Chapter 256: So Choose Me, Pick Me… Or Not

[FROLO]

Sergei didn’t push.

Katya had told him he needed to speak with the two on his own, and Sergei respected that. But not before telling Katya that the next time they tried that, he’d give them a befitting punishment.

It was strangely telling how everyone at the company went back to normal, despite the chaos that was going on in the city.

Maybe there wasn’t enough time to embrace the changes, or maybe this time the city was not getting the reaction they wanted.

Gossip was easier to spread than having Katya Romanov on morning segments talking about his relationship with Alek. Many news houses had tried. Many podcasts had called him a few days after the reveal, and he declined them all.

His reason was simple.

He was keeping his relationship private, and he understood the city cared for the senator. But he wasn’t going to feed into the rumors anymore.

When he’d been asked about his relationship with Sergei, Katya reminded them that they had been working when the video was recorded and that Sergei Moskowsky was a boss, not a content creator within the walls of Moskowsky Holdings.

Some people refused to believe that, but Katya was done trying to explain anything. Whatever they wanted, they would believe. It was the only thing that kept Katya from snapping at anyone, really.

He didn’t want his life to be a circus again, not after the courtroom.

Until someone knocked on his penthouse door at one o’clock in the morning.

Katya Romanov hadn’t been doing much sleeping lately. He’d been worried sick about Alek, wondering whether the alpha was doing okay, whether he needed to start the search himself.

Leon had remained oddly passive about searching for Alek, and it haunted Katya more times than one. He’d made a promise to wait. However, waiting was hard.

So, when someone knocked on his door at one o’clock, Katya prepared himself for the worst.

Good news never came at one in the morning.

Not in his experience anyway.

"Coming!" Katya said gruffly, still sleepy.

When he got to the door, the omega breathed in once, twice, then waited.

It was as if his mind was finally processing and reminding him that it could be someone dangerous at his door. But then a part of him also knew Sergei wouldn’t ever let anyone hurt him.

Gods, he was trusting someone who wasn’t even here.

So, he breathed in a third time and opened the door, not sure what he would be walking into.

"Sir, we found him unconscious in the elevator," Anton, Katya’s head of security, said as he looked at Alek, then at a frozen Katya Romanov.

Of all the things Katya had been hoping for...

This wasn’t it.

Not his battered and bruised boyfriend looking like he’d been through the worst of hells.

Alek had been hurt. Badly.

He looked terrible.

"Shall we bring him in?" Anton asked.

For a moment, Katya couldn’t answer. He didn’t know whether to say yes or no. His eyes stayed on Alek instead, although seeing his boyfriend like this was not what he had ever imagined he would be seeing at all.

Aleksandr’s shirt was soaked with blood, his bruises both fresh and days old, staring at Katya in the kind of way that had Katya’s breath hitching. His boyfriend had been beaten black and blue.

Katya couldn’t see a part of him that didn’t seem bruised, and gods, it hurt to watch. This was not how they were supposed to see each other again.

"Chairman Romanov?" Anton asked when Katya didn’t say another word and instead just stared.

And Katya let out a defeated sigh as if he had finally remembered what was happening and where he was.

"Uh... Yes..." Katya trailed off before adding quietly, "Bring him in."

This was madness.

There was no other valid explanation for this. Alek had been gone for two weeks. And Katya only figured that out last week, and now his boyfriend was hurt at his door.

Why the hell was this happening?

Katya stared at the phone in his hand. He’d dialed the hospital, and someone was talking on the other end.

So, he put the phone against his ear and gave the directions to his penthouse while he watched in shock as his boyfriend was lying on the couch.

It was only when he heard a familiar, "Solnyshka, talk to me," that he pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the person he had called.

Great.

Sergei.

"The doctors are coming... Are you safe?" Sergei asked when Katya breathed, and for the first time, Katya didn’t know what to answer.

So, he put the phone in his pajama pocket.

He didn’t hang up.

But he didn’t say anything either.

Instead, he walked into the penthouse after Anton and the other guard, watching as they settled his boyfriend on the couch, wondering if they were hurting him even more, even though Katya didn’t trust himself to touch Alek without hurting him.

What had his life turned to?

Defeatedly, Katya stood behind the couch that Alek was lying on while they waited for the doctors.

Unknown to him, Sergei was already watching him from the Moskowsky Group penthouse.

"Maybe we should have cleaned him up, Sergei," a tired Anya said as she stared at the footage alongside Volkov and Rahim.

Sergei had long muted the call on his end so Katya wouldn’t hear him say anything.

"They’ll check him for prints or anything that they can use to track the syndicate," Sergei said, his eyes never leaving the big screen that mirrored the penthouse he’d given his Solnyshka.

"They’re getting daring. Maybe we should put them down once and for all?" Rahim said, expressing her displeasure at how things had happened with the senator.

"Did you kill her?" Sergei asked instead.

"Made it look like a road accident. Our extraction team got the senator out about an hour ago. I took his ring back from her hand. They’ll find it in his pocket," Rahim said, and Sergei didn’t say much after that.

Instead, they watched as a shocked Katya stared at his hurt boyfriend. As Katya’s hands shook while the staff helped with Alek. It was a heartbreaking sight for Sergei, seeing the love of his life that defeated.

He didn’t deserve that kind of agony.

"What of Kenzo?" Sergei asked minutes later.

"He wasn’t with her this time. We’ll find him. He can’t hide from us forever," Volkov added with certainty.

"He looks so scared, confused. He shouldn’t have to deal with things like this," Sergei groaned in shame, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"We could have dropped the senator back at his home after rescuing him. You wanted it like this," Anya reminded him, and Sergei couldn’t even defend his decision properly.

They could have taken Aleksandr home after stabilizing him. Instead, Sergei had ordered him sent to Katya’s penthouse. As much as he wanted to protect Katya from another painful sight, he’d watched his Solnyshka toss and turn for the past week.

His Solnyshka deserved the closure.

"Tending to wounds is much easier than worrying about the whereabouts of someone you love. It’s never an easy wait," Sergei said defeatedly.

"So again, you’re suffering in silence when you could just tell him the truth and get him as yours. He loves you. You know that already. Why do you keep hesitating with him?" Anya asked in earnest.

Volkov and Rahim suddenly stayed silent.

This was a dangerous conversation because they had seen just how much Sergei had suffered over the past decade because of Katya. They had also hoped, like Anya, that once those two confessed, they would be together.

But they weren’t together.

If anything, it was like they had simply remained better friends despite the feelings between them.

And it was not a good territory for Sergei.

"He has to be the one to choose me. I can’t ruin his relationship with Aleksandr just because I want him for myself," Sergei said, and they stared at him pitifully.

"What if he never chooses you? Then what?" Anya asked, not liking the way Sergei had suffered and was still willing to suffer when they had both confessed to each other.

"As long as he’s happy, I will be happy. Even if it’s not with me," Sergei said quietly.

"Stupid romance books have you messed up," Anya grumbled before she moved seats.

"That I learned from you," Sergei said with a sad smile.

And for the first time tonight, Anya had no comeback.