Chapter Twenty-One

Rose POV

I hated Adrian for ruining the perfect moment I was having with Dimitri, but I knew I shouldn't press my luck. I was grateful for the time that I was able to spend with him, and so lucky that Adrian even made that possible. Who knows what might have happened had we not had the opportunity to talk before his lawyer got here.

As we exited the interrogation room, I found myself face to face with a very stern looking man. I took note of all of his features, which happened to consist of dark hair, even darker eyes, and olive colored skin. This must be Dimitri's lawyer, because there was no way this man was American.

"Are you Mr. Mazur?" I asked questioningly. He definitely looked the part of a lawyer with his neatly pressed tuxedo, and clean-shaven face. In his hand he held a large black briefcase with golden buckles that matched perfectly with the large watch that lay upon his wrist. I would have put my life on the fact that it was 14 karat, because honestly this man reeked of wealth.

"Why yes, yes I am. And who might you be?" When he spoke his voice was powerful, and very manly. He held out his right hand, and I gave him my best handshake.

"I'm Rose. Rose Hathaway. I'm a friend of Adrian's. He told me that you were one of the best lawyers around, so I knew I had to hire you to defend my friend. Thank you so much for coming."

I was very grateful for this man, because if he was the best, I could only assume he would get Dimitri out of all this trouble so things could go back to the way they were before.

When I introduced myself, I thought I saw a sparkle in Ibrahim's eyes, but as quick as I had noticed it, was as quick as it was gone.

"Call me Abe. And Adrian's a good guy, I was glad to help out." I was half tempted to roll my eyes when he said Adrian was a good guy, but then I decided against it. I needed both of them on my side right now, so I was definitely not about to do anything to jeopardize that.

"Dimitri's waiting to speak to you." I added meekly as I gestured towards the door. "You will be able to help him right?" I tried to hide the desperation in my voice, but the more I thought about it, the more nervous I got. We may have the best lawyer in the city, but if our story doesn't play out like we wanted, and either one of us gets caught in a lie; we will both likely end up in prison.

Abe's expression suddenly turned soft as he looked at me. "I will do everything in my power to help you. It's the least I can do."

I nodded and let his words sink in. He seemed genuine, and I somehow felt that I could really trust him.

He eventually made his way into the interrogation room, and sat opposite of Dimitri. They rivaled each other's in size, each having height and bulk. As they both hovered over the tiny table in the room, it for some reason reminded me of the circus act where the really fat clown would try to squeeze into a tiny car. I practically found myself laughing at my own jokes, until I noticed how serious the conversation was getting in the interrogation room.

Both men had hard looks on their faces, and I watched in awe as Dimitri explained the story I had told him earlier, word for word. Damn did he have a memory.

Abe let the information sink in, and took plenty of notes as he listened to the story. As far as I could tell, it didn't appear as if he questioned it at all. I let out a sigh of relief, and continued to study the pair as their discussion went on.

Watching Abe conduct business triggered something in me. I'm not exactly sure what it was, nor can I really explain it. I just felt a weird feeling, but I immediately attributed it to the fact that this was a huge deal. My entire body was really uneasy, and it had also been quite a long time since I ate.

Adrian must have heard my stomach grumble, because he gave me an odd look and then asked me if I wanted to grab some lunch. I was hesitant at first, but I eventually decided to go. As much as I wanted to continue to base my feelings for Adrian around what had happened between us the first time I met, I really had to let all of that go. He was doing me a huge favor, and I really owed it to him to not treat him so poorly.

I gave Dimitri one last wistful glance through the two-way mirror, even though I knew he couldn't see me. I crossed my fingers and said a silent prayer that everything would go okay in there while I was gone.

Adrian took me to a small deli that was down the street from the police station. The weather was pretty decent, so we decided to sit outside in the patio area.

I had to admit, it was a bit awkward at first. I wasn't really sure how to strike up a conversation with him since we weren't exactly friends, so I was grateful when the waitress came by and delivered us our menus.

Casually I glanced at the menu, trying to decide what I wanted. I ran my finger down every column, by passing many things I wasn't in the mood to try.

"They have the best grilled cheese here." Adrian spoke, not taking his eyes away from his menu. I was surprised that he was the one to start talking, and of all things he decided to bring up, he thought of grilled cheese. Go figure.

"Have you been here before?" I wasn't really sure I wanted to hear the answer, but what else could I say to that?

"All the time. When I was younger, my dad used to bring me here. When he had time for me, that is." There was sudden change in his tone of voice, and I could almost sense a bit of sadness. I was taken aback by the direction of this conversation, but I wasn't going to add fuel to the flames by being a bitch so I looked up from my menu and gave him a small smile.

"If it makes you feel any better, I never really knew my parents." I looked away from him, because now he was looking at me, and I wasn't about to let him see me cry. He might be nice to me now, but that doesn't change the fact that he had been an asshole the other day.

He seemed intrigued by what I said, so despite my heart telling me to shut the hell up, I continued with my sob story.

"They put me into foster care when I was two. I've grown up in dozens of different foster homes since." I lowered my voice to a whisper, trying to prevent myself from getting choked up. As much as I hated to admit it, the fact that I didn't know my parents bothered me more than anything. All my life I hadn't really felt loved, which is one of the reasons I think I used to act out so much as a kid. I was craving attention, and I really didn't care how I got it or what form it was in. As long as someone was paying attention to me, I felt more at ease.

The waitress returned with our drinks, and asked for our food orders. I finally decided that I should try the grilled cheese and Adrian must have sensed that my younger years weren't something I wanted to discuss anymore so we dropped it.

Our conversation now consisted of basic, neutral topics. I found out that Adrian was indeed an only child, he has been to every country in Europe…twice, and has only had one serious girlfriend. (Surprise, surprise)

After we finished our lunch, and Adrian offered to pay the bill we headed back towards the police station. I had high hopes that when we would return, we would hear good news.

Dimitri POV

Once again I was alone in the interrogation room. Why did people keep doing this to me? It's like they wanted me to be alone so I would have nothing to do but to think about the things that have happened. Maybe that's how they got criminals to confess or something, I don't know. But the time I have spent in this room so far today was really starting to take its toll on me.

Eventually I heard the door squeak open, and I looked up to be greeted by a very intimidating looking man. I stood about 6"7, 250 lbs and could easily scare off anyone who tried to approach me. But this man was probably only 6"3'-6"4', 220 lbs and was probably ten times scarier than I could ever be.

He had a fierce expression on his face, and he soon joined me at the table. I would have been polite and shaken his hand, had my good hand not been cuffed down. I think he understood, so I easily let it go.

For the next hour or so we talked about everything and anything that could have been linked to the charges they had arrested me for. Some of the things Abe had asked, Rose didn't cover, which worried me. But most of them were very simple answers so I didn't think they mattered much in the long run.

Abe had no problem believing the story that I had told him. And after repeating it in my head so many times, I was starting to believe that nothing had actually happened between Rose and I.

I was starting to get frustrated, because this was taking way too much time and all I wanted to do was go back to my apartment and be with Rose. We barely had anytime to talk about everything that had happened, and even though most of my concerns from her earlier telephone call were gone, I still wanted to know about it. And there were so many other things I wanted to know about her as well.

The cop from earlier soon came back into the interrogation room, after Abe and I finished our discussion. I was then dismissed from the conversation, and the cop and my lawyer began to have a heated debate as to why I was still here.

All of the so-called evidence that they had against me was faulty, and there was a good explanation for it all. They had no proof that Rose and I were together, and she had every right to deny them of the test that they needed in order to prove it. I wasn't the one who took pictures of her when she was half naked, and there was proof of that because the pictures were not on my personal camera, and they were also sent to me by my co-worker Christian.

Unfortunately, Christian would most likely get in trouble for this. 'Better him than me' I thought, which was quite selfish. But I'm sure he could easily get out of it, seeing as he had no idea Rose was underage because I never told him.

Eventually Abe proved to the cop that they no longer had anything to hold me here on. When I was un-cuffed from the table, my wrist was sore and scraped. But none of that was important now, because I was a free man.

I gave Abe a big, hearty handshake and thanked him for everything that he has done for me. He told me that he would be in contact with me soon, and left.

Making my way out the front doors, I was greeted by an all too familiar face. Rose hopped up the concrete steps two at a time and instantly flung herself in my arms.

I tightened my grip around her body and spun her around in a circle. Her smile grew bigger, and she nuzzled her face into my neck.

"I'm so happy you're okay." She whispered softly into my ear.

"Me too Roza, me too." I let out a big, happy sigh, allowing myself to finally relax. I was free to go, and I had the woman of my dreams in my arms. For the first time today, things were looking up.

First off, let me start off by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me your feedback last time. I mentioned at the end of last chapter that I wouldn't get many reviews and it turns out, I received the most reviews I've ever gotten at one time on that chapter hah. So ironic!

And I'm sorry to disappoint you all with this chapter, because I know it's kind of boring. Aside from the ending of course! It was boring for me to write, which is why it's taken me this long. I promise that the upcoming chapters will definitely be better, so stay tuned! xoxo