Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Chloe
“Is it my imagination, or were people staring at us on our way here?” I settled into a chair while Kolya transferred Sebastian to a high chair and positioned him close to me.
“We make an interesting family.” Kolya folded the stroller away and sat on the chair that would put Sebastian between us. I noted a hint of irritation in his voice, though.
So I pressed, “Is there news that I’m not aware of?”
Did my stay at The Astorian make it to the press? Was I causing Theo a headache again?
“Of course not.” He nodded at the menu in front of me. “They have a variety of burgers.”
“I want a simple double patty with extra cheese on a potato bun. Fries.” I put down the menu. “Sebastian can share mine.”
Kolya wasn’t looking at me. He seemed unusually interested in the beer selection.
When our server arrived, he took his time questioning her.
I never understood the fascination with beer.
Every time I tasted one, it was bitter. Maybe it was an acquired taste.
Although I’d once seen on TV some people were more sensitive.
Something about bitter taste receptors that gave them an aversion to beer.
“Do you want anything else, Chloe?”
I shrugged. “Just burger, fries, and a Coke.” I wanted to sit by the window, but Kolya vetoed it and told the hostess to give us a table farther inside the restaurant.
There were women on their phones trying to film through the restaurant window.
The restaurant manager went out and ushered them away. They giggled.
Kolya muttered, “Excuse me, I need to make a call.”
Displeasure darkened his face. I really thought people were watching us. I checked my phone to see if I had any news notifications from the sites I had set, but I didn’t see anything.
Then I saw a notification pop up from Ivy.
I saw the rolling laughter emoji, and it made me curious.
When I opened it. It was a link to a video.
Ivy
It’s giving daddy vibes, and the internet is feral.
I clicked on the link and it played a footage recorded from the café. Kolya was talking to Sam, who thankfully had her face blurred in the video. Then it cut through a segment of Kolya standing, carrying Sebastian and settling him in the carrier. Then Kolya and me. Kolya doing the leaning thing.
The caption: Daddy Kolya is so fine and hot. Chloe King is so lucky.
I would admit that leaning thing was hot as hell. Even I was steaming all over it.
Me
I don’t know whether to laugh or be appalled.
Enjoy your 15 minutes. You’re the internet’s most envied woman.
Or hated. Also, I don’t know what to think with the kids caught up in this.
Or what Theo would think. He kept Gage out of the limelight.
Ivy
Don’t worry. Trevor’s been alerted, and he’s taking down inappropriate captioned content where Sam’s and Sebastian’s faces weren’t blurred. Sam loves being in the videos for the café’s Pixygram, so that girl is a pro.
Kolya returned. A scowl on his face.
“Are you annoyed because you went viral?” I still didn’t know whether to laugh or worry.
His scowl deepened. “Who told you?”
“Ivy. It’s all over Pixygram. You’re winning Daddy of the Year.”
“Fuck me,” he muttered as he lowered himself onto the chair. “I’m sorry, Chloshka.” A contrite expression lined his face.
I reached across the high chair and squeezed his hand.
“I guess we make interesting online fodder. I’m sorry if our situation only dug up your wrongful charge as a serial killer.
” The public was contrary in some ways. When Kolya was arrested, I was aghast at how there was a group on the internet who were titillated because of his looks.
While I was feeling sick to my stomach that my baby daddy might be the next Ted Bundy, there were women who wanted to be impregnated by him.
“So, did you have fan mail when you were inside?” When Kolya had been absolved of the crime, his “hotness level” skyrocketed.
Public outrage over a wrongfully imprisoned man was a powerful force to be reckoned with.
Politically, it helped the bratva defeat the previous DA.
Unfortunately, it was detrimental to Kolya’s job.
Kolya glared at me. “Yes.”
The answer brooked no further discussion, but I was too curious not to follow up with, “And now?”
He glanced around. “Where’s that beer?” Then he cast me a fleeting glance. “Do we have to talk about this?”
“About your fame?”
“Infamy, you mean,” he grunted. “Look, I’m baffled. I just want to do my god—” He flattened his mouth when Sebastian peeked at him with inquisitive eyes. “To do my job. And it has been a pain since I’m easily recognized.”
I imagined he couldn’t approach his targets anymore unless he was in meticulous disguise.
The waitress swung by and delivered our drinks and appetizers. Sebastian immediately reached for a cheesy fry. I picked one up and blew on it. “Is there any other job in the organization that you can do?”
“Kirill wants me to resurrect the branch…recently vacated by my cousin Grigori.”
I glanced around. A burger joint wasn’t exactly the right place to discuss bratva politics.
“But you don’t want to?”
“I’m considering it. I’ll be able to delegate my work. Lead instead of doing the gritty work.”
“Are you doing it because of Sebastian?”
His intense gaze made it impossible to hold it. The same burning in his eyes, like he wanted to devour me while setting my body ablaze with dirty thoughts of writhing bodies. I noticed it at the boxing gym. Kolya was unusually intense—well, territorial.
“Yes, but that depends on how well I run it. It’ll free up more time I can spend with you and Sebastian.” He puffed a laugh. “But if I screw up, then the opposite may happen.”
“I don’t want you to take a position because of us.”
“Why not?”
“Let me rephrase. I don’t want you to take a job where you’re not happy or fulfilled. You’re only going to resent us later.”
I had to keep a straight face because “fulfilled” was such a terrible euphemism for torturing information out of someone or even worse. And why was I so blasé about this?
Sebastian pounded the table and reached for the fry I’d forgotten between my fingers.
A faint smile traced Kolya’s mouth as he watched his son nibble on the cheesy treat.
“You and Sebastian give me something else to live for,” he said.
“I’ve thought about this, Chloshka. It might not make sense because anyone with my blood is bound to a dangerous life.
But being around you and Sebastian brings me peace.
I don’t think about the violence that drives my actions.
I think about protecting the peace I have with you and my son.
I think about…” He exhaled heavily. “Happiness. An emotion I never truly felt before.”
“What happened to your parents?” I’d been dying to know since I asked that question.
It wasn’t prying. It affected Sebastian, but I also understood that Kolya needed time to tell me.
The information I gleaned that day in the basement left me reprocessing all my doubts and alleviating some of my fears.
It turned out all I needed was honesty from the father of my son.
Kolya took a sip of his beer as if contemplating what to tell me. “They died because of me. My father’s mistake was choosing to leave the Petrov clan when they could have protected us then. My mother…didn’t want to have anything to do with the Petrovs nor…you know…”
I nodded. The Vozhokari.
“I won’t make the same mistake. I know you have the Kings and an army of security should you choose to use it, but to survive being related to me, our son needs to understand the ruthlessness of our enemies.”
He said this so quietly even when the chatter in the restaurant drowned out conversation coming from adjacent tables.
“But what can we do? That post that went viral is inevitable because I will not live as a secret again. I’m sure they’re watching and it could only inflame them.”
“That’s why I had Ilya take down as many videos as possible.”
“Trevor is at it too because of Sam.”
“It’s a mess.”
Something else occurred to me as I started mindlessly eating a fry, sipping my Coke. What was it? Oh...
“Do you think there are any clues to who might be after us in your fan mail?”
“Stop calling it fan mail.” But his voice was resigned.
Despite the situation, I laughed. Here was a fierce-looking man. Strong angular face; his hair had grown out of its close crop, and was in messy waves that fell across his eyes. It gave him a sinister air. He had tattoos snaking up his neck like most of the bratva.
And he had fan mail.
“What else are you going to call it?”
“I’ll never hear the end of it from Kirill and Maksim. The other guys snicker behind my back. I’m sure of it.”
“Well, at least they’re scared enough not to do it to your face. You haven’t lost your edge.”
Our burgers arrived, and the food occupied us for a while. Kolya and I took turns feeding Sebastian charred ground beef.
“He loves it.” Kolya chuckled.
“I read that the flavor window for babies is between four months and two years, where they’re willing to entertain different tastes.”
“I’ll have him chewing on a steak yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Vegetables, Kolya. I hated vegetables as a kid. I don’t want Sebastian to grow up hating broccoli.
” I shook my head. “I was a picky eater who loved chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and baked spaghetti.” I sighed.
“I feel so awful now about what I put Renée through.” But maybe I was acting up and blaming her for Ivan leaving.
He stared at me. “You turned out all right.”
I rolled my eyes.
“It’s normal.” He leaned back in his chair and bit a hefty chunk out of his burger.
Was it strange that I loved watching him eat?
My gaze split between Kolya and Sebastian.
I had to hold back saying, my boys. A longing pinched my heart.
Kolya was proposing that we become a family. Why was I holding back again?