Chapter 405: The Pain That Tears Skin And Breaks Bone

[FROLO]

"He’ll come home; don’t worry too much about him," the Hercules had told Katya hours ago, when they were cleaning up the premises.

It was insane how the building had gone from being bloody and reeking to stinking of disinfectants and without a body in sight, let alone a drop of blood anywhere. If anything, Moskowsky Group was ready for the next workday.

But Katya...

When he’d said goodbyes to the team, he hoped they were right.

That Sergei would return.

"Give him until midnight. If he doesn’t come back by then, call me. I’ll tell you where to find him," Yaro promised when he left an hour later.

But midnight was too far for Katya.

Too long because he knew something had to have happened.

When Anya left, Katya had learned a few things about Sergei, which was why, even though scared and terrified of how the day had been, he had to find him. He had tried using the mate bond, but Sergei had locked him out.

It was a first for them, and it had Katya wondering if this was what their lives would be like.

But he didn’t dwell on that.

He didn’t have time.

Because he knew Sergei was going to either isolate and blame himself for everything that had happened today, or someone would be losing a few too many body parts that the city had seen today.

And honestly, Katya, for the life of him, prayed and hoped that it was the latter. Because a violent Sergei was not new to him and could be managed at some point. But a Sergei trapped in his mind and horrors was going to be a little harder to figure out.

At the same time, he couldn’t exactly call Sergei and ask him where he was.

So, Katya had to think.

Sighing, he called his father for help.

"Are you sure about this, Michka?" Mr. Romanov asked, knowing damn well the day hadn’t exactly been kinder to them.

"I know he’s hurting, and I can’t call him to come home because, for some reason, everyone is comfortable with him not coming home. That he’s done this a few times and will come when he’s ready," Katya said, pacing.

He didn’t want to wait for another person to tell him to wait for Sergei. He needed his alpha.

"Maybe... listen to them?" Mr. Romanov tried, even though he knew the agony that his son and the alpha must have been going through right now.

"Papa, please," Katya pleaded, and Mr. Romanov sighed.

"Okay. I’ll let you know when I find him. Make sure to get some rest," Mr. Romanov said before hanging up.

The alpha knew that the day had been challenging for Sergei, and as a husband, he knew how hard this had hit Sergei.

To watch his omega be the target.

It was not even about them being in-laws anymore. It was about a married alpha recognizing the pain that a mated alpha was going through. Perhaps that was why he didn’t judge.

Just told his wife that he was leaving to find Sergei.

"Be kinder to him when you find him. You more than anyone understand what he is going through at the moment," Masha said to Mr. Romanov, who just kissed his wife goodbye and told her he would be back.

The city was quiet when Mr. Romanov and his aides set out to find Sergei Moskowsky.

Over the years, there were only two places that the man could be found.

Around Katya Romanov and the cemetery where Vitya’s remains were.

Mr. Romanov had not bothered to interfere with it because sometimes there were souls stranger than fate.

He considered going to the cemetery, but that was not a line he would cross.

Grief was dealt with in different ways, and he knew Sergei had never truly healed from losing Vitya.

"The Kumarin Bratva," he said to his driver, who halted suddenly.

"Sir?"

"I said drive to the Kumarin Bratva headquarters. You do know the location, do you not?" Mr. Romanov asked, and his driver just nodded.

He hadn’t expected it, and even Svet and Andre, who had yet to sleep, were surprised at the direction the old man was taking. What the hell was he even going to get from Aleksandr?

Still, they waited.

Stayed alert, like there was more to this.

Then again, what if Mr. Romanov was going to confront the former senator for what he had done to his son?

Defeatedly, the duo stayed out, hoping to the gods that Mr. Romanov wasn’t insane, which was most probably an understatement given the way their lives had been over the past years.

Mr. Romanov, on the other hand, didn’t change directions.

If anything, just at the last corner to the Bratva HQ, the old man stepped out, surprising his driver even more.

This man was old and weak, probably. Yet he was still determined to go into a territory filled with enemies alone? Was he bonkers?

Oh, but the driver watched in silence as his boss walked toward the headquarters. He made sure to alert the other Romanov security teams to be ready in case there was an ambush or the old man was attacked.

Still, he didn’t understand.

But then Mr. Romanov didn’t stop.

Not even when he knew that the Bratva wouldn’t see him and welcome him with excitement. He kept going, only to stop at a particular spot. It was still dark, and the Bratva wouldn’t be able to see him there.

"Death is too good a mercy for him, and you know it, Sergei," he said, staring at the man whose head was between his knees on the roadside.

Sergei looked defeated, bested even. He looked like he was trying to figure out a worthy punishment, but each one that he had come up with wasn’t making any sense to him.

"You shouldn’t be here," Sergei said, not even fazed that Mr. Romanov was here.

The alpha reeked of alcohol, which did nothing to help him escape reality. Because the downside of being a high-ranking alpha was that he could never be drugged or drunk. He had to process everything regardless.

"I see you tried very interesting options," Mr. Romanov said, not budging.

"You nee—"

"I’m not leaving without you. So, you can either let an old man die of hypothermia or get up and come home with me," Mr. Romanov said, and Sergei lifted his head, as if that was not the proposal he was expecting.

"You won’t ask me to let him go?" Sergei asked meekly, his voice low.

"You’re not some weak, pathetic alpha who will hurt my son. Why should I ask you to let him go when you’re already miserable enough on your own because of him?" Mr. Romanov asked flatly, and Sergei let out a chuckle.

The old man approved of him.

No katanas. No blades. Just a father who was indirectly approving his relationship with his son. It was silently more than Sergei had expected, and the fact that he was here made him feel a little lighter.

If this man didn’t think he was fucked up, then maybe he wasn’t as fucked up, right?

"You trust me," Sergei said in realization.

"I trust my wife, and she happens to think a bullet to your head won’t be as exciting for me as it should be," Mr. Romanov huffed before he began walking away.

"You really do trust me," Sergei mused, getting up.

"I still don’t like you for my son," the old man grumbled.

"Thank you... It means a lot knowing you trust me."

"My wife made me do this," he lied.

Sergei let out a light laugh, leaving with old Romanov.

"He’s in your bedroom, asleep," Katya’s phone chimed with his papa’s message two hours later.