The CEO's Addiction ⚣ ✓

14

Christian

Steve was the first to welcome me as soon as I pulled into the grand entrance of my mother's estate.

"Good Evening Mr. Ivanov, what a nice surprise."

"Hi Steve." I gave him a large smile. Steve was one of the few reasons I could stand coming around this place.

"Will you be staying late tonight, sir? Would you like me to park your vehicle?" He asked me.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I won't be here long."

"You know your mother doesn't like any cars parked up front, sir." Steve reminded me.

"I know." I replied with a wink. Steve did his best to hide his grin as he lead me in into my parents humble abode.

I wasn't sure if my mind had been playing tricks on me, but I could've sworn the smell of my mother's famous Pelmeni flooded my senses immediately. There was no way though, right? I thought to myself. It was a dish well reserved for special occasions, such as my birthday, or the holidays. My mother rarely ever made it, because she rarely ever cooked. In her words, We were privileged enough to have people for that.

Pelmeni is a dumpling dish my mother had learnt from her mother before she passed away. My mother usually filled the dumplings with either lamb or venison, depending on the time of year. Judging by the delicious smell that lingered in the air, I knew she had made the filling with venison this time around.

Immediately, I was suspect.

Had I forgotten someone's birthday? Was someone pregnant? Who died?

"Christian? I didn't know you were planning on stopping by." Slav spoke as he entered the main hall of the home. I slipped my shoes off at the entrance, knowing it would piss my father off if I walked around the house with them.

"Yeah. I told mum I was coming. I was hoping to speak with her." I replied.

My fathers face tensed. "Well this all makes sense now." He grumbled to himself, as he passed by me. "Your mother is in the kitchen."

"Where are you going?" I asked, watching him turn the corner.

"To go make me a very strong drink." He replied, before entering another hallway that lead to my parents bar. All my father had successfully done was increase my suspicion.

When I entered the kitchen, memories hit me like a brick wall. My mother was frying the Pelmeni in one of the large wok pots from the set I got her for Christmas. Technically, I guess I really just gifted her cooks that set, considering my mum entered this kitchen about once a month. She was wearing the same apron she'd worn through most of our childhood. It was the apron Brad and I had made her for Mother's Day. We had dipped our hands in the acrylic, and painted hand prints all over the canvas material. I was thoroughly surprised to see that she kept it.

"Christian." My mother smiled, as she turned around to see me. "You made it."

"That I did." I replied. "Why are you making Pelmeni?"

She glanced back at the dish that was currently cooking. "I just thought it would be a nice special surprise."

"You don't do surprises." I stated simply. She also very rarely did nice.

"I just thought that it would help to have a good meal to talk over." She explained.

This was absolutely my mother's nice way of bribing me.

"Mum, nothing is going to make me any less-" I started, but my mother cut me off.

"Let me make you a plate before we discuss anything." She insisted, as she reduced the heat on the stove, and scooped some dumplings out for me. She barely had time to set the food down, before I dug in. That first bite nearly brought tears to my eyes, it tasted so good.

Damn, my mother really knew how to play the game.

She watched on in glee as I cleared the meal in minutes... but I wasn't about to give this woman the break she expected. As soon as I was able to talk without a mouthful of food, I went straight into my line of questioning.

"You served my friends nondisclosure agreements?" I asked her. That was when her smile faltered.

"Christian, our legal team advised that-" she started, but I cut her off.

"I don't care what the legal team advised, mum. You promised no more secrets. You promised you would keep Brad and I in the loop. Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" I snapped at her. That was when her smile faded entirely.

"We're just trying to-"

"To protect us." I finished for her. "You don't get to make those decisions for us anymore. You don't get to decide what we can and cannot handle."

"I know. I spoke with your father, and he explained to me where I went wrong. I shouldn't have done that before speaking with you first." She admitted. Her apology held weight for me, mainly because my mother rarely apologized.

"I want those nondisclosure agreements nullified." I told her. That was when she hesitated.

"Listen, Christian. I don't think that's such a good idea." She insisted.

"So were you apologizing for serving my friends an NDA or were you apologizing for getting caught? Because those are two entirely different apologies."

Her mouth opened for a quick reply, but she caught herself last minute. I could tell she was starting to choose her words more carefully.

"I just- You barely know these people, Christian. Now they know more about us than anyone should really know." She explained.

"And yet somehow, I trust them a whole lot more than I trust you right now." I spat back. "You act as if they asked to be involved in our mess. Let me remind you that it was your brother who hacked our servers. It was your brother who showed up at the Gala. None of that is on Alex, Derek, or Joan. I trust them enough to keep that information confidential."

My mother went silent as she redirected her focus towards the mess in the kitchen. I helped her by setting my finished plate in the sink, as well as a few utensils she used. The aggressiveness in which she had started scrubbing the empty pan, startled me. Clearly I had upset her, and she was doing everything she could not to say something she would regret.

Before she could ruin her fairly new pot from how hard she was going at it, my hand rested on top of her soapy fingers, to stop her. She whipped her head towards my direction.

"I understand this is the farthest thing from easy for you... but I'm not here to make it any harder. In fact, I'm here to make it easier. Let me do that for you, okay?" I asked her. Those gorgeous eyes softened at my words. "Don't push Brad and I out like this, especially when this affects all of us."

I saw tears start to form at the base of her lid. She then did something she very seldom ever did.

She pulled me into her arms.

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