9

Alexander POV

Getting up from the movie room, The Godfather finished. I made my way to my room, immediately alerted by what sounds like  Tatiana's scream, grabbing my gun, rushing in I sigh in relief, she's just dreaming, tossing and turning as she pleads, rushing over to her, "Tatiana" I stir her body, slapping my hands away, I grab a hold of her's "TATIANA!" I yell

Tatiana POV

My eyes shoot open, seeing Alexander's eyes wide immediately my fear takes over me, "get away from me" I shove him away, hurt appearing on his face, quickly recovering from it, looking around I realize I was just dreaming, I sigh out in relief, trying to reach over to me I flinch at his touch, hurt in his face, taking a huge gulp, "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep" I whisper in a cold sweat, "Alex!!!, I've been waiting for you " in walks Natalia in lingerie, her eyes immediately move to us, "what's going on here" sending me a glare, clearing his throat, "nothing" he says coldly before walking out the room, Natalia sends me a glare before following him out, breathing out in relief seeing the time it's only 2:00 in the morning, I only have 2 hours of sleep left, seeing that I won't get it. I decided to get out of bed, making my way to the kitchen. Pouring myself a glass of water, looking through the freezer, I found a tub of vanilla ice cream. Grabbing the tub, I sat on the counter grabbing the spoon, I started digging in. It's going to be a long night, I thought. Finishing the entire tub I decided on cleaning the house, cleaning each room, after 2 hours, I make my way to the kitchen, bumping into Alexander in workout clothes, his muscles now on full display, too tired to gawk, "Tatiana?" He calls out, stopping in my tracks, "have you been up since 2:00 in the morning" shrugging my shoulders I make my way out.

Preparing breakfast Elizabeth walks in the room, "Tatiana, you up early", giving her a warm smile, "you don't seem well, what's wrong" she frowns, "no I'm fine" I try to assure, tears brimming my eyes, her frown getting worse, "I'm fine" I assure quickly wiping my tears. Seeing the time it's only 5:00, "I need to give Alexander his coffee" I say, quickly grabbing the tray making my way to room, not wanting to make eye contact with Natalie, to my dismay she places her foot in front of me making me trip and fall, the coffee falls the floor breaking, falling on top of the broken glass and hot coffee, the glasses cutting through my skin making me cry out in pain, feeling a pair of footsteps running towards me, "Tatiana!" Elizabeth arms around me, looking up Alexander running towards us, "what happened?" He asks curtly, placing his large hands around my waist helping me up, "I just fell" I say trying to get away, "let me get the mop" I try to leave, "no you cut yourself" Elizabeth says, "I'm really hungry" Natalia rolls her eyes, tears sliding down my face, I wasn't crying because of the hurt or what Natalia is doing, I've had people do much worse to me, I'm crying because I'm so tired of everything, of being forced into the abuse. "Let me help you" Elizabeth guides me out, "No!" Alexander calls out, "Elizabeth you prepare breakfast, I'll help her" he says, trying to shake my head no, Elizabeth refuses my pleas letting me go Alexander walks towards me, guiding me to another room, "you know I can help myself right, you can go back to your girlfriend" I roll my eyes, "she's not my girlfriend" he snarls opening the bathroom door. Somehow my heart skipped in joy at those words, sitting down on the toilet seat, retrieving a kit in one of the drawers, squatting down to me, grabbing a pair of tweezers, I notice the small glasses on my skin, grabbing the small piece of glass making me hiss in pain. His face hard, his cologne filling the room. Grabbing the piece of cotton pouring white spirit on it, sucking in the breath, tightly grabbing my arm, dabbing it on the cuts making me clench my teeth, my eyes shut in pain, "stop being such a baby" he says curtly, opening my eyes, not knowing what comes over me, "it's ironic how you first leave me with a handprint on my face that won't fade, but here you are nursing me" I say, instantly regretting it, his green wide eyes coming in contact with mine, turning cold, he quickly cleans the wounds, putting bandages on each, quickly packing up the kit, "you can have the rest of the day off, you cleaned the entire house anyway" he shrugs before leaving the room, slamming the door.

Almost feeling bad, I got changed before going to his library, there were so many books about art, going to the medical section, I smile like a child at a candy shop. Deciding to go to the garden, the air was fresh, the smell of roses amazing, there was peace. I actually felt free. Sitting down I began reading. Time went by so fast, Elizabeth walked in the garden, a trey with a sandwich and a bottle of water. "Thought I should bring you some lunch, I'm taking the rest of the day off, I have a doctor's appointment. Alexander will be back late so you don't have to cook" she smiles, "thank you" I say. Putting the book down I began eating, back home eating was luxury for me. So I still don't enjoy a meal without the fear of being beaten. Finishing my food, I decided to go back to the house and started preparing dinner for myself. Deciding to make spaghetti bolognese, it's been a while since I had that.

Finishing it up, I began dishing up for myself before digging in. After eating I decided on a nice bath, getting dressed in my pjs I went over to the lounge area to finish my book.

3 hours later my eyes felt heavy,  getting up from the couch, the door opened, in walked Alexander, slumped over, oh God he's drunk, trying to quickly scurry away, "Tatiana!" He calls for me, stopping me in my tracks, my heart racing in fear of what he may do, trying to walk away, "hey!" He calls out, making his way towards me, now facing him, "why are you getting away from me" he frowns, reaching over, placing his hand on the bruised area "does it still hurt?" He says sadly, removing his hand I rushed out the room.