Contract Marriage: Married to My Ex-Husband's Alpha Stepfather [BL]

[FROLO]

There were so many ways that things could have turned out. That the truth could have looked like. But not one of them looked or even sounded like what Katya had just heard.

It was almost diabolical how he had waited, hoped, prayed, tried to pretend that he was okay. He had watched himself be torn apart by the media for his friendship with Sergei.

He had listened and had to endure the ridicule and the accusations in a second wave because the Frolo society thought he was two-timing his alpha.

And now he was here, hearing the man he had waited for admit that his insecurity had driven him to make the worst of decisions.

Katya stayed rooted to the door, his heart in his hand as he looked between his alpha on the bed, and his best friend who was already contemplating emptying the syringe contents into Alek’s IV bag.

It was a sight that should have horrified Katya and reminded him how dangerous his friends could be. Yet as he looked at them, he could only see a truth that his friends had forced out of the alpha.

A truth that Katya would have most definitely never have known for the longest time.

But the Bratva? Seriously?

"Don’t you trust me anymore?" Katya wondered as he looked at Alek.

It was as if this was the first time he was seeing Alek differently, and boy, did it hurt. He cared for Alek. He loved this man in his own way. He had tried everything to make their relationship work.

The only thing that had kept Katya steady all this time was the fact that Alek had trusted him. That Alek had chosen to be there with him. That they could work on their relationship.

For months, Alek had been insecure, and Katya had done everything possible to be closer. He had rearranged his schedule to be a present boyfriend. He spent more time with Alek.

Hell, he only ever looked at Alek as a life partner.

Sure, he loved Sergei, but he and Sergei both knew that it was stupid to even consider their feelings when Alek was still in Katya’s life, and Katya had respected their relationship.

All that restraint, all that desire pushed back only for Aleksandr to come out and be the reason that shit was slowly going to hell?

"Yeah, that is my cue to leave," Svet said, not even bothering to pull the syringe from the IV bag. She left it there, as a reminder for the alpha that they would be back once Katya was done with him.

Andre wanted to stay. He wanted to watch what they would talk about, and strangely enough, Svet was the sensible one of the two. It was weird, really, because this was not the kind of shit that they dealt with on a daily basis.

"But I want to stay and make sure he won’t lie," Andre grumbled as Svet dragged him out the door.

"If he lies, we will be back, and we will finish what we started," Svet said as she looked at Alek one more time before leaving.

Katya still hadn’t moved an inch from the door.

The distance between the door and the bed was suddenly huge, and Katya didn’t even feel like closing it. Not this time anyway.

Two weeks.

Two whole weeks.

He had stayed patient, and now the man he had been holding onto was seeking out the Bratva because he was insecure. It hurt differently, and maybe that was also why Katya was pissed.

"The Bratva’s backing? Against Sergei? Sergei Moskowsky?" Katya asked, and this time he made a step into the room, the surprise and disappointment on his face obvious.

He still couldn’t believe that of all the choices Alek could have made, this was the one he chose to lean into.

The Kumarin Bratva of all the things.

Maybe it would have been better if the Bratva were stronger than Sergei. If they had a better reach than Sergei. If the Bratva were worth something against Sergei Moskowsky.

But that wasn’t even the case because everyone knew what Sergei was.

Who Sergei was.

What he could do.

It was just common sense to steer clear of the man, yet his insecure boyfriend was suddenly considering the most useless option against the one man who had respected their relationship to this day.

It was appalling.

"Little rose..." Alek strained as he sat up. It was not exactly how he had hoped things would go for him, but he was beyond the redemption arc this time now, or wasn’t he?

There had been other options he could have explored, but he had chosen the one that seemed to work faster for him. Besides, what else was he to do against Sergei as a good senator?

"You didn’t trust me," Katya whispered, the disbelief evident as he wiped away his furious tears.

For a moment, Katya hated how his tear glands were always ready to spill when he was emotionally spent. It was almost like he couldn’t even catch a break despite everything that was happening.

"I trust you. I have always trusted you. But Sergei... I don’t trust him," Alek said, his honesty making Katya just stare. It was bound either way. They had tried to do everything to fix their relationship, and still, the alpha’s insecurity won.

What were they even supposed to do after this?

Katya stared at Alek, his mind whirring with endless questions about the possibilities. And for a moment, he wondered what Alek would do next the next time he felt like he was losing a battle that wasn’t even being fought.

Katya had never given him a reason to be skeptical. He’d been a good boyfriend; he knew it too. But then, time and so many things were enough for Alek to lose his cool.

"So if you don’t trust him, you go off to do stupid things and get yourself hurt? What were you even thinking? You could have died! I could have lost you!" Katya said, his anger showing as his tears fell down hard and fast.

He hated this.

Hated how he was so emotional.

But then he was losing again. And he didn’t even have a way to fix this.

How was he supposed to fix an insecure man when everything he had done in the past weeks was meant to keep their relationship steady and somehow had still managed to get the alpha into the stupidest of decisions?

What the hell was he even to do anymore?

"Little rose, I—"

"I could have lost you too," Katya said defeatedly, as he stared at the bandages on Alek. His boyfriend looked like a mummy and all because he wanted more power against the one person who didn’t even want to ruin their relationship.

Katya knew if Sergei had really wanted to be possessive, he would not have stepped back after Katya confessed. He knew how Sergei’s brain worked these days, and maybe that was why he was so angry.

Because everything they had done was still worth nothing.

"I’m sorry," Alek said, and Katya just looked at him defeatedly.

It was as if he was trying his very best to understand, but there was no valid explanation. None that would ever make any sense anyway. What Alek had done was selfish.

"Yeah, me too."

Then Katya walked out.