Dimitri's Point of View
"Okay, let's go over the plan one more time." I told Rose while I sat on the bed watching her get ready.
The celebratory dinner Tatianna had planned was tonight and we finally had the information we needed.
I hated to admit it, but Adrian had been right about Rose and her blow out with Tatianna this morning had proved it.
No one could push the queen's buttons quite like Rose could and that's exactly what she did. Now with the recording of Tatianna's confession, all that was left was to expose her.
I watched as Rose rolled her eyes before sauntering over to me.
"Dimitri I love you, but if I have to hear you go over the plan one more time I'm likely to strangle you. We all know what the plan is and we're ready for this. Now we can sit around here all night and keep talking about it, or we can go and get the job done. What's it going to be?"
She was standing in front of me in a red satin dress and her hands were placed firmly on her hips.
I'd never admit this to anyone else, but I found bossy Rose incredibly sexy.
Reaching out with one arm, I wrapped it around her waist and pulled her closer to me for a kiss. The action caught her by surprise, but she quickly recovered. Wrapping her own arms around my neck, she deepened the kiss and neither of us pulled back until we were dizzy.
"What was that for?" she asked breathless, leaning her whole body into my chest.
"You look beautiful tonight." I told her honestly.
It was all the reason I needed.
"Yeah well you don't look so bad yourself." She smirked while trying to straighten out my tie. I never was any good at these types of things, but luckily Rose had plenty of practice.
"You know, if we're going to be married you should probably learn the proper way to put on a tie." She teased, smoothing my now correct tie into place. "These dinners aren't ideal but they are a necessary evil so you may as well get used to them now."
"Oh great" I sighed dramatically. "A lifetime of boring dinners to look forward to. Lucky me."
Rose glared at me playfully before slapping my chest.
"You bet your ass you're a lucky man. You get to marry me!"
I chuckled softly before pulling her lips back to mine.
"Lucky doesn't even begin to cover it." I smirked.
Ivan's Point of View
I spent the entire walk over to my parent's townhouse trying to psych myself up for this. Everyone had their part to play in exposing Tatianna and this was mine.
I just wished Sophia could be here to help me with it.
I must have played out at least a dozen scenarios in my mind and not one of them had ended well.
"You seem tense" My father commented, pouring us both a scotch. "Is everything alright?"
This was the opening I had been looking for and I knew I better take it.
"Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about and we should probably get mom as well."
I could see the apprehension in his eyes, but with a curt nod he left the room to get my mother.
This was it, the moment of truth.
"So you mean to tell me this whole kidnapping business was Tatianna's doing? My father asked, looking at me skeptically. "That seems a little far-fetched son."
"Does it dad? Really? Think about everything you know about Tatianna, and all her ideals. Do you honestly believe she would ever let Rose and Dimitri just ride off into the sunset? She's been planning on marrying Rose off to Adrian for years, she had to do something." I argued.
My father still looked suspicious but my mother looked downright livid.
"If this is true, than that means she was willing to kill you as well, just for being on that plane!" she pointed out, and this seemed to draw my father's attention.
"And you say Rose has proof of this?" He asked for clarification and I gave him a quick nod.
I watched in silence while he paced around the room, just trying to come to terms with the news. As head of the Zelekos line, my father was a powerful man and we needed him on our side for this to work.
When the pacing finally stopped, my father downed the rest of his scotch and looked at me.
"Tell me what you need me to do."
Rose's Point of View
"Why is it these dinner never serve anything edible?" Dimitri grumbled as another waiter walked past us with the hors d'oeurves.
I couldn't help but laugh at his disgruntled expression and I leaned up on my tip toes to kiss him softly.
"Next time, I'll let you sneak snack in through your duster." I winked.
Laughing he pulled me closer for another kiss and I gladly let myself get lost in the moment. If there was one thing I'd learned lately it was that life was short and I wasn't willing to waste another second worrying about what other people would think.
"Ahem." I heard someone clear their voice beside us. When we pulled apart I saw Abe's cheeky grin.
"Good evening lovebirds. Are you enjoying yourselves?" he asked.
Dimitri turned pink with embarrassment but I wouldn't relinquish my hold on him.
"We were having a great time, until we were so rudely interrupted" I teased back.
My relationship with my father was still strained, but supporting my relationship with Dimitri had gone a long way to improve things.
"Well I just thought you'd like to know that the Queen will be here any minute." He told us while taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
"Do you have to drink that in front of me?" I sighed wistfully, eyeing the delicious and frosty beverage in his hands.
No alcohol for 9 months was going to make for a very long pregnancy.
"Think of it as your penance for making me a grandfather so young." He smiled cheekily, raising the glass to his lips.
Dimitri tried to cough to cover his laughter but he wasn't fooling anybody.
"Laugh it up Comrade, but if I can't drink alcohol then neither can you." I glared and his laughter dried up pretty quickly.
"Who died?" Christian asked after walking up and seeing Dimitri's grim face.
"My ability to drink alcohol." Dimitri grumbled, watching as another waiter passed us by with the champagne. Christian and Abe both had a good laugh at his expense, but the sound of the Royal trumpets blaring interrupted them.
"This is it Kiz, are you ready for this?" Abe asked, moving closer to me protectively. When it came to fatherly instincts Abe didn't have the lightest touch, but it was nice to know he was here for me.
When the wide double doors of the grand ballroom opened up, I braced myself for what was to come. Tatianna Ivashkov made a mistake making an enemy out of me and tonight she was going to learn that.
We're almost there, to the big reveal! Sorry this was kind of short but I kind of needed this filler chapter to get to where I wanted to go. Don't forget to leave a review! : )