Chapter Twenty-Two

Two months later, Senza?ii de Club, Rose Valley Park, Chisinau, Moldova...

“Now look at that. Master Slayer finally decided to show his face again,” Alin Sava said with a pleased grin as Bogdan sat down beside him at the bar. “I began wondering if you had already moved to Russia without saying goodbye.”

“I’ve been recuperating after an incident.” Bogdan didn’t elaborate. Alin knew better than to ask.

“So, when are you leaving for Russia?”

“I might not be moving permanently after all. I’ll definitely be there to help my son get the nursery set up and for the twins’ birth, but Moldova is where I’ll stay.” He smiled wryly. “That is if my plans work out as I hope.”

“Since when do you place your future in the hands of hope? You always go after what you want. Why not this time?”

“It’s... complicated.”

“Ah... the mighty Comare, I imagine. Yeah, she’s a tough one. I don’t envy you trying to win her over.” He glanced toward the dungeon. “That’s why you’re here? To whip her into admitting how she feels about you?”

“She’s here?”

“Strange, isn’t it? Coincidently, like you, it’s the first time she came back after that scene you had with her. Must be fate.”

“I don’t believe in celestial nonsense, Alin. Every man is responsible for his own destiny and the path he chooses to make it happen.”

“You do you, and I’ll do me. I say it’s fate that brought you both here tonight. Mark my words. This is going to be the first day of the rest of your lives.”

“Te rog opre?te-te, Alin. You’re starting to sound like a telenovela series.”

“I’ll stop, but just wait and see. I must remember to have my tux dry-cleaned for the wedding.”

Bogdan was hard-pressed not to roll his eyes. Instead, he just shook his head, grunted, and walked toward the dungeon. Now was as good a time as any to seal his own fate. After tonight, he would either be the happiest man ever, or he would finally close the chapter on Zafira Guzun once and for all.

It was well past time he moved on with his life.

Zafira had visited him regularly while he was in hospital, but as soon as he was discharged, she stopped checking in on him. Typically, and in usual Bogdan fashion, he didn’t pursue her. He had learned his lesson and refused to be rebuffed yet another time. Instead, he had refamiliarized himself with his grand ducal estate to ensure it was well managed should he decide to permanently move to Russia and live with Andrei and Vanya.

He found Zafira perched on the edge of a large wingback chair in the vast reception area of the dungeon that served a double purpose for aftercare. It appeared as if she had been waiting for him. Like the previous time, she wasn’t dressed in full kink but rather selected a sheer, black lace dress that enticed as much as it seduced his mind. Underneath, she only wore silver bikini panties that hugged her hips like a lover’s hands. Barefoot and with her tresses tumbling like a silky curtain over her shoulders, she was the epitome of femininity. The black lace mask lent a mysteriousness to her appeal that was punctuated by the challenging look in her azure eyes.

The beast inside him reacted to the provocation. With a growl, he was in front of her and yanked her out of the chair. Within moments, he pinned her to the wall with his huge hand clamped around her throat.

“You are teetering on dangerous territory, sub,” Master Slayer’s dark Dom voice crawled from deep within his soul.

“I laugh in the face of danger, Sir. You, of all people, should know that.” Zafira was completely relaxed. Although she was on her toes and struggling to breathe, she didn’t claw at the hand tightening around her throat.

“There are times when even the most daring should tread with caution. This is one of them.”

“It seems here is the only place where the man deep inside is reachable, so what other choice do I have?” Her eyes widened as his fingers threatened to completely cut off her ability to draw enough oxygen into her lungs.

“I came to you with my heart on my sleeve a year ago, Zafira. You chased me off like a lame dog. Ever since you found out I wasn’t the bastard you were made to believe I was all those years ago, you’ve been avoiding me. So, who is the emotionally unattainable one, really? Be honest for once in your fucking life.”

“Me! I am the one.” She finally clawed at his hand when her chest started burning, and her lips turned blue. “Please, let go, Master Slayer.”

“Why? Viktor has been dead for over twenty years. Why did you keep me at a distance all these years?”

“Because I believed you never loved me. I had no reason to doubt my mother. She had never lied to me, and when she told me you had taken the money, something died inside me. When you didn’t show up at the wedding, it was all the proof I needed.”

“In the meanwhile, I was in jail, where your father and Viktor’s father had me incarcerated because I had the audacity to love you.”

“I didn’t know. You never told me.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Why, Bogdan? Why did you never tell me the truth when you returned? I would’ve believed you. I never loved Viktor. I became fond of him, but I never loved him. When you came back... you could’ve told me!”

Bogdan stared into her eyes, watching the memories of the past play in their depths like a nightmarish movie reel. The hold on her throat relaxed as he gently moved his fingers in circles to soothe her abused skin.

“You were a very good actress then, Zafira. I believed you were happy, content, and in love with your husband. That day I returned, seeing you with Arian and smiling lovingly at Viktor was like a knife in my heart.”

“Why did you stay?”

“The look in your eyes. In those years, you hadn’t learned to mask your true feelings from me. Why and for what, I didn’t know at the time, but it told me that you needed me. I couldn’t walk away from you, Zafira. I loved you.”

“Loved...” her voice turned sad. “Past tense.”

“For love to be sustained, it has to be fed... watered with a daily dose of the same. It’s not a one-way street. I am not a young man anymore, and I am tired of going through life alone, hoping that one day you would have the courage to look into your heart and realize you have been living a lie. It’s been over forty years. I am done waiting. It’s time for me to move on.”

“What if I ask you to stay?”

“To what end? More of the same? Be your puppy dog that laps adoringly at your feet? No, thank you.” The sigh he released was wrought with acceptance and sadness. “I am a powerful man in my own right, Zafira. You just never realized it, and I was happy to let you be, but I am past that. I have no interest in being controlled and ordered about by you in a professional manner any longer.”

“I have come to the same conclusion over the past few weeks myself. I never want you to feel that way ever again.” Her fingers trembled as she brushed them over his cheek. “I have missed you so much, Bogdan. Not as my protector or puppy dog lapping at my feet as you say, but as the man who has always held my heart in his hands. That’s why I always felt safe, content, and happy. Because you were there.” She placed her fingers over his lips to stem the words threatening to fall from them.

“I know it was selfish and wrong. I suppose pride kept me from admitting my feelings. Maybe I wanted you to be the one to force me to acknowledge them. That day you walked away, I was shocked. Even though I chased you away, I never believed you would leave. That was the day I broke down... for the first time and only time in my life, until that night in the dungeon, I cried real tears.” She smiled wryly at his look. “Yes, the mighty Comare sobbed her heart out.”

“Are you ever going to say it, Zafira?”

Her eyes turned soft and filled with so much devotion, his breath caught in his throat.

“I love you, Bogdan Rusu, with all my heart. You fill my soul and awaken my body to euphoric heights I never knew existed.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Is there a chance that you could ever forgive me for doubting you?”

Bogdan cupped her chin to stare deep into her eyes. For long moments, he didn’t say anything, losing himself in the emotions she didn’t hide from him. She was as confident in showing her love for him as she was in every aspect of her life.

“I do love you, Zafira. You captured my heart as a young girl. I tried to move on when I was younger... God knows I did. I never could. No one could ever take the place reserved for you... only you.”

“Then it’s time, don’t you think?”

“I am not interested in a loose relationship, Zafira. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“It’s time for us to get married and be happy. Become what we were meant to be before life interfered and tore us apart. We belong together, Bogdan. You and me. I want to walk the final journey of my life with you by my side. As my husband... and as my partner in the New Bratva Order.”

“I accept, Ms. Guzun. The husband part, at least. The partnership... that’s a discussion for a later stage.” He ignored her gasp of surprise when he picked her up and headed to the exit. “For now, I’m taking you home. I’m going to need the rest of the night to expunge the hunger you awake in me, and I have no intention of doing it anywhere but in my own bed.”

“Only your bed?” Zafira’s eyes glimmered with happiness as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do you seriously want me to believe you don’t have a dungeon at your house?”

His laughter boomed through the vast entrance hall as he strode to the door. “You got me there, love. We’ll start in my bedroom, work our way through the dungeon, and see where we end up.”

“That’s more like it, Master Slayer.”