Chapter 280: Not The Cottage Getaway We Wanted

[FROLO]

With Rahim gone, Sergei had to remind himself to be a proper man.

To be realistic.

To be sane because he didn’t want to ruin whatever stage of their relationship this was. Even if they both knew it was far more than what their minds were accepting at the moment.

"Do you think I’m a terrible person for loving him and still thinking of forever with someone else?" Katya asked, and this time Sergei wasn’t sure if the colour of the sky was blue or red, or orange.

Hell, he didn’t care right now.

For the first time in a while, a part of him was glad that the glass on Katya’s office was always frosted early in the morning.

Because it would have been damn hard to explain to an outsider why the fuck Sergei looked at his chairman like he wanted to eat him and never let go.

"Som... someone else?" Sergei’s breath hitched.

"Well, yeah, I mean... eventually. I want to spend the rest of my life with someone else who is not Alek. Does that make me terrible?" Katya asked almost like he was fishing for validation.

Like he was gauging what this was and what it could be for them.

He couldn’t openly tell Sergei that he had been plaguing his dreams and subconscious more times than Katya thought was healthy for them both.

He couldn’t tell Sergei that he wanted a future with him. That was when Alek proposed that the only person on his mind was Sergei. How Sergei would have done it. How Sergei would have smiled and how happy he would have looked.

How Sergei would have made him feel.

That everything Alek had been doing lately had been selfishly related to Sergei, and he couldn’t stop. Because even now, even when there was only breakfast between them, Katya was thinking of something else.

Something forbidden. If it wasn’t for the self-control he was determined to maintain while he worked shit out with his boyfriend, Katya knew he would have fallen on Sergei’s lap without Sergei even asking.

What did that make him, though?

A terrible person?

An insane person?

Or just a man who finally felt safe enough to want a life that didn’t revolve around pain, and a man who knew there was only one other man who’d always made him happier.

"Solnyshka..."

"Just kidding! Come on, let’s eat before the food gets cold," Katya said awkwardly.

But they both knew what the truth was.

That was no joke, even if Sergei forced himself to laugh.

Sergei may have spent his life after Vitya being emotionally useless and not using his brain effectively at some point, but today...

Today, he knew he wasn’t wrong.

His Solnyshka wanted him too.

His Solnyshka.

Gods, the world was starting to look prettier.

"I love you," was all Sergei said while chuckling softly, before they began eating.

Katya’s heart did a flip at the casual reminder from Sergei.

Because, honestly, he needed to hear that today. He needed to be reminded that maybe his decision was unhinged, but still, the one he loved loved him too.

The rest of the breakfast wasn’t quiet or awkward. It was their usual. Talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Katya had expected there to be some silence and whatnot, but what he got was his Vladimir back.

The man who made him smile with just a few words and actions. The man who made him want to come to work daily. The man who made life better, not just because he had saved him once upon a time.

It was also then that Katya realized something else.

He didn’t just get lucky to be loved by Sergei.

He found love in his best friend.

However, emotionally insane that was.

But he’d take it... For now.

***

By eleven in the morning, the Moskowsky R&D was filled with new faces. Curious faces that wanted to know what they did here.

Katya hadn’t even realized how huge the department was until the expo began.

It was almost ironic, really, how everything looked so perfect when the one who was in charge was an emotional mess who couldn’t even tell his boyfriend that they wouldn’t be able to work through their relationship for a while now.

Alek came late afternoon. He looked like he’d hurried here, and Katya didn’t ask where he was. He had an idea, though.

The bratva.

Especially judging by the way Alek’s coat was hanging imbalanced. He could see the stressors on Alek’s face, even despite the fact that the alpha was trying to keep himself steady for everyone.

It was hilariously sad, really, because on one end, these people were staring at him like he was questionable, but at the same time, they knew that Sergei would never let someone questionable be part of his company.

The irony was interesting, but perhaps Katya would think of it later on, yeah?

"You look tired, Alek," Katya pointed out when he made it to his boyfriend. The man hadn’t had any peace since he walked himself to the bratva, and Katya could see that too.

"Come with me," Katya said, holding Alek’s hand and walking him to his office.

And Katya...

He felt Sergei’s eyes on him from across the room. The alpha had agreed to attend the expo, and Katya was glad for it. Besides, it would be unfair for everything to be happening without Sergei being here, no?

"I’m fine, little rose. Just ran up the stairs is all," Alek said, holding Katya’s face in his hands before he leaned to kiss him softly on the lips.

Katya didn’t pull back.

But he didn’t stay in the kiss either.

"Your coat is disheveled. Take it off," Katya said, and Alek didn’t even fight him on it. Anyone would think that he was just letting his omega make his wardrobe choice for him. It was natural after all, no?

"Do I look that bad?" Alek asked sheepishly, and Katya chuckled softly.

"No. My boyfriend looks handsome today, like always. Your coat is hideous, though. You’re not wearing that back out there," Katya said lightly, and Alek pouted at him.

"My little rose," he breathed.

"You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. Once we figure out how to balance the bratva and our lives, it’ll be like nothing happened. I love you, you know that, right?" Katya said quietly, his eyes holding Alek’s.

"Never doubted that one bit," Alek said in earnest, and something in Katya broke for him. But he dismissed it just as soon as the thought hit him.

Because this wasn’t the time to think of the morning and how Sergei looked so good today.

"Of course, shall we?" Alek said as he extended his arm for Katya, and Katya took it without thinking twice.

And as they stepped out, Alek’s coat jacket sat on the coat hanger inside Katya’s office. It was almost in a strategic place. A little too strategic because the moment they stepped out of the office, the alpha’s phone chimed.

"We’re in. You have an hour to mingle and leave the building."

Meanwhile, the elevator dinged on the R&D floor like it had during the expo.

Only this time, the person who walked in went directly to Sergei Moskowsky, his expression flat.

"You look thin, Father," he teased.

"Anya has me on a diet, don’t tell her I said that," Sergei laughed, pulling his son into a hug, while everyone suddenly stayed alert.

Yaroslav Gamov Moskowsky had returned.

And worse...

The Moskowsky family was now whole again.

Was it, though?