This is the longest chapter I've ever written and I'm still not 100% happy with it. I wanted this chapter to include both Dimitri and Adrian's but I will most likely split the following chapters up between the two instead of combining it all together.

Please let me know what you think, enjoy, and happy holidays!

Disclaimer- All characters belong to Richelle Mead

Dimitri POV

It wasn't a surprise that I had acquired the attention of every known law enforcement and criminal the day I tried to kill Hans Croft.

On the first day of my imprisonment, a man named Rufus Tarus had taken an extra liking to me.

He introduced himself as the personal family driver of Abe Mazur. He was the man that ran the largest car garage in our part of the state, a car garage whose owner was also Mazur.

"You know I used to be really good friends with your father," he mentioned in the early days of my imprisonment.

"You don't say?"

"Yeah, he was a crazy ass just like you," he chuckled. That was what Rufus had told everyone and anyone who would listen since the day I stepped foot into prison; that I was a maniac just like my father.

It was good though, because through Rufus, I had acquired the attention of Abe.

Rufus, who was to be released a week before I was, talked up a big storm, telling me how he was going to get me on the in with Mazur, but I always brushed him off telling him I wasn't interested. That only spurred the old man on even more.

"If Abe wants you on his side, then you can't say no," he warned me, but all I did was shrug in response.

"Watch me."

The year came and went, and finally I was a free man again.

I was released early one morning, a small bag and the clothes on my back the only possession I had.

As soon as I stepped foot out of the prison, once an again a free man, I instantly spotted my mother and Sydney waiting for me in the parking lot.

The sight of my mother caused my heart to clench in guilt. This had been the longest we had been away from each other. The worry lines were clear on her face and she seemed to have dropped weight since I had last seen her.

That only caused more guilt to eat away at my chest, but I schooled my features so she wouldn't be able to see how badly the sight of her affected me.

My mom and Sydney finally noticed my presence and all but ran towards me.

I made it easier for them and met them halfway, immediately enveloping my mother's small frame into my arms.

I felt her hands clutching onto the back of my shirt. "I missed you so much," I heard her say, her voice cracking at the end.

I closed my eyes again in guilt, trying not to let the sound, feel, and sight of my mother show my true feelings.

My mom pulled away enough for Sydney to pop in between us and hug me tight.

"Hey you big lug, long time no see," she joked but the way she held onto me told me how much she actually missed me, too.

I had known Sydney Sage for as long as I could remember. She had been my next-door neighbor growing up, but had held onto our relationship even after my mom and I moved away.

She spent most of her days and nights at my house or helping around at my mother's restaurant, though she was a fulltime journalist herself. I don't think I could have stayed a year away from my mother if I didn't trust Sydney to take care of my mom while I was away. She was the sister I never had.

"I want to put this whole mess behind us Dimka," my mom said once Sydney pulled away from my embrace.

As my mom was talking about wanting to leave this prison far behind us, I saw an expensive, sleek black BMW pull up next to us.

"Let's go," Sydney said, taking a hold of my hand and pulling me towards her car just as the driver of the BMW stepped out.

"Randall's boy, just the man I was looking for," Rufus announced as he walked over to where the three of us were standing.

I immediately felt my mother and Sydney tense next to and stepped forward so they were partially shielded behind my back.

"Rufus, what can I do for you?" I asked him, wanting to finish this conversation as quickly as possible.

"I told you on the inside I had a job and place to live ready for you."

"Not interested," I said immediately.

"Why don't you just spend one day with me and you'll see how much you'll enjoy the job. With your record, do you think it'll be easy for you to find a job so quickly? Come with me today and if by the end, you're still not interested, then I'll let you go," he reasoned with me and it did make sense.

If I needed to move forward through all of this, I could hardly do it living with my mom, without a job no less.

This would be my perfect opportunity, but I didn't want to show Rufus how appealing he just made this job offer for me.

"He said he's not interested," I heard Sydney say in a hard tone, before grabbing a hold of my hand again.

I didn't budge though, causing the poor girl to be tugged back.

"Take my mom and go home."

"What?" my mom asked incredulously, sharing a shocked look with Sydney. "Absolutely not Dimka, let's go."

"Mama-"

"No," she cut me off. My mom moved closer to me, looking at Rufus suspiciously before lowering her voice so only I would hear. "Why would you go with this man?"

I put my hands on my mother's shoulders and lowered myself so I was face to face with her.

Softening my voice tremendously, I spoke. "I'll be okay. Go with Sydney and I promise I'll be home soon."

I quickly dropped a kiss onto her head and turned around, because the heartbroken expression that was sure to be on her face would cause me to forget everything and follow my mother to wherever she wanted me to go.

I glanced sideways at Sydney, unsurprised to see how pissed off she was, and gestured for her to take my mom home.

Rufus grinned big, noticing I had decided to take him up on his offer. He clapped me on my back and we both turned when we heard two car doors shut.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Sydney put the car in reverse and drive away.

"I guess we upset your mother," Rufus said, surprisingly sounding guilty.

"I can't do anything about that. There are certain things that she's going to need to get used to," I told him, staring at the car until it completely disappeared from my sight. I turned towards Rufus and hitched my bag further up on my shoulder. "So tell me about this job?"

We settled into his car and he began to drive and fill me in on the details.

"As you know, I run the garage owned by Ibrahim Mazur. Now I know you don't want anything to do with him, but I could use a man like you around there."

"So you need some kind of repair man?" I asked him and he outright laughed at my statement.

"We don't just fix cars at my garage," he said, smirking in my direction.

"I see, so what do you need me there for?"

"Well I do a lot of my own personal business there. A man who looks like you can be quite intimidating. I would like you to be present in all of the deals that go on there so I know I'm completely safe. The second floor of the garage is set up like an apartment and you can live there if you'd like. On top of that, if you really do like fixing cars, then that can be considered your day job, so to speak."

I thought over everything Rufus said. I knew what kind of 'personal business' he was talking about. The reason he was in prison was for a drug deal gone bad, and he wanted to hire me to be there as his bodyguard. What surprised me though, was how a man like Mazur still allowed Rufus to run the garage considering he spent so much time in and out of jail.

I didn't want to end up behind bars again, but this might be my only chance to get the 'in' that I was looking for. Plus, the garage offered me a place to live, so I wouldn't be worrying my mother even more by sneaking in and out of the house at all hours of the day.

"Okay," I said finally.

"Okay?" Rufus asked, surprised that I was convinced so easily.

"Okay, I accept."

We had arrived at a spacious garage about a half hour later. The place was filled with exotic vehicles, and I was even less surprised to see a bunch of shady looking men working in the place.

Rufus introduced me briefly to the group and told me I could become comfortable upstairs, before his next business deal was supposed to happen.

The top floor of the garage was pretty run down, with the paint practically chipping off the wall. The main room had a large couch, pool table, and bed in the corner. Off the to opposite side was a small kitchen and bathroom.

The best part of the place though was a balcony that spanned from one end of the building all the way to the other.

It was better than nothing, I thought so I dropped my bag onto the floor and settled in.

XXXXX

A few hours later, Rufus called for me to come down, because the man he was meant to meet up with would be there soon. After showering, I put on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, surprised to see how tight it felt around my biceps and pecs. I guess the amount of working out I had done behind bars paid off.

Rufus was about to brief me on the individual he was meant to meet up with, but he was cut off by a loud sound I usually associated with racecars.

The sound seemed to be getting louder as if it was getting closer to the garage.

"Fuck," Rufus muttered and ran a hand through his greying hair. "What day is it today?"

"The 20th."

He muttered a few more curses. "I completely forgot I told her to bring her car in today."

"Who are you talking about?" I asked just as the car finally entered into the garage.

My jaw dropped as I looked at the machinery in front of me. It was a 1999 Silver Nissan Skyline r35 GT-R, and it was the first time I was seeing this car in person.

I looked around the garage and spotted 4 brand new GTRs parked, but nothing compared to the older model in front of me.

I didn't think I could see something as good-looking as this car, but then the owner of the vehicle stepped out.

The first thing I saw were long, dark brown locks belonging to a female in a black and white school uniform.

My jaw dropped even further when the mystery girl turned around.

I didn't know if it was due to the fact that I had spent a year in a facility where I was completely separated from the opposite sex or if the person in front of me was truly as radiant as she looked, but I was floored.

One look at her tan skin, exotic features, and lean body were enough to make my heart race.

She was absolutely beautiful.

"Mr. Tarus," she spoke, her voice sounding just as enchanting as her looks. "The look on your face is telling me you completely forgot about our appointment."

There wasn't an ounce of anger in her tone, but she did sound dejected. I wanted to take that frown away from her face.

"No sweetheart," he said, clearly lying. "I just didn't realize I had double booked you, along with another client."

"Oh well, I don't mind waiting if you don't. I had already told my dad I was going to be stopping here after school."

"Your dad knows you're here," he asked alarmed, causing the girl to take a hesitant step backwards.

"Yes, why?"

"Just hold on a moment," he said before beckoning me away from her. "Alright new plan Dimitri, you're going to make sure she stays hidden while I'm doing my personal business, but you can't let her catch onto what we're doing."

I looked over at the girl, seeing her casting a weary look our way, before turning back to Rufus.

"Why?"

"The thing is, the man who is coming here today is not a fan of her father. So if he sees her here, I have a feeling he will be causing some unnecessary drama."

"Who is her father?"

"Abe Mazur," he whispered.

What the hell?

I looked over again at the girl to see her leaning against the door of her car and playing with the ends of her hair. How could she be the spawn of that scum bastard?

As if sensing my eyes on her, she looked up and met my gaze. Just like I had observed her from head to toe, she seemed to be doing the same to me. Her brown eyes traveled from my feet, all the way up the length of my body, pausing briefly at my torso, before her eyes met mine again.

I thought she was beautiful before, but then she gave me a small, shy smile.

"I'll do it," I told Rufus immediately.

I was about to make a move towards her when a black SUV pulled into the garage.

"Shit, it's too late," Rufus muttered.

The doors of the SUV opened, showing two beefy looking men wearing matching black suits. One of them approached the back door, and shorter man, in a fitting blue suit came out. His black hair looked greasy and he had a briefcase in his hand. He had a cocky grin on his face, but it completely disappeared when he spotted the brown-haired girl.

"Is this some kind of set-up Tarus?" he bellowed in anger. The girl flinched at his loud voice, but quickly schooled her features to glare at the man.

"Not at all Omar, let's take this inside my office," Rufus said, approaching the man.

The man took a step back, and his men were immediately on the defensive.

"Does Mazur know that his precious flower and I are in the same place right now?" he asked Rufus, but kept his gaze on the girl.

I clenched my fist in anger as I saw her cower slightly into herself. He was making her uncomfortable and enjoying it.

Rufus didn't say a word, confirming this man, Omar's, suspicions.

"Well let's send your daddy a little gift, why don't we?"

Almost immediately as he spoke, the man, along with his two bodyguards brandished weapons in their hands. Omar had his pointed at the girl, while the other two spaced out and kept a look out at the men next to her.

The girl looked completely terrified now, but seemed to be glued in her spot in fear. Rufus started rambling a mile a minute, negotiating with the man.

For a girl who had a mobster daddy, she seemed completely out of her comfort zone as if she had never even seen a gun in her life.

I silently took a few steps back, crouched down and made my way behind the two bodyguards.

Though I was massive in size, I had always been quiet on my feet.

Omar was so distracted trying to scare the poor girl; he hadn't noticed me sneaking behind his first man.

I quickly wrapped my arm around the man's throat and tightened my hold on his neck by placing my unoccupied arm against the back of his neck. The sleeper hold took few more seconds to work before the man went limp in my hold. I quietly laid him down on the floor, pocketing his gun as I went.

Abe's daughter caught my eye and I mouthed to her, "Don't worry."

She diverted her attention back to Omar as he took another step towards her, completely disregarding Rufus.

I quickly and quietly went behind other bodyguard and did the same thing to him, depositing his body onto the dirty floor of the garage

All I had left was Omar.

"Your father ruined my life. I wonder how he'll feel when I drop your dead body on his doorstep," he threatened her and cocked his gun.

I approached him from the back and tapped him on his shoulder.

"What?" he bit out, turning around to look at the person who distracted him?

His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of me and I punched him hard across the face a second later, knocking him unconscious.

The girl took an audible, shaky sigh of relief. I saw her slump against her car as and take repetitive deep breaths to calm herself down.

Making sure that Omar really was out for the count, I approached the girl and spoke to her for the first time.

"Are you alight?" I asked her.

She looked up startled, as if surprised to see me in front of her.

She looked at the bodies of all three men before turning her attention back to me.

"Yes, thank you," she said gratefully.

I nodded my head at her and turned around to Rufus.

The man was just as surprised to see how the last few minutes had turned to such chaos.

"My apologies sweetheart, I never meant to put you in harms way," he said, approaching her. She took another step back and looked at him apprehensively.

Well, Rufus was a dead man for sure.

I may have never met Abe Mazur in person, but I doubt this was something he would take lightly.

"You did good Dimitri," he said turning towards me.

"Dimitri?" that musical voice spoke again. Damn my name had never sounded so good to me before. "Is your name Dimitri?"

"Yes," I told her nodding my head.

"My name is Rose," she bought her hand in front of her offering it to me. "Rose Mazur."

I looked at her hand suspiciously. Here was the daughter of the man I hated the most, yet she seemed completely unlike what I would have imagined. Looking into her sincere brown eyes once more, I took her hand in my larger one and shook it.

XXXX

It wasn't a surprise that 20 minutes after this whole fiasco had ended, Ibrahim Mazur showed up.

The man was just as menacing as I would have assumed. Donned from head to toe in flashy clothing and dripping in gold, he resembled a pirate mobster.
Though he tried to come off as easy-going, no one missed the icy glare he sent in Rufus's direction.

"Kizm are you alright," he asked Rose, but kept his gaze leveled at Rufus.

"Yes Baba," she said immediately. I saw her take a glance at me, before she continued. "Dimitri saved my life."

For the first time since he came in, Abe looked over at me. His dark brown eyes assessed me slowly, starting from my head down to my toes. I kept my stance rigid, trying to show him how little he was affecting me.

"You're Randall's boy?" he asked me and I clenched my jaw.

Seeing as all of the attention was now on me, I nodded my head in response.

"I've heard a lot about you. You've earned yourself quite the reputation on the streets."

That was a surprise to me. I knew people had heard about what I had done at graduation last year, but I hadn't assumed it would've have spread throughout town so quickly.

"I'm curious, if you were going to defy the system, why did you decide to become a cop in the first place?"

"That's personal, but I'm going to ask the person who wasted four years of my life about that," I said, referring to Hans.

Whatever I had said seemed to please Abe, because he became even more at ease.

"You're not at all like your father," he said.

That was one topic I refused to indulge Abe on. Just like I had told Hans, I had nothing to do with my father. Abe seemed to catch onto that, as well.

"Anyway, let's move on to why I'm here. You saved my daughter's life. I owe you."

I glanced over at Rose and thought that it hadn't been hard to protect her as I had done.

"I am not the type of man who pays my debt late so make your wish."

"I didn't do it so I would get something in return. A thank you is enough," I told them.

Abe seemed surprised and he shared that look with his daughter, who looked more impressed than anything.

"Alright then, very noble of you if I do say so myself. Thank you." Before he had the chance to walk away, he asked me another question. "Will you be available if we ever need your help again?"

I shrugged and answered him honestly, "We'll see."

From everything I had said to Abe during this conversation, those two words seemed to stun him the most. He turned back three times to look me over, as if he couldn't believe someone had actually said 'we'll see' rather than jumping at the idea of being used by him.

Eventually he nodded his head in my direction and took his leave.

Rose was behind all of them, but before she had the chance to follow the men out, I moved forward and gently grabbed her arm.

She seemed startled by my touch and turned to look at me.

"I may have told your father I didn't need anything in return, but there is a way you can thank me for saving your life."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at me apprehensively, so to put her mind at ease, I explained myself.

"Let me be the one to help you fix your car up," I told her.

"Are you serious?" she asked in amusement, but I wasn't joking.

"Yes, I'm going to be here full time now. I don't know who usually fixes it for you, but I'd like to be the one to take over in helping you with it."

"And that'll be my way of thanking you?"

"Say yes and I'll consider us even."

Rose ran a hand through her dark locks before gracing me with a small, radiant smile.

"Okay, how about we start tomorrow."

XXXXX

I shouldn't have been surprised that the following day Abe had requested Rufus and I to meet him at his restaurant for lunch.

I had been honest when I told him I didn't need anything in return for saving Rose's life.

I would have done it either way. And I was glad I did, because it had given me the opportunity to get to know the mysterious brunette a little bit more.

While I was on edge about what Abe could possibly want to discuss with me, Rufus was practically sweating bullets. He had fucked up big time putting Rose in danger the way he had, especially since he was doing business with known enemies of Abe.

Whatever happened today wouldn't end well for Rufus.

I offered to drive us considering the man was practically bouncing with anxiety. It didn't take long to pull up to his famous 'Kebob House,' a Turkish style restaurant that specialized in all of the different meat dishes it offered.

Abe was at the center, grilling, with his men surrounding him on each side. He looked up as we approached him and stood up from behind the grill.

"Thank you both for coming here on such short notice. I hope the two of you are hungry."

"No no Sir we're okay," Rufus stuttered out, showing all of us how nervous he was.

"How about you?"

"I'm good," I told him, my stoicism not allowing him to get a feel on what I may be feeling.

"Then we can get straight to business," Abe said, suddenly turning an icy glare in Rufus's direction.

The man took a visible step back, not even the presence of customers making him feel safe.

"Why do you think I called you here Rufus?" Abe asked in an eerily calm voice.

"To discuss what happened yesterday. I am so sor-"

"How do you think you should pay for your mistake?" Abe asked, completely cutting Rufus off.

The man next to me gulped again and I felt a little bad for him. Yeah he was a criminal, but facing off against Abe was a terrifying thing to do.

"Whatever you believe is appropriate Sir," he said, lowering his head in obedience.

I tried to keep the look of disgust off of my face. How did a man acquire so much power to have people practically kneel at his feet?

Abe turned his attention towards me. "I know you said I didn't owe you for what you did yesterday, but there is one thing I don't mess around with and that is my family. So," he said, looking between Rufus and I, "the garage is now yours."

Rufus and I both shared a stunned look before turning back to Abe.

"But Sir, I've ran that place for the past 12 years."

"And now it's Dimitri's turn. Consider yourself lucky Rufus, I'm being far more lenient than you deserve."

I could tell Rufus wanted to argue, but his fear greatly outweighed his anger so he nodded in reluctance.

I was going to tell Abe I wasn't interested, but we were interrupted.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a pleasant sight," Hans Croft said, grabbing a hold of our attention.
Hans wasn't alone though. Next to him was a former classmate of mine, Adrian Ivashkov.
The only thing I knew about the man was that we were always neck and neck at the academy. He was the only person who even came close to outscoring me.
Seeing him next to Hans caused a spark of annoyance to run through me.

I was supposed to be the one working side by side with Hans, but my parentage forced me to align myself with the snake next to me.

Since I was forced out of the academy, Adrian Ivashkov had become Hans's right hand man.

Adrian POV

"Alright boys, take him through the back entrance. The front is always crawling with journalists."

I told the cop before he had the chance to pull into the front of the police station.

We had caught one of the men involved in a burglary group and I wanted to avoid it becoming public before we caught all of the men involved.

The cop car pulled into the back entrance, like I had advised and I opened the back door to take the individual inside.

I wasn't even two steps away from the back door before I saw a flash of light go off on my right side.

I looked over to see a petite, blond girl holding a camera up to her face. Noticing my annoyed expression, she smirked in my direction before clicking another picture.

"Take him inside and get him processed," I told the cop and handed the handcuffed man off to him.

"Where did you come from? We try to trick the press, but you tricked us instead. Well done," I said sarcastically as I approached her.

"I'm just doing my job," she shrugged.

"Well let me see all of your hard work then," I said and took the camera from her hands before she had the chance to object.

"Hey give that back," she said angrily. I lifted the camera above my head and clicked a few buttons to get rid of the pictures she had just taken. She wasn't short, but I still towered over her so she jumped up and down, trying to grab her camera that I kept out of reach.

A few clicks later and they were all deleted.

"Here," I said, giving it back to her.

Her slim fingers skimmed across the camera and she looked up at me looking even more pissed than before.

"You deleted all of my pictures! Asshole."

"Most people call me Adrian, but asshole works fine, too," I winked at her and walked away.

15 minutes later, I was called into Hans's office.

"Why did I just see a young reporter crying outside of my building?"

My eyes widened slightly when I realized who he was talking about.

"Crying," I asked incredulously.

"Yes, she was crying saying she might lose her job because you deleted all of her pictures. Look, I don't like reporters either, but this one seemed genuinely upset. What if she publishes a bad story about our department, because of what you did?"

I sighed in annoyance. There was so much work I had to do and the last thing I needed was a crying journalist.

"I want you to go and handle the situation," he said, before focusing his attention on some paperwork at his desk.

I guess that was my cue to leave so I did. Still feeling annoyed, I quickly walked outside where I knew the blond girl would be waiting and I had been right.

She was leaning against the wall of the police station, not a teardrop in sight.

"You are such a crybaby," I said and she looked up at the sound of my voice. "You were trying to make me lose my job for a couple of pictures?"

She looked a bit taken back as if realizing what her 'crying' could have caused me before glaring in my direction, again.

"You deleted every single one of my pictures. What am I supposed to tell my editor when he asks me why I have no story? You didn't get fired, but I sure will."

My eyebrows furrowed as I contemplated my own actions. The blond girl turned off her camera and sighed dejectedly when she noticed I had no response for her.

"Forget it," she mumbled, storing her camera away in her bag.

I felt an inkling of guilt as I looked at her frown, and spoke without thinking.

"You want a story?"

Her head perked up, but she still seemed hesitant.

"The man I bought in spilled the beans about his pickpocketing gang. They're all supposed to be meeting soon at the County Fair that's in town right now and I was going to ride alone, but I guess I can make an exception and have you ride along with me. It'll be kind of like we're undercover together."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said, before turning around and getting ready to leave.

"This is supposed to be the biggest arrest we've had in months. Come with me and you won't get fired. Hell, you may even get promoted."

She stopped in her tracks, her back still to me.

I stood there waiting for a yes or no answer, before she finally turned around and nodded.

XXXXX

Not even an hour later, the journalist, who introduced herself as Sydney Sage, and I had arrived at the fair. It was only 1 p.m. so the place wasn't as crowded.

"Put the camera in the bag or it'll look suspicious," I told her and she did as I said. She walked side-by-side with me and I took the time to look her over. She was tall and slim, coming up to my shoulders. Her skin was pale, but completely flawless and void of any makeup. As she glanced down at her bag, I saw a glimpse of her brown eyes that seemed closer to the color gold. She had dark, golden-blond hair that was shining in the sun. It looked like a halo surrounding her; she looked like an angel.

Sydney looked so familiar to me, but I couldn't understand where I had seen her before.

She kept tugging nervously on the ends of her hair as her eyes darted around the place.

"Don't forgot, you and I came here to have fun. We're supposed to be looking like a couple."

"Why do we need to look like a couple?" she asked me.

"Look around, aside from the older folks here, what do the rest of the people have in common?"

She looked around and sure enough, majority of the people here were holding hands, giggling flirtatiously, or kissing.

"Fine," she muttered.

I approached one of the booths set up, where the person had to shoot a number of targets to win a prize.

"Hey man, how much does this one cost?" I asked the guy running the booth.

"5 dollars for 3 shots." I gave him the money and took the fake rifle into my hands.

I shot once and hit the target. Glancing to the side, I quietly spoke so only Sydney could hear me.

"You see those guys over there?" She looked over to 2 boys who didn't look a day over 18, and nodded.

"They're our targets." Her eyes widened and she came close to speak in my ear.

"Are we going to approach them alone?" she asked me, her breath hitting against the skin of my neck.

I took a discreet whiff of her hair when she spoke to me, and caught the scent of lilies on her skin.

"No, there are a couple of police officers here, as well." She sighed in relief.

I shot twice again, hitting the target both times. Glancing to my side, I saw the boys walking in our direction.

I quickly dropped the rifle, turned around, and wrapped my arm around Sydney's small waist.

"Hurry up and kiss me."

Her eyes widened and she pushed against my chest.

"Why?" she muttered angrily.

"We're supposed to be a couple remember?" I said, smiling at how cute she looked when she glared at me.

"A guy who shoots to win a toy could never be my boyfriend."

I smirked at her, but loosened my hold so she could slip out of my grasp. I heard her huff lightly and she stood by my side again.

The guys we had been watching approached two equally young girls. They were laughing amongst themselves, each guy getting comfortably close to the girls, before all four began walking in the opposite direction.

Sydney turned towards me and pushed against my shoulder.

"Those were just a couple of high school kids. Is this some kind of joke?"

As she yelled at me, I saw 3 men, a couple of years older than me, looking suspiciously towards one another.

"Are there even any thieves to catch or did you make that up too?"

I looked over at one of my colleagues and nodded in the older men's direction.

""I can't believe-"

"Get your camera ready," and not even a second later all 3 men grabbed the purses off the unsuspecting fair-goers in front of them.

It was slight chaos after that as I chased after the man closest to me. It didn't take long before I had tackled him onto the ground.

Looking around, I saw my colleagues had apprehended the other two men, as well. After reading them their rights and cuffing them, I looked towards Sydney.

"My little journalist," I called out to her and she approached us with her camera raised. "Take your pictures."

After snapping a few shots, she lowered the camera and smiled at me for the first time that day.

I was momentarily stunned at how pretty she looked, before I put on my signature smirk.

"You know you owe me an actual date, right?"

Sydney gave me a small smile and to my surprise, nodded her head 'yes.'

XXXXX

I looked at the address Sydney had texted me and approached the place on foot.

It was the following day and I was dressed in a white button down and jeans. I let her pick the day and place she wanted to have our first official date.

Since I technically didn't know her, I wasn't sure what to expect, but even I was surprised when I found myself in front of a small, Russian restaurant named 'Ivan's.'

The storefront was glass so I could easily see inside of it. There was only seating for a handful of customers and there only seemed to be one woman working.

I felt a small tap on my shoulder and came face to face with Sydney.

The restaurant behind me was completely forgotten as I took in the blond-haired beauty in front of me.

She was wearing a white sundress that came a couple of inches above her knees. The neckline of her dress gave me the opportunity to see the small, golden lily necklace lying against her collarbone.

The girl must really have a thing for lilies.

"Wow," I breathed out. "You look so pretty," I told her truthfully.

She suddenly became uncharacteristically shy and I smirked seeing the slight blush creeping up her neck.

Would she have the same blush between her breasts?

I mentally shook my head from that thought, not wanting to risk getting aroused while we were in public.

"You look very nice, too," she said, smiling softly in my direction. "Why don't we go inside?"

I followed her in and I was instantly hit with the aroma of different types of food cooking. The older woman standing behind the counter looked so familiar, yet I couldn't think of where I had seen her before. She looked up as the door shut behind me and smiled brightly in our direction.

"Sydney, sweetheart, what a pleasant surprise." She quickly came from behind the counter and hugged Sydney.

"Hi Olena," Sydney said just as sweetly. They pulled away from each other, allowing me to get a look at her features. She had brown hair and kind, brown eyes. The woman in front of me had one of the most friendly and inviting smiles I had ever seen.

"Olena, this is my friend Adrian."

Olena smiled warmly in my direction and offered me her hand.

"Welcome son, I hope you like it here." She had a Russian accent and as I shook her hand, I immediately realized why both females had look so familiar to me. This was Dimitri's mom and Sydney was the blond female who had been trying to talk her way through to Dimitri at graduation last year.

"Why don't you both take a seat and I'll be right with you."

Sydney and I didn't even need to order, because Olena bought out a plate of everything she had cooked.

I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten such good food and began shoveling it into my mouth without a second thought.

"Umm do you mind eating a little slower?" Sydney said, looking at me in slight alarm. She barely had any food on her own plate and even that looked like it had been untouched.

I wanted to point out her own odd eating habit, but thought better than to criticize a female when it came to her food.

"It's a habit I've had since I was little," I said, explaining why I was eating like that. "I had to finish before someone took my food away."

Her eyes widened slightly and I knew she wanted to ask me to explain myself further, but I didn't give her the chance.

"How do you know Olena?"

"I grew up in the same neighborhood she lived in. Her son Dimitri and I are really good friends."

"You're still neighbors?"

"No they moved when I was still really young, but I never lost contact with them. I consider Olena more my parent than I do my own," she said chuckling, but there was barely any humor in it. "And Dimitri is like the brother I never had."

That I understood. I had my own brown-haired best friend, that I considered my sister more than anything.

"Let the poor boy eat," Olena said, bringing over some warm pastries to the table.

"I wouldn't call what Adrian is doing to be considered eating. It's like he's fighting his food," Sydney joked.

"Did you like everything?" The older woman asked me.

"I never knew what comfort food tasted like until now. Thank you," I told her as sincerely as possible and meaning it.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. How do you know Sydney? Are you a journalist, as well?"

"No, I'm actually a police officer," I told her and I saw her smile falter a bit.

"Oh that's good, well don't let me distract you from your food," she said and walked back into the kitchen.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked worried by the sudden change in Olena.

Sydney quickly shook her head. "No, you probably just reminded her of Dimitri."

I knew what had happened with her son, but I still asked Sydney what she meant.

"Dimitri was supposed to graduate last year, but he got kicked out of the academy. He couldn't accept what happened to him and threatened to shoot your boss, Hans I think his name is."

"No way," I said, playing along with her story.

"Yeah he was just released yesterday morning, but it hasn't gotten any better. Now he's hanging around these odd men.

"Odd?"

"Yeah, like dodgy looking fellows," Sydney explained.

Well what I had told Hans yesterday came true. It didn't take long for Belikov to align himself with the wrong side of the law.

"So, does Olena have any other kids?"

Sydney gave me a sad smile and looked in the direction of Olena, who was busy plating food for some customers.

"She had another son, Ivan." She paused and looked over at Olena again, before turning back to me. "He was kidnapped as a child."

My eyes practically bugged out of my head at what Sydney just told me. "What happened then?"

"Police came to her house a few weeks later with his bloody shirt," she said and I could hear the sadness clear in her voice, though she tried to hide.

"That's horrible. Please tell me she has a husband so she didn't have to deal with this all on her own."

Sydney put her hands up in front of her as if warding off my question.

"Let's not even get into that story. Olena's been alone as far back as I can remember," she told me.

Now I took my time looking over the older woman. As I looked closely at her features, beyond her smiling face was a person who looked tired and worn out from what the world had dealt them.

I recognized that look because it was the same one I saw every time I looked in the mirror.

Without even realizing it, my fingers began tapping against the table as I continued to look at Olena.

Tap- Tap- TapTapTap.

Tap- Tap- TapTapTap.

I don't know how long I did that for before I saw Sydney's dainty hand waving in front of my face.

"Psht," she said, getting my attention. She gestured to my hand that was still tapping away. "What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing," I said, brushing her off. "Another old habit of mine. It's just that Olena's story made me think of my own childhood."

"Don't worry too much about her. Olena is the strongest woman I know."

I didn't personally know many people, but I didn't argue with her about Olena.

Looking at the older woman again, I was filled with a deep anger towards Dimitri.

How can he call himself a man when a woman as amazing as his mother was suffering? Some people didn't realize how good they had it. I had only met Olena half an hour ago, but if she were my mother, I'd do everything in my power to keep her happy, especially considering all she's been through in her life.

"May we have the bill Olena," I called out to her.

"Stop, this dinner is on me remember. I owe you," Sydney said, digging through her purse.

"Hush, I had only said that as a joke," I told her pulling out my wallet.

"No need to argue you two, there is no bill," Olena said coming over to us with two carry out cups. "Here's some hot chocolate for the road."

"But Olena, I ate so much."

"It was your first time here, please I insist."

"Thank you," Sydney said and I thanked her, as well.

Sydney and I told her our goodbyes, but not before promising her I would be back very soon.

"Do you need to go to work?" Sydney asked, but the ringing of my phone cut off my reply. I saw it was Hans calling me and quickly picked up.

He told me to meet him outside of the "Kebob House," and I instantly recognized the name of the place. It was the restaurant owned by Abe Mazur.

"I'll be right there sir," I told him and hung up. "What are you doing tomorrow after work?" I asked Sydney.

"Nothing why?"

"Since you chose the place for our first date, I want to take you somewhere that has the best coffee in town."

Sydney gave me a small smile and nodded her head. "That sounds nice."

Without thinking too much about it, I leaned forward and brushed my lips across her cheek, surprised at how soft her skin felt against my mouth. She seemed surprised at the gesture, but the blush showed me that she didn't mind what I had done. Giving her my signature smirk, I said goodbye to her and left.

It didn't take me long after that to pull up in front of the restaurant. I saw that Hans was already there.

"Why are we here Sir?"

"I heard Mazur has recruited another man into his team and I thought it was only polite for us to formally introduce ourselves to them," he told me. I smirked at what he said. This was something cops loved to do. It was sort of an intimidation technique to let the criminals know that we had our eyes on them, so they always stayed on edge.

"After you," I told him and we walked into the restaurant.

What made Abe's place so unique in comparison to all of the other places around here was that he had a big grill right in the center of the restaurant. While there was still a kitchen where most of the cooking was done, he usually sat in the center and grilled the meat for the customers.

But that wasn't where our attention was. No, our attention was in front of the grill, where Abe was standing with his typical goons and someone new- Dimitri Belikov.

Just the sight of him pissed me off again as I thought about how upset Olena would be if she knew that her son was hanging around here.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a pleasant sight," Hans said, bringing the group's attention to us.

Dimitri seemed surprised for a moment, before he scowled in Hans's direction.

"And what do I owe this lovely surprise to," Abe said sarcastically. I could tell he was annoyed that we were here, but he hid it well behind his usual mask of indifference.

"I heard there was a new man that joined your crew. I thought I'd introduce myself, but it seems that won't be necessary."

Hans leveled his hard stare at Dimitri before continuing.

"Nice to see you where you finally belong," Hans said looking pointedly between Abe and I.

"Be grateful to my mother, your alive today because of her," he told him, referring to how she had come between Hans and the gun at graduation.

"Watch your mouth," I cut in, speaking for the first time since I had gotten here.

"Don't get involved."

"Or what?" I asked getting closer to his face. "Are you going to try and shoot me, too?"

A sigh of annoyance left him, but he couldn't deny that I had a point.

"I haven't hurt a soul up to this day. If I do shoot someone, it's because they deserve it." he finished off his statement by turning his gaze back onto Hans.

"Alright, enough. What else do you want from this man Chief, haven't you ruined his life enough," Abe asked him.

Hans scoffed and shook his head. "It's obvious I didn't do it for nothing. He ran straight to you."

I saw Abe take a step closer to Dimitri.

"You made the mistake of giving him up. He's under my protection now," Abe said, placing a hand onto Dimitri's shoulder.

Dimitri seemed momentarily surprised before he nodded his head in Abe's direction, agreeing with him.

Hans looked inquisitively at the two of them. "So this is the side you chose?"

"You heard the man," Dimitri replied back. It seemed that's all the confirmation Hans needed.

Dimitri Belikov was now an official member of Abe Mazur's gang.

Third POV

Dimitri and Adrian both sat in their respective homes that night, going over the day's events.

Dimitri went over to his mother's place after the meeting with Abe to have dinner with her and Sydney, who practically lived in his mother's house.

And Adrian sat in his lofty, bachelor pad, alone.

Both men were pulled out of their thoughts when their cell phones rang.

Looking at the screen, it was exactly who they expected it to be.

"Hello," they both said, to the person on the phone.

They listened carefully, and responded back.

"I'll be right there," they said, before hanging up.

This was it.

All Dimitri worked for in the academy, the last year he spent in prison, was all leading up to this moment.

All Adrian had worked for in the academy, the trust he had gained along the way, was all leading up to this moment.

As Dimitri made his way to the rooftop of a popular hotel in the city, Adrian went to the basement of an abandoned building.

As they got closer to their destination, both men could see familiar figures up ahead.

"Sir," Dimitri's strong, yet respectful tone echoed in the quiet of the night.

Hans looked back at Dimitri, beaming with pride.

"My boy," he responded back, putting aside his serious and stoic nature to pull the younger man into a fierce hug.

Elsewhere, Adrian couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he approached the man that had saved him from the streets all those years ago.

"Baba," he called out and the man in question grinned at him.

"My son," he said affectionately before enveloping Adrian in a hug.

After pulling away from one another, Abe asked Adrian the important question that had been on his mind all day long.

"Are you in, Adrian?"

"I'm in," he responded back smugly.

On the rooftop, Hans pulled away from Dimitri and asked him the question he had on the tip of his tongue since last year, when he had called Dimitri into his office a week before graduation.

"Are you in, Dimitri?"

"I'm in."