Andrei’s heart skips a beat at his words. Mine does too. Even a monster like Dominic is calling Andrei the little boy’s father. Proves how right we were when we both fell in love with the little boy and treated him as our own.
Then I hear the phone being fiddled with before Dominic’s voice comes through clearer. “The boy is fine. I am not a complete monster. They are at my hotel in the Safari Casino room 410, and I will make sure he has been fed before I leave. This neanderthal would probably feed him beer and chips for dinner otherwise.” Dominic snarls with disgust lacing his tone, which shocks me, he clearly didn’t like Clive yet took Jonah from us and gave him to the man.
“Have you spoken to Katya for me?” Dominic asks.
“Yes, she is aware of what’s going on?” Andrei tells him.
“Good, she has a week. I know these things take time, and she will have to convince her mates, but we will not have issues any longer. I can only tolerate this fool for so long,” Dominic says, making me wonder what he meant by that.
“You are staying with Jonah?” Andrei asks, confused.
“No, I just brought them here until I found a pack that would accept this idiot and the boy. I will be leaving soon. Tell Katya to hurry and make a choice. I will put Jonah back on for you.”
“Wait!” I blurt out. Dominic sighs but answers. “What?”
“What happens if Kat doesn’t do what you want?” Andrei growls at me.
“Well, that is yet to be seen, but I wouldn’t recommend it, Sage. There are multiple scenarios that can play out, and I don’t like any of them.”
“But what of Jonah?” I demand.
“That depends on a great number of things, but the boy will be fine. As I said, I am not a monster. But if you want your son back, you’ll have to convince her.” His words confuse me. One minute he is threatening us, the next he is trying to assure Jonah’s safety, so which is it? “Your son is practically bouncing in his seat to speak with you, so I’ll put him back on.”
“Jonah, come and talk to your parents. After dinner, you must have a shower, but I need to leave now,” Dominic tells him.
I am shocked at how he speaks softly to Jonah. “But uncle Clive-”
“I’ll handle your uncle. You just do as I said. Make sure you eat and then shower for me, please. I set your pajamas in the bathroom already with a towel.” Dominic tells him.
“Yes, sir,” Jonah says before I hear the phone passing hands again.
“Are you okay, Jonah?” I ask.
“Yes, Dominic said you are my parents. Does that mean I can go home and have two dads like Mr. Andrei?” Jonah asks.
“If you would like to have two dads, but you don’t have to call him that if you don’t want to,” I tell him.
“Can I have two moms too?” He asks, and I refuse to get excited at his words. I don’t want to pressure him, but my heart soars at that. Nothing has ever made my heart flutter more than the moment Jonah asks that question.
“Whatever you are comfortable with, Jonah, you can call us what you like. We just want you home with us,” Andrei tells him.
“I would like that. I miss the pack and Malik and Casen, too. Do they miss me?” Jonah asks.
“Yes, everyone misses you and can’t wait for you to come home,” Andrei tells them, and I hear Dominic and Clive arguing in the background.
“I don’t think that man likes my uncle Clive very much,” Jonah whispers.
“It will be ok, buddy, we will get you out of there soon,” Andrei assures him.
“Please hurry. I don’t want to be here with him by myself. I want to come home,” Jonah sobs.
“Ah, shut it, boy,” Clive bellows, and Jonah whimpers.
“Knock it off, he is a child!” Dominic snarls in the background.
Andrei’s jaw clenches. And I actually feel sick knowing Dominic is about to leave Jonah with him alone. Although, I would prefer Jonah to stay in that monster Dominic’s hands than Clive’s.
At least he is nice to Jonah. Despite what he has done, he has parental instincts and knows how to raise a child.
“Come on, buddy, stop crying, breathe, Jonah. It won’t be long. We are doing everything we can.” Andrei tries to calm our boy.
“I want to come home,” Jonah cries, his voice breaking along with my heart at hearing him so upset.
“I know, I know, soon, very soon” I hear a knock on the door in the background, and Jonah falls quiet before I hear Dominic’s voice again.
“Jonah, dinner, come eat. Say goodbye, then have a shower when you finish eating. Clive, I want you to stay out of my casino and the bars, you are to watch the boy, not leave him on his own. Also don’t fucking lay a finger on him or I will remove the offending digit am I clear?” Dominic says, and we hear Clive mutter something but can’t hear what he says as he is too far away from the phone.
“I have to go,” Jonah says sadly.
“Ok, we will try to call you later, but you can call at any time, and we will answer,” I promise him.
“Okay, bye,” Jonah says before the phone hangs up.
“I feel sick,” I tell Andrei, and he nods before hugging me closer.
“We will get him back,” Andrei tells me.
“Go shower. I will be in soon,” Andrei says, tapping my leg.
Reluctantly, I climb off his lap, and Andrei fiddles with his phone while I walk into the bathroom. I turn on the shower, adjust the taps, pull my hair out of the bun I put it in this morning, and massage my sore scalp from the strain of my heavy hair.