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Chapter 16: Home (Rowan's POV)

With a soft groan, I held down the delete button on my laptop and then closed it with a slam, tossing it on the couch. Niko looked up from where he sat, lifting his chin off his paws. 

I couldn't stop thinking about seeing him again today. Nineteen years. I hadn't seen him in nineteen years. The last time I saw him, I was just seven years old. That day, after grandpa took Nate and me out of the house, we never went back and saw him again. Within a week, we were all packed up and ready to move to New York, leaving Russia and our past with it just to get away from him. 

I was now a twenty-six-year-old grown man, the sight of him shouldn't have made my stomach churn the way it did. I was older now, an adult, I had the power in my hands, not him. 

Then how come just looking at him made me want to cower? 

Luckily, he didn't see Nate or Leo, even though he asked about Nate, Evie and I said he was out for a meeting. I doubt he even had any idea that Leo existed and it was better that way. There was no reason for him to see Leo and Nate was very clear about that. 

My father didn't tell me much, despite not listening to me when I told him to get out of my office. All I knew was that Mr. Michaels called him to discuss the will. He said he was on business in Chicago and thought he'd just stop by and pay us a visit. 

Now? After nineteen years? I don't buy it. 

After he finally left, Evie, thankfully, didn't ask any questions about why I reacted the way I did around him. She just got back to work when I asked her. 

I had no idea how long he was here for, what he would do, or how much he knew. I just knew that we had to hurry because we were losing time. This was exactly what Nate and I were afraid of, our father crashing into our lives and trying to ruin everything for us, our futures, all over again. I couldn't afford to lose any of what I'd worked so hard towards over the years and neither could Nate. 

A lot was depending on this marriage between Evie and me and the clock was ticking. I knew from what she told me that Priya asked for two weeks but we didn't have two weeks. He could figure out the power he had and ruin our lives tomorrow if he wanted to. 

I needed Evie to be my wife as soon as possible and if that meant not having a grand wedding ceremony, or even just getting married in the courthouse, then so fucking be it. She had to be my wife, she had to live with me, we had to tell people and show people and make them believe it. Because if they didn't, I was fucked. 

I told her to start packing up her apartment but I knew for a fact that she was taking this situation too lightly, only because she doesn't know the severity of it but that is none of her business and I don't intend to tell her anything. 

Standing up, I walked towards the door, picking up my apartment and car keys. "I'll be back!" I called out to Niko and then left, not even bothering to change. I glanced down at the full-sleeves fitted v-neck that I wore and the matching black joggers but ignored them as I got out of the elevator. 

No time for any bullshit. 

Once I was downstairs, I got to my car and started driving straight to Evie's apartment... only I didn't know where it was. "For fuck's sake," I sighed and used the car system to dial Nate's number. 

He answered fairly quickly. "Why the hell are you calling me when you know it's Leo's bedtime?" he hissed in a whisper. 

I paused, glancing at the call that was running on the screen. "Normally, Leo doesn't sleep until midnight. Is he asleep right now? Did I wake him up?" 

"No, he's watching TV, actually. His one hour of the day," he replied. 

"Then how the hell is it his bedtime?" I asked, rolling my eyes. 

"Why are you calling me, was my question." 

"I need to know Evie's address." 

"Suddenly? Why?" 

"I have to go see her right now. Our father dropped by today, did I mention that?" Silence for a long moment. So long, I thought the call was disconnected. "Nate?" 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" 

I almost cringed. "I guess I didn't mention it then." 

"Rowan," he said calmly but I could hear and almost feel the anger seeping through him. 

"Mr. Michaels called him to speak about the will. He wouldn't spit much out. Apparently, the man was in Chicago on business and thought if he was in New York, he should pay me a visit." 

"Please, please, I swear to God, tell me you didn't say anything about yourself. Nothing about you becoming CEO, nothing about marrying Evie, nothing. Zip. Nada." 

"I didn't, Nate. I'm younger than you but I'm not a fucking idiot."

"I don't believe that. You are more than half of the time. Did he ask you anything?" 

"No. Just who Evie was, she was standing right there." 

"And who did you say she was?" 

"For now, I figured all he has to know is that she's my assistant, so that's what I said." 

He sighed a breath of relief. "Oh, thank God. He can't know that you're marrying her, you get that, right?" 

"I do, yeah." 

Because if he knows before it happens, he might never let it happen. 

"Did he say anything about grandpa?" 

"No," I lied, choosing not to tell Nate about all the snide remarks the man-made because I knew how much it would anger him. He couldn't tolerate anyone saying a single word against our grandfather and of course, I understood why, and neither could I. But I didn't do anything today. I couldn't bring myself to even move a fucking muscle. 

"Anything about... Mom?" 

I gripped the wheel tighter, thinking back to what he said about how she wouldn't be proud of what I was doing today, of the way I went against my father even as a seven-year-old, how I didn't obey him when I should have. "No. Evie's address," I demanded. 

"Kingdom Apartments, but I don't know her apartment number. You'll find it on the doorbells, but it doesn't say, Evie Spencer, just Ms. Spencer and there were a couple of those. I think it's the seventh one." 

My eyes narrowed and I glanced at the screen. "How do you know all this?" 

"I've been to her apartment before, Rowan. She babysits Leo on the weekends nobody can." 

Taking in a breath, my brows furrowed. "How come I never knew this? Why do you let Evie babysit Leo but not me?" 

"Because last time I let you babysit him, you gave him back to me with tangled hair, stains all over his clothes, only one shoe on, and dog hair all over him, after which he demanded he get his own and then came Charlie and now there's dog hair... everywhere." 

"He had fun with me," I pointed out. 

"He has fun with Evie and she cleans him up because she actually knows how to. Maybe you'll finally learn once she's your wife." 

"I can babysit Leo," I frowned, resting one elbow on the window frame and steering the wheel with one hand. 

"I know you can. But you would do it better if you knew how to bathe, clean, and actually take care of a child rather than just making him have loads of fun. You need to know both sides of the coin." 

In the background, I heard a muffled, "Daddy!" 

"I have to go. Bye," Nate said before hanging up. 

"I know how to take care of a child," I mumbled to myself before typing 'Kingdom Apartments' into the system and following the directions. It was only when I got there that I realized she barely lived ten minutes away from me. I parked the car and climbed out, taking a look around before adjusting my sleeves, pulling them up a bit as I reached the door, stopping in front of all the different little black buttons that played the role of doorbells in each apartment. I counted from the bottom up and stopped at the seventh row, pressing the button to the apartment I assumed was hers. A minute later, the intercom there buzzed. 

"Who is it?" came her voice. 

"Rowan," I answered gruffly. 

There was a long pause. "Rowan who?" she asked in confusion. "Not, n-not Rowan Volkov, right? You're... you're not who I'm thinking of, right?" 

"Unless you know any other Rowan instead of the one you've known for your whole life, who you work for, and who you're about to marry, then no, I'm afraid I'm not someone else." 

"Oh my God, why are you here at my apartment?" 

"Are you planning on letting me in or should I be prepared to talk to an intercom machine the whole time?" 

After another moment of thought, she sighed, "Seventh floor, apartment G-440. The door should unlock right about now." The gate in front of me buzzed and then opened with a click. 

Walking inside, I made it to the main lobby and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button to the seventh floor. I counted the number of doors until I reached hers and then rang the doorbell. 

She answered a moment later and hung onto the door, leaning against it. "Why are you here, Rowan?" she asked, lifting both brows. 

My eyes traveled across the strands framing her face while her hair was pulled back in a bun. From her hair, I looked down at her clothes, glancing over them once before meeting her gaze again, ignoring the satin pajama set she wore, the purple camisole, and the flared pajama pants. "You're moving in with me," I told her. 

"Yes, I know, I'll start packing tomorrow since we haven't got work. You told me already." 

"No, you're moving home with me first thing tomorrow morning." 

"Excuse me? I'm moving home with you? Tomorrow morning?" 

"Yes, you are. And that's why I'm here right now." 

She eyed me quizzically. "To...?" 

"To help you pack, Lyubov. Move, let me in."

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Chapter 16

I know I said I would resume updating regularly and then didn't update yesterday lol but now my exams are totally finished so I really can update now, also I wasn't home today but yeah

next chapter: invitation