Chapter 424: The Dangerous Game Of Trust, Love & Its Stakes

[FROLO]

After the meeting with Mr. Romanov, Yaroslav had gone to Moskowsky Holdings with the signed papers.

His father had given him the task of making sure the Romanov assets would be safe along the way and that their stock value wouldn’t drop no matter how messy things got within the realm.

That the Romanovs were guaranteed peace if ever there came a time when life got complicated, and the Moskowskys were burning for whatever choices they made. The Romanovs had to survive, no matter what the cost was.

It wasn’t the easiest of tasks, and when Yaroslav had asked what he needed to do, his father had simply told him to use his brains. That he had taught him better as the CEO of Knox Tech.

And Yaroslav...

He’d gone to Romanov Steel and suggested the alliance with Mr. Romanov. He had not told his father that was what he was choosing yet, which was why he was here at Moskowsky Holdings.

He had to give his report, especially given how angry his father had been at their failures on the day of the shootout. It was a hard call, and he hoped to the gods his father wouldn’t be disappointed with the decision Yaroslav had made.

"Is he in?" Yaro asked Volkov, who had long since returned to work after the morning they had all had.

The man still had bruises from the life fight they had been forced to indulge in by Sergei. But as an alpha, Volkov was bound to heal a bit faster.

That was the only comfort right now.

"Yeah... Still writing apology letters," Volkov said with a straight face, and Yaroslav couldn’t help but snort at the contents.

His father, who had spent the morning folding them into pieces for his fiancée and still looked unimpressed, was writing an apology letter.

"Wish me luck," Yaroslav said, and Volkov just nodded.

He was too busy reconstructing the happenings of the shootout day that he didn’t have anything to think of anymore.

Sergei had been right.

They had reacted as was expected of them in that situation, and it should have been comforting in the slightest of bits. They had defended Katya, sure.

But there shouldn’t have been a chance for that. There shouldn’t have been an allowed bullet. No matter how perfectly they had countered and no matter how well the city was sure the Moskowskys had won, for the Hercules team, it wasn’t a win.

Their boss was right.

They had failed.

Their performance had been pathetic. So unlike what was expected of assassins and mercs trained by Sergei Msokwosksy himself.

There was no denying it.

Yaroslav knew it so well, too, even as he knocked on his father’s door.

He knew his father could probably kick him out and demand he do better without even reading what he was coming with, but Yaroslav also hoped that this wasn’t the most insane thing he was presenting to his father.

"I’m busy," the alpha groaned, having smelled his son’s lavender scent.

In the confines of an office that reeked of everything other than Katya Romanov, not to mention the smell of ink as he drafted the next apology letter he had committed to, maybe Sergei needed his son here for a moment.

"I could help you write them, father," Yaroslav offered, like they had been through things like these a few times too many.

"She knows your handwriting. Remember the last time she had me start over just because you helped me finish one?" Sergei grumbled as his son walked in, closing the door behind him.

"I’ve been learning your handwriting over the years," Yaroslav tried, and Sergei’s eyes lit up before a memory of Anya screaming at him to start over came back to him.

"Nah, I’m good. I’ve written twenty-seven so far. Three more to go and it’ll be over," Sergei said in near relief, hoping Anya didn’t make him do this again.

Gods, it was hell writing all this shit by hand. And worse, they were different.

It would have been easy if he was writing the same apology three times, but no. Anya had always made sure every apology was different from the other.

"What brings you here?"

"Do you have a moment, father?" Yaroslav said, and Sergei raised a brow.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I went to Romanov Steel," Yaroslav said.

Sergei went still.

Eerily still.

"To present a deal..."

Sergei stood up.

"Did he hurt you? Tell me the truth, kid," Sergei said, his voice stern, his fatherly voice coming out, and Yaroslav stared at him in understanding.

Yaroslav had hurt Katya the most; Sergei knew it.

Mr. Romanov was known to hurt people who hurt Katya Romanov.

And while Sergei was madly in love with Katya Romanov, he would not forgive Mr. Romanov if the man raised a hand to his son with Vitya, physically or otherwise.

Never.

"No. He didn’t... But he agreed to work with us to deal with the ongoing war. The Romanovs will join us officially," Yaroslav said, but Sergei wasn’t listening.

"Yaroslav..."

"I’m fine, father. If he hurt me, you’d know. I’ve never been a good liar when it comes to you," Yaroslav reassured.

The father looked at his son again.

Reading his dear boy.

Only when Sergei was convinced Mr. Romanov hadn’t hurt his son did he sit back down.

"Hand me the papers," Sergei said, looking at his son.

He knew there had to be more to this, but he had been too obsessed with the possibility of Mr. Romanov hurting his son that he failed to think straight.

Then again, what was there for him to think about, right?

Yaroslav handed the papers a little skeptically. He knew his father had said to find a way, but a part of him knew the alpha would not approve of what he had gotten the Romanovs to sign.

Still, he had to place it out there and let his father know.

"Are you sure he agreed to... this?" Sergei asked as he looked at the contracts.

It made no sense on so many levels.

On a normal day, the Mr. Romanov he knew would never choose this path. It suddenly seemed impossible, and the fact that there was also a new sheet of terms for the Romanovs made it a bit suspicious.

Sergei had not expected this.

He wasn’t even going to try to lie to himself.

"Yes, father. I presented him my offer, and he agreed," Yaroslav added, and Sergei sighed.

Perhaps this was progress, or maybe this was just Mr. Romanov being trusting of the Moskowskys, which didn’t make it easy. Still, it was suspicious as hell.

"Alright, you go on ahead. I’ll check these later. I still have to finish the damn apology letters. And get some food to eat. You look thin," Sergei said, dismissing his son.

Yaroslav didn’t wait.

He could only hope that once his father read it all, there wouldn’t be any other issues, but what were the chances?

When the door closed behind Yaroslav, Sergei picked up the phone.

He had to check it out himself.

Not because he didn’t trust his son, but because of all the things that the Romanovs could have agreed to, this was too far a stretch even for the man. It was insane, diabolical, and made no sense at all.

"Sergei, I was expecting your call," Mr. Romanov answered.

****

[A/N]

* Today I got a notification that this book has been translated to German by the platform! I’m so excited even though I don’t know the first thing about the language lol...

* It couldn’t have happened without you guys, so thank you for trusting me and loving my fairly normal Frolo citizens!

* See you in the next chaps!