Chapter 289: The Wild Card That Refused to Forget

[FROLO]

The silence that followed was weirdly comfortable even as they all turned back to the doctor, who was working on the reports on her table.

The patient she was dealing with was not just any patient. She knew it before Mr. Moskowsky stepped into the room, and she understood it even more when Mr. Moskowsky stayed in the room.

She couldn’t fuck up.

She had seen what had happened to those who had fucked up before her with this same patient.

The best of kinds had been reduced to useless corpses over time, and that wasn’t a fate that anyone who loved their life was considering.

"Doctor... can he be moved in his condition?" Sergei asked, and the Romanovs arched brows at him. The hospital was the safest place and the one place that Katya could heal without any problem, no?

What was the barbarian even thinking?

"Are you talking about moving him to another hospital?" the doctor asked carefully, like she didn’t want to upset the Devil of Frolo.

"No. Home care," Sergei said, like it had been on his mind for the longest time. Like this was just the only way he could think of to get out of this.

But would it work?

"Yes. He can be moved. You will need nurses around him in shifts... But I suppose that isn’t hard for you. So yeah, he can be moved to home care. We can send another doctor to check on him occasionally during his sedation, too," the doctor said.

Sergei let out a sigh of relief.

He knew this was not the best of times, but he needed to know. He was already thinking of so many things that it was even hard to tell what he would be saying next.

"Could you step out, please, doctor? I need to have a talk with Chairman Romanov’s parents," Sergei said. His tone was polite, but something in it told the doctor that it wasn’t even a request but something she had to do whether she liked it or not.

"Of course. I’ll go check on the patient and be back," the doctor said, not thinking twice about her decision. After all, this was Sergei Moskowsky.

"What are you thinking, trying to get my son out of the hospital, Mr. Moskowsky?" Mr. Romanov asked, his voice flat and clearly unamused by the man making decisions for his son.

They were right here.

They were the guardians.

They knew what was best for their child, regardless of what this barbarian was about to say to them.

"He can’t stay at the hospital, Mr. Romanov," Sergei said, not mincing his words.

"Is that a command or a request you are making, Moskowsky?" the Romanov alpha challenged. He didn’t like Sergei’s tone, and he hated that this was happening.

"A fact, Mr. Romanov," Sergei stated simply.

"Fact? And who are you to decide what my son needs and doesn’t need? You think just because you have money, you can decide what is good and bad for him?" Mr. Romanov argued, clearly not liking the direction this was taking.

Katya was his son.

His only child, and he would be damned if he let this barbarian, whose son had already hurt his son, decide for them.

Masha, on the other hand, watched.

She knew something else was up, and she was waiting for the two alphas to reach a consensus because she had long learned that these two loved her son and had to just be on the same page.

She was waiting to see how much longer it would take for them to understand each other.

"The chairman is a target, Mr. Romanov. You saw the video circulating, and we both know Katya wouldn’t go to the bratva for anything, much less consider taking down Moskowsky Holdings from within.

"Besides, if he wanted to destroy me, I’d let him any day without getting him that hurt. Even if it means I die at his hands so he can complete his mission," Sergei said, like that was a fact that Katya knew already.

But did he?

Did the young Romanov know that he had that huge a tether on the most dangerous man in the realm? Did he know just how much power he had over the Devil of Frolo?

The Romanovs, on the other hand, stared at Sergei like the man had grown a second head. What the fuck was he even talking about? What the hell was he on today?

"Sergei..." Masha trailed off, and Sergei smiled sadly at her.

"I know I’m not exactly the best candidate for your son’s heart. I know he loves the senator, and I respect that. But the senator is gone now. Aligned with the same bratva that tried to kill my Solny— Katya," Sergei said, correcting himself fast.

But was it fast enough that Masha and Mr. Romanov didn’t catch on? Was it fast enough that they were going to act like they didn’t just hear the man want to stake a claim on their son?

Sighing softly, Sergei continued.

"I’m not asking you to give up on your son. I’m telling you there is a war ongoing, and somehow your son has become an active target because I love him. I won’t deny what I feel for him;

"... and if it’s any comfort, I’m not planning on acting on it. It’s not what any parent wants to hear, but it’s the unfortunate truth."

The Romanovs looked at him.

Really looked at the fifty-two-year-old man who was in love with their son, who was younger than him. By all accounts, the love was forbidden.

It really was, and if the disappointed look on Mr. Romanov’s face was anything to go by, he did not approve of the relationship. Or the affection. His son was just a kid to him. Always would be.

And well, Sergei Moskowsky was Sergei Moskowsky.

Nothing good came from him... right?

"Do you want me to applaud you for admitting your affection is hurting my son? First, your son broke his heart, and now you’re here professing like it’s the ultimate declaration?" Mr. Romanov asked flatly, his disappointment not once leaving.

He didn’t want this for his son.

But Mr. Romanov was also not stupid.

He’d been studying Sergei and his son for years, and the ridiculous advantages Katya had whenever it came to anything Moskowsky could fix. His son’s life was too smooth, too irregularly comforting to be that of a normal person.

The fact that Katya never once complained about the press hinting at his relationship with Sergei, despite the intensity of the waves and how insane they sounded, was all the Romanov alpha needed to know his son was on the same page as this barbarian.

Didn’t mean he approved it, though.

"I’m not a good person, Mr. Romanov. I won’t justify anything that I’ve done or what my son has done. But your son is in danger. Whether you take him home with you or keep him at the hospital, he is still going to be in danger.

"I can send people to protect him all around, but it will only make him anxious. You know it too. Katya hates attention, and the only way to keep him safe in either of the two locations is to have the number of security personnel increased," Sergei said as a matter of fact.

It wasn’t any parent’s comfort, but what the fuck was he to say to this family anyway?

"Sergei... You want to take him with you, don’t you?" Masha asked quietly.