Page 121 of Koroleva

the distance with firm steps, and slapped them against his chest.

"Congratulations."

"Is it mine?!" he exclaimed.

"No! You're off the hook! That's why I congratulated you." He offered me a displeased grimace.

"What do you mean I'm off the hook?" I went for a bottle of vodka from the liquor cabinet and drank directly from it.

"When one door closes, a bottle opens." I raised the glass container and took another long sip. This time, it was Romeo who started to look through the papers. "Adriano is a Korolev, so I will take care of him. You don't need to have any contact with him again." He looked at me incredulously.

"But what are you talking about? I don't want to be free of my son."

"He's not your son, he's my brother's, my nephew and, therefore, a Korolev," I confirmed, taking another drink. I needed a good dose of vodka to digest it.

"Just because his sperm got there first doesn't make your brother his father. I've been living with the kid for six months and he considers me his dad. These results change nothing."

"Of course, they change everything. Adriano is ours and must be raised in the bosom of my family."

"I am his family, and so are my sister, my father, and, of course, now you! Don't be ridiculous! We're married! We'll raise him together! He's suffered enough already to be told that I'm not who he thought I was," he grumbled, stressed.

"He's a child, he'll get over it, just like everyone does when they're told Santa Claus is their parents. We need to tell him that Yuri was his father."

"Wait, wait." He stopped me by grabbing the bottle. "Have you gone mad? You can't just drop that bomb on him. I didn't mind the tests so you could feel better, but from there to say that we have to... that... For now, I don't see it necessary, let's wait until he's older and can understand how his conception happened..."

"Do you want to wait until he's eighteen and let him live a lie? No! I refuse. He needs to know he is my brother's son and that I am his aunt."

My husband rubbed his face, desperate.

"But if just recently you didn't even want to see him!"

"Because I thought he was yours." As soon as I said it, I knew I had hurt him. "And, well, because I'm not much of a babysitter, but that's beside the point. My mother knows a lot about raising kids and she's his grandmother, he'll be better off in Saint Petersburg with her."

"No way!" he roared. "Adriano is not going anywhere with Jelena. I don't care if she's raised a regiment. Adri stays here, end of story." We both stared at each other defiantly. "And this," he waved the papers, "changes nothing, you'd better get used to the idea."

He threw the papers forcefully onto the counter and looked at me spitefully.

"Are you done? Is the tantrum over? Do you want to act like an adult instead of a damn kid who's had his bike stolen?"

"A bike? Adriano is a person, a child emotionally fragile from all he's suffered. I accept that you're part of the villainesses without borders club, but for God's sake, don't make me believe that there isn't a heart beating under all that stone." I crossed my arms and didn't respond. Because precisely I didn't want it to beat. "I'm going out for a walk, I need to clear my head, and you would do well to think about everything you've said in the meantime."

"I'm not a child who needs to be punished in the thinking corner to know what's right or wrong."

"Your problem is that you're too used to doing what's wrong," he reproached me.

"Sorry, I forgot you were part of the brotherhood of barefoot bastards. But what are you talking about?! What do you care?! If he's not yours! You're about to drop the ball!"

"A burden?!" He came up to me and grabbed my face forcefully. "Look, Koroleva, Adriano may not be my son here," he said, crushing the papers in anger, "but he has earned a place under all this ink." He pressed his heart. "And that, whether you like it or not, you won’t be able to change. I've given that boy my last names, legally he is my son and unless you decide to wage a legal war against me for his custody, that’s how it will remain, you better get used to the idea."

Angry, he turned around and left.

47

Nurse

Andrey

The sound of the little bell made me growl under my breath. My men glanced at me sideways while the Capulets chewed on their smiles.

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