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11. Katerina

Four days of no contact. I knew he was angry. He had every right to be angry and I tried to be patient. I’m well aware that I’m the one with the disadvantage in this situation. But still, there’s only so much time I can spend waiting.

His eyes roam over my face like they always do, searching for something, although I have no idea what. He seems satisfied though as he leans back in his chair. His muscles flex as he crosses his arm. I get the feeling he’s trying to give off the picture of ease and calm. His black hair is slightly rumpled, which means he’s run his hands through them a few times today. Something he tends to do when he’s frustrated or angry.

“Trust me, you have my full attention now,” he says in a dry tone.

“Good, because I had no way of calling or texting you. And you going dark on me for days after that last conversation is just cruel.”

One eyebrow flicks up. “I’m cruel for going dark on you for a few measly days? Katerina, you disappeared for fucking years.”

That hits me like a bolt to my chest.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. But is this really why you’re here? For revenge? To punish me?” I ask in frustration.

He gets to his feet, stalking around the desk before leaning down in front of it. He crosses his arms over his chest.

“Believe it or not, I have no desire to punish you. I couldn’t care less about you.”

Well, that hurts. But its pain I deserve.

“Okay,” I nod. I walked in here intent on not getting into a fight or arguing with him. He holds all the cards right now and if I have to play docile lamb to get what I want then so be it. “I get that too.”

His eyes narrow. “You’re being way too agreeable.”

My hands go up over my head, “What do you want from me?”

“I already gave you my terms, princess. You’re the one unwilling to accept.”

“Oh you mean the unfair deal where I gain next to nothing?”

He shrugs. “Take it or leave it. But I’m not giving you what you want.”

I take in a deep breath, glad that his office has blinds and the door is shut. We have privacy but I’m not sure what else to say, I look around, cataloguing the room. It’s huge and new. The entire building is, considering it has only just commenced operation.

There’s a plush set of couches in the center of the office and I walk towards them, taking a seat. When I look back at Xander, he seems slightly amused. He pushes off the desk and takes a seat on the couch farthest from me.

“There has to be something I can do. Please, I just want to see him,” I say softly after a couple seconds of silence.

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“You just want to meet him once and then you’ll stay away from him? Never approach him again.”

I stay quiet. I can’t answer that question in the affirmative. He offers me a smile, it’s not in any way friendly.

“That’s exactly why I can’t say yes, Katerina. If I do then it’s just giving you an opening to worm your way into his life. And then you abandon him again.”

My jaw clenches. “I would never do something like that again.”

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it? The answer is no. Nothing’s going to change my mind.”

I swallow softly, changing tactics.

“This is all because you don’t trust me,” I say gently. “What if I found a way to prove to you that I’ve changed? That I’m not that person anymore.”

“It isn’t just about trust,” he says sounding frustrated. “You sit there, talking about change and I barely even knew who you were before.”

“You can get to know me. Ascertain for yourself exactly how my presence in your son’s life will affect him.”

He arches an eyebrow. “You mean one meeting. I’m not letting you into his life, Katerina. No way in hell.”

Baby steps.

“Just please, give me a chance. I’m literally begging you, Alexander. You might not know me and you might not be able to trust me but you and I both know I never beg.”

“Yeah but I hold all the cards now. You’re at my mercy.”

I make a face at that. “Not a fan of that wording, but whatever you say.”

His eyes get that mischievous gleam they used to get when he was younger. But in the next breath, it disappears, leaving icy cold behind.

“So, how have you been?” he asks conversationally.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“You said you’d give me a chance to get to know you and see if I can trust you with my son. This is my way of doing it.”

My lips curl upwards. “By asking how I’ve been?”

“I’ve heard it’s a marvelous conversation starter. Come on, tell me. Did you graduate Harvard?”

“Yes. I’d have thought you’d would have found out everything about me over the years. Keeping tabs on me to ensure I stay away.”

He shakes his head. “I wanted nothing more than to forget you so no. Once you disappeared, I tried to reach you for weeks. When it was clear you weren’t coming back, I gave up.”

I wish that didn’t hurt as much as it does.

“Okay,” I inhale softly. “So yeah, I graduated Harvard. Then I went to law school, became a lawyer. It was all very fulfilling.”

That’s a lie. Passing the bar felt like going through motions that were expected of me. I never really wanted to become a lawyer. But my father used to mention growing up how it was always a good idea to have the knowledge of the law on our side during the course of our business. So I sacrificed, I decided I’d be the one to take on that responsibility.

“Liar,” Xander breathes.

I stare at him in surprise. “What?”

He shifts in his chair. “You do this thing when you lie. You don’t know? There’s this slight uptick in your jaw, barely noticeable. But I noticed a long time ago. Back then I thought it was just a weird quirk. But thinking back on it, you only used to get it when you were telling me lies.”

I blink, looking at him for a long moment. The silence stretches and becomes uncomfortable until he clears his throat.

“Anyway, my turn. I’ll tell you how I’ve been, although I didn’t do anything nearly as fulfilling. As I’m sure you already know, after I graduated, I joined my father’s company, worked my way up slowly. My old man wanted us to know the value of hard works and refused to let us take any shortcuts. So I started as an intern, got officially hired and things progressed from there. I’m the vice president now.”

He seems to be downplaying what I’m sure was a lot of effort to get where he is. His father’s a hard proud man, worse than my Papa, especially when it comes to his expectations of his children.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy,” I tell Alexander, offering him a small smile.

“Yeah well. I did what I had to do to provide for myself and Nate.”

My breath hitches at the sound of his name. I clear my throat, daring to ask a question.

“Can you tell me about him? Please?”

“Twice in one day, princess? You sure you’re a big bad scary boss?”

I roll my eyes. “Will you tell me or not?”

“Fine. I’m not going to give you too much information but he’s a great kid. He likes to read, he’s good with numbers and he also has a particular talent when it comes to taking apart devices and rebuilding them.”

“Rebuilding them?” I ask confused.

He leans forward, eyes shining with pride. “When he was seven, I came home to find a 3D printer in pieces. I was pretty surprised. He looked a little worried I’d be mad. I wasn’t. But the next morning when I woke up, he’d found a way to put it all back together.”

“That’s crazy,” I murmur.

“I know right?” Xander chuckles. “I had his IQ tested soon after. It’s pretty high. Not quite genius level but pretty damn close.”

My heart swells with pride I have no right to be feeling.

“Since then, I’ve helped to cultivate his talents. Bringing home different machines to see how he’d work with them. He hasn’t shown an affinity for hacking, yet. But he’s good with computers, taking them apart at least.”

I nod, thinking back on all the moments I must have missed. Now that he’s forthcoming with information, I realize I have no many questions. So much I want to ask but I can’t. If I push too hard, he’ll push back and I can’t afford that.

“The Colton’s are having some form of gala in about a week. It occurs annually,” I suddenly stay.

He tilts his head to the side, “And?”

“And owing to our partnership, my family has been consistently invited for the past few years. I’ve never gone but I figured this year I’ll show up and maybe I’ll bring a date.”

He frowns. “They’d recognize me in a heartbeat, princess. And in case you forgot, the whole point of this is to not get caught and ensure it can’t be traced back to my family.”

“Yeah, I know that. But the gala, is also a masquerade,” I tell him with a smile.

He arches an eyebrow, and then his mouth is lifting into a smile as well. A genuine one.

“What kind of tech company thinks it’s a good idea to throw a masquerade party? Those are security nightmares,” he states.

“A nightmare for them, an opportunity for you,” I point out.

His smile widens. “So you’re going to help?”

“Of course. I’m trying to build trust or at least some semblance of it. And that starts with doing this for you.”

The phone on his desk starts to ring. He offers me an apologetic glance before standing to pick it up. He speaks to the person on the other line for only a couple of seconds before dropping the call. He looks at me.

“I have a meeting, princess. But I’ll text you so we can work out the details of our plan. Is that okay?”

I nod, getting to my feet. “Of course, thank you. And I promise not to barge in here next time.”

“No need. I’ll be giving the front desk a picture of you and having you banned from the premises,” he says, giving me a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

The words are teasing but I get the feeling he’s not completely joking. I also understand that was his way of telling me not to come here again.

“Got it,” I tell him. “See you later, Alexander.”

“You can go back to calling me Xander,” he informs me. “Alexander sounds weird, especially coming from you.”

Our eyes meet from across the room and I blink at the sudden lightness in them.

“Bye Xander,” I say softly before walking out.

When I informRico that I’ll be attending the Colton gala, he has more than a couple of questions. But it isn’t until I tell him that I won’t be needing any security for the night that the questions become a full on inquisition.

“What’s going on, Katerina?” he asks, his expression suspicious.

“Nothing. I am allowed to attend a party on my own, am I not?”

“You are, but you wanting to go there without any protection is suspicious.”

I look up, fixing him with a hard stare. “If it was my Papa making such a request, you wouldn’t question him for a second.”

Rico has a retort to that ready. “Sure but you’re not Eduardo, you’re my cousin. And ever since Alexander Steele arrived in town, you’ve been acting weird. I want to know why. Because I’m a hundred percent sure your wanting to attend the gala has something to do with him.”

I let out a soft breath of frustration. It’s not like I blame him for having so many questions. He’s right, I am acting suspicious. But only because I’m keeping so many secrets and I have no idea how to even begin to unpack them.

He has no idea that I’m working against the Colton’s. Rico’s supposed to be my second in command, but I’m keeping things from him that could very well be detrimental to the family. Then again, I can’t risk him finding out that I have a son. That would be catastrophic. Which means I have to keep it all hidden, no matter how much I hate it.

“Rico, can you please just let it go?” I ask tiredly.

A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Fine but I’m not the person you’re going to have to contend with. Your father’s partly the reason you have so much security in the first place. If he finds out you’re going to that party alone, he’ll have questions.”

My father’s more open minded than most people in our world. Female Dons are extremely uncommon but he’s never made me or my sister feel like less just because we’re women. He always used to say that from the moment I was born, I was his heir. And I did my best to be worthy of that. To be worthy of the title. He passed it on to me, albeit under duress but with a promise that he wouldn’t interfere. He’d let me be the leader he raised me to be.

But it seems I need to remind him of that. I can’t rule if my father is continuously pulling the strings in the background.

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