Chapter 252: Butterfly; Like A Butterfly… You, You, You

[FROLO]

The syndicate was getting impatient.

The goal had always been to take Katya and use him against the Devil of Frolo, but now it was proving harder, especially since Katya Romanov and Sergei had not been seen together in over three months.

No open lunches anymore.

No interactions.

At Moskowsky-sponsored events, one of them was always missing. Where Katya showed, Sergei was not seen. Where Sergei showed, Katya was not seen.

The only place they had been seen together was at the gala weeks ago, and even then, their interactions had been strictly professional.

They were running out of time, and it was not getting any easier.

Perhaps that was why they were having another meeting at the back of that restaurant where they usually met.

"The senator had disappeared. We could find him and use him against Katya Romanov. If the omega gets hurt, Sergei will try to find a solution, and we can eliminate him in front of Sergei," one of the members suggested as they tried to brainstorm.

All their plans had been failing lately, and frankly, it wasn’t that exciting anymore. If Sergei knew he was being watched, they would be done for. There wasn’t even a thing to consider there.

"The senator transferred his Moskowsky shares to Romanov. We could spin the narrative and use that to our advantage. No one knows his reasons for giving it all up;

"... but we can say Sergei threatened him to stay away from the Romanov omega," the woman with scraped nails said impatiently. She was done waiting, too. But then again, they were not up against any regular opponent.

They were up against Sergei Moskowsky.

That man was not shaken by anything. Those who had tried had usually never gotten to see the light of day again. They knew it and still kept going with their plans anyway.

"No one will believe that," another said, and the woman laughed.

Then she looked at the man at the head of the table.

"Our insiders report that Sergei and Romanov have been getting a little too cozy within Moskowsky. There’s even evidence of the madman laughing, but only with Romanov.

"He is happier with him already. They share their meals too. I say that is enough to fuel the fire of the missing senator, don’t you think?" the woman said, and the table drifted off into murmurs and whispers.

The idea itself sounded good, but would it be believed by the city that had watched others be ruined for Romanov?

The man at the head of the table tapped his hand on the table once, and the room went silent, the focus staying on him.

"We need more than one person to confirm that. We need different angles because if we talk about within Moskowsky, everyone knows that Romanov is a ray of sunshine.

"Everything he touches brightens," the man at the head of the table said, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was trying to think of a different way out of this. Maybe it was not as easy, but what the fuck had they expected, no?

"There is more evidence," one of the men said, and everyone turned to him keenly.

"Anya Kavinsky," he said.

"Anya?" the man at the head of the table scoffed, his voice amused like he knew that woman and all her habits.

It was almost like he had interacted with that woman at close range and knew what they were talking about. But then again, the way he had scoffed didn’t give them any clarity. So they had to wait.

"Yes. She could be our way in," he said, and the man at the head of the table laughed for real this time.

"Do you have any better ideas, leader?" the woman from before asked, clearly not appreciating the obvious mockery lingering.

"That woman trained Sergei. She made him what he is right now. Every level of brutality. Every life he took. Every little thing he’s done to make him into what he is, she taught it all to him personally.

"She would see you coming from a nation away. If we’re going to die at the hands of someone, dying at the hands of Miss Anya is not the way to go. If you go after that woman, I won’t be sending you any backup.

"You can die like a dog alone," the leader said, amusedly, as if that was the one threat they needed to be very aware of.

"She is an older woman now," one of the men said, and the leader stared.

"She murdered the professor from that court case with her bare hands last week, after torturing the man and grinding his legs one toe at a time," he said flatly, and everyone seemed to stiffen at that.

Everyone had assumed that it was Sergei who had dropped that body. It never even made it to the mainstream news because of how gory the whole thing had been and how insane it had all been packed.

The head was the only thing that had remained recognizable, but only because it had a ’This is for those two idiots’ written on it.

"I have a confession to make then..." the woman said calmly.

"Don’t tell me you kidnapped the senator," one of the gathered syndicate men said, and the woman just chuckled.

"Yes, how did you know?" she asked excitedly.

"You’re wearing the man’s ring," the man said, and the woman looked at her finger where the senator’s ring was seated. It looked big for her, but she loved it either way. It reminded her almost of what power could be like.

"Well, he’s no fun for a prisoner. Anyway, when are we releasing the rumors about Sergei being the senator’s kidnapper?" the woman asked.

"It’s already out," the man at the head of the table said confidently before he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV that was ahead of him and attached to the wall near the door.

On the screen was the headline they had been discussing barely minutes ago.

There was footage of Sergei working and smiling with Katya Romanov. Looking a little cozier than the media and the public were led to believe.

They had worked together, worked at the lab together, when Mr. Moskowsky had no business being in the lab. They even talked of the senator abandoning his shares and gave a trail of how Sergei had followed the senator and kidnapped him.

It was believable at first sight, and frankly, it would take a lot to say it wasn’t his doing, especially with the reputation that the alpha had.

"Romanov will not believe him after all this," the man at the head of the table said, not lifting his eyes from the news.

The seed of doubt had been planted. They knew it. It didn’t matter whether that was the truth or if it was something that was not true.

What mattered was what Katya Romanov thought about all this.

"The Romanov omega getting cozy with the Devil of Frolo while he takes out the senator is peak betrayal..."

The podcasts began.

Meanwhile, the syndicate watched with excitement on their faces as the first plan was in motion.

Would Katya believe them?

Or would Katya Romanov trust Sergei Moskowsky?