Chapter 55: Retribution’s Best Warrior
[SERGEI]
She was crazy. He knew it even then.
That’s why he had sent those two cars earlier.
He needed her to see Katya like that. He needed her to say what everyone else was scared of saying.
That all of this was his fault.
That he had failed.
That he had completely lost his damn mind.
He was aware of it, even then.
Because Sergei needed someone who wasn’t scared of him.
Someone who did not understand where he was coming from. He needed someone who was not going to be manipulated into believing the version of truth that Sergei believed for himself.
The truth was that Katya was safe and protected.
He needed someone who was not afraid to end his life if given the chance.
And Svetlana Vasileiva was that person.
Sergei had known, even before leaving the company earlier with Katya, that he had crossed a line that he never should have. That he had one thing he should never have done. He had cornered Katya, and his Solnyshka had bled for it.
It was on him.
He had ruined him.
And Svetlana? She was never going to play about Katya. She was going to set him straight.
So, when Sergei came to the company after seeing the cars for them, he knew it was just a matter of time before Svetlana came after him. That woman only feared the deities; he was very well aware of that truth.
Perhaps that was why he had waited for her.
Because this time?
He wouldn’t fight her.
How could he, when she would be right to want him dead? When she would be right to do whatever the fuck she wanted just to rid Katya of the Moskowskys?
He knew she would want to burn the company.
And Sergei...
He was ready to hand her the fuel and the matchstick.
Empires fell and got rebuilt again, but people like Katya never came twice in a lifetime. They were so rare, so very rare, that Sergei realized how close he had come to losing the omega. That he had fucked up that much.
She was a spitfire, the kind that Katya needed in her life to keep him safe, and Sergei was forever thankful for that.
Even when she snapped Yaroslav’s neck twice, like she was telling him that if she wanted to, she would have killed his son.
Even when she had dropped Vitya’s name like it was nothing to her.
"Well then, I suppose you wouldn’t mind me taking your useless son with Vitya away for interrogation, would you?" Svet had said.
And Sergei had watched the entire gathering be silent.
Even though he had clenched his teeth.
Not because Vitya was mentioned and the city had every right to be terrified at the name drop. Sergei had not exactly been a normal person when Vitya had died, and he understood that.
But that wasn’t what mattered to him right now.
It had been almost thirty years, and he had healed... even if not fully.
It was just enough not to get triggered by it. frёewebηovel.cѳm
His teeth had clenched because Svet being here proved that he was right.
That he had hurt Katya to the point that his friend was ready to sacrifice herself.
’I’m so sorry, Solnyshka,’ Sergei apologized internally, his face scrunching in rage, which evidently everyone assumed was for Svet and her actions.
Then the woman smirked victoriously, and Sergei?
He was impressed.
He had been bested. Cornered in the kind of way that was painfully sweet. And fuck if he didn’t already respect the woman for her protectiveness over Katya.
He watched her rage after, and he didn’t try to defend himself as much. Because deep down, he knew this woman, he did one thing Anya couldn’t do. Reprimand him and shame him for his insanity in public, even if just indirectly.
Anya was always the gentle one, even when she was pissed.
But Svetlana was explosive.
Sergei took the scolding faithfully. Because this crazed woman was the reminder that Katya was never alone.
That Katya was human.
That Katya was not just another object of Sergei’s obsession.
That right there was his pull to reality.
And while he knew he would never let go of Katya no matter what Svet three had at him, it was almost nice to have someone ram his head figuratively in front of the entire city without thinking twice.
It was all good.
All fun for Sergei even as everyone was tense.
Until...
The tracker.
"...location tracker he put on his body the day of his inauguration..." Svet had said.
And Sergei’s world tilted.
Completely.
He always knew he was a monster. He never once denied it.
But learning that Katya had a tracker in him on the day of his inauguration...
Sergei couldn’t think.
Couldn’t breathe.
The world was condemning him.
His actions had ruined his omega.
’I gave him everything... why would he need... why would he have... a tracker?’ the barbarian thought to himself. His desperation was something that he hadn’t touched on since the office earlier.
This was worse than seeing the blood on the floor. Worse than shooting his son. Worse than everyone condemning him.
Because slowly he understood.
Why Katya’s friends were so angry.
Why Svet had offered to burn his penthouse.
Why Svet was determined to kill him eventually.
’Someone tagged my omega?’ was the first thing Sergei thought of.
The idea of Katya being treated like property sickened him to the stomach. It made him want to burn the city to the ground.
’That’s why he didn’t object to the new residence?’ Sergei wondered.
Because to him, Katya moving to his residence meant that Katya had come to him for protection. He wasn’t objecting because he was safer there.
And Sergei... was glad that his omega had chosen to stay.
That his omega had trusted him that much.
That this was the first step in their progressive affection with each other.
He did want love if Katya wasn’t giving it.
He didn’t want affection if it wasn’t from Katya.
He didn’t want kindness if it wasn’t from Katya.
The only thing he wanted was Katya, Katya, and Katya. That was all.
But someone was threatening his Katya.
Someone was tagging his omega.
And he wouldn’t let it happen.
So angrily, he snapped out of his trance and focused on him. The woman who was fighting for Katya.
He wanted to tell her they were on the same side. That they both wanted to protect Katya from whoever had tagged him.
"He is a Moskowsky, where the hell do you think he should be, huh?" Sergei snapped possessively, shaking in rage.
He couldn’t believe that someone had dared to hurt his omega.
It had to be fucking Yaroslav.
Oh, he would kill his son if he were the one who put a tracker in Katya.
He would kill that stupid boy with his own hands.
Once again, the world went quiet.
But this time, Sergei didn’t care.
He didn’t care on any normal day, but this accusation right here, or even how the world would interpret his response, was not his focus.
"I’m going to find who put a tracker in him," Sergei growled, and Svetlana looked at him like he was truly stupid, something that confused Sergei.
Weren’t they on the same side?
"He did it to himself, dumbass," Svet argued angrily.
"What?" Sergei asked.
"It was the only way we’d find his body if you Moskowskys killed him."
Sergei felt himself die.