Chapter 17
Royal had never been out of the country. She had never
been above the ocean, the clouds, so near to the heavens.
And above all, she had never been in a luxury private jet.
There was a certain amount of prestige that came with such
a thing. It was far richer that she could ever describe.
Earlier that morning after a hardy breakfast and a hectic
packing session with the maid and Renée to help, she had
been escorted in a limo from her house to the private
airstrip, where she and her entourage of Russian men,
Dmitry and Anatoly included, boarded a swank, LearJet 60
and set out on a trip to a land that she had never seen.
Dmitry and Royal sat in the interior forward leather offwhite
chairs beside each other looking out of windows and
listening to television that played in front of them on the
flat screen.
Dmitry was thinking of the tasks that lay ahead upon his
landing, and Royal was literally in awe of the beauty of the
clouds and the blue sky. The stewardess bent down to
Royal and offered her a glass of champagne. She took it
happily, inwardly thinking that champagne was a great way
to celebrate her new lifestyle. However, when offered, her
companion quickly waved the woman away.
Royal looked over at Dmitry, who was completely apathetic
of the entire trip. He had traveled the world over and
found it the same, wherever he went. It baffled her how a
man of such wealth and affluence found her so interesting.
"What are you sighing about?" he asked, taking his eyes
of the window. He looked over at her and tilted his head.
"It doesn‟t move you anymore, does it?" she asked, setting
down her glass.
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"What?" He looked around.
"Any of this." She kept her voice low, so that the others
could not hear them. If they overheard her, it would
only prove more how unworthy she truly was.
"It is my life, Royal. You‟ll get used to it." He leaned
over the arm rest to her. "Does it bother you? The way
that I live?"
"Hell no," she retorted, and then smiled a little, revealing
her perfect white teeth. "It fascinates me. I wake up
everyday and pinch myself."
Dmitry liked that. His eyes sparkled. "Then it is all
worth it."
"Tell me…how you find me…"
"Yes?"
"Interesting? When you live like this? I just can‟t understand
what I bring to the table that blows your skirt up."
"Sincerity. Genuine sincerity. It‟s a hard thing to come
by when you have money. Plus, you‟re stunning and smart
and hard working and….if you just wanted a compliment,
my dear, you should have just said so. This is quite a long
way around the bush." They both laughed.
Royal reached out and touched Dmitry‟s golden bronze
face. "You‟re such a good man."
"I am just a man."
"No. You are so much more than that to me," she said,
leaning in to kiss him. Her eyes were bright with conviction.
"Do you know that I‟ve never had one meaningful
relationship with a man in my entire life? No dad, no
brother, no decent boyfriend. But you are, in a way, all of
those things."
Dmitry didn‟t smile. He looked her dead in her eyes
and listened carefully.
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Royal allowed him to kiss her forehead. It was all that
he could do to express his gratification for her honesty.
"Was that too heavy?" she asked, sitting back. "You
know how I am. I just…get caught up in the moment
sometimes."
Dmitry sighed. "No. We are just very much alike, you
and I. For us to have come from such different backgrounds
and cultures, we share the same perils."
Royal agreed with Dmitry, but she could count on her
hands how many similarities that they shared versus the
countless things that she could not relate to him about,
mostly surrounding money. No one ever prepared her for
this in her many fairy tale stories as a girl. The knight in
shining armor showed up, just as the story promised, but
there were no details of what happened during the ever after.
She was completely and utterly clueless. With a shake of
her head, she looked back over at Dmitry, who was studying
her.
"I like it better when you think out loud," he said, taking
her glass and sipping her champagne.
She watched the crystal touch his delicate pink lips. "I
just hope that you‟re the real thing, Dmitry. Because I‟m
definitely in over my head. And you don‟t make it any
better spoiling me like this." She moved her hair from her
face and rested her elbow on the arm rest.
Dmitry looked over at her and raised his eyebrow. "Oh,
I am the real thing." He put the crystal flute back on her
table and smiled.
To Royal‟s surprise and delight, they stopped in New
York City before their long trip across the ocean. She had
never been to New York but had always dreamt about the
opportunity. Now she was in a limo being rushed around
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the busy city in style. She sat quietly in the limo looking out
the window, gawking at the sights while Dmitry talked to
Anatoly in Russian.
Dmitry mentioned that the reason for his stop was
two-fold. He needed to stop for a quick business meeting
and to buy Royal a proper mink coat for the Russian cold.
Both errands would be short, because they were blocks
from each other in the busy burrow of Manhattan. Instead
of sending Royal with Anatoly, Dmitry had taken Royal
personally to an upscale shop on Madison Avenue.
The bodyguards stood outside while Royal and Dmitry
went inside of the luxury fur gallery, Royal Chie. The
innovative Japanese designer Chie Imai‟s collection was
breathtaking. It was internationally recognized for its ecofriendly
designs, versatility and high-profile clients.
However, up until now, Royal had only read about the
shop. Now, she was in it being shown their finest coats and
accessories. She felt like a kid in a candy store. She was
allowed to look through the entire new line of furs before
making her selection, a chocolate Swakala Coat with
Russian Sable Trimming, and matching muffler and earmuffs.
The sales woman was about to wrap her new gifts,
when Dmitry instructed her to dress Royal quickly in the
furs immediately so that they could leave for his meeting.
With a bow and smile, she was escorted to the fitting area
and came back out looking richer than she had ever felt in
her life.
As she came out, he was sitting on a chair texting. She
walked in front of him and cleared her voice. He looked up
at her pleased. Having already paid for the merchandise
while she was putting them on, he was ready to go and on
schedule. Under his arm, she followed him back out of the
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shop and into the limo where they ended up at the Wall
Street Bath and Spa a short while later.
Instead of going inside the bath house with Dmitry, he
insisted that Royal stay in the car. She did so obediently.
She preferred it, in fact. It gave her the perfect opportunity
to call and tell Renée about her newest gift and her trip thus
far.
She wasn‟t left alone, however. She was accompanied
by a driver and a blonde, brick of a man, who Royal concluded
was one of Dmitry‟s men. She had never seen him
before, but he was a cookie cutter copy of all of Dmitry‟s
bodyguards – huge, arctic polar bears.
He sat across from her, trying not to look directly at her,
but she caught him staring several times. Sliding her shades
over her eyes, she tried to ignore the brut while she talked
on her cell phone.
Thirty-minutes later, Dmitry returned with Anatoly and
his men to the car, and they were back on the jet eating
lunch before noon.
Before dawn of the next day, Royal and her party arrived
in Moscow, Russia. Dmitry had been right when he
said that she would need a big coat. It was the most bonechilling
winds and rain that she had ever experienced in her
life.
Two very large black G550 Mercedes –Benz trucks were
awaiting them outside of customs. Once they received their
clearance into the country, they were immediately carted off
to the Le Royal Méridien National Hotel.
To Royal‟s amazement, the hotel was directly across
from the Kremlin. She stood gazing out the elaborately
decorated windows of their presidential suite at the palace in
her view. The gold sphere-like tips of the cathedrals caught
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embers of light that reflected from sun trying to break free
from the cloudy day and shined into her room. It was a
spectacular sight. She could not take her eyes off the
fortress.
The architecture was amazing, and the massive size of
the great bricked wall surrounding it was astonishing. It was
so remarkable until it held her attention beyond her own
control. By far, it was the grandest thing that she had ever
encountered, but there was something else very special
about the wondrous place – perhaps just the thought that
Dmitry was born and raised in the country.
While she basked in the beauty of her view, room attendants
quickly put away their things, changed out a few
amenities per Royal‟s request and ran a bath for Dmitry.
With all the commotion in the room, she never broke her
gaze. Dmitry found her new interest intriguing. He spoke
to men in Russian, flipped through his blackberry and gave
out orders, but mostly he admired how entranced she had
become. She was like a child with a shiny new toy.
Dmitry noticed how Royal seemed to be maturing dayby-
day, not that she had been a child when he met her. It
was just that he had exposed her to so much so very
quickly, until she was forced to elevate herself at a hyper
speed. When he first met her, saw her, he knew that she
was a diamond in the rough, but even he did not know how
beautiful and brightly she would shine once she was
groomed.
Royal did not notice that everyone had left the room
until she felt Dmitry‟s hands on her shoulders. She turned
around and looked at him.
"It‟s…mind-blowing," she said, shaking her head. "I‟ve
never seen anything like it." She touched the frosted
window. "That‟s the Kremlin? It‟s huge…massive."
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Dmitry massaged her shoulders. "I‟ll make sure to take
you to the Kremlin later this week."
"Tomorrow," Royal demanded. "I‟ve got a whole day
lined up for myself. I brought gym shoes, jeans, a camera
with a butt load of memory and a pea coat." She smiled at
him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You‟re such a little tourist. Tomorrow, I actually had
other plans, but I‟ll cancel them, and you and I will spend it
touring the entire Red Square and your precious Kremlin.
Well, the part that we can get inside. You know the President
of Russia lives there."
"Like the White House? Wow. I can‟t wait until tomorrow
then." She reached out and gave him a big hug.
"This entire place is like one big dream, Dmitry. I still can‟t
believe that I‟m actually here." She released him and turned
back towards the window.
Dmitry huffed. "When I was your age, I thought this
place was nightmare. I couldn‟t leave here soon enough.
And look at you…you want permanent visa." He wrapped
his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
"That was when you were young. Surely, you miss it
now."
"No. I just come here to take care of things I can‟t take
care of anywhere else."
"But it‟s a part of you?"
"A very big part of me," he confirmed.
"Well, I feel like it‟s a part of me, as much as you talk
about it."
That made Dmitry smile. "You feel that strongly about
it, eh?"
"Yes," Royal couldn‟t control her smile. "It‟s so different
from Memphis."
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Dmitry laughed so hard, his voice rattled the room. Her
only point of reference was Memphis, yet to look at her,
Royal looked like she had traveled the world for years.
He turned Royal around and pulled her to him.
"I will open your little eyes to this big beautiful world
soon enough. And you will see that everything is quite
different from Memphis. Maybe even, you appreciate it
more. Who knows?"
"I appreciate it…when I‟m away from it," she said,
hanging her arms around his neck. "I don‟t want to live
there forever."
"I‟m certain that you will not." Dmitry rubbed his hands
through her hair.
"Oh, change of subject. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.
So, I‟ve got to go and get your other gifts while we‟re out."
"Other gifts?"
"I brought some things with me." She wiggled her nose.
She knew how much he enjoyed her gifts.
"What it is? I want to see it now." He gripped her
waist in his hands.
"No. You have to wait till Christmas."
"I haven‟t had Christmas gifts since I was little boy."
"Well, it‟s a good thing that I‟m around, because I‟ve
got a great Christmas planned. We‟re going to have eggnog
and Christmas stockings and the whole nine."
"You and your holidays." His thick accent covered his
words. "I have to step out for a few hours and take care of
some business. So, you‟ll have the suite to yourself." He
pulled away from her and went into the master bedroom to
take off his clothes.
"Completely to myself or will that big blonde dude be
outside of my door?"
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"What? You don‟t like blondes. Fine. I get you redhead."
He laughed.
"Whatever." She pulled her coat off and pulled her hair
out of its pony tail. Scratching her head, she went over and
sat on the bed in front of him. "Do you think that he‟ll take
me to get something to eat? I‟m starving."
"Order in."
"I don‟t want to. I want to stretch my legs. I‟ve been in
a jet for hours."
Dmitry pulled his tie loose and looked at her. "Alright."
He began to unbutton his shirt. "He‟ll take you anywhere
you want to go."
Royal stood up on her knees in front of him and started
to unbutton his tailor made oxford for him. He ran his
hands down her back to her bottom.
They made eye contact.
She raised her eyebrow.
"Are you thinking of cancelling your plans for this afternoon."
Her hair sat flirtatiously around her shoulders.
"If I could, I would."
Unbuttoning Dmitry‟s shirt, she pulled the fine clothing
from his body revealing his massive chest. She reached for
his belt and pulled him closer. The smell of his cologne
danced about her nose. She inhaled his fragrance and bit
her lip.
"Can you…cancel?" she asked suggestively.
Dmitry gave a devilish grin and licked his lips. His
voice was low and baritone. "If I could, you‟d already be
screaming and crawling the walls, my dear." He tapped her
behind softly, indicating his commitment to his previous
engagement.
Sulking, Royal let go of his belt and watched him walk
into the large bathroom. He smiled playfully at her and
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closed the gold double doors behind him. Defeated, she
slumped down in the bed. It was highly unlike Dmitry to
turn her down. He must have had something very important
to do. And what did she have to do?
It was snowing like crazy, the skies were blackened with
dark clouds, and she didn‟t speak much Russian. Maybe the
brick wall standing outside of the hotel door wouldn‟t mind
escorting her to the restaurant for something to eat? She sat
back up on the bed and slipped on her shoes.