Chapter 490: Death By A Thousand Cuts

[FROLO]

The expo hall was busy.

Tech giants had arrived with the best of their best. The military tanks and more inventions that made technology worth a lot.

Romanov Steel had a station next to Knox and Moskowsky Holdings. It wasn’t surprising because the past three expos had been the same.

Today was no different.

Would be no different.

Katya and Yaroslav could finally talk to each other without one wanting to kill the other or either staring with pity and defeat. ’

They had not forgotten what their past had been as husbands, but the future was something they were working toward.

Forgiveness wasn’t even a subject anymore.

"You look better than the last time we saw each other," Yaroslav acknowledged as he stared at the prototypes Romanov Steel had brought with them. They were good, no doubt, and hopefully after this expo they would get more contracts.

"You don’t look too bad," Katya responded flippantly.

And then the conversations began like they always did.

Simple.

Mundane.

Normal.

Except for the fact that both of them shared another wound, different from their last, as husbands.

But maybe time would fix it, right?

Hours went by at the expo, with people coming in. Going out. It was a nice experience. And Katya knew he was bound to get tired.

So he excused himself.

A washroom break, he’d told Greg. And Greg had no reason to be suspicious.

Yet as much as Katya needed a bathroom break, he had seen him.

The ghost of his life...

Three months.

Three whole months, and finally they were in the same space.

The bond confirmed it for him.

And Katya...

Careful not to spook, he watched from a distance. Thirty minutes. That was how long he had watched from a distance before he decided to approach.

A bathroom break.

What a bleak excuse to see the love of his life.

Sergei was dressed as normal people did.

A bucket hat, cargo pants, a grey shirt. A backpack on him too.

He looked normal.

Mundane. And he wore a mask.

It wasn’t conspicuous because here at the expo there were several gases lingering. So a mask was something Katya had seen on nearly a quarter of the people in attendance.

Black and simple, Katya had noticed. Yet the eyes under that bucket hat...

The eyes that met his by pure coincidence.

Or maybe Sergei had been watching him.

Studying him.

But what was the need when they belonged together, right?

Katya was confused, but he couldn’t lean into this enough because he was on a timer.

He knew it.

Sergei never stayed at the same spot for an hour at most.

Thirty minutes had gone by, and Katya knew he was holding onto grace.

The third corner on the left was where Katya saw him stand longer. Rahim. His former secretary was there too.

Different getup from his boss, but enough to tell Katya that they had not come to this expo for peace.

Katya didn’t give a shit about it.

But then Sergei noticed him.

Saw him coming.

Then whispered something to Rahim, whose eyes met Katya’s. Rahim had grown buffer, maybe because of the training Sergei put her through, or maybe because shooting sniper rifles had become a task she’d gotten accustomed to daily.

And she walked away, leaving Sergei standing there for a moment.

Sergei looked at him.

At Katya.

Their eyes meeting the second time in the day.

And it didn’t last long. Just enough for Sergei to begin walking away.

"The jet propellers by Krylov Industries, everyone!" someone announced. And of course most attendees headed in that direction.

And in the moving crowd, Sergei stood.

Lowered his mask just enough for Katya to see him.

He had a fresh scar on his face. A knife scar that was still fresh.

Whether Sergei had done it himself was still a mystery, but Katya knew for a fact that no one had ever gotten close to Sergei to leave a mark on his face.

Which meant the former was true.

But Katya didn’t care.

Not right now.

Yet as the crowd breathed, Katya walked toward him.

His boyfriend.

The love of his life.

He just wanted to see him another time.

But Sergei seemed to have something else in mind, because he pulled his mask up, right when an explosion was heard in the place.

That was not a jet propeller.

Someone had blown up something.

Katya didn’t need proof to know Sergei had done it.

But he wanted his boyfriend home.

Yet Sergei turned his back on Katya and disappeared into the crowd.

Katya followed him. Tracked him with the bond.

Katya had gotten good at bond tracking. He’d been taught by Anya, his father, Svet, Andre, and even Yaroslav and Irina. It was their contribution for not being able to help him properly locate Sergei.

And Katya...

He followed the bond.

Sergei was still here.

Until Katya made a corner.

Random enough for no one to even think of. He wasn’t even sure where he was headed. They were a little ways away from the expo site and the screams everyone had.

Then...

A hand on his mouth.

He’d licked and kissed those hands one too many times.

Sergei’s thick rainforest scent hit him next, and Katya could have died from the relief that washed over him.

"Stop waiting for me. Live your life, I’m living mine," Katya heard before the hand left.

And of course...

Sergei left.

...Or did he?

"What the fuck are you doing?" the alpha asked, clearly not expecting the holdup.

He was in cuffs.

Sergei.

Cuffed to Katya’s left hand.

"You’re alive," Katya breathed, turning to the ghost he’d been chasing for three months.

Then he pulled him into a hug, one so stiff because Sergei didn’t return it.

"Of course I’m alive. You still cling to the bond, remember?" Sergei said flatly, eyes dead.

And Katya...

He took off the bucket hat.

Sergei let him.

The mask came off next.

Sergei let him.

Then a tear fell down Katya’s face at what he was seeing.

His alpha.

His Vladimir.

He lived...

With pain.

"Listen, Romanov. I don’t know what you’re expecting, but I have other places to be. I’d hate to interrupt your becoming and our findings, but that’s on you. So goodbye," Sergei said, using his claw to uncuff himself from Katya.

Katya watched in defeat.

Romanov, Sergei had called him.

Not Solnyshka.

Not little wolf.

Romanov.

Like they were not mates.

Like they were not in love with each other.

"I saw you with Greg earlier. He still cares for you. He’d pass for a better alpha. Maybe you should consider going with hi—"

Sergei didn’t finish the sentence.

Katya slapped him on the face.

Hard.

So much so that Katya’s hand stung.

And Sergei...

He smirked.

Then...

"You shouldn’t hurt yourself," Sergei said softly, blowing air on Katya’s hand as if that was going to take away the sting.

"I’m not coming back, Romanov. Stop waiting for me. The man who loved you is gone," Sergei said, caressing Katya’s cheeks softly, his thumb playing so close to Katya’s lips.

"You look so beautiful today," Sergei said, closing the distance gently.

And Katya let him.

Waited.

He felt Sergei’s breath on his lips.

And Katya closed his eyes and waited.

He shouldn’t have.

Because the next thing he heard...

"You’re the prettiest thing here, beautiful... My beau—"

Then... Nothing.

Katya opened his eyes.

Sergei was gone.