ever had. He brought happiness into her life and she was more than grateful for it. She knew that it was insane to feel the way that she did but she felt as if she couldn't go a single day without him in her life.

Alessandro blew out a rough breath as he stood in the middle of the room. He ran a hand through his hair before going to the bed and pulling all of the blankets and sheets off. He tossed them into the laundry shoot that was in every single room before going to his closet. He pulled out a fresh bed set and made quick work of making the bed. He decided to keep the chains on the bed but made sure to hide them under the curtain that surrounded his bed. He had a feeling that he was going to have to use them again in the future.

He set up the pillows and made them look nice. He pulled out some massage oils that he had bought for the night and set them on the nightstand. He planned on giving her a full body massage to help her relax even more while speaking with her about her real family. He had planned on calling them that morning but he wanted to talk with Evangeline about them first.

Once he had everything set up and had the candles relit he softly knocked on the bathroom door. "Is it alright if I come in angel?" He asked just loud enough for her to hear him.

"Yeah." She called out softly.

He walked inside and smiled as he saw her relaxing in the tub. "How are you feeling angel?" He asked as he sat on the edge of the tub.

She gave him a loving smile. "I'm feeling a bit better. Your shower is amazing. This tub is amazing too."

He chuckled. "I only like the best of the best." He said with a shrug.

She laughed as she leaned her head back against the edge of the tub. "I can understand that."

He grinned. "So I was thinking that once you're finished here I could give you a full body massage." He said as he moved the stray bit of hair out of her eyes.

She shook her head with a frown. "You don't have to do that Alessandro." She said softly. "You've already done so much for me."

He clicked his tongue. "Nonsense." He sighed as he gently caressed her face. "I can tell how tense you are, my angel. I can clearly see the stress on your face half of the time." He leaned over and pressed a light kiss to her lips. Without pulling away he said against her lips. "Let me take care of you and treat you like the queen that you are." He whispered.

She looked into his eyes and nodded slightly. "Okay." She whispered.

He grinned. "Take as long as you want in here. I'll be ready whenever you're done." He said softly.

She smiled. "I'm actually done. The water is getting a bit cold." She said as she sat up a bit.

Alessandro was quick to jump to his feet and grab a towel for her. He held it open for her as she stood up with her back to him. He wrapped the towel around her body and pressed a featherlight kiss to her shoulder. "Come on angel." He said softly as he took her hand in his. He helped her out of the tub and grabbed a small towel for her hair. "Would you like me to help you with your hair?" He asked as he held the towel out to her.

She bit her lip as she looked up at him. "I'd love that. I usually just throw it up in a bun until it's dry enough." She said with a shrug.

He chuckled. "Let's go then." He led her to his bedroom and they sat on his bed together. He gently took the small towel from her and brushed his lips across the back of her neck. "Take your hair out for me angel."

She pulled the clip out of her hair and let it fall in messy waves to the bed. Alessandro gently took her hair in his hands and started towel drying it as he spoke. "Look I know this may not be easy to talk about but there is something that I wanted to run by you." He said as he continued drying her hair.

"What is it?" She questioned quietly as she relaxed into him.

He blew out a rough breath as he set the towel on the bed and grabbed a brush off the nightstand. "Jaxon came to see me the other night." He started.

She frowned as she glanced at him over her shoulder. "Jaxon came to see you?" She asked in shock. "When?"

He gently brushed the knots out of her hair as he spoke. "The night we helped the Rinaldi family go into hiding." He said softly. "He just showed up here. Said he needed to talk to me about you actually."

"What about me?" She questioned as she looked down at her lap.

"He said that you asked about your middle name." He said quietly. "And that you mentioned the photo that was in Nikolai's file that was left on Luca's desk." He sighed as he continued running the brush through her hair even though he had gotten all of the knots out already. "He asked to see the photo and agreed that it was you. You were a bit older when he first met you. He was certain that it was you though. He told me that you missed your real family but were afraid to go looking for them. That you felt as if something bad would happen if you found them and became happy."

She shook her head slightly. "He always was one of the only people who could read me well enough to tell what I'm feeling or thinking." She let out a humorless laugh. "Up until I met Luca he was actually the only one who knew me that well."

Alessandro took a deep breath. "So it's true then? You're afraid to find your real family?" He asked as he simply started playing with her hair.

She rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands. "I don't know." She mumbled. "I don't think it's me being afraid. It's more that I'm not sure what they'll think about me once they learn everything that I've been through. Everything that I've done." She said in a small voice. "It's not just that though." She muttered.

Alessandro gently pushed her until she was laying down. "Here lay down on your stomach for me angel." He said softly. As she did as he said he asked her. "What other reason do you have for not wanting to find your family?" He straddled her hips and grabbed the massage oil from the nightstand. He pulled the towel down to her waistline and got started on her massage.

She sighed heavily as she laid her head on her overlapping hands. "When I first met Luca, I was skeptical. I didn't trust them easily and it took me a long time to loosen up and start trusting them. Once I fully trusted them and I was happy they found me." She shook her head as she rested her forehead on her hands. "I had told Luca and Rora about what had happened to me and I had had a blackout. I knew that they were the only two people in the house so I hurt myself instead." She mumbled. "Anyway. I was working late one night shortly after that when they showed up. I went into another blackout." She whispered. "I killed the three assassins that were sent after me and Luca found me right after. He explained that he had been worried about me because I hadn't called to tell him that I made it home yet." She blew out a rough breath. "As soon as I found some happiness they came after me."

Alessandro understood why she was worried. "You're worried that if you meet your real family and become happy with them it'll be taken away." He stated as he rubbed at the tense muscles in her back.

She bit her lip as she took a minute to compose herself before her emotions got the better of her. "Yeah. I am worried about that." She muttered.

Alessandro sighed as he worked the tension out of her entire back. "What if I told you that you wouldn't have to worry about that? That they were strong enough to take care of themselves?"

She frowned as she thought about it. "What are you talking about?" She questioned.

He gently moved her hair out of the way as he said. "I know your real family. I grew up with your brother." He said quietly. "They're the most powerful family in Russia and have been looking for you since the very night you were taken." He worked the muscles in her shoulders with firm yet gentle fingers. "They would really love to have you back in their lives." He explained softly. "They wouldn't judge you for your past. They love you, little angel."

She felt a single tear slide down her cheek. "I would honestly love to reunite with them." She whispered.

He grinned as he moved to work on her legs. "I can arrange that if you would like me to, angel." He kneaded the muscles in her thighs with the massage oil that he had bought.

She leaned up on her elbows and looked at him over her shoulder. "Really?" She asked in hope.

He nodded. "Absolutely. It'll only take one phone call."

She bit her lip as she looked at her folded hands. "Okay." She said finally. "Let's do it."

He chuckled and leaned over her to press a light kiss to her lips. "I'll call first thing in the morning then."

She grinned as she laid her head back down. "Thank you." She whispered as she closed her eyes and relaxed.

"Anything for my little angel." He said as he moved down her legs to her feet.

He massaged her thoroughly. Once he was sure that all of the knots and tension were gone he laid down next to her. He chuckled when he saw that she was half asleep. He stood up and went to his closet. He stripped down to his boxers and grabbed one of his t-shirts. He walked over to her and caressed her shoulder. "Sit up for a minute, angel." He whispered.

She sat up and held the towel to her chest. He helped her put his t-shirt on before taking the towel from her. "Lay down and get comfortable, little angel. I'll be right back." He kissed her forehead before standing up.

He went to the bathroom and tossed the towel down the laundry shoot. He washed his hands and went back to the bedroom. He smiled when he saw Evangeline laying there curled up half asleep. He shut off all the lights and climbed into bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her and curled his body protectively around hers. He pressed a loving kiss to the shell of her ear and whispered. "Sweet dreams my little angel."

He couldn't see it but there was an adoring smile on her face. A few minutes later she was almost asleep when she whispered. "I know it's only been a few days but I think I'm in love with you Alessandro."

Alessandro laid there in shock as her breathing evened out. He knew that he was in love with Evangeline. He wasn't expecting her to feel the same way so soon.

He held her close to his body as he let sleep pull him into sweet oblivion.