I just want to warn everyone in advance that this chapter will probably make everyone hate me but it's such an important chapter and a huge turning point for Rose and Dimitri. Just stick with me and please don't kill me!

Enjoy!

I hope.

RING THE ALARM

DIMITRI POV

"When's Roza coming?" Lily mused dancing around me as we walked to the park.

"I'm not sure Liliya, but she said she would be there," I told her again. She's asked me about thirty times this morning if Rose was coming, and I was slowly losing my mind.

We were currently on our way to the park, like every Saturday. I know I invited Rose but I almost dreaded seeing her again after yesterday. It killed me to tell her I agreed with her, it was complete bullshit. I was still as much in love with her now as I was before she left, if not more. It seems these four years apart I've missed her more than I really knew. All I want is to kiss her and hold her hostage in my bed, but I had to be a responsible adult. And kidnapping wasn't very responsible. So, I threw my balls away and told her that I wouldn't bring up the subject of "us" again. At least she was right about one thing. Lily was who we needed to concentrate on.

"Daddy!" Lily squealed suddenly.

"What?" I looked at her in alarm, looking her over in case she was hurt.

"I have a great idea!" She clapped her hands and smiled proudly.

"Liliya don't shout like that, use your inside voice."

"But we're outside Daddy," she giggled behind her hand, thinking she was quite smart pointing something out that I didn't notice.

I narrowed my eyes at her, "What was your idea Lily?"

"We should go to Roza's house! It would be a fun surprise, please!" She begged, I tried to look away from those pleading brown eye's but it was too late they had me locked in with no hope of escape.

"Okay let's go," I turned toward the direction of Rose's apartment, I may or may not have looked up her records and figured out where she lived last week.

"Yay!" Lily's little voice squealed again.

Lily was so excited she was bouncing with every step she took. "Where does Roza live?"

"With the other Guardians," I replied calmly. I had to admit it hurt just a little to see Lily so excited about seeing Rose. She looked beyond happy, she basically idolized Rose. And I was jealous, because for the first four years of her life I was the one she idolized and looked up to she only had eyes for her Daddy and now I was going to have to share her. I didn't want to share my little girl with anyone else. I wanted to act like a petulant child, but again I know I have to be an adult. I needed to do what was best for Lily. And what was best for my daughter was to get to know her Mother. I will say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the dedication Rose has given our daughter.

"How do you know where Roza lives?" she asked again.

"Well aren't you full of questions today," I had to laugh it off. I wasn't about to admit my stocking habits to my young daughter.

"But you didn't answer my question Daddy," she pushed.

"Daddy just knows everything Princessa," I told her holding open the door to the Guardian Building. She giggled and skipped to the stairs, pausing to wait for me before she made her way up them. She may be a pro at getting her way but I had to say my child knew how to follow rules.

Most of the time.

Some of the time…

I walked up the stairs ahead of her. Lily hadn't quite mastered the art of climbing stairs. I tried to explain to use one foot on each step but she wasn't exactly graceful and would more often than not fall if she tried to balance on one foot. So, she climbed the stairs setting both feet down on each step before moving to the next. I secretly hoped she always climbed stairs that way. In so many ways she was getting so much bigger and acting so much older. I wanted to hold on to anything that kept my little girl young. I reached Rose's door as Lily had made her way halfway up the stairs. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. No answer. I huffed and knocked louder. If Rose wasn't here Lily would be so upset.

The second time I knocked Roses' door opened. Why was her door unlocked and open? I pushed the door the rest of the way open and took a step in. My mouth dropped open. Rose was lying in bed. Naked. It took me a moment to realize she was not in bed alone. Her arm was thrown over a man, who was also naked.

Fuck

"Rose!" I shouted. I turned, just as Lily was entering the room and covered her eyes. Rose was startled and nearly hit the ceiling and the man in her bed rolled over, falling out of the bed and onto his ass. Her eyes darted to mine and then quickly to where my hands were.

"Oh Shit," she yelped, quickly covering her body with her bed sheets reaching for a discarded shirt on the floor.

It was then that I glanced at the man, who was giving me a somewhat amused smirk. Adrian Ivashkov.

"Dimitri, I…."

I couldn't even look at her. I was fuming. I could feel the anger radiating throughout my whole body. My hands started shaking violently as I continued to hide Lily from the scene in front of us. Luckily, she had been behind me, but I honestly didn't know if she had seen anything.

I whipped around, taking Lily with me and stormed out of the door. I couldn't believe what I had just walked in on. Granted, it wasn't my apartment but Jesus Christ, isn't that what people have locks on their doors for? I mean I knocked on her door. Twice! The damn thing wasn't even shut all the way. Anyone could have walked through that door. I was just the unlucky one.

I could hear her footsteps behind us as I tried to hurry down the stairs, Lily in my arms.

"Dimitri wait," she pleaded, reaching out and grabbing my shoulder firmly enough that I decided to stop. I turned quickly, noting that she was fully clothed in very wrinkled workout clothes, the ones she wore yesterday to be exact.

"I don't want to hear it. We can talk about this later when there are no little ears to hear us," I spit, setting Lily down.

I'm not going to lie, underneath the shock, anger and disgust, was a little bit of jealousy. I knew it was unreasonable. I knew that she didn't feel the same way I did, and I knew all about her escapades in California. I had no right to be jealous. It didn't matter that there were so many bitter emotions between us; there was still something about her that I couldn't resist, especially since our night together. She was beautiful and infuriating. Cocky and Complicated. Smart and sometimes even sweet. It drove me crazy, in both good and bad ways. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Adrian in the doorway, leaning against the frame, not even trying to hide his grin.

"Piece of Shit," I growled and turned to leave. Lily was ahead of me, waiting at the door of the building knowing better than to go out without me. Rose sighed behind me and then I heard her retreating footsteps right before she snapped.

"Get the fuck out, Adrian."

"What?" He laughed.

"I said go home."

"But Rosie, we were just getting started," He whined. I highly doubted that, they looked like they had started hours ago. He was only trying to piss me off and it worked.

"I don't give a shit. Get out."

"Jesus Rosie, I don't get it. It's not that big of a deal, let's just go back inside."

I wasn't looking at them, but I was certainly listening.

"First of all, stop calling me Rosie. Second of all, my four-year-old daughter and her father just caught me naked in bed with another man, what part don't you understand? It is a big fucking deal. I never should have let you in, in the first place. Now go the fuck home!"I didn't stay to hear anymore. I reached the door, and ushered Lily out. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Daddy?"

Oh God, here it comes. I have no idea what I'm going to tell her.

"Yes, Princessa?"

"Is Roza still coming to the park?" She asked sweetly.

I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes and pursed my lips together tightly.

Thank God for the four-year-old attention span.

"No sweetheart she isn't."

"Oh. Can we still go to the park?"

"We'll have to ask Janie if she can take you because Daddy has to go run some errands, but I bet she'll say okay."

I was trying not to feel too bad about putting Janine on the spot. She had pretty much told me that she would do anything for Lily. I had been attempting to not to take her up on that out of principle. Right now though, I needed to make sure that Lily's mind stayed away from what had been going on in that room. I was pretty sure that she didn't see anything graphic, because even I couldn't see too much of what was actually going on, but that didn't mean I was sure. When I got home I called up Janine and asked her if she could take Lily to the park. I wanted to get to Rose before anyone else did. She agreed and I set about making a lunch for Lily and Janine it was the least I could do. When Janine knocked on the door in thirty minutes, I kissed Lily, handed Janine the cooler with lunch, and bolted out of the door.

When I got to Rose's apartment, I knocked on the door. I didn't care if it was open and unlocked, I had learned my lesson. I would no longer be walking into that room before she answered the door. Rose answered the door with a very solemn expression. She let me in and gestured for me to sit but I couldn't, I began pacing the floor. The second the door snapped shut I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Christ, Rose! What in God's name made you think that was a good idea?" I asked in a completely frustrated tone. "What would you have done if it had been your mother that walked in instead of us?"

"How the hell was I to know that you'd break into my room?" She argued and I almost blew a gasket.

"I didn't break into your damn room. The door was unlocked, and open!"

"What the hell were you even doing here?" She yelled backed.

"Your daughter, Lily, you know the one who almost saw her mother completely naked in bed with another man, wanted to come surprise you, before we went to the park."

"Well I didn't know that. I'm fucking sorry, okay? It's not something that was exactly planned. What more do you want?"

"I want you to start thinking about that shit before you get caught in the act."

"I'm not accountable to you, Dimitri. You're not my father, you're not my husband. You're not even my fucking boyfriend."

I took a deep breath trying to compose myself before I decided that ripping her head off was the best course of action. My teeth ground together and I closed my eyes.

"You're right, I'm not," I breathed out. "But I am the father of your child. If you can't think about anything other than yourself, how am I supposed to feel comfortable about you having unsupervised time with her."

"Are you fucking threatening me?" she roared. I didn't even flinch.

"No, I'm not. I'm warning you. I don't really give a shit what you do," Lie number one, I cared so much it hurt, "but I need to know that you are responsible enough to make sure she doesn't see shit she shouldn't see. I am not willing to risk it."

"You are such a hypocrite, you didn't seem too worried when I was the one in your bed and Lily was home."

"I'm not a hypocrite," I countered, trying really hard to control my emotions. "Lily has always and will always come first. I take care of my child day in and day out, love her unconditionally, make sure she eats properly, gets tons of exercise and learns new things. I have never brought a woman into our home other than you and she has never seen me do anything inappropriate. You have managed in less than four weeks to do what I never did in over four years, so fuck off Rose."

"You're trying to tell me you've never had sex where she could accidentally catch you?"

Why am I discussing my sex life with Rose again?

"Believe it or not, you are the only one who I've been with. And even drunk as shit that night I used the baby monitor, so if she even stirred, I could hear her. And your mother was there with her own baby monitor so if Lily did get up and I didn't hear then she would. I'm not saying that you can't do it, but please just use your brain. And Adrian Ivashkov, Rose? He'd hump a fucking tree if it had a hole." Rose's face was twisted in anger. We were doing nothing but pissing each other off more.

"You can't refuse to let me spend time with her, Dimitri," she growled.

"Yes I can, I have sole custody of our daughter, which means I call the shots and you follow my orders, Rose. You have no control in any way of our daughter."

"FUCK!" she screamed, at least an octave above her normal voice. "Why the fuck do you keep doing this to me?"

"Don't even think of challenging me Rose. This is not a game that you can play."

"What the hell is going on in here?" Vasilisa hissed as she burst through the door. Someone must have heard us yelling and called her. "I could hear you two yelling at each other from outside." So much for privacy. I guess it's a mute point when you're screaming.

"Nothing!" Rose snapped.

"Oh, now you're embarrassed about it?" I scoffed, turning to Vasilisa. "Lily and I just walked in on Rose naked in bed with Adrian," I told her, glaring at Rose as I spoke.

"Shut the fuck up, Dimitri," Rose growled.

"Oh my God, are you serious?" Vasilisa cried out, her mouth gaping at Rose. "I thought we talked about him?" She eyed Rose in annoyance.

Rose's hands were in her hair, nervously running her fingers through it.

"Look, I didn't know anyone was going to come in, I didn't even think about it." she tried to explain.

"There seems to be a lot of shit you're not thinking about these days," Vasilisa quipped before throwing her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry Rose, I didn't mean for that to come out. It's really, none of my business," she said sadly.

"No, Lissa, it's not, but it's never stopped you from butting in before, why start now?" Rose asked sarcastically.

I couldn't help, but laugh and Vasilisa glared at me.

"I'm sorry, but it was a little true." I defended myself.

The room was eerily silent for a few minutes before Vasilisa spoke again. "How did Lily react?" She asked in a timid voice.

"She didn't say anything and I'm afraid to ask. I'm just hoping that she either didn't see anything or she's too young to realize what she saw."

Vasilisa sighed and nodded. "Do you think it's better to just pretend that it didn't happen?"

"I don't know. We've talked about keeping private parts private, but that's about it. I'm pretty sure sleeping naked in bed with another person isn't keeping them private though."

Rose's hands were covering her face and she rubbed her temples roughly.

"I….I didn't mean for her to see that," she said, almost inaudibly. "I, Jesus, could I have fucked her up?"

She looked up at me and I could see a pained expression on her face. I took in a deep breath, my anger beginning to fade. She hadn't meant for this to happen. I knew that. I still believed she shouldn't have done it with her door unlocked and open, but I couldn't blame her for seeking out a release.

"I don't think you've permanently scarred her Rose. At least you weren't fucking him. I honestly don't think she saw anything, but she could have. Just…. you just have to think about shit like that before you do it."

Vasilisa looked between Rose and I for a second and excused herself quietly. This was something that Rose and I would have to work out together, by ourselves.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Rose sat down on her bed and I took a seat in her desk char.

"Oh God, Dimitri, I'm so sorry," she breathed. "I wasn't thinking. At all."

I looked at her and saw that her attitude was gone. She looked so defeated.

"I'm not good at this motherhood shit. I don't know how to put anyone else first," she sighed. "How…. how did you do it?"

"How did I do what?" I asked softly.

"Give it all up? Reign it in?"

I chuckled. She really had no idea what it was like for me. "I didn't have much of choice, Rose. I didn't have any friends to go out and be crazy with. I was older and had already gotten all that out of my system. I just went to work and trained. Nothing too crazy. When she was born, there was nothing for me to really give up."

"Nothing?" she gaped at me.

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean I gave up a consistent sleeping pattern and I gave up on getting a shower every day, but that was about it."

I saw another flash of pain cross Rose's beautiful features. She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly.

We didn't speak for a long time. Rose gazed at the floor and I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.

"I've got to get back to Lily and your mom," I said at last. I had been there for over an hour.

"Hopefully they already ate the lunch I made them."

"Oh. Okay," Rose said dejectedly.

I stood to leave and had just reached the door when I heard her call me.

"Dimitri?"

I turned slightly to face her, but didn't respond.

"Are you really not going to let me spend time with her?" The look on Rose's face was almost like that of a child who was being punished.

"I didn't say you couldn't spend time with her, Rose. I just need to know that when you're with her that you'll think about her first. That you won't put her in situations that she's too young to handle." She nodded in understanding. "We'll see you later," I assured her.

I know a lot of you begged me to not let this happen but I'm sorry I just had to. I needed just a little more angst before I could let it all go and allow Rose and Dimitri to live happily ever after.

Rose's POV next!

If you read it, review it!