Ugh, what a crappy day. But reading and hearing your thoughts made it much better, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart. :')
Because of the delay in updating, I put all three chapters in this update instead of splitting them like I planned.
Gabby – No worries, thank you so much for coming back and reviewing when you had the time! And thank you so much for your beautiful words. xx
Without any further interruptions, the final three chapters of Better the Enemy You Know. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty Nine.
Rose POV.
Ivan's face pales as he stares down at the cards in Dimitri's grasp, and then he slumps in his seat.
"You win."
Adrian stills beside me, but I can't help the smile that spreads across my face.
I'm free. We're free.
Dimitri stands, a small briefcase seemingly appearing out of thin air as he helps Ivan to place the money they bet inside of it before he makes his way to the door, glancing over his shoulder to check and see if we're following.
A small recurring beep echoes in the corridor as we walk, but I don't let it faze me, happiness clouding my mind as I contemplate what I'll do first.
"Should we get our things?" My voice is hesitant, but he chuckles.
"You won't need them."
Chapter Forty.
Adrian POV.
"I don't have to go."
Ivan laughs lightly and then sighs. "You want this, Adrian. Remember Sydney?" My eyes tighten. "I know that you do. It wasn't fair for me to keep you the way I did." He shrugs. "I lost. You've got your life back. Go back to her."
I chuckle. "If she'll have me. It's been five years. I bet she's married with two kids and a dog by now."
"Even if she is, she'd still take you back. You are the reason why she's able to have any of that in the first place."
Chapter Forty One.
Rose POV.
Dimitri leads us out to his car, staying a respectful distance ahead as Ivan and Adrian talk quietly amongst themselves.
"I'm a fair man, so I'll allow you the choice. Do you want to stay with Ivan, or to leave with me?"
"You."
He cocks an eyebrow as the air around us becomes tense and he lifts his hands to rest on his hips. "You don't know what you're signing up for."
"I do. Anything is better than thi-"
My eyes widen and I scream as his arm lifts, a small pop sounds through the silent night and Adrian crumples to the floor, bright crimson staining his shirt and pooling underneath his body.
"What the-" Ivan's voice trails off as Dimitri turns on him.
"I told you not to screw with me. Do you really think I'm so stupid that I wouldn't take precautions, Ivan?"
Fear clamps my insides as the small beeping sound makes sense when he points towards the briefcase.
"Wait, I can expl-"
"Adrian got his life back. Rose is getting away from you, though not quite how she'd expected, and you- you get to serve as a warning for anyone else."
Ivan doesn't get to mutter another word, one small squeeze from Dimitri's fingers is all it takes to silence him – forever.
Dimitri turns to face me, and all the warmth from earlier is gone. His features are cruel, coldly handsome, and dread fills my insides.
"You should have stayed while you had the chance. Take the dress off, and then get in the car. You'll make a great addition to my whores."
"B- but… I thou-"
He grins, and I realise that in trying to escape I've only trapped myself with a monster who's even worse than Ivan was.
"I bet for your freedom from Ivan as you desired, however, you never clarified who'd be in charge of you after that. Now do as you're told, unless you want to join him."
Thank you all for giving this drabble a chance. I hope that you enjoyed it and the little twists and turns in there and that the ending didn't dissapoint.
I'd love to hear your final thoughts, and if you have any questions, please do my best to answer them!
For any readers of my other fics, Life Will Turn Around will be updating in a few days time and I'm working on the next few chapters for After the Fall.
Hopefully see you over one one (or both) of those stories!
Thank you! xx