Chapter 322: As The Leaves Fall, A Star Rises

[FROLO]

The walls of the penthouse above Moskowsky Holdings had never been that cold. Not when Sergei came home, always lost in his pain and stuck in the loop of that which he had refused to embrace.

God, for years, he’d been haunted by what would happen if his son found out he was in love with the forbidden omega.

He knew what it would look like, and for years, he’d been prepared to step aside. Because before Katya Romanov was his son.

Sergei would do whatever the world needed for his son to be happy.

And while he had been selfish by falling in love with Katya, he’d never thought there would ever come a day when he heard his own son, his child, tell him that he knew Sergei was in love with the forbidden omega.

It was not supposed to be racing or even terrifying. And right in the middle of both was where Sergei Moskowsky was at right now.

He should have been glad Yaro was angry with him and still willing to work with him to get the answers about what the fuck everyone wanted with Katya Romanov. But at the same time, Yaroslav had just confirmed he had not been with Katya.

The gunshots and slash sounds, whirring blades in the background, not to mention the revving sound of Yaroslav’s bike, were all Sergei needed to know that the omega wasn’t with his son.

And that begged the question of where the fuck Katya Romanov had gone with his clothes.

He wasn’t kidnapped, that much Sergei was now sure of.

Because kidnappers didn’t check the entire house, including the drawers. The omega had to have been looking for something specific. So, Sergei knew he had to seek out the one who had kept him away.

"Don’t make me ask, Anya. You know how that will go," Sergei said, his tone flat and cold while his left hand held his shirt that he’d taken off, hoping to add to Katya’s pile in case his beautiful omega was nesting.

"He’s at an old Romanov manor," Anya said, adding the coordinates like that was all she could offer the man.

The way she gave it up easily had Sergei so suspicious because Anya wouldn’t have worked that hard to keep Sergei distracted just so she could hand over the coordinates.

Something more had happened out here.

Something that neither of them was ready to embrace. Or maybe it was the nightmare that kept holding them together on the illusion of family.

"What’s the catch?" Sergei asked, his tone not once changing.

"He’s a Romanov," Anya said, making Sergei raise a brow.

"A Romanov? What the fuck does that mean?"

"He was trained to disappear since birth. His words, not mine," Anya added, but Sergei still hadn’t understood because that was too sinister.

"Anya..."

"He broke up with Aleksandr, and the alpha must have said something because the next thing I noticed was Andre and Svetlana leaving the penthouse, raging. And Romanov asked the pilot to take him to one of the old Romanov manors," Anya said.

Sergei almost short-circuited at that statement.

What Alek had said.

The Romanov manor.

Svet and Andre being angry.

Katya leaving.

Sergei couldn’t even be happy that Katya had broken up with Aleksandr.

Yaroslav ditched his security detail earlier today.

"I... I’m at the Bratva HQ; I came to talk to Alek. But I’m on my way home. Where are you, Dad?" Yaroslav had said, his voice a little too calm for the chaos that should be around him.

"Why didn’t you go get him back?" Sergei asked, once he noticed that Aleksandr must have said something that triggered even his son to disappear just to be at the Bratva HQ with Alek.

That hadn’t been courtesy or even jealousy.

So, what the fuck had Alek said to make Katya want to disappear?

"Because he told the pilot to tell him and his friends that he’d disappear for real if we tried to get him back," Anya said, and Sergei had to remind himself that Anya was on his side.

Had always been on his side.

Was his family.

"Fine," Sergei said like a man who was trying his very best to stay stable.

Honestly, he hated everything that was happening.

"Sergei..."

"I know. I’ll respect his wishes," Sergei gritted while he got into his bedroom and began changing clothes.

"You can’t..." Anya trailed off.

"That’s why I’m getting into bed and waiting," Sergei said as he grabbed his bike helmet.

"If he runs..."

"I’m not going to find him, Anya, relax," Sergei said as he grabbed Katya’s phone off the table, then logged into the CCTV in the penthouse.

"Don’t scare him then," Anya sighed after a short silence.

"I’m just scenting my clothes so when he comes back, he has a lot to pick from," the alpha said as he stepped out of the penthouse and into the elevator.

"Did you at least grab a sweater?" Anya added tiredly.

"I’m wearing comfy socks today. You know how sometimes the weather gets. Anyway, I have to think of what to cook for Solnyshka. Call me later, yeah?" Sergei said, and before Anya could say another word, Sergei had hung up.

The elevator didn’t go down.

It went up.

To the helipad.

"Get out," Sergei said to the pilot who usually stayed inside the helicopter in case there was an emergency in Moskowsky that needed him.

"The helmet... Sir?" the pilot asked.

"Take it back to the penthouse," Sergei said casually before he got into the pilot’s seat, keyed in the coordinates, and then flew off.

He needed to find Katya.

He needed to make sure Katya was okay.

If not for himself. Then for his son.

Even though right now, Sergei’s greatest concern wasn’t his son’s disdain.

Besides, there wasn’t much they could both do. Emotions were not things that could easily be redirected. Much less romantic feelings.

And while in the air, Sergei finally got to hear the conversation that had made his omega run.

And boy was the urge to go to the bratva so high.

But he couldn’t.

Not right now.

Not before he got to Katya and saw him doing well.

He knew he was risking a lot being out there with Katya’s declaration. But Sergei would not let his omega go to bed thinking he was something that he wasn’t. And if he had to stand there while Katya lashed out at him, then he’d do it.

Katya Romanov deserved better.

And Sergei refused to leave him alone in that pain.

So, when he got to the manor and got off, he didn’t wait for Katya to come and find him. Sergei followed his own scent.

Katya had taken his clothes, probably to mask his own omega citrus scent.

It was a smart choice nonetheless. But for an alpha like Sergei who had been surviving on citrus crumbs for the last ten or more years, it wasn’t that hard for Sergei to find his omega.

Katya Romanov was inside the manor.

Eyes swollen, cheeks stained with dry tears, wearing Sergei’s shirt and socks. Wearing Sergei’s sweater and scarf. Hair no longer in a bun, like he was too tired to even work it himself.

If getting into the manor through the windows was easier, standing there while Katya Romanov smelled and looked like his favorite sin was definitely the hardest part.

"My beautiful Solnyshka," Sergei breathed, pausing just a few feet away from Katya, who was staring at him with cold, detached eyes.

"I’ll be gone before you wake up," Katya said, like he was giving Sergei a report or something. Like he was telling the alpha that since Sergei had crossed the distance, since Sergei had followed his own terms, Katya was going to keep his word.

"You’re not pathetic, Solnyshka," Sergei said with conviction, the sincerity in his voice making Katya snicker just a little.

"You flew all the way here to try and talk me into coming back with you? I’m assuming you saw the feed, right? Or did Svet and Andre tell you what he called me?" Katya laughed tiredly.

He held Sergei’s eyes for a moment before his eyes raked down the alpha who was standing there looking so good.

Damn, it was hard to think with Sergei looking like that with the jacket and the rough hair. Did he even know what he was doing to Katya?

"Solnyshka..."

"Maybe he is right," Katya said, wiping angry tears from his face.

"Don’t..."

"I loved the son, and then fell so hard for the father," Katya laughed, his loneliness making a show.