FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM - HER FIRST LOVE

Alexander had sent half of his team to accompany Sebastian because he wanted Sebastian's protection more than anything at the moment. He needed to be alive to keep Hera safe. So he made sure no danger would follow Sebastian and kept his enemies at bay as best as he could. 

Since both the Baresi brothers were dead, he no longer wanted to waste his time there. The enemy they were fighting now was unknown, and Alexander knew the hired goons when he saw one, and the culprit could only be either Christopher or Johnathan. 

He knew the mastermind operating behind Johnathan was his best friend's father. 

'Christopher Castellanos, pray that my Felicity lives because if she dies, I'll not let anyone live.' 

Alexander vowed. 

Alexander didn't want the rest of his men to lose their lives. It was no use to die fighting these people.. So he instructed his men to find an escape. But before that, he pulled out all the available cash from his pockets and retrieved all the money from the dead twin brother's bags. The bundle of notes added up to a large amount for anyone to ignore. Alexander threw it in the air, grasping the attention of his enemies immediately. 

"It's nothing in comparison to what I'm going to offer you," Alexander said and lifted his hand in the air, a shiny black card with golden letters written on it stuck in between his pointer and middle finger. Those people were petty criminals and local gangsters joining hands with his assassins for the offered money. They weren't there to help the Baresi brothers but to kill him. Alexander knew it was only the greed of earning extra money. 

The card flew as he threw it in their direction. 

"You can draw more than what you got paid from my enemies using this card," Alexander said. He uttered a few numbers giving them the pin required to draw money. 

Some of them didn't believe him and still attacked his team. They thought it would be easy to take the crime Lord down because he was injured. Alexander shook his head and chuckled at their stupidity. He was trying to give them a chance to survive, but it seemed his generosity was in vain. 

"It seems none of them is lucky enough to stay alive. Boys, let's finish them and leave," Alexander said to his people. He had only five of his men with him, and they agreed while aiming their bullets at their targets without wasting time. Some of their opponents were busy collecting the crumpled bills from the floor, resulting in a dispute among themselves for money. 

Alexander saw one of his attackers found his card and ran out of the building as soon as he grabbed it from the floor. Some followed him to get it for themselves. The remaining seemed too dedicated to their commitment and attacked Alexander and his men. It wasn't a difficult task to kill them all. It was just that Alexander wanted to save time. 

He could do just that by eliminating all of them at once. He wondered how much the Castellanos had paid to hire so many of them in a foreign country. It took approximately twenty minutes at the most to emerge victoriously. Alexander sighed, gritting his teeth and granting himself a few more minutes to waste. He needed to steady his breathing as it was getting hard to inhale air. 

The gunshot wound would hurt the whole of his chest every time he took a deep breath. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, remembering Felicity's smiling face. It reminded him that he had to stay alive until he reached her. He could bet her smile had a healing power because he felt energy burst through his system. 

With a single nod of his head, his men escorted him out of the building right away. Alexander kept his pain hidden away so that his loyal companions wouldn't worry. The wound was nothing new, and it wasn't the first time he had got shot. He wasn't afraid of death anyway. 

His men admired his bravery, his courage, and they knew nothing in the world scared their boss. He wasn't their leader for nothing. 

Alexander took the seat in the middle of his five-seater SUV, and one of his men joined him, taking a seat beside him. With his command, the second man took his seat behind the wheel. The third man occupied the front passenger seat while the remaining two men sat in the back seat. 

The driver carefully manoeuvred the car on their way back to the motel where Alexander had left Felicity, and the black, shiny SUV sped off. 

One of his men offered to check and tend his wound, but his boss dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Alexander couldn't afford to waste any more of his limited time. "I'm fine, Ian," he said before addressing the driver. "Dave, just drive as fast as you can and take me to my wife as soon as possible," he said. 

Death wouldn't scare him a bit. He wasn't afraid of dying, but Alexander was also a human after all. He was frightened of losing his loved ones. 

Alexander dialled the first number saved on his speed dial, and a relieved sigh tore out of his mouth when his father answered the call after two rings. "Dad, is everything okay at home?" He asked, trying his best to hide the panic in his tone. His father chuckled as he detected the worry lacing his son's voice. 

"Who would dare to invade the lion's den, Alessandro?" Francesco asked rhetorically. The smugness coating his father's tone brought a smile to Alexander's face. "The twins are taken care of, Dad, but I'm worried that Mateo Baresi and Luca are also involved in this conspiracy. Would you be careful until I make it home?" He asked, and this time he couldn't hide the anxiety that bothered him. 

"Don't worry about me, son. I will handle everything here. Just give me thirty minutes, and Mateo Baresi's throat will be under my shoe, begging for his entire family's lives. I give you my word," Francesco assured. Alexander never doubted that his father wouldn't keep his word. "Take care, Dad," he said. Francesco hummed his response before asking, "Are you alright, Alessandro?" 

Alexander's eyes watered again, and he couldn't hide his fears from his father anymore. "Felicity has got shot, Dad. I'm afraid of losing her," he admitted. His father paused for a few seconds, allowing his son to let it out of his chest. When Francesco spoke, Alexander felt half of his fear gone, and new hope rose in his heart. 

"When you brought that girl home for the first time, I threatened her to leave you only to get told off by her. She's the only one apart from your mother who didn't get affected one bit by my threats, even after learning about my real identity. She had won my approval with her honesty, and I admired her courage," Francesco Carlo said, pride and admiration dripping from his tone. 

"She is wiser, braver and smarter than you and me, Alessandro. Don't worry. Nothing will happen to her. Felicity is a born fighter, and she'll come out of it victoriously. Even if she gets fed up with us, Carlos, she would never leave her little trouble maker alone under our care for too long," Francesco said in a teasing manner, and Alexander smiled at his father's words. 

Francesco knew his son was hurt, but he was more worried about Felicity because he knew how much his son loved her. Whatever physical injury Alexander had suffered was nothing in comparison to the pain of losing his love. He wouldn't survive if he had to lose her. 

"Take care, son," his father said. The softness in his tone conveyed how much he was concerned about his son. "Where are my Mum and Junior?" Alexander asked. "My little devil is playing hide-and-seek with his grandma. Do you want me to tell him?" His father asked in return. Alexander didn't want to trouble them yet with the bad news, and he knew it would be impossible to handle his son after that. 

That boy would demand his grandparents to bring him to his mother immediately. He would turn their lives upside down until they fulfilled his demand. 

"You know him, Dad. He would stop at nothing until he sees his mother, and I don't want to put his life in danger. Right now, he's safe with you. You can tell my Mom later," Alexander said. 

As soon as he ended the phone call with his father, Alexander dialled Sebastian's number. Sebastian informed him that he had already reached the airport without any trouble. He had hired a private jet and would leave in a while. Alexander was glad that money could do anything. Sebastian could arrange everything in such a short time because of that. 

"Stay at the said address until I say otherwise," Alexander reminded him once again. He had told him that everything was alright in Italy and that he could leave as soon as he gives him approval. "Call me only when you need me, Romano," Alexander ordered. He meant to say Sebastian could reach him only if he was dying and needed his help. 

Lastly, Alexander dialled Felicity's number.