The Underbosses Psychiatrist (M/M)

10 - Chapter Ten - Zev Martin's Point Of View.

Looking at my watch I only had two appointments for today and the first one was soon to start. The first person I was going to see today was Andrei. Maddox has briefed me on what to expect from him and more so his behaviour. Maddox acted like he wasn't the same way when he first came to see me. I wasn't going to tell him he acted the same way though because there was no point dwelling on the past with him. Andrei would be a tough case to crack more so because of how much damage Alexi and he did to each other without realizing it.

Andrei looked more annoyed than anything when he entered my office. I felt that on a spiritual level. He sat on the couch and crossed one leg over the other. He looked like he had been overworked. His eyes had black circles around them and his lips were chapped. He literally looked like self-care wasn't something he practiced very much.

"Good afternoon Andrei, How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"That's good, I'm glad to hear that."

"What happens now?" He said sighing in irritation.

"Well, Now you start telling me about yourself and anything you think I should know about you, It will help me help you."

"What if I don't need guidance and I don't want to speak to you about anything, am I free to go."

"Absolutely not. You're here for the obligatory time of an hour, So if you elect not to say a word to me then maybe relax and have a nap, lord knows you could use the rest. Your black circles are atrocious."

He looked taken back the comment but he didn't say anything as he just sat there, now in silence. He sighed five minutes into the silence, looking at me.

"What do we talk about? What am I supposed to start with?"

"You could start with anything, your childhood, Alexi's Childhood, Your young adult years, anything that would help me understand about you."

"Alright."

He was silent for so long before he started to talk about his and his brother, Alexi's fathers childhood and parents. It seemed like a very normal childhood for those times and the place they were born. It wasn't until he got to Alexi's childhood that I found he had problems talking about the past.

"Alexi's father, my brother wasn't the nicest to him. Shit, he wasn't nice at all, but that was just how it was. There was nothing nice to be in this lifestyle and Alexi had it hard. I understand that I really do, Or at least I thought I did. I honestly tried my best finish raising the boy, but he was so damaged from his father I didn't have a choice, He only responded to hard love, and anger."

"He claimed you emotionally abused him? Do you agree with this?"

"Yes. I did mentally and emotionally abuse him. I couldn't hit him as his father did, so I went to shoving how much his father was a good person and a great man down his throat every chance I got. When that wasn't taking place I was training him with weapons and how to be a proper underboss. He was going to be an underboss around Maddox's age. I really didn't know about the abuse my brother put the kid through until he ended up with a broken wrist and shoulder."

"How did that make you feel to know he was being abused?"

"I wrongfully turned a blind eye because I didn't think he would do it again. After Maddox's eighteenth birthday party and incident that landed Alexi in the hospital for three months slashed up to all hell, My brother refused to tell me what happen that night, instead, he claimed Alexi had fallen on some glass. I knew that wasn't the case. We didn't speak at all until the night he betrayed Maddox's father. After Maddox's father killed my brother I didn't hold any anger for Maddox's father. My brother got what he deserved. Alexi was livid to find out about the death of his father. He wanted to kill him himself."

"After Alexi was placed in your care did you try to help him?"

"As I said, the kid was deeply damaged and didn't respond to anything other than abuse. I trained him like I was supposed to and I watched the kid excel in math and numbers. He was brilliant. Maddox also caught on to that after Alexi help with my spending records and such. Maddox gave him the position he has now."

"How did that make you feel to know that Alexi was brilliant and excelled with math and numbers?"

"It got him a job working for Maddox as he was trained to do, but I'm proud of the kid, despite everything."

"Have you ever tried to apologize to Alexi for the emotional abuse?"

"No, He would never take my apology. He is stubborn and unwilling to listen to anything I have to say."

"If I could get him to the point to listen to your apology, would you give him a meaningful apology?"

"I've had a long time to think about saying sorry to that kid for everything that happened to him, and for turning a blind eye after the first time his father hurt him."

"You and Alexi have a lot of issues that need to be resolved so you both can start healing."

"Yes, We have plenty of issues to work out. There are so many just off the top of my head that needs to be resolved. Neither of us is getting any younger."

Andrei and I concluded our session and even I felt emotionally drained by the discussion. This was going to take many sessions to even get Alexi to want to be in the same room with his uncle after everything. But he wasn't wrong about Alexi, even I saw it, Alexi responded to abuse better than love and that was because it was all he had to know. That really made me sad. Alexi was such a great guy. He was so loving towards Ares, he knew how to give love, just not receive it.