Chapter 4 #2
Blood left my face, and I was dizzy even when I was sitting.
A memory of the four-year-old child waiting for her Papa Ivan to come home flashed through my mind.
The child, who was eager to show him a stick drawing of a man, woman, and child.
A family. But he never returned. A hitched sob pierced my chest.
I looked at Eliza. “That past has no bearing here.”
“Mr. Zahkarov, please refrain from mentioning your father. It’s distressing Miss King, and has little bearing on the custody hearing. What I will do is extract a promise that there will be no bratva retaliation against any of the Kings, regardless of the result. Do I have your word?”
“Yes,” Kirill answered.
“Miss King, do you deny Mr. Petrov’s claim as your son’s biological father?”
Kolya and I locked eyes.
“No,” I whispered. Theo froze beside me. It wasn’t what we discussed, but face-to-face with Kolya, I couldn’t do that to him. And I forgot why I requested it in the first place.
“Louder, Miss King.”
“No.”
“And if there’s any doubt in this room,” Kolya said smugly. “I’m willing to submit to a DNA test.”
“Both will be done, regardless,” Eliza said. “For the records.”
Theo leaned forward to address Eliza. “We question his fitness to have unfettered access to Sebastian without supervision.”
Kolya slowly turned to Theo.
The two eyed each other steadily. “Mr. Petrov is an active member of an organized crime syndicate,” Theo continued. “He is their enforcer, and we know what that means.”
“Please do elaborate,” Kolya drawled. “Are you saying I’m a murderous son of a bitch?”
Eliza cut Kolya a glare. “I’m this close to ejecting you from the room.”
Kirill snorted, gaining her ire.
“This is not a joke,” Eliza stressed. “We’re talking about a child, and I’m clearly seeing the risks involved here.
There’s an incident reported where you entered the building of Chloe’s residence and threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
And it was recorded that you had four guns, four knives, and a… machete.”
Maksim groaned and glared at his brother and Kolya. I’d only noticed that the legal teams on both sides were scribbling furiously.
“I willingly submitted to a search and was divested of my weapons,” Kolya said in a tone that reminded me of a wolf who’d been asked to justify his fangs.
“Miss King, do you fear for your safety in the presence of Mr. Petrov?” Eliza asked.
For some reason, I wasn’t afraid of Kolya. Not for me. But I feared what he represented. He was an enforcer. He killed for the bratva.
“No. But I don’t want him armed around my son.”
Kolya opened his mouth, but thought better of it and didn’t say a word.
“Miss King, how is your relationship with Sebastian?”
I swallowed dreading that question. I had to admit in the arbitration that I’d been away from my son for a few months because I had feared for my life and my son’s. I didn’t want them to think I was hiding that information.
“He’s adjusting better to me.”
“But at this stage, is Sebastian regarding Dora Ellis as the primary caregiver?”
“Yes.”
“Will opening the NGO interfere with your care for Sebastian?”
“There are many women capable of working and raising a child,” I replied.
“Dr. Hawthorne, the Zahkarovs will embrace Sebastian as our own,” Maksim said. “Sebastian’s biological father will contribute to his care and support Miss King’s pursuit of opening her NGO.”
“We can hire an army of nannies if need be…Dr. Hawthorne,” Theo redirected.
“Mr. King thinks this army of nannies is sufficient, especially since he used them to raise his eight-year-old son.” Maksim was looking at Eliza, but it was a direct jibe at Theo. Come to think of it, I hadn’t met my nephew.
“Do not bring my son into this,” Theo snarled.
“Gentlemen,” Eliza censured. “That was uncalled for, Mr. Zahkarov. But I’ve heard enough and come to a decision.”
Did everyone hold their breath, or was it just me?
“Mr. Petrov, for Miss King’s peace of mind and since you live separately, you will call her to schedule your visits and not simply show up or enter the residence without invitation.”
Oh, Kolya didn’t like that at all. His face morphed into angry lines. “I’m not knocking on a door to see my son.”
“At this early stage, requesting a key to Miss King’s apartment is unreasonable.” Dr. Hawthorne ignored his outburst, launching straight to her verdict. “So, here are the rules:
Supervised visitation for Mr. Petrov.
No unscheduled contact and no unscheduled appearance at Miss King’s residence.
No removal of child without consent. An email or text exchange would suffice.
Both of you will submit to a home environment screening.”
“Is that necessary for Chloe?” Theo interjected. “I understand for Mr. Petrov—we certainly don’t want guns and knives lying around.”
Kolya scratched the side of his jaw to give Theo the middle finger.
“That’s fine,” I blurted. “We’ve done this at Dora’s women’s shelter. It serves the welfare of the child. I have nothing to hide.”
“Good. I’ll schedule an arbitration review in three months. DNA tests to be scheduled within ten days under Marriage Ink custody. And lastly, no intimidation or implied threat.”
Her eyes scanned the room. “Questions?”
The Zahkarov camp didn’t look happy, but nobody spoke.
One second, two seconds.
“This session is adjourned.”
Margo Winthrop was waiting for me when we exited the conference room.
I recognized her from the rare online articles I’d found about her after Theo offered me options to further protect Sebastian.
Her company, Marriage Ink, was more an institution than a corporation.
She was known in secret circles as the matchmaker, the securer of alliances for the wealthy and powerful.
A position handed down for generations.
“Miss King, we haven’t met,” Margo said in a businesslike tone.
And though it appeared bland, I sensed a calculating gleam in her eyes, like she was assessing an asset and its worth.
Still, unlike the arbiter, who you could immediately tell meant no-nonsense business, Margo appeared more fluid, a mystery in her powder-blue capped-sleeve sheath dress and a voluminous French twist. She topped off the elegant look with a string of large pearls around her neck.
“Good to meet you,” I croaked, suddenly nervous because I was feeling Kolya’s glare in our direction.
The handshake was firm, and I was thankful there were no fake hugs.
“What the hell is this?” Kolya stalked toward us. A look of betrayal was written all over his face. Then he spun on Theo. “You’re already marrying her off?”
“I gave her options,” Theo replied coolly. “I couldn’t say the same about you.”
“You said you’re not marrying me,” he said. “Is it just me in particular?”
How dare he made it sound like I was the bad person here. “Best you could offer me was housing. And I have no doubt you can support me financially. I can do that on my own without the strings attached to it.”
“You should have informed me first,” he snapped.
“Why? It’s none of your business who I marry,” I shot back. It really wasn’t. Who I chose to marry didn’t have a bearing as to who my son’s father was.
“My son. My business,” he growled. “Don’t make me hate you, Chloe. You don’t want me as your enemy.”
Theo invaded Kolya’s space, my always-in-control brother practically vibrating with rage. “Sounds like a threat, Petrov. Here’s a threat for you…you want to lose all your rights to your son?”
No, I didn’t want that. I pulled my brother back at the same time Maks grabbed Kolya’s arm to harshly whisper in his ear.
I’d never seen Kolya this livid, not even at the apartment.
With his head turned briefly to listen to Maks, the veins popped along the side of his neck, giving a terrifying lifelike appearance to his slithering-snake tattoo.
He was straining for control. When he addressed me again, his mouth curved into a sneer, nostrils flaring like a raging bull, and the brilliant blue of his eyes pinned me with contempt.
“You think a piece of paper is going to protect our son from danger? I am.”
“That’s just it, Kolya,” I snapped. “You are the danger because you’re surrounded with it. Violence is your job. It’s the definition of your existence. I don’t want my son to grow up amidst the echo of gunfire or sit in a river of blood. Is that so hard to understand?”
His eyes should have cut me in half, but instead his jaw slackened and his gaze veiled with a faraway look. It was as if he wasn’t seeing me but through me.
Unnerved, I turned pleading eyes on the matchmaker to end this tense confrontation.
“Though this family drama is entertaining, I am pressed for time.” Margo clicked her heels in a purposeful pivot toward the elevators. “Mr. Petrov, if you want to toss your hat into the ring, you know where to reach me.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I said, following Margo. “He’s not the marrying kind, and you know my conditions.” Protect my son from the bratva.
And as I stepped into the elevator with Margo and Theo, my eyes sought Kolya again. He was always a magnet for my attention, just him. I didn’t know why, but there was a thread that snapped into place the second I saw him again.
Could I sever it by marrying someone else?
It was wishful thinking because Sebastian forever tied us together.
He still hadn’t moved even when Kirill and Maksim seemed to close ranks around him. Should I feel guilty that I didn’t even give him a chance to prove himself?
The elevator doors slid shut.
No, my son wasn’t a game of chance like Russian roulette.
I needed to have a measure of certainty about his future.