Chapter 492: Why Must A Spring Without You Come

[FROLO]

He didn’t want breadcrumbs.

He’d not signed up for breadcrumbs.

He wanted his boyfriend back.

And if Sergei was not going to come back on his own, then Katya wouldn’t wait.

Not anymore.

He wanted to play little games?

Katya could do that well.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t go back to the penthouse when morning came.

Katya went to work, did what was expected of him, and by afternoon he was done with the small tasks of the day.

He didn’t return to the penthouse.

Instead, he went to his father.

"I want in," Katya said, and Mr. Romanov looked at his son in confusion.

"In what?" The alpha asked.

"Family business. Not the steel empire. The other one," Katya said before adding:

"Don’t think of lying to me. There is another side to all this. I’ve been trained a little too well for it all to have been just a way to escape the enemies."

Mr. Romanov stared at his son.

His Michka.

His little boy had grown up so well even through the endless heartbreaks. He knew Katya had reached a point where there was no need to lie to him.

He was the Devil of Frolo’s mate, so there was no fixing anything or hiding shit from him anymore.

"Michka..."

"I... You don’t have to give me assignments instantly. Just... just let me hang around. Carry a gun, whether empty or with a full mag. I don’t mind.

"And let me be on the pages that people like him see," Katya said confidently, his pain something that Mr. Romanov understood.

He’d wanted to say Katya was confused.

But he wasn’t.

His son was just not willing to wait that long anymore.

"You might die, Michka," Mr. Romanov warned in earnest. He knew whose son wouldn’t listen to him if he said he needed to keep Katya for the underworld business.

It was obvious in the boy’s desperation. And maybe this was Katya’s chance to see what life he was supposed to be married into now that he and Sergei had been together a while.

"Then let me die. People die all the time, Papa," Katya said, and Mr. Romanov chuckled at that.

His son was done.

And it was interesting.

Of course Mr. Romanov would never let anyone kill his son.

And he knew for a fact the psycho who was playing hide-and-seek with Katya would never let anyone hurt Katya.

The man he had not approved of from the very beginning was now the man he subconsciously trusted with his son’s safety, even if in the shadows.

What a development the life cycle had been for them.

"You remember your training, no?" he asked instead, knowing damn well if he asked any other question, Katya would probably flip.

"Yes."

"Then you’re on patrol this evning. The van will come pick you up. You might need to change clothes if you intend to get your boyfriend’s attention," Mr. Romanov said, and Katya grumbled lowly.

"I’m not trying to get his attention. I’m simply interested in the family business. I’m the heir, remember?" Katya argued stubbornly, and Mr. Romanov chuckled softly.

"My sweet Michka has really grown up," he said with pride.

"Go on now. Don’t miss the transpo. And you’re not going with your friends. Which means you’ll be alone with new faces and carrying a weapon that fires several rounds per minute," Mr. Romanov explained, and Katya just nodded.

He wasn’t ready.

He knew it too.

But he was done playing softball with Sergei.

If the man wanted to stay in the underworld?

Katya would meet him right on that familiar playing field.

"Aren’t you going to tell me to be safe?" Katya stared at his father sheepishly.

"There are over a hundred operatives tasked with making sure you’re safe. But sure, be safe. Also, if you’re to shoot your boyfriend, maybe don’t shoot him in the head. He might actually die.

"I’ve seen your gun range reports, and you’ve been aiming for the head a little too much lately," Mr. Romanov said like he was talking to his son about the weather today.

Katya didn’t even look offended.

He just nodded and kissed his father goodbye.

Then he left.

He switched his clothes with the janitor’s and went into the van that was waiting for him. One that was so dusty it was a miracle these people didn’t die.

Inside the van were Romanov operatives, armed to the teeth. One of them handed Katya a machine gun, and Katya stared at it, as if to remember what he had once been.

An omega.

Just an omega who had a boyfriend who used to come home.

Now he was an armed omega whose target was his boyfriend.

Damn.

The drive to the outpost was a long one. Katya slept and woke up thrice on the way there. He’d slept through the meals the operatives had.

Perhaps because he hadn’t slept properly in months. He’d always been waiting. Hoping. Wondering what life was like for him without Sergei.

And now, armed with a machine gun, he’d managed to sleep for five hours.

No one woke him up. Not even when they reached the destination six hours later.

"Young master, you’ll man the third entrance with me. I’m Hakim," the leader of the group he had come with said, and Katya smiled sadly at him.

"Katya. Just Katya. Not young master," Katya corrected in earnest, and the team shared looks before they just nodded in understanding.

"Everyone, you know the rules and the expectations," Hakim said, and they all nodded in excitement, shooting their guns in the air like they were some revolutionary team.

And Katya just watched.

"You need to fire yours too, Young mas— Katya," Hakim said, and Katya stared quietly.

Still, he didn’t debate.

He had wanted to do this.

So he fired into the air too while everyone cheered. It was a foreign sound to him, really.

He’d gone from being the quiet omega who sat behind a desk to this.

A Romanov operative.

Oh, how times had changed.

"We are here to hijack a Solana cartel drug shipment. There will be a shootout and you—" Hakim began, and Katya interrupted him softly.

"Might die. I know. I’m still here anyway. Don’t worry about me," Katya said, even though under the moon he didn’t even recognize himself.

He was angry at Sergei.

Angry with Sergei.

Mad about everything that had become of them.

He hated everything that had gotten him here. Yet deep down he hoped to see him.

His Vladimir.

The little shit that communicated through flickering lights and made Katya believe he was haunted.

Katya had checked the pattern of the flickering lights earlier that morning. And they were more than patterns.

Messages hidden in the obvious.

Only that Katya believed he was being hunted for real.

I love you, most had said.

I’m sorry, some had spelled.

Don’t look for me, many had insisted.

The thought of that had driven Katya nuts.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he was acting in anger. But it was already seven in the evening, and he heard the operatives talk about the shipment arriving.

There was no getting out now.

But for Sergei, he would do this.

Or maybe it was for both of them, so Sergei didn’t go into danger trying to protect him, no?

But would it matter when he still had a lily tucked in his front pocket?