Chapter Eight
The nightclub was humming with activity. Anastasia looked down at the crowded dance floor, and part of her wished she was there enjoying the night.
“Don’t you ever want to go down and join in?”
she asked.
“No.”
She spun toward her husband who was currently looking over some paperwork. She didn’t know completely what he did, but over the past couple of days he’d been busier than usual.
Moving toward his desk, she put her hands on top. “Why own a nightclub if you don’t wish to reap the rewards?”
she asked.
He put down his paperwork and sat back, staring at her. “And what rewards would those be?”
“You could be having fun and dancing down there.”
She pointed in the direction of the windows. “Do you need to keep doing all this work?”
She didn’t mind him working, at least through the day, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted his attention.
Bogdan stared at her and she tried to smile at him.
“A nightclub is a good investment. This place is always thriving, and it allows for a lot of business deals to go down.”
She blew out a breath. “You’re no fun.”
She stepped away from the desk and moved toward the window.
Staring down at the dance floor, she wondered what it would like to be … normal. To not have a dad in the Italian mafia, or a husband as a member of the Galkin Bratva.
She let out a gasp as Bogdan was suddenly at her back and kissing her neck. “I do not like when my wife is displeased,” he said.
“I’m not displeased, I just … I miss you.”
She sunk back against him. “I know you’re busy.”
“Are you trying to tell me you like my company?” he asked.
She sighed and then turned in his arms, leaning against the window. “Yeah, I do.”
He smiled.
“You find it funny?”
she asked.
“No, I like it. It is rare to find someone who wants my company.”
“Well, I guess I’m a sucker then.”
She sighed, then placed her arms around his neck. “You’re working so hard lately.”
“There is a lot to do.”
She took a deep breath. “Is this about my father?”
she asked.
Anastasia had started to notice in the past week that Bogdan was different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but it was like he was … harder. There was a new cruelty in his eyes. The other night, she had noticed he came home with blood on his shirt. He didn’t linger long, and he went and changed it. When she went to do the laundry, that shirt was nowhere to be found.
He got random calls throughout the night, and he kept leaving her at the apartment as well, more often than not. She was shocked he had even invited her to the club.
“Part of it is to do with your father.”
“It is?”
she asked. She had hoped her father would just leave her alone. After all, he was the one who married her off.
Bogdan put his hands at her neck and pulled her in close. She knew this was serious. Something in her gut told her so.
“He’s trying to find ways to kill you,”
Bogdan said.
She wasn’t surprised. With everything she had been told, the man was desperate. Did she want to be talking about her father right this second? No, he was the last person she wanted to even think about. She had no idea why it mattered to her, but she pulled back just enough to be able to look up at him and smile. “Tell me about your parents.”
Bogdan frowned and she was pretty sure he physically pulled back. “You want to know about my parents?”
“Yeah, of course I do. They’re part of you, aren’t they?”
That frown seemed to deepen between his brows, which she didn’t quite like but knew she wouldn’t have any choice if he decided not to tell her anything.
Bogdan looked past her shoulder at the people in the bar dancing the night away. They looked so happy and carefree.
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not bad,”
Bogdan said. “It made me the man I am today, and I don’t mind who I am.”
It was her turn to frown, because she wasn’t quite sure what he was implying. She watched as he ran a hand down his face.
“The truth is, I don’t remember much of my mother. She died when I was five.”
“She did?”
Anastasia asked.
“Yes. It left my father and me alone. It was a hard time. My father was not a loving man, nor was he a cold man. We were both similar in temperament, and he told me from a young age that I had a gift, and under him, he taught me everything I knew about surviving. He worked for the Galkin Bratva as well. There is always a man they need like us, and at the time, my father was the best.”
“What happened to your father?”
Anastaisa asked.
“He stopped being the best,”
Bogdan said.
She noticed there was no emotion, nothing. “Do you miss him?”
“No.”
“Do you even think about him?”
“No.”
This surprised her.
“I guess it beats having a father who wants you dead?”
She shrugged.
Bogdan cupped her face and tilted her head back. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She stared up at him, and she knew he spoke the truth, or as close to the truth as he could. Smiling, she nodded her head. This man was not going to let anything happen to her.
“Bogdan?”
“Yes.”
“Dance with me.”
She held her arms open to him.
Part of her expected him to decline, and another part hoped he wouldn’t push her aside claiming to be busy. Bogdan closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, and she breathed a little easier. The scent of him was intoxicating. She pressed her face against his chest and breathed him in.
“This is not dancing, if you’re sniffing me.”
She burst out laughing. “Sorry. You smell good.”
He leaned down and inhaled her hair, and this only served to make her laugh even more. “You smell good yourself.”
“You’re mocking me.”
“Never.”
His grip seemed to tighten around her, and it felt even better than before. She didn’t want him to stop holding her.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
Anastasia knew there would never be anyone else to hold her. Bogdan had a touch like no other.
****
Taking Anastasia away to his private island was part of his plan. With her father’s desperation mounting, Bogdan had a horrible suspicion the man was going to get sloppy. Something wasn’t adding up.
He’d finally bitten the bullet and looked into Dante’s financial background, and the man was not hard up for anything. He wasn’t wealthy, not like Evelyn had been, but he also wasn’t hurting for cash. So, in his quest for answers, he was able to locate all past transactions, and what he found curious was the fact Evelyn had never once paid her husband a single penny. There was no money transferred to her husband. It had all gone into a private, offshore account. Now, he assumed this was Dante’s way of stealing money from his own boss. Every Capo within their Italian mafia family had to pay a percentage of the money they earned to the boss.
Dante had never accounted for any money in the offshore account. After doing more digging, the account was not even registered to Dante. Again, this made no sense. To top it off, Gustov had also contacted him, asking if they could have a private meeting.
Bogdan did not know what the man wanted, and once he spoke to Galkin, his own boss didn’t like the way this was going.
He had his suspicions, but as he stared down at his wife, who he had insisted come out to their private beach naked, she was currently pressed against the blanket. Her nice voluptuous ass was in the air, and she made him ache. Tracing a finger down her back, he moved toward the curves of her ass, and then he got to his knees and straddled her legs.
“What are you doing?”
she asked.
“I’m having my fun.”
He gripped her ass, pressing the cheeks together, and then parting them to give them a little slap. She let out a gasp.
“What do you know about Gustov?” he asked.
Anastasia groaned. “You’re seriously going to ask me about my mother’s best friend right now?”
“They were best friends?”
“Yes, they were.”
He leaned over her, pushing some of her black hair off her shoulder, exposing her neck. Pressing his lips to her delicate skin, he traced his tongue across the pulse. “Is that all they were?”
“I have no idea,”
she said breathlessly.
“Do you think there is a chance they could have been more? Like … lovers?”
Anastasia groaned. “I don’t know and I don’t want to think about him or my mom. He was like a father to me, and I’m liking what you’re doing a little too much to be thinking about him.”
He moved one hand from her waist and curled it up her body, to cup one full tit. He couldn’t resist giving the peak a little pinch, and he heard her soft, guttural moan that was so fucking sexy.
The desire to fuck her was so great. Even though they were out in the open, they were at his private, secluded island, which no one knew about. No one would ever be able to find them. They were completely safe.
He’d told Gustov their meeting was going to have to wait. Any trust he had in the other man had slowly begun to evaporate. People were not telling the full tale, and it was starting to piss him off.
They were putting his wife at risk. He didn’t want Anastasia to pay the price for another person’s incompetence.
“Please,” she said.
“What is it you want, baby?” he asked.
“You.”
He chuckled. “That’s not good enough. You’ve been my wife long enough to know what I want.”
She whimpered.
“You’ve got to tell me with those words I know you’re so good at.”
Another feminine groan escaped her lips, and he found himself getting so hard at just hearing her make that noise.
“What do you want, baby?”
“I want you.”
“I know, but you’ve got to give me details.”
“I want your cock … deep … inside … me.”
He smiled. He felt his cock twitch, because the truth was, that was exactly where he wanted to be as well. “Tilt your pelvis up,” he said.
She did as he instructed, and this was one of the many reasons he loved this woman. She didn’t question him. Anastasia followed his directions, she trusted him.
Just as he thrust deep inside her, sinking into her tight yet wet cunt, he couldn’t help but tense up.
Love.
Bogdan knew his feelings for this woman had changed over the course of their short marriage. How could it not? When he was instructed to marry her, he didn’t want her. He didn’t want any woman, let alone an Italian mafia woman. And yet, here they were.
The biggest revelation to him was that he had fallen in love with his wife. How the fuck had that happened?
Anastasia hadn’t done anything memorable or striking. Yes, she could take care of herself, fire a gun, defend herself. She could cook and laugh with him. She didn’t treat him like a monster, nor did she cower away from him. There were a lot of things Anastasia did that defied the odds, and above all else, she made him ache.
For years, he had been alone, without a single care in the world. It was his path, his chosen vocation, and now he couldn’t help but question it. Now he was considering a life with a wife. A wife with children. He wanted to build a family, to keep them safe, and to no longer walk this earth alone. And that was probably one of the scariest things he had ever considered.
“Bogdan?”
she asked.
“I’ve got you.”
He kissed her temple.
She turned her head, just enough so he could look into her eyes. There was this soft smile on her lips. “I know. You always have me.”
He couldn’t resist those lips, and he reached for her, kissing her, and knowing he didn’t want anything else to happen to her. Not on his watch.
She gave a little moan, and he tightened his grip on her waist and then began to rock gently within her, all the time knowing he was falling for his wife. His very perfect and beautiful wife. And he didn’t want to leave her alone. He wanted to keep her with him at all times. Never let her go. She was everything to him.
Breaking the kiss, he pulled out of her pussy, and without patience because he simply didn’t feel any, he spun her around and moved between her spread legs. She let out a whimper, and then he seated himself to the hilt, only this was much better, because he could stare into her eyes.
This was his wife, the love of his life, and he was not going to let her go.
He felt this overwhelming possessive need sweep over him, and it was a feeling that was not going away.
She was perfect, his sweet wife.