Always Only You (Rewriting)

16| Sedecim

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.
-Anthony Brandt

Ryan's Pov:

I walk downstairs for breakfast in my sweatpants. I didn't bother to shave or comb my hair and I didn't care if I looked like a slob. Seating myself at the oak dining table, the room falls silent as all eyes fall on my unkempt appearance.

"What the hell-"

My father raises his hand to stop Alexander as he rises from the chair in anger. I look up to their faces with disinterest, my cousin doesn't bother to hide the displeasure on his face but my father's face does not change. Instead he beckons to Gerard who stands at the doorway for further orders.

"Ask Irina to make some sausage omelettes for Ryan."

I nod and reach out for the bread basket, barely hiding my shocked expression. What ever be the reason, my father couldn't and wouldn't stand for anyone looking messy or dirty. It was an etiquette to always be prim and proper

He clears his throat before taking a sip of his black tea, "Now what were you saying?"

Alexander pulls out an envelope from his pocket. "We've gotten another note. We've decided to appoint you a personal bodyguard. This situation has to be dealt with properly and whoever it was managed to paste it to the front door. We should take this threat seriously."

I look up from my piece of buttered toast as he continues, "It's not a matter of you being strong enough. It's just a precaution. Even though we've left that life, I still think you should have a few personal bodyguards."

He sighs and pinches his nose deep in thought. "Fine, I'll have one." He stresses.

"But-"

"No buts, this is the end of the conversation." He stands up and Alex gets up with him. Before he leaves the room, he turns to me and nods.

"Caring? He can barely smile," I mutter to myself as I nibble on my toast.

***

"So tell me-"

"Tell you what?" I ask innocently, lingering round the kitchen, unable to resist the smell of Irina's famous meat pies. She juggles between chores as stirs the pot of beef busily and kneads the dough with amazing dexterity. How women can multitask always amazes me. She offers me the ladle to taste the sauce and I put my thumbs up in approval.

"It's delicious! What do you put in this? What's your secret?"

She whacks my head with the spoon, "You naughty boy! Stop changing the subject. Don't keep things from me." Her fingers squeeze my arms and look at me with tears in her eyes. "She was a keeper, was she not?"

My face falls at the memory.

"She was my world."

Not a day goes by when she hasn't been on my mind. I don't know which I feel more guilty about. Leaving her when she needed me the most or being the cause of her misery for the past few years. She would probably not want to see me again, and I wouldn't blame her for it. Irina silently pulls me into a motherly embrace. "It is okay to miss her."

I used to run accounts of transactions being handled by my family, though I didn't approve of the whole thing, blood is thicker than water. Who else would look after them? It took it upon me to handle all the money, online transactions. Basically

One day as I was going through some files and comparing records, I found an inconsistency with the numbers. They didn't add up. Either there was a mistake, or someone had been stealing money, it started with a few roubles to large amounts.