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

[FROLO]

Sergei wasn’t sure what to make of this.

For a moment, he was too confused.

Katya Romanov at Hercules HQ when they were about to go on another mission was not something that Sergei had planned for. Not like this.

And yet the defeated look on Rahim’s face and the defiant one on Katya’s face told him that this was not something that Rahim had done willingly.

The little omega had insisted.

"You can go back, Rahim," Sergei said, and relief washed over Rahim’s face. At least she wasn’t in trouble because of Katya Romanov.

"It’s dangerous to walk at night, Solnyshka," Sergei said once he’d picked himself up from the floor.

"I had Rahim."

"Do you even know what time it is?" Sergei asked, his displeasure at seeing his omega out alone reverberating across the room.

And suddenly...

"I’ll see you guys at work tomorrow," Anya said, leaving first.

"I’ll file the mission reports from home," Yaroslav followed.

"Been a while since my last field mission. Let’s go, myrtles," Rastenkin said, and Reeves, Meera, and Elara grabbed their gear and followed him out.

Soon enough, it was just the two of them.

Sergei.

And Katya.

"They didn’t have to leave. It’s not like we were doing anything wrong," Katya sighed as he plopped on the seat while Sergei stared at him. Like he wasn’t sure what he needed to do.

"You’re in the lower district, at one in the morning. What the hell?" Sergei asked again; this time he didn’t hide his disappointment or displeasure.

Katya, on the other hand, didn’t look as bothered.

"I’m fi—"

"You were careless. Do you even know how dangerous it is to be here right now? What the hell were you thinking?!" Sergei insisted, careful not to raise his voice at Katya.

"I don’t know. Maybe if my boyfriend didn’t run to the lower district instead of facing me for stalking me for eleven years, maybe I would have been home sleeping," Katya said, tone matching Sergei’s while he stared right into Sergei’s eyes, not relenting.

If Sergei wanted to play pissed boyfriend, Katya could help him with that a little too well. This was not the time for them to be fighting, but the cat-and-mouse they’d been playing with each other wasn’t alright.

There had to be a pause, which didn’t make it any easier for them right now.

"I didn’t run," Sergei grumbled.

"You don’t get to be mad at me for coming after you when you left. What the hell did YOU expect me to do? Sit and wait for you while hoping you wouldn’t disappear again? What the hell?!" Katya asked.

Sergei ran a frustrated hand through his hair, his bicep making Katya swallow thickly. He was furious, but this stubborn man wasn’t even making it any easier for him.

"It’s too dangerous out here. You shouldn’t be on this side of the city. You’re—"

"I didn’t come to fight with you. You left me there, like you’d already made the decision to leave. You don’t get to decide how I will feel because of your deeds," Katya stated, not once letting this go.

The topic was uncomfortable for both of them, no doubt, but Katya didn’t appreciate being watched without his consent. Sure, it was for his own protection, but shit, this wasn’t the kind of life he wanted to live.

"I’m sorry," Sergei said dejectedly.

"For what?" Katya asked, and Sergei smiled at him.

"Making you follow me here. I just didn’t know how to stay beside you when you uncovered my not-so-healthy tendencies. I should have told you before about the surveillance, but I wasn’t sure you’d let me protect you.

"It’s not your fault, I just... Gods, this is harder than I imagined," Sergei groaned, trying to formulate his words. There wasn’t much he could say, really.

Katya had seen the documents and everything. All that was left was for him to decide Sergei’s fate, which wasn’t exactly as easy right now.

"I didn’t mean to ruin your sleep too," Sergei added, and at that, Katya couldn’t help but laugh.

This man was insane.

"You—"

"And for not being honest with you about the surveillance. It’s just... I saw you that one time and... and wanted to keep you safe. Anya did warn me you’d kill me for it, and I should have listened. But you were so beautiful, so perfect, so heavenly.

"I couldn’t stay away. Told myself it was for your protection, but it got to a point I couldn’t go a day without seeing you," Sergei explained in shame, and Katya listened as the alpha paced across the room like he didn’t know how to stay still.

So much for the devil of Frolo.

"The cameras at the penthouse... I... I put them because someone was watching you too. I wanted to know if they’d be audacious enough to try and sneak into your house... They were," Sergei explained softly.

"That explains the additional security at the penthouse," Katya noted, remembering how things had changed slowly. The guards weren’t added at once.

They were shuffled at first.

Morning shift, then evening. Then day and night.

It was all so simple, but Katya did notice they had started to be many, but he didn’t think too much about it because at the time he was focused on finding out the source of the cameras he’d already spotted in the penthouse then.

"I was going to take away the cameras, but... I... I got addicted to watching you... Not in a creepy way, I swear. It was like I was watching the best of creation just exist in the same timeline as me.

"Anya said I was falling in love, but it was impossible for me," Sergei said, letting out this line of thought.

Katya couldn’t help but see different sides of Sergei. This man was really more hopeless the more he listened to him.

"You’ll take the cameras out," Katya said, not leaving room for arguments and explanations.

"I did... I sent... Anya did get people to take them out while I was... indisposed," Sergei said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I don’t like what you did," Katya pointed out.

"I know... I’m sorry," Sergei said in shame.

"But I have a feeling your system is the only thing standing between you and your sanity right now. So, if it puts you at ease, you can keep it up," Katya said.

Sergei relaxed visibly.

Almost like he had already been thinking of ways to keep Katya safe without Katya knowing. And he was already aware that it would probably end with him getting caught again. At least he now had permission, right?

"Thank y—" Sergei began, his eyes lighting up.

"Not inside my penthouse. If I find one inside there, you’ll be sleeping on the floor for a year," Katya warned, and Sergei swallowed thickly.

This omega was scary.

The fuck?

"That’s..." Sergei began, and Katya glared at him, making the poor alpha change his statement.

"Agreed."

"Let’s go home then. I would very much like to sleep on our bed," Katya groaned, stretching his arms.

He was still in Sergei’s clothes, probably the only reason Sergei hadn’t completely lost his shit when Rahim came with Katya here.

"Aren’t you going to ask me about this place?" Sergei asked, still nervous about it all.

"I don’t need to know everything you do, alpha," Katya said softly, and Sergei almost cried from relief. Not because Katya had given him a reason. He honestly didn’t care at the moment.

He’d graduated back to alpha. That mattered more than anything right now. Oh, but he was going to make sure he didn’t get demoted again.

He definitely didn’t like hearing Katya calling him Sergei at all.

He’d almost died, fuck.

"You’re staring," Katya pointed out when he noticed he’d been talking and Sergei was just smiling from ear to ear.

"You called me alpha again," Sergei smiled in earnest, and Katya just facepalmed.

"No matter what you do, wherever, you must come home to me. And no more secrets between us. You already have enough to deal with as the devil of Frolo.

"When the sun goes down, you don’t belong to the city. You’re mine," Katya said, and Sergei listened, nodding, eyes soft and ears red like he’d heard the beat of heaven today.

But then again, given how horrified he was about the day, this wasn’t as bad an ending for both of them.

"Solnyshka..."

"What is it, Vladimir?"

"May I?" he asked, staring at Katya’s lips.

"Always," Katya said, and Sergei didn’t need to be told twice.

"Please don’t come to the lower district late in the night without backup," Sergei whispered when they pulled back for breath.

"You should tell my boyfriend that. He’s a runner," Katya said, before pressing their lips again.

Tomorrow the war would continue.

But today... Today he’d just be with his boyfriend.