Page 7 of Zafira

“That’s not necessary. I believe you.” He shook his head. “It was my one biggest regret in my life,” he mused out loud. “That I was so true in heart and mind to Zafira that I never had a family, a child of my own. Now... after all these years...” His eyes filled with tears. “It can’t be true. Life can’t be that filled with bliss and cruelty at the same time.”

“And yet it is, Tata,” Vanya said as she hugged him fiercely. “I can’t be happier that you are now my father for real.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my Vanya?” Bogdan said as he pushed her away and frowned at her. “You even look different,” he said in a gentler voice when her eyes watered up. “Don’t you dare start crying because then I’ll know you’re an alien who invaded my princess’ body.”

Bogdan’s eyes widened as she did just that and with a sob, flung herself into his arms.

“Destul, Andrei! What is happening to her?”

“You have a very short memory, Tata. Did you forget how Zafira became when she was pregnant? The steely, strong woman broke down and burst into tears at the smallest provocation. Crumbling under a mere frown from you.” He gestured at Vanya. “She’s like her mother in that aspect. I’ve seen a totally different side to her, but I doubt it’s something I would dare remind her of once our little boy is born and she’s back to her old self.”

“I forgot about that,” Bogdan murmured as he returned Vanya’s hug. “There, there, malen’kaya printsessa. Blyad’,” he growled as his gentleness sparked a fresh wail from her. “She’s more like Zafira than I realized. She, too, sobbed when I used to call her pet names at times like this.”

“Here.” Andrei handed him a handkerchief. “I suggest you start carrying a stack with you in the future. Otherwise, you’ll be walking around with wet patches on your shirt every day.”

“I’m not that bad,” Vanya protested but took the proffered piece of cotton to wipe the tears from her face. Her smile lit up the dimness of the hallway. “So, Tata, are you coming home with us? Once we get there, we’re going to start decorating the nursery. I’m sorry, love.” She hugged Andrei. “But I don’t trust your DIY or painting skills.”

“No need to apologize, moye serdtse,” he said with a broad smile. “I can build a house, but little bits and pieces... not for me.”

“Where is home, Vanya?” Bogdan had to ask. He was overwrought with pride and joy at the news, but living a couple of miles from Zafira... he wasn’t ready for that, especially knowing she had no feelings left for him.

“Chiverevo, in Russia. We have demolished Janos’ house and rebuilt the castle Andrei always dreamed of having.”

“It’s not a castle, love. It’s a stately mansion,” Andrei interjected.

“It’s a castle,” Vanya reiterated with finality. “He specifically designed it so that you have your own wing. It’s connected to the house but completely separate at the same time. You have a private swimming pool, two spare bedrooms, and your own front and back doors, but you can also use the interleading ones to the rest of the castle.”

“House,” Andrei said.

“Castle,” she continued unperturbed. “So, since there’s no reason you can think of that I will accept, Tata, you might as well give in, say goodbye to the little chit in there, and go home to pack.”

The word tata kept milling through Bogdan’s mind every time one of them used it. Father... a word he had never expected to be called. It rocked him to the depths of his soul. For the first time in his life, he experienced a spark of what happiness felt like. He clung to it like a drowning sailor, afraid if he didn’t, he would lose any chance of finding a speckle of it ever again.

“Well, since you put it that way...”

Chapter Three

U Holubu restaurant, Bílovec, Czechia...

“Chert voz’mi! You were right.”

Zafira Guzun, the Guzun family Matriarch, or Comare, as she was still called after all these years by the majority of Bratva groups in the EU, stared with a deep frown at the live CCTV footage on the security monitors. Even after Viktor’s death, when she withdrew from the Business and allowed her children to rule, she was respected and feared by those who had intimate knowledge of the power she had over the once-powerful Pakhan.

Except she never truly stepped back. She merely retreated into the shadows from where she continued to build a network of loyal followers who preferred her way of handling matters that threatened the well-being of the Guzun Bratva Group.

Neither her kids nor any of the Guzun Bratva associates knew about her covert life—except Antonio and one other person. The one man she had trusted with her life, only to find out, in the end, that he, too, had betrayed her. Even though he had sworn unconditional fealty to her, without her asking for it, she now realized that he had been very selective in what that care and protection entailed. That he still chose to shield Viktor’s reputation from her hurt the most. He had kept his best friend fucking a woman at his bachelor’s party from her. How many others were there that Bogdan Rusu had kept from her?

Her chest closed up. With fingers circling her throat, she gently massaged it as it felt like something was squeezing her esophagus closed, slowly suffocating her by those memories—of the ultimate betrayal by the only man she had ever truly loved and trusted unconditionally.

Enough, Zafira! No more. He’s out of your life for good. He chose to walk away rather than fight for a love that has been dormant for years.

The sharp voice echoing in her mind snapped her out of her momentary lapse into the emotional darkness that had wrapped itself around her from the day Bogdan had walked out of her life. The days of empathy and being nice were over. All those who believed she and her family could be walked over were about to suffer the consequences of their ignorance.

For Zafira Guzun was as fierce and fearsome as Viktor Guzun had been—even more so since her children’s lives were threatened.

“Of course, I am.” The deep voice of Antonio Baritva rumbled through the small room. They were secure in the office building across the street from the restaurant. Her new bodyguard and advisor had set up the surveillance there. A necessary precaution that Bogdan had always insisted on when she ventured out alone to functions or meetings with any Bratva or syndicate leader. Somehow, Antonio knew every trick Bogdan had implemented to keep her safe, even though he wasn’t around to train his successor.

No, the bastard just turned around and walked out of my life!

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