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

Chapter 185: Ash Raining From The Blood Orange Sky

[SERGEI]

The dinner with Svetlana and Andre was one that Sergei was certainly never going to forget.

Not anytime soon anyway.

The memory of what they had said would probably haunt him for a long time, yet as he walked into his penthouse at eleven o’clock in the evening, Sergei willed himself to forget.

To postpone.

Because today was a successful day. And a dinner with two psychos wasn’t going to determine how the rest of his night went.

He would think about that later.

"You’re back," Irina’s voice snapped Sergei out of his thoughts of the damned dinner, her presence an unwelcome sight at this point in time.

He didn’t need anyone to add to his problems today, really.

"Why are you here?" Sergei asked passively, as he looked at Irina, who wasn’t even budging.

"You came home late," Irina said, and Sergei sighed.

"We broke up, Irina. There is no need for you to be here," Sergei said, as if that was supposed to make the woman leave.

But they both knew it wouldn’t be enough.

Even the breakup itself wouldn’t keep them apart.

Maybe that was why they fit each other.

They were both obsessive psychos, right?

"You smiled a lot today," Irina pointed out flatly, the wine glass in her hands twirling gently as if that was supposed to make this any lighter.

This was dangerous territory she was leaning into.

She knew it.

Sergei knew it.

And it was just a matter of time before it exploded in her face.

Katya Romanov was a subject that they never talked about.

Not like this.

Never like this.

Yet on a day Sergei was already pissed and just needing to rest, Irina was onto it again.

"Irina..." Sergei warned.

"...For him," Irina said, like she was stating the obvious.

There was no spite in her voice, only a resolution so familiar that it had Sergei staggering for a moment.

Of course, she had noticed.

It was what people like Irina did. Besides, it wasn’t even that hard to understand after what had happened back there.

"You’re walking dangerous waters," Sergei said, and Irina just laughed at him lightly like that was supposed to snap the woman out of whatever the fuck she was aiming for.

"They’ll notice," Irina added calmly, quietly, like the world was taking a different shape for both of them. It was an insane line of thought, but what the fuck, right?

Sergei didn’t say a word.

He just walked to the bar and poured himself a drink. He needed something to mute everything out.

To mute Irina out.

To mute them all out.

But would it work for him?

"You’re slipping," Irina kept talking, and Sergei just stared at her blankly.

It was almost unhinged how they were communicating at the moment. But maybe because they had known each other for so long. Maybe because they knew each other’s patterns before the media and even beyond the media.

"He called you Mr. Vladimir," Irina said.

Sergei lifted his head up boredly as if to ask Irina what she was talking about.

But he knew.

Of course, he knew.

That mention had been enough to set a few things in motion. It was the kind of shit that people never missed.

"Your employee called you by your middle name, Sergei. And you smiled," Irina pointed out the ridiculousness of that situation back there.

But what was Sergei supposed to do?

He was finally making progress with Solnyshka. He was finally getting to see a side of his omega that he had never seen before.

The lighthearted Katya, who didn’t hide from him.

The happy Katya, who didn’t have to think twice before acting on anything around Sergei.

"You need to leave," Sergei said coldly, his tone flat, but Irina just stared at him, amusedly.

"He makes you happy, doesn’t he?" Irina asked.

Sergei froze.

Was that what had happened?

Was his Solnyshka making him happy?

Was it that obvious?

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Sergei insisted, and Irina let out a mocking laughter. It was like she was telling Sergei that this wasn’t the time for them to be playing these games.

They knew each other so well.

Then again, they were broken up, and Irina was still in his penthouse.

"He knows we broke up," Irina added as she sat on the arm of the couch, her eyes holding the kind of glint that had Sergei’s blood going cold.

Maybe because of the way that things had aligned.

But Sergei was also not stupid.

Breakup or not, Katya was genuine with him.

It was one thing that he had seen over these past months. Especially since the Romanov omega was a terrible liar and an advocate for humanity.

There was no slandering of his omega there.

Katya cared, even if just not in the way that Sergei hoped for. But it was enough for a start.

Besides, even the greatest battles had to be won eventually by starting the defense, right?

"And?" Sergei asked boredly.

"Your little omega chairman was hiding in the room next door while you broke up with me, Sergei. He could be one of them," Irina said, and this time it was Sergei who laughed.

It was the dumbest thing he had ever heard from Irina.

Katya Romanov?

One of them?

Even Satan had better credibility than that.

"You’re tired. Go to sleep, Irina. No more talks about this bullshit," Sergei said with a tone of finality, like Irina was supposed to drop the subject.

But Irina...

Oh, Irina.

She wasn’t letting it go.

It was like she had identified the threat to her relationship with Sergei. But was Katya even a threat to their bond? Wasn’t it all in her head?

Then again, she had noticed how fondly Sergei had looked the entire time Katya was talking or even when Katya just existed.

It was as if the alpha became a whole different person, and it was creepy and insane on so many levels.

Yet that didn’t matter to Sergei.

His Solnyshka was happy.

That was all he would ever care about.

"I told you, Sergei. We are not done. Not yet anyway. You’re my boyfriend... and darling... You have a weakness now," Irina said, amusedly, like this was what she was getting at.

Sergei laughed at the realization still.

There had been hints over the weeks, but damn, this was one that he was fairly interested in.

"Romanov, you think?" Sergei asked with a smile on his face like he had finally uncovered the difference between water and wine. But was it that hard?

"You care about him. More than you want to admit. You never used to be weak. Or soft. Until him," Irina said, like that was supposed to terrify the alpha.

"Then go after him," Sergei said, a comfortable smile playing on his lips.

"What?" Irina asked, surprised.

"Go after him if you think he is my weakness," Sergei taunted, and Irina stared at him defiantly.

"You think I wouldn’t?" Irina asked like she had the leverage.

"I know you well enough, sweetheart, to know you would," Sergei said as he walked towards the woman on the couch.

"Sergei," Irina warned.

And Sergei just grabbed her by the jaw and kissed her, hard and roughly.

"Pray that when you do, Yaro doesn’t get heartbroken," Sergei whispered.

"If my son gets hurt emotionally..." Sergei said, tracing Irina’s lips dangerously.

"I shouldn’t remind you of the obvious, no? Goodnight, sweetheart," Sergei said, pecking Irina’s lips before he walked to his bedroom.