Chapter 429: Gilded In Your Afterglow

[FROLO]

Katya Romanov was at his workstation when Aleksandr, Zhenya, and the other soldiers who had tagged along arrived. He was working on the final steps of his data analysis when he heard his name.

"Alek..." Katya whispered in disbelief, staring at the man who had walked in.

It had been ages since they had seen each other face to face. It honestly felt like forever given the way things had been happening.

And right now, as Katya saw the alpha wounded, looking so broken, looking like he had really struggled to get here...

Katya wondered whether taking out the alpha’s spine would ever make the man shut up and cease to exist for all the things Aleksandr had done against him.

It was a thought that had Katya staggering back for a moment because of the determination. In fact, it was as if a part of him wanted to rip out Aleks’s spine himself.

The man was already hurt.

But for Katya Romanov, there were always better ways to hurt Aleksandr Petrov.

Beside Aleksandr was a man Katya didn’t recognize, but he noticed the way the man was looking at him. The blank face that didn’t show much, but the eyes that stared at him with intrigue, like this was really the first time he was seeing Katya.

Of course, to Katya it was like being in a museum.

That’s what the city had made him feel like lately, especially since he was branded the person who drove Sergei Moskowsky into the trenches, and the alpha had not once complained.

So for him, this was probably just another person who was thrilled to be the one to drag Sergei’s little mate outside of this place.

"Katya Romanov, you are under arrest for terrorism and for the murder of seven hundred and thirty-two soldiers of the state. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," the man who had come with Alek said.

Katya read his name on his military uniform.

Levin Z.

Of course.

Zhenya Levin.

Now it made sense to him.

The president’s lapdog.

"Hold on, are you sure?" Katya asked, and Zhenya looked at him, confused.

"Anything I say will really be used against me?" Katya asked, making Aleksandr raise a brow at him. But Katya wasn’t even looking at the pathetic alpha who had been so weak throughout.

"Yes. Be careful," Zhenya said, cuffing Katya and handing him over to the other soldiers.

"Wait," Katya said, a smirk on his face, as he turned to Aleksandr, who looked like he had other things to do.

"I just want to say hello to my ex-boyfriend who is clearly your boss here," Katya said, making sure to stress the word boss, because he knew Aleksandr always loved to be in power.

The thought of being a powerful man was something that usually drove Alek nuts.

And with what Katya had said, Aleks’s eyes brightened.

Katya respected him.

Katya noticed he was the most powerful man in the room.

"I wanted to tell you this in person, Alek," Katya began, and Alek stared.

The Romanov Steel staff were watching with their hearts in their mouths as they tried to comprehend what was happening. They knew things would never really be the same after this.

That Katya’s arrest would trigger so many things.

But then Katya Romanov wasn’t even resisting.

"Anytime my alpha knots me," Katya licked his lips hungrily, eyes on Aleks, and his citrus scent intentionally sweetening and getting him roused.

This omega was shameless.

"When his knot locks us up together, I always look forward to the next knot," Katya said, walking toward Alek.

"He thinks I’m the prettiest thing he’s ever laid his eyes on, and proves it time and again when he touches and worships me like I’m all he’s ever needed..."

Zhenya held back a snicker.

His nephew was a brat.

Sergei’s brat.

Because the Katya he remembered wasn’t this bold. This unhinged.

But also, after everything he had seen the boy through, if Alek tried to raise a hand to his nephew, Zhenya would kill him without a second thought.

"You sound desperate... Like a w—" Alek began.

Zhenya stepped forward, making Aleksandr stop just in time. Maybe he had just realized that it was not a good idea, but Katya was not about to let him live it down.

"He breeds me so well. Better than you could ever dream of... Fucks my womb so damn well," Katya laughed before adding:

"I may be getting arrested, but if I ask my alpha to knot me inside my jail cell, he will. My strong alpha who loves me without shame."

"Get him out of here," Alek commanded, and the soldiers held Katya gently, walking him to the elevators.

"I’m a Romanov omega, Aleksandr. I’m the son of Yuriy and Masha Romanov. Good luck making your fabricated charges stick. Papa would give me your spine if I asked him...

"Enjoy having your spine while you can, because I’m my father’s only child... His favorite," Katya laughed maniacally, his words surprising everyone.

From the soldiers, Zhenya himself, hell, Aleksandr, and even the Romanov employees.

The man being dragged away wasn’t the timid Romanov omega they had known. Wasn’t the man who cried over soap operas and sweet love stories.

This man was a brat.

But not just Sergei’s brat.

He was his father’s son.

And he knew how to exploit that.

Maybe that was why, as everyone got into the elevator with Katya, Aleksandr didn’t.

He chose the stairs.

"See you all downstairs," he said, making Zhenya raise a brow.

"Weren’t you badly injured from the attack?"

"I’m an alpha, Zhenya. Do you want me to explain biology for you?" Alek gritted, heading toward the stairs.

"An alpha coward who can’t accept the fact that he’ll never be worth anything. The coward who hides behind everything that makes sense only to him," Katya mocked.

"I am not a coward," Alek gritted out.

"I’m not the one taking the stairs because my dick is hard at the thought of my ex-boyfriend getting knotted better than I could ever knot him," Katya shrugged, and snickers were heard.

The omega was loud.

Unapologetic.

And Aleksandr had to stand there and listen to Katya Romanov taunt him.

Alek could say that it was a lie, that he wasn’t hard for Katya Romanov.

But the tent in his slacks said something different.

"Fine, I’ll—" Alek began, only to be interrupted.

"Aleksandrrr, my mannn... I’ve missed you, senator. How are you these days?" Svetlana asked, and Katya laughed inside the elevator.

"You should have gotten in here when you had the chance. Have fun taking the stairs!" Katya laughed, his hand hovering mischievously on the elevator’s close button.

"Should I take his spine out?" Andre asked Katya.

"He’s all yours, if Papa is done with him... See you guys in jail... Bring me pelmeni, pretty pleasee!" Katya said as the elevator door closed.

But right before it shut, Svet shouted:

"Sergei already cooked it for you! He’s waiting for you with a hotpot at the gates of the presidential palace!"

Katya smiled.

His Vladimir really loved him, was all Katya could think of as his friends dragged Aleksandr to the staircase.