The Billionaire Mafia’s Slave

CHAPTER 55: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER?

LILY’S POV:

We were all seated for dinner, Nikolai wouldn’t stop holding my thigh and hand under the dinning table. I was really shy knowing that his family were just there.

After we confessed our feelings to each other and the kiss we shared, Nikolai has been extra towards me. He holds and kiss my hand any chance he gets, he puts my hair behind my ear, he holds my waist when we go down the stairs, even currently at the dining table, I can feel his hot stares on me.

“Ehhem! Eat Nikolai, your girlfriend isn’t going to run away”, Galina said and I quickly removed Nikolai’s hand from my thigh, blushing in embarrassment. He groaned and turned to focus on his food.

“Learn to mind your business sister”, Nikolai told Galina. I didn’t raise my head because I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. It was so much easier when we pretended to be in a relationship, now it just seems hard.

‘Wait… are we even in a relationship?’, I asked myself. I can’t remember Nikolai asking me to be his girlfriend, for all I know he can just be thinking of me as one of his flings.

I suddenly lost my appetite.

“How do you expect me to mind my business when you’re busy drooling on the table”, Galina hit back and I stifled a laugh.

“It isn’t my fault you are single. Go find someone who can drool over you”, Nikolai said and I looked at Galina and she had a shock expression.

“How dare you–“, Galina couldn’t deliver her comeback, her mom interrupted her.

“That’s enough the both of you. Eat”, Mrs Vladimir said with so much authority, everyone kept mute including Nikolai.

We were almost done with dinner and I have to admit I was getting used to their food here as it was really delicious.

Mrs Vladimir dropped her spoon and fork, she smiled brightly at everyone.

“I have great news… New year is in 2 days and so is our annual fundraiser ball–“, Mrs Vladimir said.

“That’s the great news mother?”, Nikolai asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“She wasn’t done talking”, Roman replied.

“And I was not talking to you”, Nikolai looked at his brother and said. I can feel the tension between them.

“I was only trying to correct my little brother. Don’t be so offended”, Roman responded with a smirk on his lips, he was doing this on purpose.

“I’m not easily offended”, Nikolai responded with a smile, one could see how well he’s composing his poise but I could see his fist he kept on his leg tighten under the table. I covered his fist with my palms and his eyes quickly turned me, I gave him a reassuring smile and his grip eased.

“Be quiet you two!”, Mrs Vladimir commanded again.

“I’m sorry mother, I didn’t know Nikolai–“, Roman tried to put the blame on Nikolai but Mrs Vladimir cut him off.

“I don’t want to hear it”, She said and Roman remained quiet.

Everyone at the table couldn’t swallow properly or breathe well. The tension between this two brothers were so obvious, making me more curious about what happened between them. The look in Nikolai’s eyes says so much about wanting to kill Roman and something tells me Roman was aware of it but is only playing dumb.

‘Should I ask Nikolai about what happened between the two of them?’, I asked myself but decided against it.

“As I was saying… The Annual Fundraiser Ball is in 2 days and your father will be coming back home by tomorrow”, Mrs Vladimir announced and everyone had a mixture of happy, surprise and shock.

“Dad is getting discharged tomorrow? Really?!”, Galina asked in excitement to which her mother nodded.

“The doctors said he is doing better and can be discharged, his blood pressure is normal so is his sugar level”.

“That’s great mom”, Galina said.

“That is good news”, Nikolai’s aunt replied and Anastasia nodded.

I feel like I was the only one at the table freaking out, The almighty Mr Vladimir is coming back home and I was overly nervous. I could feel my palms sweating and heart racing.

“The ball will be a celebration of two things… the usual New Year and your father’s recovery celebration. The preparations are almost ready, invitations are all sent out and you will all be told about the theme for the night”, Mrs Vladimir said, “… now if you will excuse me, I need to take a stroll before I rest for the night… Lily, can you join me?”, I flinched when I heard my name.

I looked at Nikolai as if asking for permission but what I really want was for him to come up with any form of excuse, I was shaking. Nikolai just nodded at me and I scolded him in my heart.

“Sure”, I replied and stood up from the chair, excused myself and went after Mrs Vladimir who has already left.

I caught up with her and I tried walking two steps behind her. I was confused on what to do, she is a woman of class and etiquettes and I was scared of disrespecting her.

Mrs Vladimir had other things in mind, she took my hand and intertwined with mine and I held my breath for 3 seconds.

“Walk with me, I don’t bite”, She uttered and chuckled. I eased up a little and matched her steps.

We took a slow pace stroll along the fountain to that beautiful hawthorn flower garden.

“Do you know that this is my garden and I tend to this flowers all by myself”, She asked.

“Nikolai told me today mom and I must say, these flowers are really gorgeous”, I said.

She smiled and gave my hand a light pat.

“Do you know why I chose the hawthorn flowers?”.

“No mom”.

“When I was of your age or younger, my parents married me off to Oleg, Nikolai’s father, I cried for days because I knew I wanted to be more than a wife just yet. My parents had a farm where we reared Cows, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and we were well to do but everything went bad when the animals started dying due to a rare disease…”, She paused and we sat on a bench in the garden, then she continued, “Oleg was one of the top three eligible bachelors at our time and his family were very wealthy, they were into importations but I wasn’t impressed. When it was time for the two families to meet and finalize the marriage agreement, I was made to have an alone time with Oleg and we sat at this very spot”, She paused and laughed lightly, reminiscing her love life. I watched her with a smile on my face.

As I spent more time with Mrs. Vladimir, I was struck by her kindness and warmth. She had a gentle way about her, always putting others before herself and making sure everyone felt loved and cared for. Her sweet smile and soft eyes made me feel like I was the only person in the world when she spoke to me.

She has this glint in her eyes when she spoke about her husband and her young age.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘What is your favorite flower?’, I was shocked. Isn’t he supposed to brag about his family wealth and how I am to marry him and take care of him and our children for the rest of our lives, not caring about a single thing I like or dislike?… Well, so I imagined all those rich handsome bachelor but Oleg was different. After we got married, he planted my favorite flower which was hawthorn all by himself, He nurtured it. That was when he started winning my heart little by little”, She concluded and turned to face me, she held both my hands and smiled faintly.

“I’m telling you all this because I want you to be patient with Nikolai, love doesn’t come all at once especially for someone like Kolya. He isn’t one to openly express his love and affection but you will notice it in his little actions… Galina told me she mentioned about Elena and Nikolai to you, that is the past, you are his present”, She said and I bit my lower lip. I couldn’t tell her we have already resolved it.

“I know mom”, I managed to say.

“I see how you bring light into my son’s life, how much he has changed because of you and how overprotective he is of you… He has demons he is still trying to fight, but be patient with him okay?”, She said and I nodded.

I couldn’t help the lone tear that escaped my eye.

“Oh my poor baby”, Mrs Vladimir said, trying to clean the tears away and I hugged her tight, she patted my back as she reassured me everything would be okay.

I didn’t know a mother’s presence matters this much, I thought I only needed my dad but Mrs Vladimir made me so comfortable and I missed my mom. I was grateful to have her in my life now and I thanked the heavens she likes me just as much as I like her.