Hello everyone. Here is the next chapter in Rose and Dimitri's story. I hope you all like it. Be sure to let me know what you think …. Keep Reading and Enjoy …. :D :D . .

Jesse Zeklos was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. No. In fact, he was born with a spoon encrusted with diamonds and made of 24 karat gold in his mouth. He was the only son of his more than well - to - do royal family and therefore, he invariably donated both, his abundant riches and time to the posh bar at the Moroi Court.

He spent a major part of his waking hours at the place, which were already limited in number, and the rest he spent holed up in his room doing almost the same things he did at the bar. And due to this erratic yet ironically monotonous schedule of his, Dimitri Belikov found himself hovering solely between these two places for duty. Which was unfortunate because Dimitri happened to despise both of them; the loud music nauseated him and so did the stench of inebriated, sweating bodies grinding against each other.

But being a Guardian left him with little choice, so he clung on to the only good thing that almost always came out of this arrangement; he would get to meet Rose. Granted, that Dimitri felt it was a bit more comfortable for the both of them to avoid each other in the morning, but there was no discomfort in the evenings when Zeklos was throwing around his money at the bar. Mikhail, without anything particularly better to do, would occasionally come around a little early to assume his duty so as to meet both of them for some catching up. Only today he had promised to meet Zeklos at his apartment directly for he had some business of his own to settle.

Nevertheless, a spectacle hadn't seemed likely to occur as Rose and Dimitri were sitting at the counter and talking about recent goings - on at Court. But the moment Johnny, the guy who had called on Rose the first night, came up to her and began fiercely whispering into her ear, things were doomed to go downhill.

" When does he not act crazy? Leave me alone, it's not time yet." said Rose, trying to shoo him away.

He grabbed her arm. " You don't get it, do yo-"

" Yeah, I understand everything. The kid's getting out of hand and you want to me to handle it. But, I already told you, Johnny. That is not my job nor is it my problem, and therefore, not my headache. Now I would appreciate it if you went back to your dealings because, as you can see I have company that I actually like spending time with." she said shrugging him off herself, and reaching for her drink. But, she stopped short when a guttural, nearly croaky voice said, "Of course, it is not your headache. Why would it be?"

It was Jesse Zeklos in all his heavily intoxicated glory. He could barely keep himself upright by this point but the intensity of his eyes trained on Rose was hard to ignore.

He staggered over to her and with a single finger slowly traced the side of her face and said, " Of course, it isn't it. You're just interested in one thing aren't you, Rosie?"

Dimitri watched this exchange with utter discomfort. Every fibre in his body screamed at him to seize Zeklos and perhaps teach him a lesson or two in manners, but a quiet, insidious part of him whispered that she was an escort after all.

Rose pushed Jesse's hand away and spoke in a calm voice, feigning playfulness, " Don't call me that, Jesse. You know I don't like it."

" Oh, I know exactly what a girl like you likes, Rosie. And I hope you know what I like pretty well too. Don't you hope so?" he said with a distinctive slur to his words. Yet, his steely, arrogant eyes did not lose their intensity.

" Why don't we talk somewhere else?" she said, throwing a nervous glance in Dimitri's direction who had managed to remain in his seat only by conjuring every ounce of control he had in him. This was going far beyond what he was comfortable with, but he tried to keep a handle on himself.

" Oh. Is he the reason you don't want to talk here?" Zeklos continued his rambling as he pointed to Dimitri. His voice was now tinged with anger. " Is he a buddy of yours? Fucking him too, are you slut?"

" I think that's enou-" rang out Dimitri, no longer caring about the treacherous voice in his head.

" Stay out of this, Dimitri." pleaded Rose, but he could barely hear her now. It brought back too many memories; the situation was too familiar for his liking. In his periphery, he noticed Rose's eyes flicker to the white - haired man he had seen on the first night, the one who seemed to have been observing every escort in this place.

" No, Rose. He has n-" Dimitri began, but Rose quickly tugged Zeklos away saying, " Just stop, Dimitri. Come on, Jesse. Let's take this somewhere else. You know I wouldn't go behind your back. You know me, baby. " she smiled at him and he returned a sly one as they moved away. " That's my girl. Hey, Johnny, tell Tanner not to show up tonight. I have something extra special in mind for this girl here." Zeklos shouted over his shoulder.

Dimitri stood there, his mouth agape. What had just happened? Was he going to simply stand - by and watch all over again? He felt disgusted when he saw Rose look over at him apologetically as she was passing through the exit. Dimitri heard a voice ring out from behind him as he was trying to push away thoughts of what Jesse meant from of his mind.

" Oh. Don't look that taken aback, Belikov." laughed the Johnny fellow. It was a cold, derisive one that made Dimitri's blood boil.

" What's so funny?" Dimitri growled.

" You trying to be a hero is not gonna work. The faster you learn this the better. You see that guy the blonde broad over there is talking to?" he pointed at the silver - haired man once again. "He can make things a lot worse for your little crush."

He began to leave and Dimitri heard him say over his shoulder, " She may be a whore, but she was smart to just take Lord Zeklos away in the nick of time. It is a pity though. We didn't get to see some action here tonight. If it were up to me, I would never have stopped you Belikov. I wouldn't want to miss out on the fun."

Did you like it? Please tell me what you thought in your reviews. Remember, the more reviews you write, the more motivated I get to write this story. It really does help to know that people are reading it, otherwise, it kind of feels futile ….

Also, I would love to hear speculation about what might happen next and any and all suggestions are welcome. :) ….

Anyways, I want to thank all those who have been reading this story and giving me feedback. Until next time …. Keep Reading and Enjoy ….. :D :D . .