These past few days had taught me lessons that I’d never learned in a classroom. I was betrayed by a girl I trusted, coming face to face with death and the worst kind of humiliation that could’ve ever happened to me.
Yet, I survived.
And it was all thanks to my knight in shining armor, Roman Tarasov. I guess there was indeed a shred of humanity left in him that just needed a little tugging. He’d taken the week off work so his body would heal more quickly. He was supposed to use this time to rest and get better, but we had other plans.
Every day for the last few days, we’d been having constant sex, multiple times daily. In the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. There were no off days. Even when I tried to remind him of his injury, he’d tell me that he’d survived worse and that the sex was helping to speed up the healing process.
I couldn’t resist him anyway. We were addicted to each other, and the more we made love, the stronger our bond became. We had sex in the bedroom, in the shower, in the kitchen, in the garden, and even on the roof. Fuck! He was such a good lover, and a creative one at that. Around him, I was free to be myself without fear of condemnation.
I told him all of my sexual fantasies: anal, bondage sex, and even the fact that I wanted him to treat me like his whore, his dirty little slut. He knew my deepest, darkest desires, and I knew all of his, too. In just a week, we’d already tried out ninety-eight percent of the fantasies on our bucket list.
Sex wasn’t the only thing we’d been sharing, though. We’d also had several conversations about each other’s lives. It was during one of our talks that I learned what my father had done to make Roman so angry at him.
It turned out that Mercer was responsible for the death of Roman’s uncle. Apparently, he was paid to infiltrate the Tarasov family and eliminate Akim.
I wasn’t sure what shocked me more: the fact that my father had been an assassin, or that he was clever enough to deceive the entire Tarasov family.
Speaking of deception, the maid, Mia, was rotting in one of the Bratva’s holding cells downtown. She was moved from the dungeon two days ago. I’d refused to see her or speak with her after what she did to me. The only reason she wasn’t already dead was because Roman was compassionate toward women and children.
Maybe later, I’d pay her a visit and speak to my husband about releasing her from the cell. But for now, let her rot in there until she’d learned her lesson.
Meanwhile, Nikki and Natasha had gotten closer to me than they ever were. However, despite our closeness, they knew their place and knew where to draw the line in whatever they were doing.
Everything was falling in place, and my life was starting to take shape. There was just one more thing I needed to do—speak with my father. I had questions that onlyhecould answer. And I had a feeling that now was the best time to finally have that talk with him.
***
He lay down on the hospital bed, the electrocardiogram beeping steadily beside him. He was frail, his face pale, his strength sapped by cancer.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my heart heavy with dread as I watched him fight for his life. If he had told me earlier that he was battling cancer, I would have done away with all that hatred in a heartbeat. But the old man kept it to himself.
He looked so skinny, and his hair was shaved, his eyes sunken in a way that terrified me.
“I know you have a lot of questions, Scar,” he said to me, his voice weak and shallow. “I know you have a lot of things to say to me.” He coughed, his body shaking violently.
“Save your breath,” I murmured, squeezing gently against his fingers.
“I’m sorry, Scar,” he said, his eyes pinned on me.
“Dad, stop,” I whispered, feeling my tear glands charging up.
“I left you with your grandmother because I didn’t want you getting tangled up in my world.” His tears flowed like a river. “I’ve done some very terrible things, Scar. And they will haunt me for the remaining days of my life.” His eyes flicked toward Roman, who’d been beside me this whole time.
I sniffled and wiped my tears.
“I was only trying to keep you safe from the blood on my hands. But I ended up creating a void no one could fill. And for that, I’m sorry.”
His words broke my heart, especially because he didn’t have much time left for us to catch up on the years we were apart.
“You were always too good for me, Scar,” he added, a small smile tugging at his lips. “The one good thing I ever created.”
I felt my heart shattering, and when I lowered my head, the tears streamed uncontrollably.
“Why are you crying?”
I shook my head, unable to speak, even with Roman’s hands softly massaging my shoulders.
“I’ve lived my life, Scar. Now I want you to live yours,” he said, then his eyes shifted toward my husband. “Take care of her for me, will you?”
