Chapter 7

"Dimitri come on. I found out at your place." I all but plead. "And you couldn't have warned me?" he hisses. He is back to interview room 3 mode. Cold, calculating, stoic. None of the politeness-the gentleness that he exhibited is gone. He gives me a hard look. I hate this. I hate how I feel. I hate the ache in my chest when I think about Dimitri instead of Mason.

"Dimitri please let me explain." I plead. I reach out my hand and lightly grab his. He pulls away.

"Rose? Is everything okay?" Lissa peeps, her face full of concern. "Babe…who is that guy?" mason asks from behind Lissa.

"His name is Dimitri, and he is leaving." Dimitri says and walks away.

I'm left staring at an empty corridor. "Oh well." I head back into the party, feeling more ambitious than ever. I go back to dancing with mason, who keeps asking about Dimitri but I keep ignoring him. Adrian and Sydney head to one of the bedrooms and we take that (all of us) as our Q to leave. Lissa and Christian head to their house while Jill and Eddie go to a nearby hotel. That leaves me, Mason and my thoughts of Dimitri. Which get interrupted when he leans in to kiss me?

"Mason…chill...we aren't even at my place yet.." and with that, he lifts me bridal style and we head to my room….i stand between the door and mason, which just reminds me of Dimitri. Karma's a real bitch. He leans in and kisses me. I kiss him back fiercely, wanting to forget temptation in the godly form of Dimitri. I tug on the buttons of his black shirt, successfully ripping out a few. I take off his shirt and run my hands around his abs, feeling every muscle. I do appreciate his body, but a certain Russian comes into mind when I do.

"I love you." Mason murmurs while trying to multi task groping and undressing me. The words catch in my throat. Do I love mason as much as I say I do? Does he love me as much as he says he does?

"I love you Rose." he says again, looking into my eyes. I look away and he tilts my head…a bit more aggressively than I would have liked. This is something I would have hoped to change. Mason was violent, more violent when he has a bit more to drink, which he has apparently. I instantly regret dropping my self defense classes in high school. I look him in the eye.

"Damn it rose! Why can't you be like other women and say I love you so that we can fuck?!" he yells. I gasp and step back. Despite my smart ass attitude and bad ass persona, I can't defend myself outside words and a slap. So I opt for that slap. It's a hard one, considering how my hand hurts like a bitch.

"Did you hit me you whore?"

That is harsh. "Mason…you have changed…before, I could deal with this…but insults? You have got worse. Before—before Russia, you weren't like this." I whisper.

"Don't tell me who I am." He bellows. He punches me square in the eye and in my stomach. He slaps me hard and I refuse to give him the pleasure of hearing me scream. So I take every insult and hit, with silent tears streaming down my cheeks, praying for this night to end.

Dimitri POV

How could I be so stupid? How can I let one woman make me lose control?

Damn her. Damn Roza. Damn her smile and her brown eyes that make me go mad.

I enter my apartment and bang the door, a bit harder than necessary. Ivan springs from the couch. It's almost two a.m and I'm surprised that he isn't asleep.

"Dimka! How did it – oh." He starts, but I bet he sees my angry face.

"Mason is back. Her good for nothing fiancé is back. I left them dancing and now? He is probably fucking the shit out of her. Damn it! Zeklos what am I supposed to do?"I rant.

"You're going to go to a club, drink and have fun." He says grabs his car keys and we head out. I can only hope that he is right.

THE NEXT MORNING

Rose POV.

I lie on the ground, my body aching everywhere. I struggle to stand and groan as I do. I limp to the bathroom and flinch at my reflection. The ghost of my former self has a black eye, a cut lip a swollen lip and a horrible case of bed hair. I walk to my kitchen and find mason making breakfast. While in the bathroom, I talked myself into ending things with Mase. I mean, how can I expect to pick up things from where we had left them two years ago? Mason has changed, and so have I.

I have balls now.

"Mason. We have to talk." I whisper.

"Rose baby…I don't know how to say this but I…I'm bi-polar .the aggression turns me into a monster and I was rehabilitated. When I said that I love you and you didn't say it back instantly, I guess I snapped. It was a relapse babe. I was diagnosed last year... I'm sorry. It got worse with the drinking-"

"Stop. Maybe we need some time apart."

"Sure. I can come back later?"

"No. I mean apart. Mason. Our engagement…it's off. We need to think. I'm not the same person and neither are you." I whisper.

"Rose I swear I'm being honest. I have the drugs and we can see a doctor together."

"Mason just leave."

I turn and walk away and wait until I hear the soft thud of the door closing. I go to my bedroom and cry my eyes out. I'm such an idiot. How can I think that I can pick things up with Mason just like that?

My phone chimes and I practically drag myself to it.

Hey Rose. I can't come grocery shopping today…well, I can barely walk. (Wink wink). Please do my shopping too. I'll send my list and the cash.

Love you. Lissa.

I can't believe it. I want to call Adrian but I don't want to walk in on him. I guess it's just me. I take long shower and wash my hair. I go an extra mile and do my skin care routine but even after all that, I still look like shit.

"Well rose. You have been an idiot for two years. Time to get out there. Well, after the black eye goes." I tell myself. I grab my car keys and drive to target. I park my car and scribble lissa's shopping list under mine. I put on my sunglasses and wear my hair down, covering most of the bruises on my neck. I'm clad in a black long-sleeved crop top with high waisted shorts, black stockings and my timberlands. Heavy, but it does the job.

I grab a shopping cart and head inside. I go past the grocery shopping and pick out vegetables and healthy shit for Lissa and make my way to the junk aisle. I pick comfort food, majority doughnuts… grazed.

I tick everything off my list so I head off to check out .i have to walk with my head hung so that no one sees bruises. I push my extremely heavy trolley with my eyes glued to the floor.

"watch where your going." I snarl.

"you're the one who bumped into me." 'It' says. The Russian accent is unmistakable.

"Dimitri?"

Dimitri POV

Even though she tilts her head, I can see the bruises and the cuts. Anger and fierce protectiveness courses through me.

I step closer to her. "Who did this?" I ask my voice calm but with an undertone of anger.

"It doesn't matter, beside, didn't you say that you didn't want to be in my life?" she says

"Roza who did this? The truth now." I bellow.

She keeps quiet and pays for her many goods which makes me wonder. Is she feeding an army?

I follow her to her car and she puts her thing in her trunk. She sighs and tries to enter her car but I stop her.

Rose POV

"Dimitri let me be."

"No."

"Dimitri..."

"Roza…" he growls. I gulp.

"Did you bring your car?" I ask him and he shakes his head. I open the passenger seat and motion for him to get in.

"Will you tell me now?" he asks. I shake my head. I don't want to relive that night.

He motions for us to switch places and we do. It's only a matter of time until he reaches my apartment, goes to my trunk and carries everything that I bought to my place. He comes back and my mind is still on the fact that he drove me home.

He drives to his place and I can't help the warm feeling in my chest when he leads me to his house while holding my hand.

"Let's get you cleaned up. Then we will talk."

A/N

Hello lovelies! I apologize for the long wait. I simply did not know what to write. Honestly, this chapter wasn't meant to go in this direction but it did and I hope you like it.

So mason is bi-polar and abusive, but the worst is yet to come. Rose is yet to know pain and (hint hint …next chapter) betrayal but this time, it won't be physical. Can Mason possibly hurt her more than he has, and will Dimitri be there to cushion the blow, or will he have more problems on his plate?

I love you all. Don't forget to review, favorite and follow.

Xoxo-rhea