Page 72 of Koroleva

This time, it was me who stood up.

"Don't tempt me, Nikita, I can be a real bastard when it comes to it."

"Look, in that we are alike."

We held each other's gaze in a power duel, neither of us looked away. Her hand reached my chest, heaving with fury.

"You need to vent, amore. You're a bit excited. You should visit Irene and bring her some flowers, she must be feeling very lonely." That was the last straw.

I grabbed her by the chin and nearly pressed her mouth against mine in a punishing kiss.

"You're not one to tell me when to see or not see my lover."

"I said it for the sake of your relationship, you should calm this down with her." Her hand flew to my groin, which, as expected, was more than ready for battle.

"Maybe I will. You're really getting on my nerves." Her hand moved away, and mine did too, although our distance remained the same.

"Fine then, make sure to empty them and use a condom, we don't want another child of dubious paternity..." My knuckles turned white. "On Monday I want a DNA test from all three of us, without fail. If it's my brother's child, I want to know, and if it's not, I want to know that too." I became defensive.

"His origins aren't going to make me kick him out of my life."

"You can do whatever you want, but I need to know if that kid is a Korolev. We'll take him to the doctor on Monday."

My son approached the table.

"Who's going to the doctor?"

"We three are, on Monday, for some tests," my wife specified without softening her expression.

"Are we checking to see if you've given my dad rabies?"

That made me chuckle. Nikita wasn't amused.

"I don't have rabies."

"Well, it doesn't show; you're always looking angry and growling more than the dog," he said, quite satisfied with himself.

"Adri..." I corrected him, biting back a smile.

"What? It's true, I'm not lying. By the way, Dad, today's the day, you promised we would go to the racetrack to ride motorcycles." I glanced at Nikita. "Why are you looking at her? Do you need her permission? It's a father and son thing, you said we'd do it."

"And you will," she asserted, "I'm leaving so you two can spend the day together."

"Yippee! And we can call Irene to go eat afterward. I like her a lot more than the witch; she's fun, buys me candy, and doesn't bite."

"Adriano!" I scolded him. "Apologize right now, Nikita is no witch."

"Maybe, deep down, I am; I love throwing magic dust," she commented cynically. "Besides, Adriano isn't lying, I'm neither nice nor do I feel like it, I predict you'll have a great day in the company of your slut."

"Nikita!" I exploded.

"I'm talking about the hair color, it's the same."

"Decided, I'm going to get dressed before you change your mind!" the boy exclaimed. He sprinted into the house.

My wife tried to circle the table, but I blocked her path. I rubbed the back of my neck, not that I found it amusing to back down, but I also didn't like how Adri had addressed her, nor that Irene was taking her place. I hadn't foreseen things turning out like this between us.

"What's the matter? Changed your mind and want to lock me in the dungeon?"

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