Page 21 of Zafira

“Well, thank you, Mrs. Cermak. Your hospitality is appreciated.” Bogdan offered her a toothy grin.

Zafira made no secret of her annoyance as she glared at him. He shrugged it off. Something was up with the two Cermaks. Zafira came here to find out what kind of danger Artem Melnyk held in store for her and whether he had let anything slip about the Novaya Volna Group and the Shadow Don while under interrogation. The gentle probing over dinner didn’t achieve any success. Marek was as closed-lipped as a zipped plastic bag.

Bogdan’s inner beast scratching at his insides every time he looked at Marek Cermak warned him that he wasn’t who he portrayed to be. For some reason, Bogdan had never trusted this man as much as Viktor and Zafira had. He never ignored that warning sign. It was the sixth sense that had guided him his entire life, kept him alive and alert.

This time, the intensity of danger he felt thrilling inside him was like the mortality rate of a black mamba’s snake bite—the kind of odds he wasn’t prepared to take with Zafira’s life.

Chapter Ten

Midnight, Kramár's Villa...

Bogdan didn’t say anything when he was allocated a room on the other side of the Villa from where Zafira would sleep. It did, however, confirm that his suspicions about the Cermaks were right. There was something they were withholding from Zafira.

Checking his watch for the umpteenth time, he paced the room. He hadn’t been sitting around idly waiting for Zafira and Triska to finish giggling over the olden days. Instead, he had excused himself early to contact Vanya to do some dark web background checks on the couple.

“Watch your back, Comare. Triska might be a dear old friend, but they are the ones whose betrayal can cut the deepest,” he grumbled as he kept an eye on the patio where the two women were still happily drinking wine and reminiscing. Well, Triska might be having fun and getting drunk, but he knew Zafira well enough to know she would be fishing in-between with fine-tuned expertise for information Artem Melnyk might have divulged during interrogation.

Interpol was known for using brutal techniques if they believed they had just cause. Since the Pakhan of the Solntvesoka Bratva was classified as one of the most dangerous criminals in the world, anyone thought to have an association with him would be put through the wringer. Artem Melnyk was a strong man, and Bogdan didn’t believe he would give in to torture.

“Except everyone has a price,” he muttered as he leaned against the door. If the agent in charge had done his or her homework on the kind of life Artem lived, all it would take to make him spill the beans on other Bratva leaders would be a coffer full of cash and full exoneration from being prosecuted in the future.

“The cherry on top would be that they could very well go that far,” Bogdan mused out loud.

Like with many of the Bratva families, leaders kept their identities hidden from the outside world. The Guzuns were a prime example of how successfully they could live a double life. No one, apart from the selected few, knew what the Pakhan of the Solntvesoka Bratva looked like or what his real name was.

“In searching for accolades that they finally made leeway in catching one of the most dangerous mobsters in the world, the stupid assholes might just hand the very man carte blanche without even realizing they had him right under their noses.”

The buzz of the cell phone drew his attention from his pondering. With eyes steadfast on the two women, he answered on the second ring.

“What did you find?” he said without preamble.

“If I wasn’t so pissed off at what I’m looking at, I’d give you a proper head scrubbing for answering the phone in such a rude manner, Tata.”

“Vanya, now isn’t the time for niceties. If your mother is in danger, I—”

“You’re right, but do remember in the future,” she said sweetly before dragging in a deep breath. “It’s not pretty, and Mom is going to be devastated when she finds out how they’ve been deceiving her all these years. Well, her and my father... actually, all of us. Worse... the people of the Republic of—”

“Enough with the senseless chatter! Start talking, Vanya.” Bogdan might have walked away from Zafira a year ago, but that didn’t mean he cared any less for her, her family, or her safety... especially after the night they had spent together at Senza?ii de Club... but for now, those emotions were securely locked away for further unraveling later. Keeping her alive was now his only priority.

“I’m afraid there are some dark forces underfoot in the Cermak household, Tata. I suggest you get my mother out of there immediately. From what I uncovered, I believe they’re not to be trusted. My gut instinct tells me Mom’s life is in danger.”

“Why? Spit it out, printsessa. I need to know what I’m up against.”

Bogdan’s jaw locked as Vanya began talking. His hands curled into fists as he considered how to break the news to Zafira. Though normally slow to anger, betrayal from trusted friends was the one thing guaranteed to ignite his temper. He pictured her reaction—those usually inexpressive eyes widening in disbelief, her lips parting as if to protest before pressing together in denial until, eventually, she would feel the sting of this betrayal as deeply as he did.

Yet convincing her to leave tonight would not be easy, especially since he was the one who had argued so passionately earlier to stay. Of course, that was before he had the information he was now armed with.

“Fucking idiot! I should’ve done due diligence the moment I found out she intended to come here,” he growled through his teeth, anger simmering, but took a deep breath to calm himself. Losing his temper would not help convince Zafira to amend her beliefs about the situation. He had to approach this carefully, appealing to her reason and making her see why they had to leave immediately.

A brief glance out of the window confirmed that the two women had finished their wine sessions since the patio was deserted.

With a grim expression, he checked his weapons, grabbed his backpack, and with determined strides, walked toward the opposite wing where Zafira would be getting ready for bed. Since he had done reconnaissance before retreating to his room, he knew which hallways to avoid where guards were posted. The intent was to leave the premises unseen, without anyone the wiser, including the Cermaks, that they had gone.

“Our room is just around the corner. If you need anything, just holler.”

“Blyad’,” Bogdan cursed as he pressed his body as flat as he could against the wall as Triska’s voice floated toward him. Luckily, she turned in the opposite direction of the hallway from where he attempted to melt into the wall. Releasing the breath he was holding, he didn’t waste any more time, and within moments, he slipped quietly into Zafira’s room.

“What the actual fuck!?” Her voice rose with anger, but she didn’t attempt to cover her naked torso as she spun around to notice him inside her room. “I suggest you get the hell out of here, Rusu, before I kick your ball sack all the way up your ass until you choke on it.”

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