Chapter 448: Through The Flames, He Found Home

[FROLO]

The Moskowsky resident at 13th Emerald Street was bustling with life for the first time in years as the gang came together after five long weeks.

They’d arrived in intervals not to draw any suspicions. Of course they knew there were eyes on them, but the Myrtles didn’t give a shit about that.

The rule had been simple for anyone who dared to linger.

You linger.

You die.

People knew better than to call a bluff where the Shopkeeper was involved.

So here they were, all twelve of them along with the Romanovs. It felt like a twisted family reunion, save for the fact that one was injured and the other had refused to leave. To let go.

Mr. Romanov watched as his son glued himself to a sleeping Sergei who should have been settled on the couch because Katya refused to take him and lock him up in a bedroom.

Katya knew Sergei was tired, but he needed the first thing Sergei saw to be his whole family.

Not just Katya.

The omega needed Sergei to remember that he wasn’t alone, which was weird because it was Katya who had been kidnapped for five weeks.

Not Sergei.

"Is he—" Yaroslav asked, voice breaking.

He knew his father would survive.

Silver bullets were not enough to kill his father. He was very much aware of it. But it didn’t take away the fear that his fading father had almost died.

It didn’t make it any easier for him as a son to see his father knocked out with drugs just to keep him steady and to allow his body to heal.

It was not easy.

"He’ll be fine. He just needs to catch up on sleep," Meera, the resident doctor, said, and they believed her. Of course they would.

Then again, it didn’t make it any easier for them.

Masha Romanov watched as her son tended to the sleeping alpha, not once even focusing on his parents who were waiting for acknowledgement.

But then again, she, just like him, understood. They knew Katya really cared about Sergei, and they knew the only way to get their son’s attention fully was to wait for him to be convinced Sergei was alright.

So the entire team stayed, talking about anything just to pass time. The television was on, but no one was interested as things got replayed over and over again.

Then the door opened.

Through it...

Zhenya Levin.

Katya knew that musky scent by heart now.

Perhaps that was why he grabbed Svet’s gun from her hip and pointed it at the man who had just come in.

"I’ll pull the trigger if you try to take him away from me," Katya said coldly, not once mincing his words.

The Myrtles had their guns out too and pointed them at the government chief.

"That’s not the right way to greet your uncle, young Romanov," Zhenya said, not even fazed by the weapons pointed at him.

He then looked at Masha, who was staring, confused.

She couldn’t wield a weapon, but she was ready to defend her son if ever there was a chance that was needed.

"You’re being noisy; sit down," Mr. Romanov grumbled at Zhenya.

Zhenya laughed at his brother’s passive state.

But he was used to it already.

"This is what happens when you don’t introduce your older brother to your family, Yura," Zhenya said, a smile on his face.

All eyes turned to Mr. Romanov.

This man was the president’s chief of security.

"If you’re not going to shut up, get out," Mr. Romanov sighed exaggeratedly.

And Masha...

She noticed the annoyance on her husband’s face.

Mr. Romanov was annoyed, not in the way that he wanted to kill someone... But like whoever had come was just another sibling.

Was it real though?

"At least tell them to lower their weapons, Yura," Zhenya sighed exaggeratedly.

"Shoot him if he doesn’t shut up," Mr. Romanov said, while Masha...

"Yevgeniy??" she spoke, and Mr. Romanov huffed.

"He calls himself Zhenya now," the alpha grumbled, a sight that got the weapons lowered one by one.

Zhenya Levin wasn’t a threat.

Zhenya.

The same chief of Security?

"Hello, Masha. It’s been ages since I saw you," Zhenya said as he sat on the empty seat close to Katya, as if it was the only empty one.

"But you... Died?" Masha asked in confusion.

And Zhenya glared at his younger brother.

"Of all the excuses you could have come up with, Yura... You chose to kill me? I don’t know if I should be offended or thankful you care about me enough to keep me safe," Zhenya teased.

Mr. Romanov made a move to get up.

"Okay. Okay... I won’t tease you anymore. Jeez, you can’t even take a joke," Zhenya grumbled, but Katya’s gun wasn’t lowered yet.

"He won’t hurt any of you, least of all you, Michka," Mr. Romanov said to his son, who turned to look at him for the first time since they’d gotten here.

"Papa..." Katya breathed like he’d finally realized he was safe.

That he wasn’t going to be separated from Sergei anymore.

That no one would try to take his beloved from him.

The relief was something Katya shouldn’t have counted on, and frankly it hit him hard, making him hand the gun back to Svet wordlessly.

"I..." Katya trailed off again, and this time, Zhenya spoke.

"I see he found you. Nice trick, by the way, with my watch and trying to use the Romanov manual I wrote on me," Zhenya said, and Katya just stared.

What was he supposed to say anyway?

"You raised an intelligent son, Masha," Zhenya said in earnest.

Then...

"I can’t stay long. I just came to make sure Katya was alright, and the mad man really followed my instructions. And to kill the nano-tracker you put in you, Katya," Zhenya said, and everyone watched in silence still.

They knew this wasn’t their part, and if it wasn’t for the rain outside, they would have gone to the garden, which would have been less awkward.

But then the weather was shitty, and they had to sit here in silence and pretend they didn’t exist.

Even Anya and Rastenkin, who were eager to know how Sergei was doing, had stood their ground.

They had to trust Katya with this and wait. After all, they still had wars to fight after this anyway.

"Nano-tracker?" Katya asked.

Zhenya smiled at him.

"Yup. You looked miserable without that mountain of a man, and I figured I had to help.

"Also, the fact that Boris was going to transfer you this evening to a different location would’ve made it harder to break you out without blowing my cover," Zhenya said casually, like this was just another day.

Mr. Romanov rolled his eyes at his brother’s statement, and Masha just stared in silence.

She noticed that, for some reason, Katya was at ease around the man. And it wasn’t just because Zhenya had confessed that he was her husband’s older brother. That was trust that stemmed deep.

Masha wasn’t sure if she was to be horrified at the idea of what could have happened to her son in there to get him to trust a stranger or if she was to be glad her son returned unharmed.

"Boris?" Reeves asked curiously.

"Yeah. The president," Zhenya said casually, and Rastenkin turned to Anya.

"I called it ten years ago. Pay up."

"I hate you," Anya grumbled, pulling twenty bucks and giving it to Rastenkin, who kissed the bill excitedly.

"Easiest twenty bucks made, woo!"