‘Tell me the truth,’ she demanded and he owed her that much.

‘I thought—think—that you deserve more. That you are owed more. After all that I have done, under the guise of vengeance... I simply don’t know how to be. When you asked me to buy your shares, you didn’t know what you were doing. Didn’t know that it would give me the only possible chance of having what I had spent a lifetime wanting. I felt, believed, that if you did love me then you wouldn’t ever have asked me to give that up. Kolikov Holdings was the last tie to my past, to my grandfather, to my mother’s death...and I wanted, needed, it to be gone and you placed, in my hands, the ability to do so—and demanded that I didn’t.

‘Do you understand, Ella? Do you see? The promise I made to my mother on her deathbed, it was a promise that kept me alive, made me get up in the morning, drove me beyond anything else in this world to succeed and achieve the impossible. You made me promise not to do it, and I couldn’t live up to that. I couldn’t because my mother came first. That promise came first.’

* * *

For the first time since she had made him make that promise Ella realised the cost of it. Tears rose to her eyes at the position she had put him in, unwittingly. In her mind, the destruction of Kolikov Holdings was simply the embodiment of his betrayal—of Vladimir’s betrayal—of her. She hadn’t really thought what it had meant to him, what it had symbolised to him.

‘Why didn’t you tell me this? Why didn’t you try to explain?’ she asked in a softer voice than the trembling she felt within her.

‘And risk you leaving with my child?’

‘A departure you specifically engineered only a few months later?’ she couldn’t help but interject.

‘The few months it took me to realise just how much damage I could do to you. When I realised that I was too weak not to give in to the urge to destroy the last trace of Vladimir’s hold on this world.’

Ella took a moment to think through his words, the pain and anguish clearly ringing within them. She had been so determined, so sure of her demand when she’d made it, she could see that she would have walked away. Her own pain and anger, the fierceness with which she’d thought she had been in the right.

Taking a breath, she made herself feel the intention of his words, to feel the truth of them.

‘And now?’ she asked.

‘Now?’ Roman seemed confused, as if in his mind there simply couldn’t be a now.

‘Yes. Now, how do you feel?’

‘About Vladimir’s company?’ he asked.

‘I don’t care about the damn company and never want to hear its name again,’ she cried. ‘I want to know how you feel about me.’

She looked at him, watching his features closely as if they could give her some kind of hint or hope to what she believed he felt. He crossed the room to come before her, dropped to his knees and took her hands in his. ‘There is nothing in this world more important to me. I love you with every single beat of my heart.’

Her own heart leapt, her hands shaking within the press of his.

‘I would give anything to take back all the hurt I inflicted upon you, all the times you felt doubt, or questioned yourself because of me. I have had only a week of that myself and...’ He broke off, shaking his head. ‘I am truly sorry for it. And if you give me the chance I will spend each and every single day trying to make up for it. I will never, ever speak an untruth to you again. I will never make you doubt me, my love for you or our child. I will do whatever it takes, Ella. Because I love you. There is so much of it, there is no room for anything else. Not thoughts of vengeance, not the need to destroy. Just love. And all of it for you and our family.’

She was startled to feel the pad of his thumb sweep aside a tear she hadn’t realised was there.

She reached for him then and pulled him towards her, delighting in the feel of his kiss, sweetened by her tears of joy.

‘I love you,’ she said between presses of her lips against his. ‘So, so much,’ she said. And that was the last thing he allowed her to say before sweeping her into his bedroom, closing the door and showing her how beautiful their lovemaking could, and would, be for the rest of their lives.

EPILOGUE

Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel...they each found their handsome prince. But Red Riding Hood found something so much more. She found her mate, her wolf...her pack. And in doing so she found herself.

The Truth About Little Red Riding Hood

—Roz Fayrer

ELLA STOOD IN the doorway to her daughter’s room in Puycalvel watching the four-year-old spin slightly off-centred circles in her little pink leotard and ballet shoes, both of which were extremely cute but nothing compared to the full length pink, frothy, layered, sparkly tutu that Roman had produced for her just hours before.

It was completely over the top but Tatiana loved it and had refused to take it off, not even for bed, despite the warnings that she might damage it.

‘I’m going to be the greatest ballerina ever,’ she proclaimed between spins, ‘but not as great as Grandma, because no one could be as good as Grandma.’

The sound of footsteps above on the staircase drew Ella’s attention towards her husband, who had their second daughter in his arms as he made his way carefully down the steps. Not once had he ever betrayed his promise to keep her and their children safe, not once had he ever given her cause to feel anything but joy and love. Frustration sometimes and perhaps, even on occasion, a healthy dose of anger. But never sadness and never fear.

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