Chapter Seven
Bogdan had been quiet for several days since they left Galkin’s home. Anastasia knew it was next to unheard of for Galkin to allow any visitors at his home, including female company. Galkin’s wife Amanda told her so, and how happy she was to finally be able to speak with another woman.
They hadn’t gone back to his country home, but instead were in one of his many apartments in the city. She was constantly by his side, and if he needed to leave, then two men were always with her.
She knew there was a threat on her life. Bogdan hadn’t told her anything, but it didn’t exactly take a genius to figure it out. Her father wanted her wealth and the only way to get it was to kill her, or the way he killed her had to look like natural causes. Either way, since his talk with Galkin, Bogdan had been quiet, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there was a reason for it.
Stepping out of their bedroom, late one Friday night, she came to a stop when she saw the man himself standing by the window overlooking the city. In the first three months of their marriage, this was unheard of. He rarely came to bed at the right time, and the truth was, she didn’t mind the space away from him. They had moved past this, and now were back to square one.
“Penny for them,” she said.
She was not going to be pushed away, not now. Anastasia knew what was at stake, and she needed Bogdan to be truthful with her.
“You should be in bed.”
“What’s going on?”
she asked.
He turned toward her, and she saw he had his hands in his pockets. “Nothing.”
“You know, we didn’t agree to this or anything, but I thought … we wouldn’t lie to each other.”
She didn’t even know why she thought it. Bogdan had been open and honest with her, hadn’t he?
Was she just a fool?
“A couple of days ago, Galkin gave me a choice.”
“He did?”
“Yes, I could choose to let your father kill you, and be free of you once and for all, or I could wait until I remove your father from the equation.”
She stared at Bogdan. “What did you decide?”
For the longest time, it felt like he didn’t say a word. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she looked at him. Was he going to kill her? Did she have to reach out to Gustov? What the hell was happening? What had she done wrong?
“I choose you,” he said.
She opened her mouth and closed it. Anastasia must have looked like a fish or something.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
Glancing down on the ground, she frowned and then looked up. “Why?”
He took a step toward her, then another. She didn’t back away. “You know, a lot of women would have been afraid of me even getting close to them.”
“You’ve just told me you choose me, that means for now I am safe.”
“It means you will forever be safe. I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
She couldn’t stop frowning. “Why?”
She took a deep breath.
He leaned in close and pressed his lips against her cheek. “I took a vow that day when I made you my wife. I vowed to honor you, to cherish you, and I will not have anyone take you away from me.”
Bogdan pulled back just a little, but enough for her to be able to look into his gorgeous blue eyes.
It always shocked her how bright his eyes were, especially knowing she was staring into the eyes of an expert killer.
“You could have anyone,” she said.
“And yet, I’m going to keep you.”
She let out a gasp as he banded an arm around her, spun her around, and pressed her up against the nearest wall. The curtains were wide open, and the glow of the moon provided the only light within his apartment. Bogdan pushed her robe off her body, and as she began to open the buttons of his shirt, he took over and tore it off his body.
This was not talking. This was not allowing her to understand why he chose her. But for now, he had chosen her, and this was enough.
Running her hands down his back, Bogdan grabbed her negligee and lifted it over her head. She didn’t even have time to think as he suddenly grabbed her tits, pressed them together, and began to kiss each peak. He took a nipple into each mouth, and she cried out, arching up toward his mouth, not wanting him to stop as he tongued each peak.
He bit down, not too hard, but enough to make her gasp and feel like it was going to be. She clenched her hands into fists, closing her eyes, and feeling the sensations flood her whole body. Bogdan didn’t settle on one breast, but divided his time between each nipple, making her ache for more. He growled against her flesh, and she didn’t quite hear what he had to say.
Anastasia’s eyes were suddenly opened as he pulled her toward the sitting room and without any warning she was thrust over the sofa. He held onto her hips with one hand, and with the other, he guided his hard erect cock deep inside her.
She had been so distracted by his mouth on her tits she didn’t even know when he had lost the pants and boxer briefs.
His hard length slid deep within her, and both of them groaned together. The sound echoed around the room. Both his hands were now on her hips, and he held in place, while she felt every inch of him. He was so long, so hard, and so incredibly deep.
She bit down on her bottom lip, but Bogdan was only just getting started with her. He pulled out, and she couldn’t help but whimper as she didn’t want him to leave her alone. She should have known he wasn’t about to stop. With his grip tightening at her hips, he slammed deep inside her. There was no time for her to get accustomed to the feel of him, as he started to fuck her hard and fast. He was so big it verged on the point of pain.
The pleasure was intense, but all too soon he stopped. His cock seated to the hilt within her, and between the sofa and his hard body, there was nowhere for her to go. He held her in place, she was at his mercy, and she liked that.
His hands left her hips and he began to stroke up her back, going toward her shoulders, where he gripped tightly but then let go to slide back down. He cupped her tits, massaging the mounds, and then fingered her nipples before caressing down her sides.
One of his hands moved around her body. Still, he hadn’t budged.
She closed her eyes as he touched her pussy. One single finger stroking across her clit, and she tried to think, but this man was a master of her body. He was without mercy as he took complete control, working her toward an orgasm, but just as she was about to go over that peak, he held back. Bogdan grabbed her hips and he pounded inside her.
She lost count of the number of thrusts he gave her, but she was whimpering. He stopped and went back to teasing her clit, bringing her closer to that peak, only he kept her dancing on the edge, and he stopped when she was close.
His torment was not welcome. She gritted her teeth, feeling that anger start to build. Was it anger or frustration?
“Please,”
she said, feeling desperate now.
He let out a chuckle. “Does my woman want to come?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then ask me.”
“Please, Bogdan, please, I need to come.”
“Certainly.”
And this time, he began to finger her clit, and she thought she knew what was going to come next, but she was not prepared for the intense orgasm that swept over her. She held onto the edge of the sofa, and saw stars in her vision as the pleasure mounted. She didn’t know how it was possible, but it was the most amazing orgasm she had ever experienced, and as for Bogdan, even before it was over, he had grabbed her hips and began to fuck her.
This time, he didn’t go easy on her. He took her hard and fast, and his cock stroked a part inside her that made her scream for more. He enhanced her orgasm, making it last longer than she thought was possible. When he came, she felt every wave and pulse, and it felt so good, she didn’t want him to stop.
He growled against the skin of her neck, and it was only minutes later that he picked her up in his arms and began to carry her through to their bedroom, where he started to make love to her all over again.
****
Bogdan wiped the blood from his hands as he stepped back from another of Rinaldi’s spies. This was the second one, only this time he’d been able to get inside Bogdan’s apartment building. It was only his men seeing the weapon he carried that had alerted him.
Now, they were out in the middle of nowhere, so no one could hear his screams. This man was a little more professional, as he refused to reveal the name of the man he worked for. Clearly, the man could also take a beating and some torture, but Bogdan knew how to bring out the truth in anyone. All it took was a little time and patience.
Galkin was already aware of the man in his possession now. He was a top range bounty hunter. His expertise was in making a death look like natural causes.
He should have known Rinaldi would stoop to these kinds of methods. The man was getting desperate. With that desperation, he knew he had to be even more careful with his wife. His men were on high alert.
The man laughed. “You think a few punches to the face is going to hurt me?”
Bogdan smiled at the man and dropped the towel onto the floor. “No, I don’t, but I like to have my fun.”
The bounty hunter lost his smile.
There were a lot of men and women he had met during his time. Assassins, bounty hunters, rogues, people who killed for a price. Bogdan didn’t have a label. He killed for the Galkin Bratva.
But that didn’t mean he hadn’t enjoyed exploring in his years, learning every trick of the trade. His father had been the best, and it was Bogdan’s decision to surpass his father. It was a challenge, but the only way to be the best was to know everything and be prepared for it all.
There was no point in attempting to learn the bounty hunter’s name. His code name was Au Natural. It was funny, from a killer’s perspective that Au Natural was his calling card.
Bogdan had seen his work over the years, and it was good—sloppy, but good. There were never any questions, and Anastasia needed to die at the enemy’s hand or of natural causes.
“How much is he paying you?” he asked.
“Look, man, you need to stop this and just kill me, I’m not going to talk.”
Bogdan nodded, but he was pissed off, and he felt that blood itch. Picking up one of his large knives, he grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of his bounty hunter. Straddling the chair, he stared into the man’s eyes and then slid the blade straight into his thigh. “You’re not going to talk and that is more than fine with me. You see, I never used to be a talker, but now I have a wife. A very wealthy wife. Anastasia Evanoff, once known as Anastasia Rinaldi. You see, my wife is very rich and her father is very not, so he doesn’t have the money he claims to be able to give you. He’s broke, and my wife’s mother knew this and made sure there were certain protections in place.”
He tutted.
Pulling out the knife, he slid it into the second leg. He stared at the man and watched the cockiness slowly ebb away. He didn’t talk.
“But you see, here is the thing, you are now the second man I’ve encountered. The first one was supposed to poison my wife, and seeing as it was on my property, her father could claim I did it. Now, the uncanny thing is, I didn’t want this wife or anything to do with her. Only now, she is my wife, and I happen to like her. She’s different.”
He pulled the blade from his leg, twice more, and made sure it was equal on each leg. “The last man died slowly. I removed parts of his body. It started with his dick, then his fingers. I removed some teeth, and eventually I removed his hand. Then, he gave me what I wanted, and I made sure his death was swift.”
He smiled.
Pulling the blade from the man’s legs, he lifted up his hand and clicked his fingers. One of his soldiers pulled back the covers on the cages.
“I believe rats can’t resist blood. Now, I have many different ways of getting what I want. You’re bleeding, and I would say you’ll probably live over the course of the next twenty-four hours if I let them out and they start nibbling and feasting on you. I’ll get what I want, eventually.”
He waited and when the man didn’t talk, he clicked his fingers and released the rats.
Stepping out of their way, he didn’t have to wait long before one of the rats got close.
“Okay, fine, yes, Rinaldi hired me. He said his daughter was a problem to the family, and it needed to look like she had died of natural causes. I was to get in, give her an injection that would make it look like under the stress of being married, she had a heart attack.”
“Who else has he hired?”
“I don’t know. I … don’t know.”
Bogdan looked at him, and then shook his head. He went to turn his back on him, and he let out a scream.
“Her brothers are doing something. I don’t know what, but they have something planned. I didn’t want the details because I thought this was a quick and easy job.”
He growled and one of the rats was already nibbling.
“Is that all?”
Bogdan asked.
“Yes. Come on, fuck, I told you what you needed to hear.”
Bogdan looked at the rats, and he waited. “But you didn’t come to me, or to the Galkin Bratva. You had a choice, and this is what you chose.”
And with that, he turned his back on the screaming man and stepped out into the mid-morning sun.
Pulling out his cell phone, he stepped away and dialed his wife. It took a couple of rings before she answered.
“Hello,”
she said, sounding a little breathless.
“How are things?” he asked.
“Really good. Will you be home by five?”
she asked.
Anastasia had told him she wanted to cook dinner for them. He couldn’t argue with her, so he had purchased all the necessary ingredients she was going to need.
“Yes, I will be home on time.”
She let out a giggle. “Don’t be late.”
With that, she hung up.
Glancing down at the time, he saw it was a little after one. He did a brief calculation in his head and knew if he left at four, he’d make it home in time for dinner.
Until then, he was going to allow the rats to have their fun, and when four came, he’d shoot the bounty hunter and get the cleaning crew to take care of the rest.
No one was going to hurt his woman.
They were going to answer to him, and now he needed to make sure a message was unleashed. Anyone who came after Anastasia Evanoff would answer to her husband. It was time for the monster to be unleashed.