Love Me

16

Chapter Sixteen| Ava
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"Well shit." Elena breathes out as we watch Kaden shout down the phone to God knows who.

Lily and Aleksio should of been back hours ago.

I rub my face in frustration and sigh. Luciano is also stressing down the phone to someone and I just feel like it's the whole Raymond situation all over again.

Something I did not want to relive ever again.

"Do you think my baby is okay?" I sniffle and Elena sighs, wrapping an arm around me.

"Lily's a strong girl, Ava. She will be fine." She reassures me but when I look at Kaden's face I think otherwise.

"That fucking boy!" He yells as he throws his phone at the wall before storming out.

"Luciano?" I look up at him with worry and he bites his lip and tries to give me a reassuring smile. "What's going on?"

"Lily's been taken." My heart stops. "There was a shootout not far from the airfield. Aleks was injured and Lily is gone." I raise a shaky hand to my mouth to muffle a sob.

"Fuck!" I grab my hair in frustration. "She must be so scared." I cry.

It takes me a few minutes before I'm wiping my face and composing myself.

I take a deep breath and stand up from my seat.

"Who took her?" I question Luciano and his face hardens.

"Russians." I clench my jaw. "Don't worry Ava, I'm not letting them get away with this."

"Do you think she'll still be in Albania?" I ask and Luciano shakes his head.

"They'd want us on their territory, Little Lily will definitely be in Russia in the next twenty-four hours." Luciano runs his fingers through his dark hair. "They've fucked with us Italians as well so it's not just a war between them and the Albanians."

"I need to go find my husband." I whisper and walk away from the two siblings.

I pass a stressed out Ardian who must be on the phone to his son. I look away and make my way upstairs.

I walk into our bedroom and spot Kaden sat at the end of our bed, his head in his hands. He looks up when he hears my movements and looks at me with worried eyes.

"I didn't want this, Ava. I should of protected her more." He stresses and I crouch down in front of him.

"Hey, you protected her the best you could of. How were we to know this was going to happen?" I tell him and he clenches his jaw.

"I have to go to Russia tomorrow night."

"I'm coming with you." He sighs and shakes his head.

"Ava baby, no." He helps me stand up and I sit on his lap.

"She's my daughter as well, Kaden and you've given me training I know what to do now." I reason with him and I watch as he thinks about it.

"What about our Liam and Levi?" He questions.

"Luciano's husband will be more than happy to look after them. You know how much he wants kids, this will be great for him." Kaden stares at me and then after a few seconds he nods his head.

"When we find our baby girl, I'm going to worry for her mental health, Ava. She's been through enough, she's going to have ptsd all over again." I bite my lip, thinking to how many sleepless nights she had.

"Where's Aleksio?" Kaden scoffs at my question but I throw him a glare.

Aleksio is still a young boy himself and I know he did not mean to put Lily in danger on purpose.

"Don't know what his dad was thinking bringing him into the mafia. He's weak." I sigh at his words just before there's a knock on the door.

Elena peaks her head through the door and bites her lip. "Sorry to piss you off further, bro but Aleksio has just arrived."

I yelp when Kaden stands up abruptly placing me on my feet and then he's storming out of the room.

I run after him and come to a halt when I see a battered and bruised Aleksio. My eyes widen when Kaden grabs him and shoves him against the wall.

There's no point me telling him to stop because he definitely won't listen.

"You piece of fucking shit!" Kaden growls out and Aleksio looks at him with wide eyes. "Do you realise what you've fucking done?! My baby girl has been taken by some scum because of you, we're in this mess because of you!"

"I'm sorry!" Aleksio says. "Fuck, you don't think I know that!" He clenches his eyes shut and Kaden shoves him one last time before letting him go. "I want to help find her."

Kaden scoffs. "You've done enough."

"I love your daughter, Mr Morello. I'm going to help." Aleksio stands up straight and stares at my husband.

"You don't love my daughter because if you did you wouldn't of put her at risk. You knew exactly what you were doing." Kaden growls out.

"Kaden, stop." I speak up but of course he ignores me and continues to stare Aleksio down.

"If anything happens to my daughter, you're a dead man."

•••

I walk into the kitchen and switch the light on. I jump when I see Aleksio sat at the kitchen island. He stares at the wall ahead of him and I sigh.

"Are you okay?" I question Aleksio and he looks at me with watery eyes.

"They should of taken me, not Lily. She doesn't deserve this." He whispers and I walk over to him.

He looks up at me with wide vulnerable eyes and I can't help but see a much younger Aleksio. A boy who didn't grow up with a mother figure.

I pull him into a hug and he begins to cry. "It's okay." I whisper.

"Why are you being nice to me? I've put your daughter in danger." He pulls away and sniffles.

"I know you love my daughter. You were blinded by how much you love her, you didn't think. I can't tell you how many times Kaden has done stuff without thinking and nearly put me in danger." I reason with him and he wipes his eyes nodding.

"Thank you for asking if I'm okay, Mrs Morello. It means a lot." I smile and nod my head.

"When Lily comes back I can't promise the two of you will still be together. You know what her father is like." He nods his head in understanding.

I pray to God we find her.

A/N
Awww Ava 🥺💗