An Unlikely Love

Chapter 31

Alessio's POV

It's been two weeks since the dinner party from hell and I'm at the barn with Benjamin and Evelyn. Evelyn has a riding lesson soon and Benjamin is planning to practice afterwards.

Today is the day Aleksandr is going to meet Evelyn and Benjamin. I'm really excited for him to meet them because I know he'll be a good granddad to Evelyn.

"So this guy took in Adriana and Xander?"

"Yeah, he adopted AJ when she was eight and raised her solely until she reconnected with us when we were thirteen. Even after we reconnected he remained her primary parent."

"When did they take in Xander?"

"Aleksandr took in Xander for around two months his senior year of high school. My dad and Charlotte were physically and mentally abusive to Xander so Aleksandr stepped in to save him. He gave Vincenzo one of his beach houses so he could move out with Xander. After Xan went to college Aleksandr and his family continued to care for him so he ended up being part of their family too."

"Were you close with Aleksandr's family?"

"I didn't get to meet the entire family like Xander but I am close-ish to Alek and his siblings. Alek calls me and AJ his twins. I actually got into chemistry and bombs because of Aleksandr's older cousin Sergei." I smiled

"Did you warn him about Evelyn?"

"No, but he's not my parents so he'll be kind."

"Okay." Benjamin let out an unconvinced sigh

I pecked him on the cheek to reassure him

"Hey, I promise everything will be okay."

One Hour Later

Evelyn just finished her lesson so I'm keeping her company while she grooms her pony. Benjamin is in the ring with Erebus so once we're done we're going to watch him.

"There you are. I tried texting but there's no service here." I heard Aleksandr's voice

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I forgot to warn you."

"There's nothing to apologize for. Things happen." He waved me off

If I had done that to dad he would've continued scolding me even after I apologized.

"Evelyn can you come say hi?" I called for her

She peaked from behind her pony and waved at Aleksandr

"She isn't much of a talker. She prefers to sign more than she likes speaking most times."

He nodded and walked towards Lyn. He stopped when he was a couple feet away from her and crouched down to her level

"Hi Evelyn, I'm Aleksandr. You can sign with me if you don't feel comfortable talking. I can understand." She nodded at him with a shy smile

"I think you have a really pretty horsey. Do you ride him all by yourself?" Al asked

"Mhm! Tango is a pony! You can touch!" She said while petting Tango's side

"Thank you Evelyn. I think it's so cool that you can ride Tango all by yourself." Aleksandr complimented her while petting Tango's face

"Scuse me" she said to him

Alek moved over and she was walked past him towards her brushes. She grabbed two and offered one to Aleksandr

"Is my hair that messy?" Aleksandr asked and she giggled and shook her head

"Want to help?" She signed