Chapter 3: HIS GANG, HER MOUTH

Mira stared at the socks on Daniel Hudson's bed and her brain short-circuited.

There were three pairs. Brand new. Still with tags. But intentionally mismatched. One blue, one yellow — exactly like the ones she was wearing right now. One pink, one green. One black, one white with tiny cactuses.

On the cold, perfect, nobody-touches-my-bed of the most feared man in Lagos.

"Explain," he said again.

His voice was low. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees, looking up at her from that chair in the middle of his dark room. The AC was blasting. The room was still too cold, too grey, too empty. And he was looking at her like she was a puzzle that was annoying him.

Mira's mouth opened. Nothing came out for two seconds. That was a record for her.

Then: "Sir... are those... socks?"

"Obviously."

"For me?"

He didn't answer. He just kept looking at her. His grey eyes were doing that thing again where they look dead and curious at the same time.

Mira took one small step inside. Her rubber shoe squeaked on his polished floor and she winced. She should not be in here. Rule One. She had broken it twice in one day. She was going to get fired and arrested and maybe shot.

"Sir, if this is a trap to fire me, you don't need to buy socks to do it. You can just say leave."

"It's not a trap," he said. "Pick them up."

Mira looked at Axel who was standing at the doorway like a bodyguard. Axel made a face that said girl, just pick it up before he changes his mind and shoots you.

She walked, very carefully, to the bed. She did not sit. She did not even breathe too hard on his sheets. She picked up one pair. The tag said 15,000 naira per pair. For SOCKS.

Her eyes widened. "Sir, this is expensive socks. My whole salary in my former house was 20k."

"They're not expensive. They're socks."

"15k is expensive for socks. Unless the socks will also cook and clean."

For the third time that day, something twitched at the corner of his mouth. Not a smile. But close.

"Do you always talk this much?" he asked.

"Yes sir. My mother said I talked before I walked. I apologized to her later but the damage was done."

He stared. Then he stood up. He was so tall the room felt smaller. He walked to his window and looked out at his massive compound.

"Why did you chase a cockroach into my wing?" he asked, back to her.

Mira clutched the socks like they were her defense.

"Because if I left it, it would have entered your room and you would have thought I am dirty maid and fired me. And I need this job. My mother... she's sick. I told you."

He didn't turn. "Everyone has a sick mother story."

"Mine is in bed 12 at General Hospital, ward C. You can call. Her name is Mrs. Alade. She has ulcer and high blood pressure. The hospital said they will stop her drugs if I don't pay 180k before Friday. Today is Monday. So I have four days."

Her voice cracked on the last part. She hated that it cracked. She wanted to sound strong, not like a charity case.

Daniel turned. He looked at her for a long time. At the way she was holding those cheap-expensive socks like they were gold. At her eyes that were trying so hard not to cry.

"180k," he repeated.

"Yes sir."

He walked back to her. He stopped very close. Too close. She could smell his cold cologne again. She could see the tiny scar near his left eyebrow.

"And you think wearing mismatched socks will pay it?"

"No sir. But it makes me happy. And if I am not happy, I will cry. And if I cry, I cannot mop well."

It was such a stupid logic that it made sense.

He looked at the socks in her hands.

"Keep them," he said. "And don't enter my wing again unless I call you. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. I will be blind on this side. I will even forget this wing exists."

"Good. Get out."

Mira didn't need to be told twice. She clutched the socks and ran out of the room so fast she almost collided with Jace who was now standing in the hallway.

Jace caught her arm to steady her.

"Careful."

"Thank you," she breathed.

Inside the room, Daniel sat back down on his chair and looked at the spot where she had stood. On his side table, the sweet-bitter coffee was still there, half empty. He picked it up and sipped it again. Still terrible. Still better terrible.

Axel leaned against the doorframe. "Boss."

"What?"

"You bought her socks."

Daniel didn't look at him. "It's for hygiene. Her old ones looked like they had diseases."

Axel grinned. "Yes boss. Hygiene. That's why you sent me to Shoprite to look for mismatched socks for 45 minutes."

"Get out, Axel."

Axel laughed and left.

Mira went back to her staff room and sat on her bed, staring at the socks. Three pairs. 45k worth of socks. For her. From a man who supposedly fires people for eating his cheese.

She put on the pink and green one immediately. She felt richer.

Her phone buzzed. Hospital again.

She picked up with shaky hands. "Hello ma?"

"Mira, your mother is asking for you. She didn't eat today."

Mira closed her eyes. "Tell her I have a new job. I will pay. Friday, I promise."

When she hung up, she wiped her eyes hard and went back to work. She had to be strong. Crying doesn't pay bills.

---

Dinner time in Hudson Mansion was a different kind of war.

Mira was told to stay in the staff kitchen and not come out unless called. But she could hear them — Daniel, Axel, Jace, Raven, and two other men she hadn't seen — talking loudly in the main dining room.

They were not talking like normal people talk at dinner. They were talking about shipment, police, and someone named Chief who needed to be "handled."

Mira tried to be deaf. Rule Nine. Be deaf and blind.

But then she heard Raven shout, "I swear, if Chief tries to double-cross us again, I will shoot him at his own dinner table!"

And Jace said, "You don't have the balls."

And then a gun cocked. Loud.

Mira jumped.

Axel shouted, "Put it down, Raven, you are drunk!"

Then another gun cocked.

Mira couldn't take it anymore. If they shoot themselves inside, who will pay her salary?

She abandoned rule five, rule nine, and common sense, and marched into the dining room with her mop.

The scene was exactly as chaotic as it sounded.

The long dining table that could seat 20 people had only six men. Bottles of whiskey, ashtrays, laptops, and three guns laid out like cutlery. Raven was standing, pointing a pistol at Jace as a joke. Jace was pointing his own back. Axel was eating steak like nothing was happening. Daniel was at the head of the table, pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache that was these men.

They all turned when Mira entered with her mop.

Silence.

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Mira."

"Sir," she said, holding her mop like a staff of authority. "With all due respect, if you people want to kill each other, can you do it outside? I just mopped this floor and blood is very hard to clean. And blood will make the marble stain."

Raven lowered his gun slowly, staring at her. "Did... did the maid just scold us?"

"I am not scolding," Mira said. "I am advising. As a professional cleaner. Also, is that gun part of the table setting? Because last I checked, fork and knife is what we use to eat, not AK-47."

Jace stared at her socks. Pink and green. His eyes went to Daniel. Daniel's face was blank.

Axel burst out laughing. He couldn't hold it anymore.

"Boss! She said blood will stain the marble! Oh my God!"

Daniel didn't laugh. He stood up slowly. He walked around the table towards Mira. The other men straightened up.

Mira's boldness evaporated. She took a small step back.

"Do you know what we are?" Daniel asked, voice quiet. He was right in front of her again. Always too close.

"Your staff said you are... businessmen."

"Businessmen," Raven repeated, grinning. "Yes. Very legit businessmen."

Daniel kept staring at Mira. "We are not people you talk to like that."

Mira swallowed. "Sorry sir. I will go."

But she didn't go. Because her eye caught the electricity bill on the side table. It was huge.

And her mouth, again, betrayed her.

"But sir, quick question. Do you people pay electricity bill with bullets? Because your bill is 2.3 million. And you have plenty bullets. Maybe NEPA will accept bullets as payment. You can try."

Dead silence.

Then Jace made a choking sound. Raven fell back into his chair laughing so hard his gun fell to the floor. Axel was hitting the table.

"2.3 million! Bullets as payment! NEPA!"

Even the two other men who had been quiet were laughing.

Daniel looked at Mira, then at the bill, then back at Mira. His expression was unreadable. Then he did something no one expected.

He took the electricity bill, folded it, and put it in her apron pocket.

"Since you are so concerned about my bills, you can be in charge of paying them. From tomorrow, you will collect all bills from Mrs. Benson."

Mira's eyes widened. "Sir?"

"And if NEPA cuts light, I will cut your salary."

He said it so seriously that for a second Mira thought he meant it. Then she saw the tiny, tiny lift in his eyebrow. He was teasing. Daniel Hudson was teasing her.

"Yes sir. I will pay with bullets if necessary," she said solemnly.

Raven howled. "I like her! Boss, can we keep her? Please? The last maid ran when I sneezed!"

Daniel didn't answer. He just went back to his seat and said, "Sit."

Mira blinked. "Sir?"

"All of you sit and eat. You too, Mira."

"Sir, staff don't eat at main table. Rule Eight—"

"I make rules here. Sit."

Mira looked at Mrs. Benson who was peeping from the kitchen doorway with a face that said Jesus Christ, what is happening.

Slowly, Mira pulled out a chair — the farthest from Daniel — and sat, still holding her mop.

Axel pushed a plate of jollof rice towards her. "Eat. You look like you will faint and we will have to mop you."

Mira was starving. She started eating. It was the best jollof she had ever tasted.

For a few minutes, the dining room was normal. The men ate, argued about football, and Raven kept trying to make Mira laugh by making gun sounds.

Daniel ate quietly, but Mira noticed he was watching her from the corner of his eye. Every time she took a bite and her eyes lit up, his shoulders relaxed a tiny bit.

It was almost... warm. Almost like a family dinner, if your family was a gang.

Then the main door burst open.

Sienna stormed in. She was wearing a short red dress, hair perfectly curled, but her face was tight with anger. She had clearly been drinking.

"So this is what we are doing now? Eating with the maid?" she said, voice sharp. "Daniel, what is this?"

The warmth vanished instantly. The table went cold.

Daniel's face went back to dead fish.

"Sienna. We were working."

"Working? With her? In my seat?" Sienna pointed at the chair Mira was sitting in. "That's my chair!"

Mira stood up quickly. "Ma, sorry, I didn't know. I can—"

"Sit," Daniel said to Mira. Not loud, but firm.

Mira sat back down, confused.

Sienna stared at Daniel like he had slapped her.

"You are telling her to sit in my chair? In front of me?"

Raven muttered, "Oh shit."

Sienna walked up to Mira and leaned close. Her perfume was strong.

"Listen, little rat. I told you. He's mine. Don't look at him. Don't breathe near him. And you are sitting in my chair eating my food with my man? Do you want to die?"

Mira looked at Sienna's red nails, then at Daniel, then back at Sienna.

"Ma, with all due respect," Mira whispered, but loud enough for the table to hear, "I don't want your husband. I need salary, not husband. Husband cannot pay hospital bill. But salary can. And this chair is very comfortable, but I can stand if you want. My legs still work."

Silence.

Sienna's hand rose. Fast.

PAK!

The slap echoed across the marble dining room.

Mira's head snapped to the side. Her cheek burned instantly. Her plate shook. Her mop fell.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Mira held her cheek, eyes watering not from pain but from embarrassment. In front of everyone.

She looked at Daniel.

Daniel was looking at her cheek. His jaw was clenched so tight she could see it. His hands on the table had turned into fists. The veins on his arms were popping.

He didn't stand up. He didn't stop Sienna. He just stared.

Sienna smiled, satisfied. "That's what happens when you forget your place. Come, Daniel, let's go to your room. You haven't touched me in two weeks."

She tried to touch his shoulder.

Daniel moved his shoulder away.

"Get out," he said quietly.

Sienna blinked. "What?"

"Get out of my house."

"Daniel—"

"Now, Sienna."

His voice was ice. The kind of ice that cuts.

Sienna looked around. The boys were looking down at their plates, avoiding her eyes. No one was supporting her.

She laughed, a hurt, angry laugh. "You are choosing this... this thing over me? Over two years?"

Daniel didn't answer. He just kept looking at Mira's red cheek.

Sienna grabbed her bag and stormed out, heels loud, slamming the door so hard the glasses shook.

Mira was still holding her cheek.

Daniel stood up. He walked to her chair and crouched so they were eye level. He didn't touch her. He just looked.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, voice low, only for her.

Mira shook her head, even though it hurt badly. "No sir."

He stared for another second, then stood up and walked out of the dining room without another word. He went straight to his East Wing and slammed his black door.

Axel exhaled. "Fuck."

Jace pushed a glass of cold water towards Mira. "Put it on your cheek."

Mira took it with shaky hands.

Raven said quietly, "Don't worry. He will handle it."

Mira didn't understand. Handle what? He didn't even stop Sienna from slapping her. He just watched.

She felt stupid. She felt small. She had thought for a second that maybe, maybe he liked her a little because of the socks and the coffee. But he let his girlfriend slap her.

She stood up, picked her mop, and went back to the staff quarters. She didn't eat the rest of her jollof.

That night, Mira cried for real. She cried into her pillow so Mrs. Benson wouldn't hear. Her cheek throbbed. Her heart throbbed more. She missed her mother. She wanted to go home.

At 2am, she heard a soft knock on her staff room door.

She opened it, eyes swollen.

Axel was there, holding an ice pack and a small paper bag.

"Boss said to give you this," he said awkwardly. "And he fired the guard who let Sienna into the compound tonight without permission. He said she is banned from coming at night. And... he said you should take tomorrow off. Paid."

Mira took the ice pack. Inside the paper bag were two things — a small container of expensive face cream for bruises, and another pair of mismatched socks. This time, black and yellow with little bees.

She held them and fresh tears came.

"Why didn't he stop her?" she whispered to Axel.

Axel sighed. "Because if he touched Sienna tonight, he would have killed her. And he didn't want you to see that. He went to his room to calm down. He has never... he has never reacted like that for anyone."

Mira looked at the socks with bees.

"Tell him... tell him thank you."

Axel nodded and left.

Mira put the ice on her cheek and sat on her bed, wearing the bee socks.

She didn't know that in the East Wing, Daniel was sitting on his cold floor, outside his own bedroom, with his head in his hands, replaying the slap over and over, hating himself for not moving fast enough.

And she didn't know that Sienna, now drunk in her car outside the gate, was on the phone with her father saying,

"Daddy, I want that maid gone. Not fired. Gone gone. Do you understand?"

And her father replied, "Consider it done. Tomorrow."

Mira fell asleep with the ice on her cheek, not knowing that tomorrow, someone was coming to make her disappear from Hudson Mansion forever.