Chapter 253: Time, My Old Heart, Is A Luxury

[FROLO]

The elevator to the research and development floor dinged, and everyone didn’t even need to ask to know who was gracing them with their presence.

Unlike the other days when people were excited to see what their boss was up to on their floor, today felt different.

They all knew why.

Sergei Moskowsky was a predator.

A manipulative predator who everyone knew cared for no one other than his son. The world could burn, and Sergei would only care about what Yaroslav was doing or where his son was.

That was what the city had believed for years.

And they knew he was never the man to act on such blatant accusations.

But they were also smart enough to know that the man who didn’t care about what the world said about him, cared a lot about the privacy of the Moskowsky Group and what happened within his walls.

The footage that had been leaked had come from this floor. The one where Sergei was at, munching casually on a packet of nuts like he had come from the executive floor just to eat with them.

The worst part about all this was the unpredictability of the man.

In the early years, they knew Sergei was dangerous and learned to stay away from him. But ever since Katya Romanov had come to the company, so much had changed, and Sergei had gotten even more dangerous.

No one could predict whatever mood he was in, even if they suspected that every look on his face was starting to get controlled by the look on their chairman’s face. It was a long shot; they knew it.

But who could say no or yes to the madness that was lingering?

"Morning, Rahim," he greeted lightly, his voice devoid of anything that could scream a threat to the entire floor.

Rahim just nodded.

"Where’s the chairman?" he asked casually when he didn’t see Katya in his office.

He didn’t even sound like someone who was worried about what Katya would think of him. Or maybe he was choosing to wait and see what Katya would do with him.

If his Solnyshka believed the rumors and demanded he stay away, Sergei wouldn’t fight him on that.

"On the other side of the lab, testing the prototypes," Rahim said, and Sergei stared in the direction where Rahim was pointing before he walked toward Katya.

He walked past the researchers who were clearly being careful around him, and frankly, Sergei didn’t give a shit.

He just wanted to see Katya.

He needed to see for himself the look on his Solnyshka’s face when he met him, because frankly, Sergei was desperate to know what he was thinking.

Maybe it was too much, but with that accusation out there and the city eating it like breakfast, Sergei needed to know.

When Sergei got to where Katya was, he paused for a moment as his breath held.

His Solnyshka was there, alright. His safety goggles on, his lab coat, his hands in gloves as he tested the prototypes. He looked like any research scientist, and it was a sight not be shocked about.

The only thing that surprised Sergei was how beautiful this man made science to be. He looked like the weapon formed against Sergei, standing there, doing his work like everything in the world didn’t matter.

His hair was in a neat ponytail and bun today, and gods did Katya Romanov look beautiful.

For a few minutes, Sergei just stopped to watch his Solnyshka work.

The way he coordinated with the other researchers. The way he didn’t even look distracted. He looked so beautiful and perfect that if Sergei wasn’t already in love with the man, he would have fallen again.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel himself falling deeper in love with the man whose boyfriend was missing and the entire city was pointing fingers at him for it. But that didn’t matter. Not now.

All that mattered was Katya.

Katya Romanov.

The pretty little scientist playing with his toys like the world wasn’t falling apart, waiting for him to decide. Gods, he was achingly beautiful.

"Get out," Katya said when their eyes met moments later. He stared at Sergei like he couldn’t believe this man was here in his lab after everything.

"Solnyshka, I..." Sergei tried, but Katya just pulled the goggles from his face, his beautiful black eyes staring defiantly into Sergei’s dark ones like he wanted him to repeat himself. But Sergei was desperate.

Did he really believe Sergei did it?

Was that how much trust Katya had in him?

"Read the sign behind you," Katya said, still glaring at Sergei.

The alpha turned, not sure what he was expecting. But when he read the sign, a smile broke on his face.

"No food allowed on this side of the lab," the sign read.

"Oh... Right... I’ll be back, I’m sorry," Sergei said casually as he ran out of that side of the lab, surprising his employees, who seemed to have frozen at the alpha, making an apology.

The Sergei the city knew? That man didn’t know what an apology could even be spelled like. Even sorry was a foreign concept for him.

Yet here he had just apologized to Katya, who was staring like he was not ready to deal with whatever the fuck Sergei Moskowsky was coming with.

Of course, moments later, Sergei was back. Fully dressed like the researchers on that side of the lab, and everyone stared in awe and uncertainty.

There was no telling what was going on with Sergei Moskowsky, only that the most dangerous man in the realm was back inside the lab dressed like the other researchers because Katya had kicked him out.

It was even funnier because he came back holding a placard with a handwritten apology.

"I’m sorry, can I please join you? I’ll do whatever you tell me to," the placard read, and the scientists snickered slowly as they watched their boss be unpredictable again.

Katya stared at Sergei...

Really stared at the man like there were a thousand places where Sergei could be, except his lab, and the man was here instead.

Gods, he was screwed.

"I won’t be a hindrance to your project... I’ll be good, Solnyshka," Sergei said, not bothering to tone down the last bit. And the lab erupted into whispers.

The mad barbarian had just called the chairman a little sunray.

Maybe he really had eliminated the senator, no?

Gods, this man was just stacking up evidence that would work against him. But did that even matter to him, or was he just in dire need of being useful to the one man who definitely didn’t need him in his lab?

Katya looked at his researchers, then at the man with a placard. It took a lot of strength not to show just how affected he was, given the way that Sergei looked so criminally good in that lab wear.

He had to be the reasonable one, but damn it was going to be a lot of work, especially with the man he loved calling him out like that in public.

"One misstep and you’re banned from this floor," Katya said eventually, and Sergei couldn’t have been any happier.