Capítulo 56: chapter 56
When he dropped to the ground Ailee embraced him in a tight hug with her eyes wide and trembling, looking at their surroundings.
"Zai! Xavier!" She tapped on his cheeks to bring him to focus on her but his eyes were fixated ahead.
She hastily looked behind her but found nothing that could make him like this.
She started crying loudly, unable to think of something that would help him. He has always been there to help her but now when he needs help, she doesn't know what to do.
"Are you hurt? Xavier please say something" she pleaded. She checked him for any injuries or bullet wounds but he seemed okay. He wasn't shot, he wasn't stabbed then what went wrong?
He was breathing fast and lifted his finger towards the front.
"Mama" he mumbled in a daze and Ailee froze.
She turned around at the speed of light and saw people still fighting but she was able to identify his mother.
A guard held the door open for her while she stood outside watching him with a smile. She never broke eye contact with him and mouthed 'See you soon, Son' before finally sitting inside and leaving the place amidst all the crazy shooting going on.
His head was safely placed on her chest while she continuously rubbed his arm from one hand and the side of his face from the other.
His guards had securely covered them by standing in a circle around them to make sure no harm came to them.
She kept sobbing and praying for everything to get better. Luka broke through the barrier and joined them on the ground.
"Hey! Romano! Come back to your senses!" He shouted while slapping him lightly on his cheek.
He closed his eyes and hid his face in the crook of her neck and she continued to comfort him through soft pats on the back.
A minute later he pulled back with his eyes bloodshot red and stood up slowly then helped her up as well.
" Any casualties?" He asked Luka in a strong voice as if he was not sitting on the ground- numb, just a moment ago.
"A few are injured but nothing more than that" He replied, shaking his head.
" Okay, make a list of all the people that got hurt and compensate them. Take care of everything else too, I'm going home"
He said and turned around taking her with him too.
" Also take her sisters to the hospital" he said, stopping for a second again.
After that he didn't say a word and Ailee didn't know what she could say to him in this condition. She was so confused herself that she can't even comprehend what hell HE must be going through.
No words came to her mind. All she could do was stay by his side and help him however possible.
If it were her in his place then he surely would have come up with some ways to comfort her.
She instructed the driver to take them home and the painful ride began. He kept looking out like a corpse and it hurt her to no extent.
She suppressed her cries by putting her palm on her mouth firmly but one glance at his face and her hand would tremble.
"Zai" she softly called out to him and he hummed. At least he was conscious.
She brought their intertwined hands to her mouth and kissed each of his knuckles.
He was so brave. A mere video made her lock herself and push away her loved ones but he stood bravely in front of his team, instructed them and showed concern for the people who got hurt and even her sister whom he noticed was injured in such a short time.
A true leader indeed.
She hugged him from the side making sure their hands stayed together and let him have some quiet.
From the outside it looked like he was in deep thoughts but in actuality he was blank. He wasn't confused, he wasn't hurt, he wasn't angry, he was just numb and he wanted to be like that for some time because he knew if he came out of it, his brain would unleash the monsters on him in the form of the thoughts he'd rather stay away from.
Just like that, forty minutes passed and they were pulling in his driveway.
He wordlessly got out when the door was opened by the driver and walked inside with Ailee following him.
He didn't stop to pat Doodles who sensed his mood was off and started giving him more attention. Ailee lifted him up and went upstairs.
She stood there near the bed, watching him pick out clothes for the night then went to take a shower.
She sighed defeatedly and went to take a quick shower too.
After coming out and noticing he was still in, she ordered food because there was no time to cook and she was not in the mood to cook either.
She called him down for dinner and he came, ruffling his slightly wet hair.
She tried talking to him but every time a sentence came to her mind she felt like it was lame and thus stayed quiet the whole time.
He barely had five bites when he stood up with the glass and left.
She thought he went to refill his glass but he never came back.
So she quickly cleaned up the table and went upstairs to check on him but he wasn't there either. He'd most probably be in his study she thought and indeed the lights were on.
She knocked very lightly but there was no response. So she quietly opened the door and found him sitting on the floor with numerous papers, photos and boxes around him.
She joined him on the floor and looked at the photo in his hand.
"Is she your mama?" She asked, hesitantly not knowing if it would trigger him or not.
He nodded and picked up the other one.
"I thought she was-"
"Dead." he said so coldly that she flinched.
"Uh why didn't she come to meet you?" It was not her fault that she didn't know that she had attacked him once in Russia and tried to harm him in many other ways. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked this question, even he, himself connected the dots just now, so how could she?
"She wants me out" he said nonchalantly like it doesn't matter.
Their doorbell rang and kept ringing which gave them the idea of the culprit.
Xavier took out his phone and unlocked the door.
" Fucker" he mumbled.
Luka barged in the study with worry written all over his face.
He looked at Ailee and raised his eyebrows while tilting his head in his direction.
She shrugged sadly and looked down.
"Romano-" he started but was abruptly cut off.
" I don't fucking know, Luka. I don't know. Don't ask me anything stupid" he seethed.
" Okay but I'm not here to ask anything stupid from you" he sighed and put his arm around his shoulder. He did come here to check how he was doing but since Ailee is here he won't have to worry.
He was just as much shocked to see her as Xavier because he heard a lot about their relationship from the elders. Everytime he would be mean to him or beat him up, he would whine to his parents about how much of a jerk he was and how there wasn't a single person he is kind to, then his parents and elders would tell him that Xavier was a nice boy when his mother was around and he loved her more than anything. They would ask him to give him some time and he'd warm up to him too one day.
Though it did happen, but not entirely. He warmed up to him because no matter what Xavier did to his poor self, he never left his side. He was determined to become the first person Xavier choses to be in his team and it happened. He is rude and cold from outside and pretends to shrug Luka off every time but no one knows this better than Luka himself that if need be he would go to extreme lengths to protect him.
"I've come to ask you to hurry the fuck up because we got no time in our hands" he spoke calmly to not agitate Xavier further.
"What does that supposed to mean?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"She had more than a decade to scheme her plottings against you but we have a couple of days, hardly."
Xavier's eyes turned sad at that.
For a second he was ecstatic to see her mother alive there, coming out of the hotel. But slowly everything fell into its place and his world collapsed in front of his eyes.
Why her in all people?
It could have been Loraine for all he cared but why her?
How will he fight against his source of power that keeps him going?
"She has already filed numerous cases against you in the court but that could be handled. You did good by dealing with the black stuff years ago. All we have to take care of is you"
Ailee snapped her head in his direction with tears already at the brink.
" What do you mean by that, Luka?" She asked, turning towards him.
" It is exactly what you are thinking, sunshine" he sighed and looked at Xavier to study his expressions but his face was void of any emotions.
" NO! That can't be. That can't be, Luka. She is his mother, she won't go to such lengths" she sobbed and shook her head violently. She would never believe a parent would hurt their own child let alone kill them.
"I'm not too sure myself why she is doing this but from recent events it has been confirmed" he explained as calmly as possible but it only made her condition worse.
The thought alone of losing him was heart wrenching to her. She felt like someone was slowly piercing the knife through her heart again and again at the fact that the threat of death was hanging on his head like a sword.
He is a part of her now. If she loses him then she will lose herself.
"I'm going to be okay, Coco" he pulled her to him and pressed her face in his chest.
" Watch what you say in front of her, Luka" he glared at him and Luka smiled nervously.
" Sorry" he said with hands raised in surrender. Friend or no friend Xavier will show no mercy when throwing punches.
"Why- why do you have to- have to go through- all of this" she hiccuped.
She knows how attached he was to his mother and this fight is going to be the hardest for him.
"Hmm what can I say, I was born the luckiest"
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Romano. At the Den, nine?" He asked, standing up.
Xavier nodded and closed his eyes when he patted his back.
"Take care, sunshine….. and you too, big bad wolf." He left, closing the door behind him.
"Xavier, can we avoid this somehow?" She asked immediately.
"No, darling, if I want to end this completely I will have to face her." He explained.
"But-"
"I have to do this. She is my mother I want to know the answers"
She looked down and nodded.
"Let's sleep now, come on" he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
" I wanted to talk to you though," she mumbled.
" Tomorrow?" He asked as he tucked her in the bed. Honestly, he didn't want to talk about it right now to anyone. He wants to think about it himself and understand what is happening and how fucked up it is.
He lies down beside her and waits for her to fall asleep before slipping out of the bed quietly and going down to the kitchen.
He poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down in one go.
"Shit. Shit. Shit" he cursed and pulled on his hair.
Doodles came barking inside and rubbed himself around his legs.
"What do you want, mama?" He whispered helplessly, looking at the ceiling.
"What?" He asked in frustration, turning towards Doodle.
"Hungry?" He poured his treats in his green frog bowl but he didn't leave.
"Do whatever you want" he grunted and went to plop down on the couch with a bottle of beer in his hand.
He drank and tried to remember the scene from when she died. How was she back? Why was she back? Why is she doing this? There were way too many questions.
Though he had some theories in his mind about the few questions, he wanted to hear it from her.
"Alright" he nodded with newly found determination in his eyes and clenched his jaws.
"If it's war that you want then a war you shall get."
His phone buzzed and upon checking, he found out that it was Igor calling him back to back.
He ignored him and continued drinking.
He called him twenty three times in just a few minutes so being left with no choice he picked up the call.
"Do you have a death wish?" Was the first thing he said even before the phone reached his ear.
"Your mother is alive?" He asked panting.
Xavier clenched his jaws and pinched the bridge of his nose while cursing him.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Hmm you must be surprised to know how I knew it because your people are good at keeping secrets. But little brother I have been in this world for far more-"
" Tyrant told you" he cut him off in a bored tone.
" H-how- NO" he said, flustered.
"I was too busy to deal with him but I knew he was a rat. What I also know is that he was at an insignificant position and had no intel on me" he was about to cut the call.
" I met her" a sigh was heard followed by a glass breaking.
He must be drinking as well.
" What do you mean?" Xavier asked, now a bit interested in the conversation.
" Earlier tonight, I was invited by her at a hotel to discuss the pay about the land she was planning to take from you and other negotiations but man I did not know who in the devil I will be facing." He laughed sadly.
" I called to warn you that I will kill her and you won't be able to stop me. Better prepare yourself for the funeral"
He ended the call and Xavier stared at the black screen of his phone.
'What the fuck did actually happen?' he thought to himself and called Enzo,
"Sir"
"Where are you?" He asked while swirling the drink in the glass.
"I'm at the Den," he reported.
"Hmm, are you keeping tabs on Igor?"
" Yes Sir, I am"
" Where was he tonight?"
" He went to meet a business associate and then to the club where he is still in" he replied a minute later after receiving the information from his subordinate who was incharge of the matter.
" Was it the same hotel as today?" He asked again.
" No, sir. It was-" he said then the line went silent.
"What?"
"Sir it was the hotel your mother is currently residing in," he said after a moment's hesitation.
"Alright" he ended the call and threw the bottle across the floor.
"FUCK!!" He stood up and started pacing around the room angrily.
It was becoming more and more chaotic. With the involvement of Igor, shit will hit the fan. He is very impulsive and sloppy in his actions and it might hinder his plans.
"Zai….are you alright?" Ailee asked nervously from the other side of the couch.
She was in a light sleep when a loud crash woke her up and when she didn't find him there with her, she panicked.
"I'm alright, sorry" he said.
She nodded and went into the storage room to bring the cleaning supplies and quietly started cleaning up.
" What are you doing? You'll get hurt." He came and pulled her up.
" It's better than to see you get hurt, Zai. I can't do that" she shook her head and got back to cleaning it up.
He sighed and went to the bathroom to take a shower, again, and calm his anger down before talking to her.
He will have to call Igor to the meeting tomorrow if he wants everything to go smoothly.
Lord knows what that woman said to him to make him lose his mind.
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