Author's Note:

Hi Readers! An early update!

As always, thank you so so much for all your reviews. I'm always so happy to see the notification come up! Welcome to all my new followers/favourites, I hope you are all enjoying the story as you have come in at the beginning of the good part (if you can catch my drift here).

Please continue to review and leave your comments, I hit 100 reviews finally so thank you for all your kind words and reviews xx

I hate to admit it but there is a fair amount of dialogue in this chapter. I hope you still enjoy it nevertheless.

-RCap

Dimitri.

"I'm sure. He has that tattooed on his neck" Roza spat, disgust lacing her words.

There was a deafening silence around us. No one dared to say a word in case they were the wrong ones. We all waited to see if Roza would continue with her explanation. But nothing was yet to come.

She simply stared at the closed door, the archaic symbol not even visible anymore, and yet still occupying her vision. I looked over to Ivan and Anton who had equally confused expressions plastered on their faces.

Who is Nathan?

I didn't realize that I had spoken my thought until she addressed them. "He's been at the club the past few weeks," she sighed, "I'll point him out tonight if he's around."

The wariness in her voice was making my blood boil. She quite obviously despised this man and whatever he was capable of. What had this Nathan done previously that could warrant such a reaction?

She didn't tear her gaze away from the closed front door, not even when she took small sips from her mug in her hands.

I was becoming worried about her. The past month had been all over the place, the only constant being us. She had handled the story of my father's death better than I could have hoped for. I was petrified that she would have turned against me, called me a murderer, and never wanted to see me again.

However, I got the complete opposite reaction. She seemed to warm up to me even more as if my crime had brought her a sense of security. At first, I hadn't been able to see a reason for it. But now, as she unconsciously gravitated her body towards mine, I knew the reason. She felt safer with me. She knew I could and would protect her if it came to it. Just like I had protected my family from my father.

"Maybe we should talk to Mason?" I suggested in a soft voice, "He might know if Stan has got more of his men following me?"

For the first time in five minutes, Roza tore her eyes from the door and looked up at me. I was almost blown back by the look in her eyes, there was fear there. Real fear. She did a good job of trying to cover it up, trying to disguise it as abhorrence but I could see through those cracks, even if she thought she was getting away with it.

Her brown eyes swarmed with the underlying fear of what was to come. I'd be damned if I brushed off this Nathan character, especially after seeing a reaction as extended as Roza's. No, I wouldn't dismiss her fears, at least not until I knew more about him and what he was capable of.

She nodded slowly. I could see the thoughts processing through her head. My words making more sense to her as she came back to herself. I didn't like seeing the look of pure fear on her face, but I would do anything and everything to make sure it stayed off.

"We can talk to him tonight at the club" she mumbled out.

She stood up from the couch and quickly made a beeline for the kitchen, taking her empty mug with her. Ivan and Anton exchanged worried glances and it confirmed that I wasn't the only one that was seeing how distressed she actually was.

"I'll be back in a sec," I told the boys before extraditing myself from the couch, following her into the detached kitchen.

She was leaning up against the basin. Her hands bracing her body against the ceramic as she took deep and heavy breaths. Most likely to calm herself. I stood back and watched her for a few quiet moments, allowing her to collect her bearings and relax herself. I could see the stoic nature of her frame take over her. She was trying very hard not to break down.

"Roza…" I whispered, loud enough to make my presence known but soft enough to ensure I didn't scare her.

"Yeah?" she whispered back, her voice croaky and barely audible.

I took a deep breath myself before continuing. Her reaction to Nathan isn't something that would be brought on by nothing. I needed to know why she was so scared.

"What is it about Nathan that makes him so dangerous?"

It took several seconds, but she eventually turned around to face me. She leant her back up against the sink and wrapped her arms around her chest and stomach like she was cocooning herself.

"Isaiah is nothing compared to Nathan. Nathan is borderline sadistic. He picks his favourite and then terrorizes them into submission"

"What do you mean favourite?"

"It used to be Lissa. He was obsessed with her. He would follow her around the club dutifully. At first, Lissa thought it was cute and kind of nice to have someone dote over her but he got sick of her not giving in."

I stayed quiet as she explained, nursing my still half-full coffee mug that had long since gone cold. I didn't like where this story was heading.

"He followed us to the apartment one night and broke in. Lissa had some company that night and he was so angry that he wasn't the one she brought home that he…" she paused, taking a deep breath and shakily letting it out, "that he shot the poor guy while they were sleeping."

I couldn't stand seeing her like this and closed the distance between us, giving me the ability to wrap my arms around her and bring her into a protective hug.

"I think the entire floor was woken up 'cause of that shot. Lissa was screaming and I tore into the room. But as soon as I opened the door he turned the gun on me and fired it. He didn't even look at me to see who he was shooting. I was just a nuisance to him."

I leaned out of the hug and let my hold on her help me try to find the scar of a bullet. She moved my hand off her upper arm and pulled up the sleeve of her dress. Showing me the milky white abrasion that marred the tanned skin. How hadn't I see that before? I had become more than acquainted with every inch of her body this past month, and yet I hadn't seen the graze.

"It only scraped me but I was brought down by it. He thought I was dead…" she laughed humourlessly at the sentence before continuing, "The racket woke up the guys that used to live in the apartment next to us. They stormed in and scared him off I guess. Five guys to one is significantly more intimating than two girls."

I pulled her back into my arms and flush against my chest. Whispering sweet nothings into her ear as she tried to hold back any tears. If she feared what he would do to her, I needed to ensure that I was there to protect her. No matter what.

"Seeing Aaron – the guy Lissa was with – just lying there was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen. It was only a few days after that we realized we couldn't live in that apartment anymore. Baba found an apartment closer to the club, the one we are in now, and Sydney moved in with us as well."

Safety in numbers was the goal then, the possibility that by having another person around would help. It was a good plan, one that I enforced in my own residence, but unfortunately, in a woman's case, it only made for a better selection for predators.

I wasn't going to tell her that though. I wasn't going to diminish one of the only securities she felt she had. If she felt at risk, it would only make her worse.

"A couple of the muscles from the club live on the same floor as us…Baba's idea again, just in case I guess."

It was smart but the one thing I couldn't shake was how Nathan was still alive. He had shot at Abe Mazur's daughter and yet he still lived? What this man elusive enough to evade Abe or was he just lucky that he hasn't been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We stayed in the confines of the apartment for the rest of the day. Not wanting to leave and have to see the men following us. Blissful ignorance, even if it was falsified.

Before leaving the apartment for the night, I ensured that I had my gun with me as well as the silver push dagger I owned. I wasn't normally someone who toted a gun, I preferred the knife as well as my fists, but not everyone was like me and this Nathan character seemed to favor guns.

I couldn't go up against a gun with a knife, not if I was serious about protecting Roza.

We weighed up the risks and decided to get a yellow cab back to her apartment. It would be more expensive but I didn't want to be walking the streets with our tails following us.

When the cab pulled up at her apartment she ran upstairs and gathered up all her things for the night, leaving me waiting in the cab. Within a couple of minutes, she returned to the waiting cabbie.

It was a good thing we did end up getting a cab as soon as she got back into the cab, the rain began.

It wasn't just a light drizzle. No, this was a full downpour. The sound of the rain hitting the roof of the cab was deafening and I could barely see the roads anymore outside of the window.

The club wasn't open yet, the only sounds present was the band prepping their instruments as well as Adrian and Christian setting up the bar. Heading backstage into the war zone was a different story; it was quite obvious that we were some of the last 'personnel' to arrive for the night.

You could hear the rain pounding onto the tin roof above like hail even over the loud chatter of the women. I could faintly hear that a record player was on somewhere in the background, but that was also being drowned out significantly by the harsh rain.

I spotted the redhead we were looking for straight away. Grabbing Roza's hand, I began pulling her past all the dancers and towards where he seemed to be chatting up one of the blonde dancers.

"Mason!" she yelled out once we were close enough.

His head shot up at the sound of her voice. His attention easily being drawn away from the blonde and it was obvious that was purely due to who owned the voice. I doubt he would have been as eager to tear himself away if I had been the one to call out to him.

"We need to talk," I said walking up to Mason.

Mason immediately straightened out when he took notice of me. It was something I had noticed that he was doing regularly. If I was around his entire posture changed, as did his attitude.

His gaze switched between us as we approached him, "About what?" he asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes for a microsecond.

"What has Stan been up to?" Roza questioned, a bit more forcibly than I think she meant to.

Mason gaped, his mouth opening as if he wanted to speak but didn't know what to say. I could see the confusion in his eyes and then the sudden fear when he looked behind Roza.

"Rose! Where the hell have you been?" Lissa screeched from a few meters back.

I could see Roza visibly wince beside me before she was pulled from my grip and towards her dressing table.

"Deal with it" Roza pointed at me while glaring at the two of us.

Within seconds, Lissa had dragged her into the chaos of the dressing room and she disappeared from sight.

I looked back to Mason with an accidental sneer before turning and heading for Abe's office, "Let's go find Abe."

"O-Okay" he stuttered before jogging to catch up with me.

I caught the eye of Ivan on the other side of the room, ushering him with a single look for him to join us. He didn't question the action but when his eyes flicked to Mason, I knew that he would know exactly what was going on.

"What can I do for you men?" Abe grumbled without looking up from the papers strewn on his desk.

"We more wanted to have a discussion with Mason…with you present" I answered strongly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ivan slump into the leather couch and relax next to Pavel who was looking over what seemed to be the books. In true Ivan nature, he began peering over Pavel's shoulder, visibly annoying the co-owner of the club. It always amazed me how everyone carried on with their work even with a mess being shoved under their noses.

"Go ahead then, Dimitri," Abe sighed, almost as if he was bored with our interruption. I had a feeling though when he heard my next words he would be more interested.

"Why is Stan upping the men he has following me?"

"What?" Mason asked, a look of confusion flowing onto his face as I spoke.

"We have seen someone hanging around our residences. Roza identified him as a man named Nathan."

Everything in the room stopped.

Mason's eyes went wide and he sat down in the chair behind him while Pavel did the opposite and stood to full attention. Abe, on the other hand, didn't look up, more so he kept his eyes on the sheets below him, but I knew he wasn't focusing on them.

His hand was clamped around the pen in his grip and his other clenched so tightly that I could see his knuckles turning white.

"What do you mean she's seen Nathan?" Mason asked once he had recuperated. His voice now strong and assertive as he glared up at me.

"Am I speaking Russian or something here, Ashford?" I growled, earning a snicker for Ivan.

"Nathan has been spotted hanging around our apartment. He even went as far as carving the same tattoo that he has on his neck on our fucking front door. So I'll ask once more, has Stan increased his hunting party?"

"No," he replied strongly, "Stan called off the entire 'hunt', as you put it. Isaiah isn't even meant to be following you anymore."

"Since when?" Abe interjected, still not looking up from his papers.

"At the last drinks we had, so…Thursday night."

Today was a Saturday. Two nights had passed since Stan gave up on following me, but his lackeys hadn't relented.

"So what are these lads still holding onto if they've been called off?" Pavel grunted, finally uttering his first words in our presence.

"Not what…who" Mason said breaking the silence, his voice trailing off as he looked towards the closed office door. The door that leads directly into the dressing room and to where all the girls were.

To where Roza was.

We dispersed before the club opened, Mason slinking out the back door into the alleyway so that he could return with the other men from his party. I waited nervously at the bar for the doors to open and for the club to flood with patrons. Here I was thinking that due to the rain, fewer people would be out and it would mean a slower night. But oh how wrong I was, as soon as those doors opened, we were practically pushed to capacity.

I spotted Mason and his entourage as they staked out a table big enough for them all. Once again, using their stature to push people from their already claimed tables. It was a pathetic display of dominance in my own opinion. I preferred the subtler approach.

Blond, long hair, tattoo on neck. Blond, long hair, tattoo on neck.

The description of Nathan coursed through my mind as I assessed the group and attempted to find the one that was causing all this chaos. I still hadn't spotted him by the time the first dance began. Maybe he wasn't here tonight? If he was smart, he would be laying low after the stunt he pulled with our door.

Well into the night, and there was still no sign of the illustrious mobster. Granted I had been inattentive to the world around me once I had seen Roza dance. A month had passed since meeting her and every damn time I saw her, it was like we were back at that first meeting.

It scared me that she was so sought after. I didn't like seeing the men drool over her or try their hands with her. She always shut them down but what happened if I was called back to Russia? What would happen to us? She loved this job, but did she love me more?

"You want another, Belikov?"

I reluctantly looked away from Roza and turned around to face Adrian, who was now topping up my glass without my response. I wasn't going to say no anyway.

"I've seen that look in a lot of men that come through here," he began before tucking the bottle of standard under the bar and out of sight.

"And what look is that?" I grunted, leaning my elbows against the wood, and twirling the glass in one hand.

"You love her, don't you? It's not just…sex."

He took my silence as confirmation, "Its nothing to be ashamed of man. You aren't the first and I doubt you'll be the last."

I scowled at his words. What exactly was he trying to insinuate?

"I'm not trying to hurt your ego or anything, relax," he laughed putting his hands up in defense, "I'm only saying that your girl is like one of the Seven Wonders of the World. There are gonna be men after her until the day she dies."

"Is that meant to make me feel better?" I sneered, his words only angering me further.

"She'd never been in love before, Belikov. She didn't give the damn feeling the time of day. But from the second you walked up to this bar, she hasn't been the same. I wouldn't worry about her loyalties to you."

How in God's name had he known exactly what was going through my mind? I had heard the snickers about his heritage among the dancers. They said he came from Gypsy lineage and I was certain his last name pointed to Romania. Romani maybe?

"I'm just good at reading people, Belikov. Don't think into it so much" he smiled before winking at me. He disappeared down the bar towards the other patrons, leaving my mind whirring with my own theories.

I smiled to myself before turning back to face the stage again, expecting to see Roza but finding that she was gone. There were still the other girls on stage doing their routine but no Roza.

Where the hell had she gone?

She had disappeared from right under my nose, and this was hardly the time for her to be out of sight. I needed to ensure that she was okay, I needed to be able to see her.

I swept the room with my eyes, trying to find if she had come out to the crowd but I had no luck. I unconsciously moved towards the doors leading backstage and did the same. Thanking my towering height for the ability to see over most heads. But still no luck.

I couldn't help the panic that bubbled within me. I could feel my stomach turning with the possibility that I had missed Nathan and he, in fact, was here. What if he had spotted her before me?

I spotted Lissa and appeared suddenly in her mirror, scaring her into dropping whatever tool she was using on her eyes.

"Have you seen where Roza went?" I asked, my voice coming out hoarse and breathless. The panic was starting to set in.

Her frown turned into a soft smile and she relaxed, "Yeah, she was feeling sick so she went to…" her voice trailed off as she turned and looked towards one of the clothing racks behind us.

"She went to what?" I asked impatiently, my hands were beginning to shake and the ice cubes in my glass clinked loudly together. I took the confused look on the blonde's face that she had lost Roza as well.

"She was just there," she mumbled pointing at the clothing rack. She stood from her chair and began searching the crowd.

"Fuck!" I cursed in Russian before heading towards the more secluded parts of the backstage area.

'If anything, she should be here'. I thought to myself as I opened all the doors around me, accidentally interrupting a seemingly steamy moment between one Eddie Castile and Jill Dragomir. I slammed the door shut, as that was definitely not what I was looking for.

Before I had a chance to continue my mission of finding Roza, I felt a hand wrap around my forearm and pull me back into the room opposite. The offender threw me into the room and slammed the door behind them. I could hear the lock click and I turned to unleash my rage on the perpetrator.

In my own haze and albeit moderately tipsy state, I had yet to distinguish who it was that was now coming towards me, the dim lighting making the task considerably harder. The culprit jumped towards me, wrapping her legs around my waist, and locking her wrists behind my neck. Instinctively, I wrapped my free arm around her waist to balance us both, not registering who was now on top of me.

Just as I came to my senses and was about to drop the women she pulled me close to lips, the familiar smell of her perfume circling us and jogging my memory.

"What took you so long to find me, Comrade?" the voice whispered seductively, her lips brushing against my own lightly as she spoke.

The glass dropped from my hands and I heard the unmistakable sound of it smashing against the tile of what seemed to be a bathroom. My now free hand wrapped itself into the locks at the nape of her neck and I pushed her back roughly into the door behind her.

Letting my mouth crash against hers, we delved immediately into each other with an unrestrained passion. I felt her fingers get lost in my hair and pull me closer to her as we both attempted to touch more of each other.

I trailed my lips to the pulse point on her neck, attacking it with vigor as her ankles locked behind my back.

"I want…" Roza moaned breathlessly.

"Anything for you, Moya Lyubov," I breathed against her neck before recapturing her lips.

She released the hold she had on my hair and moved them downwards, clawing at my belt buckle before she undid the restraints that kept me concealed. I couldn't stop the hiss that came from my lips nor the rumble from my throat as she slid a small deft hand into my slacks.

I could feel her smiling into the kiss at my reaction. This had been her plan all along.

I cupped the back of her neck, deepening the kiss and pulling her closer to me while my other hand began pulling lightly on the ties that kept the pale pink corset tight.

The sound of muffled yelling echoed through the slightly ajar window on the opposite side of the room. The scuffle freezing our movements suddenly as we attempted to listen to the argument. We couldn't hear the words clearly because of the hammering sound of the rain but it wasn't hard to hear when the shouting suddenly morphed into fighting. Both of our breaths were ragged as we looked into each other's eyes with concern. What the hell was going on out there?

Crack!

Okay, that was definitely a gunshot.

I jerked away from Roza and she dropped from my waist as I hastily readjusted myself. She spun around and unlocked the door before tearing out of the bathroom. I followed diligently as she ran through the packed dressing area, shoving past the girls and making her way to one of the back doors.

I caught up with her as she cocked the steel beam, releasing the lock and springing the door free. I wish she had picked up her jacket on the way through because as soon as she hit the alleyway she was drenched in the heavy rain.

The door slammed behind us and we both gazed upon the dark alleyway. I couldn't see a thing past Roza. Her head swung as she looked either side of her and the wind picked up the wet strands of hair. They wrapped around her neck and face, sticking to her like glue but she wasn't fazed.

It wouldn't be long until the rain seeped into our skin and began to affect us. I could already feel the cold wind begin to brutalize my exposed skin, but after Roza and my increasingly heated escapade in the bathroom and then hearing the gunshot, I had adrenaline pumping through me like an addictive drug would.

Roza gasped suddenly as she walked towards the garbage bins.

I turned to where she was walking. A still body lay at her feet and was slightly concealed by the garbage bins. I couldn't see the man's face, but from where Roza stood, I was sure that she would be able.

"Roza, stop!" I yelled from a few steps behind, the sound of the rain still threatening to drown out all words that we spoke.

I knew exactly what we would find upon closer inspection and it was only going to cause problems. Despite my warning, Roza continued to get closer to the partly concealed body.

I reached out to her just as she froze in her spot, "Oh my god!" she cried as she looked down, the bubbling of sobs beginning to escape her.

Everything around us slowed as I gripped her waist, pulling her behind me as if the action would shield her from the horror that she had already seen. The rain around us became background noise as I inched closer to the body.

Surely this was a joke.

Roza broke out of my grasp and awkwardly fell into the brick wall a few steps away from us. The explicit sound of her vomiting filled the alleyway and I winced at the nauseous feeling that began creeping up on me as well.

I took off my duster and draped it over her shoulders, hoping that it would ward off most of the water. I also fumbled to catch the wet locks of hair that fell around her face so they wouldn't get caught in the line of fire.

"Shh," I hushed as I rubbed my hands on her back.

Once she had regained her senses, I could see her entire body begin to shiver. Her adrenaline had worn off and now she was soaking wet in the middle of winter.

"Go get your father, Roza. We need to close up everything before we call anyone"

"What are you talking about?" she argued, refusing to move from in front of me.

"We can't call the Police to a murder when we are at a speakeasy. We need to protect ourselves first."

As much as I hated saying the words, they were true. As soon as we called the Police about the body, they would be crawling all over the joint. We had to lock up all evidence of alcohol before calling it in.

It took a few seconds for that to sink into Roza, she searched my eyes quickly before nodding and disappearing through the back door. The heavy metal clanging rang in my ears and the alleyway as I stared at the body lying lifelessly on the ground.

He laid there with a pool of blood forming underneath his head, the rain was doing a good job of washing most away and staining the cement around it. I couldn't believe it. His eyes were still open as they stared blankly into the oblivion.

Shot right between the eyes. An execution.

Author's Note:

So? What did you all think? Who do you think was shot?

I tried to make the discovery scene as least graphic/horrifying as possible as seeing a dead body to this AU Dimitri would be completely different to AU Rose.

Next week's chapter may be a few days late as I am in the middle of planning my trip to Europe so keep an eye out for it Sunday/Monday night.

-RCap