He didn't take the money. The sound of blood pounding in her ears drowned everything else out and confusion set in. Why wouldn't he take it? It wasn't as though he'd suddenly come into money some other way. His plan had started out as a con but since she really was Anastasia, he had ended up rightfully earning it after all. It wasn't as though he was in a position to turn it down, so why?
Her thoughts began to race. It couldn't be because heā¦could it? Did he?
She was going to drive herself mad with all of the different directions her thoughts were taking her. There was only one choice.
She had to find him.
Unfortunately for Dimitri, the next train wouldn't be departing until the following morning. He was itching to get away and go as far as he could. Somewhere there wouldn't be a constant reminder that the woman he had fallen so utterly in love with was the long lost Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaena Romanov reunited with her grandmother at last. And thus, lost to him forever. As he had told Vlad, princesses don't marry kitchen boys.
He walked over to the small window looking out onto the street from the room he had found himself for the night. The streets were uncharacteristically quiet while everyone was gathered at the palace to celebrate such a joyous and momentous occasion.
He was happy for her, honestly and truly. She was a princess. She had found her family, remembered who she was, and could now live the life she deserved without having to wonder who she was. Was she happy though?
The night she'd had her nightmare came back to him. All the pieces of the puzzle that made up who she was had finally fallen back into place after so many years of wondering. He wondered how she was faring. That night, she'd confessed that if she was Anastasia, she didn't know how she could cope with the loss of her family, not only once but a second time.
The pain she was in that night... it had gutted him to his absolute core.
Speaking of being gutted, looking up at the stars he couldn't help but selfishly mourn the loss of Anya. Was it punishment for his misdeeds? Finding the love of his life, only to be so damn unworthy of her. What a cruel joke fate had played on him. Amidst the myriad of emotions he was feeling, he couldn't help from feeling miserably sorry for himself.
A rapid succession of hard knocks at the door disrupted his wallowing in self-pity. He walked over to the door, wondering who the hell it could be, about to tell them off for being so obnoxious.
He opened the door and was met with the very woman who had been tormenting his mind for weeks now. Shock raced through him as he tried to reconcile the image of her standing there, still in her fancy dress, with reality.
"Are you going to invite me in? Or just wait for your jaw to keep dropping until it hits the floor?" She smirked with twinkling eyes and a cocked eyebrow.
He moved aside to let her in and finally collected himself enough to ask her what she was doing there.
"Well, a little birdie told me that you planned to take the next train out of here and I couldn't let that happen."
Seeing the confusion on his face, she continued with, "It seems you've forgotten what happened the last time we took a train so I'm here to remind you, per your request."
"You left your homecoming celebration and came here just for that?" He asked, still in disbelief, fighting the urge to rub his eyes just to see if she would still be there after. Then again, he was afraid that if he rubbed his eyes she would disappear.
"Well, not exactly," she said nervously, clasping her hands together. "I have a request of my own to ask you."
"Whatever it is, yes," Dimitri responded without hesitation. He would go to the very ends of the earth for her if that was what she wanted.
"I don't want you to leave," she said breathily.
"You don't?" He asked in amazement.
She shook her head. "Not unless I'm going with you."
She stepped closer to him until they were as close as possible without physically touching. His fingers itched fiercely, having her so close. He wanted to touch any part of her he could.
"You didn't take the money. Why?" She demanded softly, a crease forming between her brows.
"It didn't feel right," he answered just as quietly.
"I don't believe that," she said, shaking her head. "Well, I do but I think there's a bigger reason than that, and a reason why it didn't feel right."
"What's that?" He asked her, slowly starting to lean in as his eyes focused on hers, noticing the crinkling in the corners as her lips turned up in a smile.
"It's because you, Dimitri, have fallen in love with me. And I think," she paused, "That you love me, almost as much as I love you."
His heart did somersaults. "I-uh-"
"Or I totally misread everything-" Anya stammered. "In which case I'll just-"
Snapping out of the shock, Dimitri palmed the back of her head and brought her in for a kiss.
