[KATYA]

Sergei Moskowsky was driving.

As in behind the wheel.

With Katya riding shotgun.

Honestly, this was worse than anything Katya had expected.

It was one thing to be ordered to ride with Sergei. But it was another to watch Sergei ward off drivers and all the security detail like he was in charge this time.

Katya would have felt at ease if this man were normal.

But he wasn’t.

Nothing about this particular Moskowsky was normal. And Katya couldn’t even complain because what was he supposed to say?

That he would sit in the back?

The same back seat that somehow was stashed with boxes?

Katya had no problem sitting with the boxes, really. But they were very heavy. Almost like they were transporting bodies. Only that bodies were not supposed to be that heavy.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sergei was normal in the driver’s seat.

Driving calmly, not yelling at the people who swerved in his direction more than once.

Katya had seen the way the man had held onto the steering wheel like he was truly about to swat someone’s head off with it, yet he still managed to look calm even then.

And Katya was creeped out.

Sergei was trying.

A little too hard.

This was not what would have happened on a normal day, which made Katya wonder what had happened over the weekend. He didn’t have his phone, and the radio was off, almost like Sergei was trying to keep him unaware.

The billboards that were usually filled with breaking news were suddenly filled with adverts about Romanov steel.

The entire city.

Oh, but it was weird.

Katya was terrified of what was waiting for him, yet he couldn’t even question it all.

If he asked about the ride, and why Sergei had listened when it was obvious Anya was his servant, he would only get a logical answer or some shit about not wasting fuel.

On the question of ads, he would probably be told that the Moskowskys were making sure their investment in Romanov Steel didn’t go to waste.

It was weird, really, because even now, a month later, no one knew that the Moskowskys had invested in Romanov Steel.

The papers only showed that an anonymous investor had saved the day and then transferred all their shares to Mr. Romanov. But damn, was it really something. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Even the slaughterhouse was never this cold," Katya sighed absentmindedly as he watched the city act like there was a catastrophe over the weekend.

Gods, he missed his phone.

Maybe Svet would have given him an answer.

Maybe Andre would have explained.

But then he was in a car with Sergei Moskowsky, driving, and he wasn’t even being cursed out.

Oh, but comfort had never been this unnerving for Katya Romanov.

"Did I... Did I fuck up over the weekend, Mr. Moskowsky?" Katya asked quietly, his anxiety slowly getting the better of him with every mile they drove towards the company.

They were late.

Like two hours late.

It was nine o’clock, and Katya and Sergei were still on the road. The man wasn’t even driving like a man who was Kate or even had an empire to run.

He was driving like he was surely taking his time before they got to the inevitable. And that did nothing to calm Katya’s nerves.

"We agreed not to use formalities when we are alone, Solnyshka. Remember?" Sergei said calmly, as if that was the only thing he was focused on.

And Katya didn’t understand.

"My apologies, Mr. M— Vladimir," Katya said, his eyes on the road because he was too horrified to even look in Sergei’s direction.

This was a man who couldn’t be trusted to stay sane for more than a minute.

And it had been well over forty-five minutes.

A drive that on any normal day should have taken them twenty minutes at most. And it only made Katya believe that there was a hell waiting for him at the company.

Gods, he was screwed.

"No more apologizing. Never apologize for things you did not do. And never apologize to me. Ever. Consider that rule number two," Sergei said, and Katya froze.

What the hell was going on?

Why did the barbarian suddenly care about whether Katya apologized or not?

What had happened?

"Sir? I mean... What does that mean, Vladimir?"

"You’re learning. Good."

"But—"

"If I hear you apologize to anyone, I’ll kill them," Sergei said calmly, before he turned to Katya with a smile on his face.

A genuine smile.

Oh, Katya was definitely sure he had fucked up really bad, now.

"You can’t just kill people for—"

"We both know I’ve killed for less, Solnyshka. Unless you want to add a number to that list, be my guest," Sergei said, and Katya sighed.

This man couldn’t be serious.

This man was insane.

This man was infuriating.

This man needed to be stopped.

But who could do that?

"You really are crazy, aren’t you?" Katya sighed exasperatedly before his mind caught up.

And when it did...

His first thought was an apology.

But this barbarian had warned him against it.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Then again, what were the chances that Sergei was bluffing?

"I didn’t mean to... I’m sorry," Katya said, because he felt like it wasn’t exactly the best of ideas, infuriating the devil in the morning. Their offices were separated by a glass wall.

This man could ruin his life, and he wouldn’t even have a choice.

"I’m really sorry," Katya added in earnest.

Suddenly, his seat belt tightened on its own. The headrest on his seat shifted, expanded horizontally, as if it was cushioning him from something.

Then his seat reclined until he was practically lying down.

More cushions were deployed at his feet.

And then...

The car sped.

Not the fifty they were going at initially.

Not the hundred when the car revved on the Frolo streets.

Katya heard alarms within the car.

Heard other cars honking on the outside.

Worse?

Katya saw Sergei unbuckle his seat belt.

This man was crazy.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Katya screeched as the speed went higher, and higher on a morning when there was traffic.

Oh, they were doomed.

"I told you, Solnyshka... Whoever you apologize to... I’ll kill them. Even if that person... Is me," Sergei said, smiling at Katya instead of focusing on the road.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Katya asked, his voice hoarse from all the screaming.

He didn’t believe this man could be that insane, but what the fuck had he gotten himself into?

"You can’t seriously be trying to kill yourself because I apologized!!" Katya said, horrified, and Sergei just smiled sheepishly at him.

"I’m a man of my word, Solnyshka," Sergei said, like it was the most normal of things.

"That is unfair!!" Katya shouted, trying to think.

This man was really going to kill them both.

Well, kill himself, seeing as he had cushioned Katya in the creepiest of ways.

Who in their right mind even did shit like this?

"Anya... I love him," Katya suddenly remembered.

Maybe that was why he took that risk.

"Did you really hate having breakfast with me that much that you would kill yourself?" Katya asked, silently praying for this shit to work.

"What?" Sergei asked, his confusion evident.

"I... I thought we’d share more meals together now that you’re back, but I guess I was wrong," Katya breathed.

Sergei had never applied the emergency brakes that fast.