AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And the simplicity of that statement causes my heart to ache. She is his mom. Its blood and it should be able to transcend everything else, but sometimes it doesn’t.
“Well good, because I like her too.”
His eyes brighten. “You do?”
“Sure, sport. I do.”
“So, she’s your friend?”
I nod. And he grins.
“Thank you for being friends with her, dad. I thought about it and if you didn’t like her then maybe I shouldn’t have liked her either.”
Well fuck. I didn’t even think about how my actions could affect his perception of Katerina.
“You can like her, Nate. No matter what.”
He nods and after making sure that I’ll make the call, he leaves to go back to playing. One thing the conversation with Nate proves is that I can’t afford to fuck things up with Katerina. I heard what my sister said. And maybe a part of me knows that she’s right. But everything is so fragile right now and I stand by the fact that I can’t afford for anything to break.
Later that night, I’m on the phone with her. Mostly to ask when she’ll be able to see her son. But also to see just how normal we can actually be.
“I’ll be busy tomorrow but I’ll come the day after. Maybe late evening. I can have dinner with you guys before returning home.”
“You could always stay over,” I suggest, lying face up on my bed and trying to ignore the way even the sound of her voice has an effect on me.
“I could but I’m trying to establish boundaries,” Katerina states. “We are still trying to be friends, right?”
I clear my throat. “Right,” I agree. “Good call.”
Who knows what I might do with the knowledge that she’s right downstairs in a room not too far from me. She’s absolutely right. Staying overnight would be a bad idea.
She doesn’t speak for a couple of seconds.
“I really do want to go back to how it was before, Xander. You weren’t just my boyfriend back then, you were my best friend. I want that more than anything. Scratch that, I need that. I need you.”
Her voice is soft, vulnerable. In a way I know she never is with anyone else.
“I kind of need you too, princess,” I admit, feeling my pulse start to race.
But there’s also the fact that while I may have been her best friend then, I think I was only able to exist as that because I was her boyfriend. I don’t point that out though.
“Okay. So no more awkwardness. It’s just me and you.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say clearing my throat. “How are things with your family?”
She lets out a soft groan before telling me about the situation in her home. And I listen, careful not to interrupt, lest she stop. Because it’s suddenly hitting me that now that all the cards are out in the open, all the secrets are out, it’s possible for us to build a better relationship that the one we had before.
CHAPTER 21
Katerina
My fingers fly across the keyboard as fast as I can as I work to breach the heavily protected mainframe of Colton industries. I’ve been at it for two days. Yesterday, there was a sudden fire in one of their buildings, destroying millions of tech and important equipment’s. Thankfully, no one was hurt considering the fire was started at night and the only people in the building were knocked out mysteriously and carried out.
I gave orders that no innocent life would be lost. All I want is to damage to Colton’s so badly that there will never be a whisper of them or their existence afterwards. My next course of action is hacking into their systems but as expected it’s proving a little difficult.
All I can think is that Xander would love to help. He’d probably be having better luck than me as well. Growing up, I’ve always been intrigued by hacking but it wasn’t until I met Xander that I actually learned it. He thought me everything I know. When it comes to computers, he’s sort of a genius.
I don’t know if I want to bother him with this though. Especially after the call last night, which felt like immeasurable progress, even if it might not be the kind I want. I’ve been able to collect my thoughts while I’ve been away from him. Those thoughts however, are still too muddled for me to understand.
