The four of them eventually settled into an unexpectedly comfortable rhythm.
Rowan cooked the steaks himself while Ulyana helped prepare a creamy white sauce pasta beside him. To her surprise, Rowan was genuinely skilled in the kitchen.
"You cook like someone's grandmother," she commented lightly at one point.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was."
By the time dinner was finished, the atmosphere had become strangely relaxed.
The four of them sat together at the long dining table beneath warm chandelier lighting while soft jazz played quietly somewhere throughout the estate.
Even Hak seemed calmer now that they were seated.
Conversation naturally shifted toward the hotel incident in the city.
Ulyana listened as Rowan and Hak casually discussed the operation, though they deliberately spared her the more violent details.
Still, hearing Rowan calmly explain how Hak had improvised during the attack made something click for her.
The two men operated almost identically.
Different personalities.
Different temperaments.
But the same sharp instincts and the same dangerous calm.
At one point, Rowan glanced toward Hak and said matter of factly, "You handled the fire well."
Hak nodded once. "It was the fastest solution available."
Ulyana blinked between them. "You two talk about arson like businessmen discussing quarterly reports."
Graham took a sip of wine calmly. "To be fair," he said dryly, "they technically are businessmen."
"You know," Ulyana said thoughtfully as she looked between the two men, "you both seem more like brothers than uncle and nephew."
Hak glanced up briefly from his plate.
"I guess being only seven years apart helps," she added lightly.
Rowan's lips curved faintly at her observation.
"I suppose that's true."
He rested his glass down carefully before continuing.
"When your family found Hak," Rowan said, "and when you very graciously saved him from my brother in law, Eugene…"
Hak's expression darkened slightly at the mention of his father, though he remained silent.
Rowan noticed but continued calmly. "I was still in my third year at university at the time."
Ulyana listened attentively.
"It was admittedly a little strange," Rowan said amusedly, "suddenly helping raise a seventeen year old when I was only twenty four myself."
Hak scoffed quietly. "You make it sound like I was difficult."
"You were feral," Graham corrected immediately.
Hak looked offended.
Rowan actually laughed softly at that. "He's not entirely wrong," Rowan admitted. "Hak barely spoke for the first several months."
Ulyana blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"
Hak looked away. "There wasn't much to say."
Rowan's expression softened slightly as he looked toward him.
"He had always felt more like a younger sibling to me anyway," Rowan explained. "Especially considering my sister was fourteen when I was born."
Ulyana nodded slowly.
"So by the time you were old enough to remember things properly, she was basically already an adult."
"Exactly."
Rowan leaned back slightly in his chair. "By the time Hak came into my care, the dynamic naturally shifted."
Hak sighed quietly. "He means he became annoyingly overprotective."
"And yet," Graham added dryly, "you still follow him around like an abandoned wolf."
Hak glared at him immediately.
Ulyana laughed softly into her drink while Rowan simply looked deeply unbothered by the accusation.
Ulyana studied the three men carefully from across the table. The dynamic between them was strangely natural.
Rowan carried the composed authority of a leader, Hak had the quiet intensity of a guard dog ready to bite at any moment, and Graham somehow balanced them both out with dry sarcasm and terrifying organisation.
It genuinely fascinated her.
Finally, she looked toward Graham curiously.
"So," she said lightly, "how exactly did you join this pack?"
Graham slowly set down his wine glass.
"The pack?" he repeated with mild offence.
"Yes," Ulyana nodded seriously. "You all behave like emotionally constipated wolves."
Hak almost choked on his drink.
Even Rowan looked momentarily defeated.
Graham sighed deeply before folding his hands together.
"Well," he began dramatically, "unlike these two, I had a respectable upbringing."
"Debatable," Rowan muttered.
Graham ignored him. "My father worked in international finance and my mother was a solicitor. I met Rowan while studying abroad."
Ulyana tilted her head. "University?"
"Unfortunately."
Rowan smirked faintly into his glass.
Graham continued with the air of a man recalling wartime trauma.
"He sat beside me during a lecture and corrected the professor."
Ulyana blinked. "That sounds exactly like him."
"He was right," Graham admitted bitterly. "Which made it even more irritating."
Hak snorted quietly.
"At first," Graham continued, "I thought Rowan was simply another arrogant rich heir with a superiority complex."
"And now?" Ulyana asked curiously.
"I know he is."
Rowan looked entirely unbothered.
"But," Graham admitted after a moment, "he was intelligent, disciplined, and surprisingly honest for someone in our world."
His expression softened slightly.
"One day I accidentally discovered far more about the Volkov family than I should have."
Ulyana immediately straightened in interest.
"And instead of killing him," Hak said flatly, "Rowan hired him."
"Correct," Graham nodded. "Though there was a concerning amount of staring involved before the offer was made."
"I was assessing you."
"You looked like you were deciding whether to bury me in concrete."
"That was also part of the assessment."
Ulyana burst out laughing. For the first time all evening, Hak visibly relaxed enough to smile slightly too.
Graham adjusted his tie with quiet dignity.
"Several years later," he concluded, "here I am. Managing disasters caused by emotionally unavailable men."
"That sounds exhausting," Ulyana sympathised.
"It is." Graham took another sip of wine. "But the salary is excellent."
- -
After dinner, the atmosphere remained unexpectedly comfortable.
The empty plates were cleared away by staff while soft music continued playing faintly throughout the estate. The warmth from the kitchen still lingered in the air alongside the smell of garlic, butter, and wine.
For a brief moment, things almost felt normal.
Graham eventually excused himself after receiving a phone call.
He stepped out of the dining room quietly while Rowan poured himself another drink and Hak silently gathered the remaining glasses from the table.
Several minutes later, Graham returned.
His expression was unreadable, though the moment he approached Rowan and leaned down to whisper something in his ear, the mood shifted instantly.
The relaxed warmth vanished. A serious look overtook Rowan's face almost immediately.
Hak noticed it too.
Rowan stood smoothly from his chair.
"Ulyana," he said calmly, "think about what dessert you'd like."
She blinked slightly.
"I need to step out briefly with Graham."
Ulyana nodded without questioning it. "Okay."
Rowan adjusted his cuffs before leaving the dining room alongside Graham, their voices lowering into quiet discussion the moment they disappeared down the corridor.
And then suddenly... she was alone with Hak.
The silence became painfully obvious almost immediately.
Ulyana sat there for a moment staring at the table while Hak quietly placed the final glass into the sink across the kitchen.
The last time they had truly been alone together, they had argued. Now she was apparently going to marry his uncle.
The thought felt absurd.
Awkward tension filled the room so heavily that even breathing felt loud.
Finally, Ulyana cleared her throat softly. "So…"
Hak paused briefly but didn't turn around immediately.
"So," he echoed quietly.
Ulyana stared at the marble countertop awkwardly. "This is… strange."
A dry laugh escaped Hak before he finally looked at her. "That's one way to describe it."
There was no anger in his voice anymore. If anything, he just sounded tired.
Ulyana looked down at her hands. "I didn't know," she admitted softly. "About any of this."
"I know."
Another silence followed.
Hak leaned back lightly against the counter across from her, arms folded loosely over his chest.
For the first time since their disagreement, they were finally forced to confront each other properly. And somehow, despite everything that had happened between them, the tension still lingered there.
Heavy.
Unresolved.
Dangerously familiar.
Ulyana suddenly dropped her face into her hands, her long hair falling forward around her shoulders like a curtain.
Hak watched her quietly for a moment before walking over.
Gently, he hooked a finger beneath her chin and lifted her head up toward him. With surprising tenderness, he brushed the strands of hair away from her face.
"What are you thinking about?" His voice was quieter now.
Closer.
Too close.
Hak stood directly in front of her now, and Ulyana wasn't entirely sure she had the strength left to keep drawing boundaries between them.
She let out a soft sigh. "I think I'm just… in a state of acceptance right now."
Hak studied her expression carefully. "You really don't want a divorce clause in the agreement?"
Ulyana shook her head lightly.
"There won't be a contract," she replied softly. "Just a marriage certificate."
Something unreadable flickered across Hak's face at those words.
Then after a pause, he spoke again. "Look," he said quietly, "I need to clear something out of your head."
Ulyana looked up at him.
"The timing may have been wrong," Hak admitted. "Sure."
His jaw tightened slightly. "But it was never one sided."
Her breath caught softly.
"So from now on," he continued, his voice lower now, "only speak for your own feelings."
They were standing impossibly close together now.
Close enough to feel each other's breathing.
Close enough that one wrong movement would erase whatever fragile line still existed between them.
"Hak…"
Ulyana weakly pushed against his chest, forcing even a small amount of distance between them.
Her heart was pounding painfully hard. "What do you want from me?"
Hak looked at her silently for a moment. Then he stepped forward again, closing the gap she had just created.
"I want you to be happy."
"Ugh, what good is that to me now?" Ulyana asked sadly as she looked away from him.
"Why couldn't you have been… sooner…"
Her voice faded quietly before she shook her head.
"Whatever."
Hak's expression hardened slightly. "What do you mean whatever?"
Ulyana laughed bitterly under her breath. "I mean you ended this," she replied. "Noble as ever."
Her eyes finally met his again. "And now look," she said softly, "I'm going to marry Rowan instead."
Something about those words visibly struck Hak.
"Oh," he muttered dryly, "first name basis already?"
Ulyana rolled her eyes despite the ache in her chest.
"Oh shut up. He insisted."
Then, unable to help herself, she added, "Besides, if we're supposed to get married, we should probably become familiar."
Hak stared at her silently.
Ulyana crossed her arms lightly. "Might as well start calling me Aunt Ulyana."
That snapped something in him. "Don't say shit like that."
His voice came out sharper than intended.
Ulyana looked startled for a second before stubbornness overtook her expression again.
"It's true," she replied. "The day we get married, I'll technically be your aunt."
Hak went completely still. Then before either of them could properly think, he grabbed her gently by the waist and kissed her.
It was impulsive.
Selfish.
Desperate.
All the restraint he had been forcing onto himself since the meeting finally shattered in that single moment.
Ulyana froze from shock before immediately pushing against his chest.
"Hak—"
She broke the kiss forcefully and slapped him across the face. The sound echoed sharply through the quiet kitchen causing them both to freeze.
Hak slowly looked back at her, breathing unevenly.
Ulyana's eyes were glossy with emotion. "You don't get to do that," she whispered shakily. "Not anymore."
"I'm sorry," Hak said breathlessly.
Ulyana's eyes stayed on him, wet and sharp.
"You're so quick to draw the line," she whispered, "until you feel like crossing it."
Hak's jaw tightened, like the words cut deeper than expected.
"Ulyana…" His voice softened. "I'm sorry."
For once, there was no distance in his expression only something heavy and broken beneath it.
"Forgive me," he said quietly.
"Just… please don't do that again," she said softly.
Hak exhaled, still watching her carefully.
"Is your face okay?" she asked after a moment.
He let out a quiet chuckle, touching his jaw lightly.
"I take punches for a living," he said, voice calmer now. "That was more of a blow to the ego than anything."
The tension between them eased slowly, like it didn't quite want to leave but had no choice.
Hak rubbed the side of his jaw once more, then glanced at her.
"That actually reminded me of something," he said.
Ulyana frowned slightly. "What?"
A faint smirk tugged at his mouth. "The first time you slapped me."
Her eyes narrowed immediately. "I don't remember that."
"You do," he said calmly.
After a beat, "You slapped me because I joked that a girl from your school was prettier than you."
Silence.
Ulyana stared at him for half a second before her expression shifted.
"That's not how it happened."
Hak raised a brow.
"You absolutely said it like that."
"I didn't mean it," he added quickly, like it still needed clarifying.
That did it.
Ulyana let out a small laugh and shaking her head. "You were so annoying back then."
"And you were violent," Hak replied.
"Deserved."
Hak huffed a quiet laugh, the corner of his mouth lifting more fully now.
"I didn't think you would slap me," Hak said casually, "and then once you did… I was kind of into you."
Ulyana turned to him immediately.
"That's not good," she said flatly. "Don't smile while saying that."
But Hak's smile only widened, completely ignoring her warning. "Too late."
And right at that moment, Rowan and Graham walked back in.
Graham paused mid-step, eyes landing on Hak's expression.
Without hesitation, he lifted his phone and took a photo.
click
"Good job, Graham," Rowan said dryly. "We don't know the next time he'll smile. Save that."