Alexander Belikov and my father were business partners. They worked together selling and managing hotels and large market merchandise. They both became very rich and powerful doing this. They were close. Closer than close, they were like brothers. conquering the world together. This all collapsed when i was born. My father had to make a decision, to step back and raise a family or to keep going with Alexander. Alexander already had a family. He had two daughters and a newborn son, Dimitri, but this never stopped him. He left his family at home while he continued with his dream. Abe, my father, couldn't do this. He wanted to be there for me and my mom. He wanted to be a dad. Abe left Alexander to take full control of the industry, but took his half of the share. He took the money and became a lawyer. He had always wanted to be a lawyer as a little kid and now he could be one while having more time for his family.

This enraged Alexander. His best friend had left his to fend for himself. Although Alexander was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, the abandonment and betrayal burned him to the core of his soul. He turned his rage into ambition, and the industry flourished. He was bringing it to heights only the boys could have dreamed about. My father was ecstatic about Alexanders success and would regularly visit him in Russia when Alexander would stay with his family. Abe had decided to become Alexander's personal lawyer. He would have other clients but would help Alexander with whatever he needed. This would help Alexander keep out of trouble with the law seeing how a lot of what he did was illegal. Alexander was immensely pleased to have his brother back, but things were not the same. Abe was more worried about spending time with his family than quality time with Alexander.

He would look at me with such hatred when my father would bring me over to visit. I was the problem! I took him away from Alexander. I was too young at the time to understand how swollen his hatred for me was; how it burned so deep within his soul that it would push him into doing the unthinkable. Dimitri, my naïve little friend, would tell me to ignore it, that he was always this way and it was just the way he was. Of course Dimitri would see it that way. Dimitri was Alexander's prize possession. His only son. Alexander treated Dimitri like he was a king but would not show the same respect to the women.

Alexander's pain over losing Abe and than becoming second best was too much to bear. He knew he could never win over Abe, even if his family was gone. His anguish soon manifested into something darker. Something almost evil. If we were all dead, (My family) then Alexander would no longer have to suffer with the constant reminder of what he lost. It was time for him to take all the pain away. And from there, the plan was set. Alexander would have his revenge.

I was never supposed to live! I never told the police what I saw. I only said that I saw the smoke from my parents room and rushed to save them. From there my exit was blocked and I had no choice but to jump from the window. Apparently the fire had burned my parents to ashes as well as the house so there was no reason to suspect foul play. I was scared. Scared that if I told they would not believe me. Or worse. Alexander would come back to finish what he started. Maybe it was wrong to stay quiet. Maybe it was completely stupid. You could never understand the pain I was in! How afraid I was! If you were in my situation, I guarantee you would have done the same.

I placed my hands on Dimitri's warm and hard chest and softly pushed him away. As soon as Dimitri felt my push he backed away. It was just the type of guy he is. A perfect gentleman.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" He asks me.

"I can't, I'm sorry." I tell him without looking at him. I keep my eyes on his knees. Why his knees? I have no idea.

"Why not? Was it not good? It was good for me. I've wanted to kiss you for so long." He says. He has a cute boyish smile.

"My parents are dead!" I blurt out. I needed to tell someone about it. Telling Dimitri what I'm about to tell him probably isn't the smartest thing to do but I can't keep it from him. It's his father. He deserves to know.

"...I know Rose. I'm so sorry. My mom told me about it a few months ago. They were stuck in the house when it burned down. Is that why you moved here?" He asks while coming to sit next to me. I still couldn't look at him.

"Yes. I was there. I saw everything. The only reason I lived was because I jumped from the window."

"You... You were there? Oh my god Roza. I...I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Dimitri grabs my hand in a comforting gesture.

"Yeah only a few injuries."

"That's not what I meant." I squeeze his hand before I answer.

"I...No i'm not. They were murdered. I saw who killed them. I saw everything. I said starting to tear up.

"What? Wow Rose, you need to tell the police. They think it was an accident."

"I can't, Dimitri."

"Why not?"

"Because I know who did it." I finally look up. My eyes pleading for him to understand.

"Who Rose? Who did it?" He squeezes my hand a little tighter.

"A business partner." I say bluntly. My eyes still pleading with him.

"A business partner? Your dad didn't have any business partners! The only man he would work with was my father." My eyes tear up more as I stare at his confused face. Something on my face must have given it away because he rips his hand from mine and stands up. Outrage written all over his face.

"Dimitri i-" I start. He immediately cuts me off.

"Don't. Don't even say it. Are you really accusing my FATHER for murder? My dad? He loved Abe and Janine, he would never hurt them. How could you say something like that? God Rose! What the hell is wrong with you? He rants without letting me explain myself. His voice getting louder and louder. I wanted to explain so much. I wanted to say that I never actually said it out loud and that he just assumed. I wanted to tell him that I'm sorry but I couldn't. Nothing I said now would help anyway. He stared at me. He didn't say anything else but his eyes spoke legions. We stayed in our stare down for a few more minutes. His face angry, mine pleading. Our stare down was interrupted by my bedroom door opening.

"What is with all the noise?" Sam's tired voice carries in my now silent room. Neither of us made a move to explain ourselves so Sam continued. "Damn Rose! First day of school are you already beat a kid up, got sent to the principles office and now kinky sex in the middle of the night? Work it girl." Sam laughs at his lame attempt at making a joke to break the ice. I mentally roll my eyes and look at Sam.

"Sam, this is Dimitri Belikov. We were friends as little kids."

"Oh hey." Sam says with excitement as he shakes Dimitri's hand. " Always nice to meet a friend of Rose's."

"We're not friends!" Dimitri says looking directly at me with distaste dripping from his words. From there, Dimitri storms out leaving Sam confused and me sad.

"Huh.. well alright. Wanna talk about it Roseburg?" Sam says to me. He gave me the nickname Roseburg a few years ago. He says it was because im as beautiful as a rose but as cold as an ice burg. I did a quick recap of what just happened. He already knew everything about the murder.

"Well, I've always told you that it is your choice to come forward with the information or not but telling the son of the killer probably wasn't the best decision." Sam tells me.

"Yeah you're probably right. Ugh. Tomorrow is going to suck." I whine.

"Yeah it will. Glad it's not me." He smirks and walks out to go back to bed.

"Thanks Ass!" I shout as I tuck myself back into bed.

"Anytime." I hear him shout back. Surprisingly I lay down to sleep with a smile on my face. Classic Samuel. Always making things better. That is... Until I remember what he cheered me up from.

Kinda short. Let me know what you think. More reviews = sooner updates.