Chapter 380: A Mad Man… or A King

[FROLO]

Governor Morozov was losing his mind.

He’d stared at the footage of last night’s incident and even the morning’s interaction between the Devil of Frolo and two of the most powerful executives in the city for an unhealthy number of times.

Honestly, a part of him didn’t even know what he was supposed to expect.

Especially when he was told that Yaroslav had let himself be arrested and that Sergei had come to bail them in the morning, only after the boys admitted what they had done; something that the officers had been unable to make them do.

No matter what angle he looked at it from, there was nothing justifiable about what he was seeing. And the fact that it wasn’t even fake stressed him out.

Of course, they knew Sergei cared for Yaro and Nik.

Of course, they understood what the stakes were.

But no understanding of the stakes was ever going to make it any easier to dissect the fact that he had seen a father come to drag his delinquent sons out of jail and make sure they had been assigned volunteer work.

"Maybe it’s a game to them," Leon, who had been assigned to the governor’s office from the senator’s office, said as he looked at the governor. He knew the chances of that were low because the Moskowskys never let themselves be arrested.

Hell, they never volunteered like that.

The footage from last night looked like they were literally begging the officers to drive them to the precinct. And the horror on their faces when Sergei arrived and started speaking was something that had played out to be real.

And now, now they didn’t know whether to be relieved or tired of everything.

"No, it’s not. The body language says otherwise. I can’t believe I’m watching a man father two dangerous executives like he’s parenting delinquents," Governor Morozov sighed in disappointment.

There was no easy way for him to even begin understanding this.

Because Sergei Moskwosky was the one puzzle that couldn’t be learned with ease, and who apparently had just shown the city that he had two sons instead of one, and now the city had to be careful around them too.

"Did the senator call?" the governor asked.

"Yes. He left a message. That’s why I came," Leon said, like he suddenly remembered why he’d been here in the first place.

"And?"

"The senator said the plans are proceeding as agreed. The Bratva will exploit every weakness Sergei has and bring the man down," Leon reported, and the governor just sighed.

He looked like a man who was a little too skeptical about the alliance with the Bratva again. Especially after what he’d just seen, but frankly, maybe a benefit of the doubt was better for them.

Because this wasn’t how anyone understood the Moskowskys.

It was too simple yet too complicated at the same time.

Untangling one truth opened endless tangled layers, which was far too stressful to handle via official channels.

"Fine," the governor fumed as he stared at the television.

The city was still swooning over the romantic story of Katya Romanov and Sergei Moskwosky. It was pathetic, really, how they’d all seen the chaos in that footage, and Frolo could only ever focus on the mad man being whipped for his omega.

What the fuck was his city turning into?

"Breaking news: Footage of Knox Tech and Korin Industries CEOs fighting inside a club downtown has been released. There is no clear understanding of what triggered the fight, but what we know is that more than twenty people were injured last night.

"Six of them were transferred to different hospitals for emergency surgeries. More to come," the anchor said, and the governor stiffened.

He knew about the news and everything that had been said.

But the fact that it was reported was something else.

Normally Sergei never let his son’s shenanigans be brought to the public like that. Especially since that didn’t look like a personal brawl to anyone in Frolo. And yet the media had picked it up and was releasing it.

The governor’s first instinct was that Sergei had paid people to share the footage, something that was quickly dismissed.

Because in the governor’s briefing earlier, there had been social media posts from last night about Yaroslav and Nikolai Korin. But it had all been quiet almost because people didn’t know whether to report it or not.

Then again, it was useless now that the media had dug it up properly.

What the heck was going on?

"Governor... Senator Aleksandr is calling," Leon said, and the governor let out a frustrated groan. He really was not having a good morning.

"Patch him through and leave the room," he said to Leon, who didn’t ask any questions. He’d learned the better way anyway.

"Senator," Governor Morozov greeted flatly.

"There was a Moskowsky operation last night. All the people who were hurt, including the police officers, were Bratva members," Alek said, and the governor sat up instantly.

For a moment, the world went quiet as he stared at the screen that was blinking with breaking news and reactions for the live session. It almost made no sense, yet the more Aleksandr spoke, the more unnerving it was.

What the fuck had they gotten themselves into?

"What do you mean by a Moskowsky operation? We saw the brawl at the club. We saw what happened. You mean to tell me that everyone who was attacked was deliberately attacked? What the heck? How?" the governor asked.

It made no sense, really.

The brawl looked like any other brawl.

Drunk people doing drunk people shit. Yet now he was learning that the victims had been a bit too specific. How the hell did one even pull such a thing in the middle of a society club where every Tom, Dick, and Harry went?

"The people who started the fight were not Bratva members. They were ordinary Frolo citizens. But the people who were severely injured and needed care..." Aleksandr explained like it was so simple.

It was creepy, in every sense, how the Moskowskys had sniffed out the Bratva members among the revelers and beat them up.

In what world was that supposed to make sense?

"Aleksandr..." the governor began, dropping formalities because this clearly didn’t make any sense to even keep discussing it like they were officials anymore. This was the kind of madness that many did not properly understand, and it was haunting.

"Do your men have markers that tell the Moskowskys who you are even among the general public?" the governor asked in genuine confusion.

None of this made sense.

At all.

"No, they don’t. What kind of question is that?" Alek asked, offended by the fact that the governor was making such an insinuation.

None of this was right.

"Well, how the fuck did they know to sniff out your men in a place where so many people go?" Governor Morozov asked, not understanding the first thing about this madness.

"I’m still working on figuring that out," Alek said, even though it wasn’t comforting anymore.

This was madness.

This was the kind of thing only a devil did.

Because what other explanation was there?

"Well, you better do it fast, because I spent a billion on you to take out the madman," the governor said, though for the first time since he’d taken office, he didn’t know what the fuck he had dragged himself into in the name of Frolo’s safety.

What the hell was Sergei Moskowsky?

The Sergei in question, on the other hand...

Had dropped his son and his friend off and was going to drive Katya to work.