The house was quiet when I woke up, a couple of security guards wandering around but then again, it was very early.

Abe's talk had unsettled me greatly and not just for Rose's safety, but for my own. I didn't take his words lightly, and I don't think he wanted me to. I headed for the gym in the basement that Aaron had told me about, but someone had beat me too it.

Rose.

She was running on one of the treadmills, listening to music through her headphones, obviously pushing her self from the sweat dripping from every inch of her, and yet she didn't slow down nor stop in fact she was pushing herself even harder. As quickly as she had sped up, she began to slow down, stepping off the treadmill she breathed heavily, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to control her breathing

"Shit!" she yelled as she turned around, "didn't even hear you come in here" she directed at me as she removed her headphones

"Didn't mean to scare you" I said gruffly

"Yeah well too late" she laughed, as she put her head phones away and headed for the bench beside her

"Listen, about last night…" she began, "I didn't mean to snap at you or make you uncomfortable or something" she said as she looked at her feet

"I think it just made me more worried" I commented

"Even if I didn't make you uncomfortable, I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I don't even know you" she looked up at me, her brown eyes wide with regret,

"I've just had a pretty bad couple of months" she chuckled to herself as she began to wrap her hands up

"Guess you could say I have as well" I smiled at her

"Yeah who did you lose?" she scoffed walking towards the punching bag

"Six weeks ago I took my first holiday since being newly promised, and during that single week my best friend and my charge, Ivan, was killed" I muttered shadowing her

Rose stopped dead in her tracks, "Oh, shit, I'm sorry Dimitri. As you can see I talk before I think about my words" the look of distress obvious in her eyes

"How long had it been since you had a holiday?" she began punching the bag in front of her

"Is that your way of asking about my age Miss Mazur?" I asked

"Maybe" she smiled, "Like I think I have a good idea, but you know, some guys look twenty-five but they end up having kids my age" she laughed

"Okay, what's your guess then?"

"I was going to go with twenty-eight, but then you said you hadn't had a holiday since you got promised" she stopped punching the bag "and in the normal world, that's slave labour" she smiled and I couldn't help but melt a little bit

"I'm twenty-seven" I chuckled as I walked to the other side of the punching bag, my eyes never leaving her as I walked

"I wasn't too far off then!" she smiled again, "Guess my age" she commented putting her hand on her hips, her high ponytail falling down in front of her shoulder

"Why guess when I already know it" I smirked

"Abe is ruining my flirting" she muttered to herself and dropping her hands from her waist

"Oh, are you flirting with me now?" I smirked

"Trust me Guardian Belikov," she began as she took a step closer to me and pressed her palm on my chest, "if I'm going to flirt with you, you'll know about it" and with that she began walking towards the stairs out of the basement. My heart was almost beating out of my chest at her touch.

"I've got a meeting in an hour, so you better be ready" she called out from the stairs before hearing the door closed behind me

"What are you doing Dimitri" I muttered to myself and I pressed my forehead against the punching bag.


When Rose said she had a business meeting I didn't really know what to expect but as she walked down those steps I knew that whatever it was, it was far different than a normal business meeting. Her black pencil skirt ended just above her knee and her pale pink blouse hugged her flat stomach. Her outfit exposed every single decadent curve she had. Her black stiletto heels once again clinking as she came down the stairs, every inch of her looking absolutely perfect.

"See something you like?" she smirked as she walked past me

"Lots" I mumbled under my breath once she was out of earshot.

She drove, but I guess that's fair enough when I don't know where I'm going. The drive wasn't long and the soft hum of the car's engine filled any silence we created in between small talk.

"So what is this business meeting going to be about?" I asked,

"It's to do with our trip to court later this week. Just some final kinks to sort out" she smiled at me as she pulled into the car park of a large upscale building

"Stay close to me here. This place is thick with Guardians but the sketchy Moroi out number them" her smile fell, "The Moroi we are meeting is one of Dad's business partners, he helps get most of our…supplies"
I didn't push for the details on what she meant, but I knew it wasn't the run of the mill medical supplies.

The first person we saw was a familiar face, Zayfe. The Dhampir that had been with Rose after the party, the girls kissed each other on the cheek much like they had when Zayfe had left the house. I could see what Rose meant by staying close to her, people were staring, knowing obviously who she was and why she was here, no one glanced at me as I following closely behind her until we reached a set of large double red doors on the sixteenth floor, opening both with a flourish, Zayfe poured into the room with Rose and I in tow.

"Zachariah" Rose sighed sweetly as a tall Moroi man rose from her chair behind a desk

"Rosemarie my sweet, I'm so glad that you came to visit before you set off" he walked over to Rose, kissing both her cheeks. The Moroi looked no older than me, what stood out was his extreme British accent that I wasn't expecting.

"Your look like a dessert my love" he growled as he twirled her around to get a full view of her, "just tasty"

"Keep your fangs to yourself Zach" she smiled, "This is a business not pleasure meeting" she purred. As those words rolled of her tongue I sensed Zayfe tense slightly, either Zayfe was now involved with the Zachariah or she had serious feelings for him. I was also very curious as to what her role was in this business. But the way she hugged the wall just as I did, I felt she might have been his Guardian.

Rose and Zachariah continued to lightly flirt along with business talk. I couldn't get an idea of the exact business that was going on before my eyes, but it was definitely illegal.

"As long as you can get it into the tarmac, I will handle getting it into court Zachariah as I always have done. I always hold up my end of the deal" Rose smiled as she leaned back in the chair opposite him and crossing on knee over the other, her gaze flicking for half a second towards me and then back to Zachariah

"Fine" Zachariah sighed, "I'll have everything you require waiting on the tarmac for you, but I require a profit" he smiled cunningly as he placed with the pen in his hand, Rose returned his smile, not breaking eye contact,

"Guardian Belikov, Zayfe, would you excuse us as we discuss numbers".

I began to head for the door before I noticed that Zayfe hadn't moved from her position against the wall, not wanting to test the patience of Rose nor Zachariah, I continued walking until I was out of the door, Zayfe followed a few steps behind me, a sickening look on her face as she closed the doors behind her. She looked at me briefly before lowering her head.

Five minutes later, Rose opened the doors to the office and strolled out, a smile on her face as she fair welled Zachariah, Zayfe slipped through the doors, just as they began to close I was able to sneak a look into the office. Zachariah was leaning up against the desk, doing up the buttons on the sleeves of his dress shirt, a very pleased look on his face.

I had no idea what had gone on during those five minutes, but whatever it was it sickened Zayfe, but pleased both Rose and Zachariah. I stared at Rose as she walked in front of me towards the elevator. Once we were in the solitary of the descending lift I couldn't stop myself from asking;
"What profit did he want Rose?" the concern in my voice extremely obvious

"Don't stress about that Dimitri, we have an arrangement in place that works well for both our businesses" she smiled

My gaze ran over her body, lingering on her neck
"You aren't going to find any bites Dimitri" she sighed as she looked at me directly, "The less you know about the business my father and I work in, the better it will be for you" she rested her palm on my chest much like she had this morning in the gym

"I'm just concerned, I'm your Guardian and I feel that no matter what it is, I should be involved" my breath hitching as her fingers splayed out

"You say that now, but you aren't ready" she whispered looking up at me
A comfortable silence hit us as I stared down at her, her hair trailing behind her as she looked up at me.

The smallest discolouration in my field of vision altered my focus as I noticed a slight purplish colour peeping out from underneath her blouse. A purplish colour that was greatly associated to bruising and a colour that wasn't there when I saw her this morning.

She was lying to me and I needed to figure out why.