Return Of The Untamed Billionaire

A laugh caught in her throat as she remembered the one time they had been in a restaurant together. Roman, trying to make his way as a boxer, had taken her out for a Valentine’s Day dinner, using his winnings from a fight.

Valentine’s Day had still been relatively new in Russia but Anya had wanted to celebrate it.

She had wanted flowers and, of course, chocolate.

Roman had taken her to a restaurant, though.

The first restaurant they had been turned away from as Roman had not had a jacket and tie, and in the other restaurant it had been just as much hell on the inside.

A menu had been handed to him, when he had never known such a thing even existed.

There had been a wine menu too.

He had wanted to give her everything, except he’d had nothing to give.

Nothing.

But he had taken care of her aching body after rehearsals and soothed her panic as she’d prepared for an important audition.

They had lain in his room and talked, they had glimpsed a future, even if Katya had said it would be an impossible one.

And then, without warning, he had gone.

‘You left me...’ She said it with the pain she had felt then and his hand was warm over hers as she jabbed at his chest.

‘Anya, I had to. You would not be where you are today had I stayed’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘But it’s true,’ Roman said. ‘You wanted to get to Saint Petersburg and you did.’

‘You could have come too. We could have got a flat—’

‘It would never have worked, Anya. I could not afford a flat for us and neither could I sit back and say nothing about...’

He did not finish, both knew what he referred to.

Oh, their night at the restaurant had been such a disaster.

They had left and gone back to the small bedsit he’d had and it had been the blackest of Valentine’s Days. Roman had lain there, knowing that he had embarrassed her with his unpolished ways.

No.

Anya had stared at the ceiling, wondering how she might excuse that three-course meal. There had been steak and hren, a horseradish relish that she adored, as well as wine. A large meal, though, was the very last thing she’d needed before such an important audition. She’d known he had spent everything that he’d had. Roman had thought good food would help her tomorrow. Yet it had sat on her stomach like lead and she’d known it would weigh her down.

Once she’d been sure he’d been asleep she had crept to the tiny bathroom and knelt down and done what she’d had to do to make the next day work.

Her shame when the lights had gone on she felt again now.

The row that had followed had been as passionate as they.

‘What the hell are you doing to yourself?’ Roman had shouted.

‘You don’t understand how tough the competition is.’

‘Nothing is worth that! Anya, your mother is wrong to tell you...’

He never got to finish.

Embarrassed at being caught, still trying to save the situation, Anya had jumped to Katya’s defence. ‘She does what is best for me. Roman, you don’t understand families.’

She’d regretted her choice of words so badly because Roman’s eyes had shuttered.

It was the last conversation they’d had.

No, Anya thought, perhaps he could not have sat back idly as she’d done what she’d had to in order to get where she was. She had never made herself vomit since that time. Instead she controlled her portions and worked hard on her body, but few understood the discipline required.

‘Where have you been?’ Anya asked.

‘France,’ he said. ‘Corsica...’

‘So you did join the Foreign Legion?’ She just stared at his huge hand over hers and tried to hold tears back.

‘Yes.’

Anya knew about the French Foreign Legion because during their precious time together Roman had hinted that it was an option, and so when he had left she had looked into it. Legionnaires were given a new identity, passport and birth certificate.

Their pasts were wiped clean.

And it meant that the soldier you loved so much might die but you would never know.

‘Rather than be with me?’

‘I needed it, Anya. I needed a new start.’

‘So what is your new name?’

Again he didn’t answer her and Anya knew he would not be allowed to reveal his new identity. He should not even be here as visiting the past was strictly forbidden.

‘Roman.’ Anya answered her own question, for he would always be Roman to her. Yes, maybe the details had changed but he was still Roman to her heart. The feelings she’d had for him had never left, now though they heightened.

‘Are you still in the legion?’

‘No.’

‘How long were you there?’

‘Ten years.’