Off to sleep 😴...
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Ruslan's POV:

"Sir. What do you want me to do with them?" Geordi inquired over the call about the Meryd gangsters lurking around the mansion since yesterday. "Should I take them out?"

I leaned back in my chair. I was about to say yes but decided against it. "No. Scare them away."

"Sorry?"

"Don't kill them, Geordi. Just scare them away."

He sounded unsure but agreed anyway. "Sure, sir. As you say."

Humming, I hung up the call.

Opening my laptop, I continued with my work in silence for the next few hours.

Around one in the afternoon, I closed my laptop and went downstairs for lunch.

As I entered the kitchen, everyone became silent and lowered their eyes. Arthur stepped forward. "Sir."

"Arthur. Is the lunch ready?"

He nodded promtly. "Yes, sir. It will be served right away."

I nodded and took a seat at the table and my eyes roamed the kitchen looking for Alfresca.

I was about to question her absence when she walked in smiling to herself. Her smile vanished as her eyes fell on me sitting there and gulping, she lowered her eyes walked past the table towards Arthur.

Arthur handed her the cutlery and the plates and she set them on the table infront of me all the while avoiding looking at me.

Arthur soon served the dishes and I digged in cause I got no time to waste.

When I was finished, I got up to leave. Just as I was about to climb the stairs, my phone rang.

"Yes, Geordi?"

"Sir." He sighed. "Your mother is here."

I groaned. "Great! Bring her up. And please do tell Alfresca to bring her some snacks before she complains about it."

"Yes, sir." He replied and I hung up the call.

She had to ruin my peaceful day.

Sulking, I climbed the stairs and walked inside my office and sat down on my chair.

A minute later, Geordi knocked on the door and I grumbled. "Come in."

Geordi held the door open as my dear mother walked in, her shoulder length caramel blonde hair set in a perfect style. Her clear blue eyes glaring at me. She wore a peach colour sheath dress, a small handbag hanging over her forearm.

Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she took a seat in front of me placing her handbag on the desk.

"Ruslan." She spoke in her thick Russian accent leaning back, placing her hands in her lap.

"Mom." I acknowledged her, my body tensed, waiting for her to start complaining.

"How's the work going?" She came straight to the point.

I gave her a tight smile. "I'm doing good, mom."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm asking about the work. Not you."

I sighed and subtly rolled my eyes. "It's good."

She wasn't satisfied with my answer. "And why weren't you answering any of my calls for the past few weeks?" She scolded.

"I was busy." I said coldly.

"Busy? Or were you ignoring me?"

I clicked my tongue. "Both maybe." I said nonchalantly.

"Ruslan!" She yelled. "I am your mother! And now you are ignoring me?"

I rolled my eyes making her more angry. "And stop lying! The work is not going good. People aren't scared of you that much as they were before. Stop being so lenient. Stop becoming soft. You are now paying more attention to your business than the underworld."

I cocked my head. "I'll do as I please."

She gritted her teeth. "Don't forget after your father's death it was me who groomed you, taught you everything so you could take over the Searlus Mafia."

I snapped. "And are you proud? Proud of the amount of people I have murdered? The number of families I have destroyed? The amount of black money I have? Are you?"

Her eyes widened at my outburst and she slammed her hand on the desk. "You were born for this. To lead the Searlus Mafia."

"I don't like hurting people." I stated.

"Regret is for the weak. You are a Mafia leader. You are forgetting everything I taught you."

My jaw clenched. "Regret is for those with a heart." I scoffed. "But of course, we are heartless. Monsters. That's what we are."

She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the knock on the door. I sighed leaning back in my chair and rubbed my temples. "Come in, Alfresca."

Geordi pushed opened the door for her and she entered with a tray of snacks in her hand and she placed it down on the desk.

My mother's eyes narrowed on her and as she turned to leave, mom spoke. "Have I seen you before somewhere?"

Alfresca's brows furrowed and she shook her head. "No. I don't think so, ma'am."

Mom looked unsure but nodded, dismissing the topic.

"What about the arms shipment?" Mom inquired as Alfresca left.

"Illegal arms shipment to be specific." I said emphasising the word illegal.

"What's wrong with you, Ruslan? Why are you behaving like this?"

I ignored her and spoke. "The deal has been secured. The arms will be shipped soon to Mexico."

She rolled her eyes. "Good." And picked up the chocolate chip cookie from the plate.

"And why did Alfresca seem familiar to you?"

"Who?" She asked. Realising whom I was talking about she said. "Oh. I think I might have seen her somewhere."

"Where?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure whether I even saw her before or not. Just for a second, she seemed familiar."

"Oh."

She picked another cookie from the tray and got up to leave. "Make sure the shipment leaves soon."

I sighed. "Yes, mom." And got up, following her out of the office where Geordi was standing.

I gestured Geordi to escort her out and went back inside as they both went away.

.
.
.

"Ask Alfresca to bring the dinner to my bedroom only." I told Geordi over the call and hung up after he responded with an okay.

I wasn't in the mood to go downstairs as I laid on my bed, scrolling through my phone.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "You can come in."
I sat up straight and Geordi opened the door letting Alfresca in.

I need to do something about it. Geordi can't always be the one to bring her in.

Geordi closed the door as she stepped in with a tray of food in her hands, her eyes lowered.

"Keep it on the table over there." I said pointing to the table in the corner of the room.

"Yes, sir." She muttered and went and placed the tray on the table.

"Anything else you would like, Mr Searlus?" She asked.

My jaw clenched. "Didn't I tell you to look at me while speaking?"

I saw her gulp before she slowly lifted her eyes and looked at me.

I got down from the bed and stood in front of her and folded my arms. "Have you ever seen my mother before?"

She shook her head. "No. I never saw her. Why?"

"Nothing." I brushed it off and talked about the next thing. "You had an elder brother, what was his name?"

"Why do you ask?"

My eyes narrowed and I stepped closer, intimidating her. "Don't question me, Alfresca."

"J-joel. His name was Joel."

"And you parents?"

She seemed uncomfortable talking about her parents as her eyes lowered again but I was just confirming the information I got from her background check.

"My father's name was Jeremy and my mother's was Samantha."

"Hmm...and what did your parents do for a living?"

She sighed. "My father was an engineer and he worked in a company named Alstom. And my mother was a housewife."

"And they died on?" God. I don't wanna ask all this but I have to.

She hesitated and I heard her sniffing and I felt so bad. You made her cry. Great.

"Alfresca..." I said softly as I slowly lifted her chin up with my index finger. Her eyes were wet with tear.

I wanted to apologise but my mother's words held me back.

Stop becoming soft.

I clenched my jaw and waited for her to answer which she did as she wiped away her tears by the back of her palm.

"They..." She said. "Umm...they died on the night of May 3, 2011."

"Okay. You can leave. I was just cross checking a few things."

She nodded and turned to leave when I stopped her again. "No. Wait."

She turned around. "Yes, Mr Searlus?"

I walked past her out of my room and she followed me out of my personal area.

I decided to add Alfresca's fingerprint too and clicked a few things on the fingerprint scanner.

"Place your thumb here." I told her pointing to the screen.

"Oh, okay." She mumbled and lifting her hand, pressed her thumb against it.

She didn't place her thumb properly and it was not able to scan it.

Shaking my head lightly, I grabbed her hand gently making her let out a small gasp due to my sudden action and I positioned her thumb properly so that it could be scanned.

After it was done, I saved it and turned to her.

"Being my personal maid, you have now access to my personal area. I'm trusting you with this, Alfresca."

I gently grabbed her throat, her eyes widening as I pulled her closer.

I applied a bit of pressure on her throat and leaned closer. "I hate those who betray me. You break my trust and I won't hesitate to kill you. Understood?"

She nodded her head quickly. "Y-yes."

I removed my hand from her throat and she gasped.

"Goodnight, Alfresca." I muttered and walked inside.

Chapter completion on: 14/8/21