Chapter 418: Of Sacrificial Songbirds In Winter

[FROLO]

Romanov Steel was too busy today. Maybe because of what had happened these past two days, or maybe because the entire city had woken up to a barbarian claiming the Romanov heir marked him.

Still, Katya wasn’t sure he’d seen their family business like that.

He’d come to work late, but thankfully Greg had covered most of the work since the previous day had Katya taking two leave days.

Now, as he sat at his desk, with his alpha coworker staring at him amusedly, Katya just smiled at him. What was he to say, though?

"You’re just going to sit there and not give me the gossip of the marked barbarian? Wow, Katya," Greg whispered in the busy office.

Katya let out a low laugh.

"It just... It just happened."

"Brother, you don’t wake up and give Frolo the most unpredictable man in all of history and leave me with ’it just happenedddd,’" Greg insisted, the excitement a relief from the chaos Katya had been thrust into these past days.

"You know how the days have been since my first leave day, yeah? So yesterday, we were in my parents’ manor, and I may or may not have seen a few people thirsting over him, and he was like... ’Brand me so they can back off,’" Katya whispered.

Greg stared, excited for the full gossip on the madness of the Romanov-Moskowsky lifeline.

"He trusts you... Alphas never let omegas mark them," Greg reassured.

Katya smiled. Of course he knew it was unhinged.

But to hear someone outside his crazy family say that Sergei trusted him meant a lot. Especially since Greg was the only other person who was fairly normal in Katya’s life and knew what Katya’s relationship with Sergei was beyond the news cycles.

"He’s crazy," Katya groaned, staring at the social feed.

The Internet had gotten busy with an excited Sergei showing off his mark like it was the one thing he’d wanted his whole life.

"In love with you... That man can dismantle the city in seconds, but one mark from you and he’s just a man in love. Makes me wonder where the senator gets the idea that he’s manipulating you.

"If I didn’t know you and him, I’d say you were the one who balanced him instead of the one with power over him," Greg said confidently, and Katya- gods, he could only smile.

This whole morning was a circus, but the good kind, and he was thankful for that. No one was ever going to keep him and Sergei apart, no matter how hard they tried, and that was Katya’s greatest comfort.

Now, as he sat in the office, he could feel Sergei’s excitement through the bond, and a different rage. Probably directed at Aleksandr; he wasn’t sure. What mattered was that Sergei wasn’t locking him out.

If anything, Katya had chosen to lock himself out and only focus on the bond if he needed to reach Sergei urgently. That was just him trusting the barbarian.

"I woke up to Miss Anya wanting his head because he made countless donations," Katya groaned sheepishly, and Greg stared at him as if he had just recalled something.

"Hold on... I think I’ve seen this before. Remember the time Mr. Moskowsky made sudden donations for an hour and then disappeared like he wasn’t even bothered to claim the credit for what he did? Four or five years ago," Greg pointed out.

Katya remembered that day so well. Over the years, Anya had told him about the one time Sergei was so happy Katya called him Vladimir that he’d turned into a philanthropist for an hour.

Only that what Sergei had done then and what he did today were very different. The scale of today’s donations was much bigger than the last one.

"Nope. I don’t remember," Katya lied, but Greg could just see it in him already.

"Your love is complicated and confusing, but at least you have each other. That’s all that matters...

"Now let’s get back to work before our supervisor kicks us out for gossiping during working hours," Greg added the last bit, peeking at their supervisor who was in his office and glaring at everyone.

"Wait, what do you think of Vladimir? I mean as a citizen of Frolo, not as my friend," Katya asked, not sure why he was even prodding.

"You want honesty?" the alpha coworker asked, and Katya just nodded in response.

"I think the devil of Frolo is crazy and unhinged. I think he’s too dangerous to walk among us, but I also think that if he’s not provoked, he won’t attack anyone. Most of the time we’ve heard of him in media outlets, it’s because someone went after him first.

"As a citizen of Frolo, I can’t help but fear for the day when the devil chooses to attack first instead of defend like he’s been doing these last years," Greg said earnestly before adding:

"Also, I think the moon goddess lost her damn mind pairing both of you with a true mate bond, no offense. One moment the devil is swooning in love and the next he’s ripping spines and slapping heads off.

"FYI, I don’t believe what the senator said about you being controlled by the mad man. It’s more vice versa. A happy you equals a sane devil. A hurt or targeted you equals the worst version of the devil of Frolo."

Katya listened.

Gods, it was insane.

He’d always wondered what the city really thought of both of them along the way, and hearing it from Greg, who was being honest with him, introduced him to another aspect of the life he was living.

The kind where real people were behind those troll accounts and those opinions.

Which excited him even more because the women and omegas who were thirsting after Sergei were real. And with Katya’s mark on Sergei and the alpha flaunting it every three business minutes, they would have no other option but to back off.

Sighing softly, Katya went back to work, only for his friends to show up five hours later, staring at him smugly like they’d caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You had us at a stalemate for the first time in so long, Romanov," the rowdy duo greeted.

Thankfully it was lunch hour, which meant that the office wasn’t as busy.

"I don’t know what you’re going on about," Katya tried, and they just plopped beside him, their sheathed katanas set on Katya’s desk like this was the kind of day Katya was looking forward to.

"We bet that you’d mark him soon, both of us... And we both won, so now neither of us owes each other ten bucks... Which means you get to pay it," Svetlana said, like this was not an office and she wasn’t interrupting people with her loud voice.

She didn’t care one bit.

"Actually, come on, you’re buying us lunch since we had to watch your bastard boyfriend be elated about you choosing him for the hundredth time today," Andre said, making Svet’s eyes light up.

"Oh shit, why didn’t I think of that... You can keep the ten bucks, Romanov. Lunch is on you...

"Come on, sweetie, we also have contingencies to keep your excited barbarian in check before I puke from how sweet you both are to each other," Svet said, closing Katya’s reports and helping the omega up.

It looked more like a kidnapping.

But Katya was too happy to see his friends to even mind, really. He’d called them after the shootout, and they’d insisted they were fine, and right now he could see it, given Svetlana’s gambling habits hadn’t changed once.

"This is an abduction," Katya laughed.

"Not if you’re buying us lunch; it’s not. It’s us taking our very nice friend to a spot for lunch so he can pay.

"If you ask me, that’s fair because your boyfriend has been noisy since midnight, and it’s your fault," Svet added, not once mentioning what she’d seen at Hercules all morning with Sergei.

Perhaps because the Hercules team had already come to a consensus on that.

They would protect Katya Romanov.

And Katya would just live his life being the most loved and protected omega in the realm, yeah?

"I’ll only buy if I get to order spring rolls," Katya grumbled when they made it to the elevator, ignoring all the eyes on them.

"You can even cook your own pelmeni there, sweetie," Svet added, and Katya burst out laughing as the elevator closed and he left with his friends.

In Chairman Romanov’s office, Katya’s father watched brightly as his son’s laughter made his day.

Perhaps Sergei was not as bad for his son, right?

Turning to Yaroslav, the man who hurt his son the most, and who was in his office...

"Romanov Steel accepts Moskowsky Group’s proposal, formally. Let’s burn that little shit and his government to the ground."