Reputation Chapter 5

Hey guys: Rose has a mission and some serious damage to her reputation… so what else is new. Sorry this is a short chapter, but I have updated relatively quickly

Hastily, I shoved the note in my pocket, I wanted to go over it privately. A few things were starting to make sense.

Abe and I left the courtroom and I couldn't help but notice the stares and whispering. Then I spotted Janine Hathaway making a beeline for us and I drew in a breath. She grabbed me and gave me a big hug.

I let go of my breath and relaxed, hugging her back. She then turned to my father with a glare. "Abe I told you to get her off these charges, not to ruin her reputation."

Then she turned to me "And your mentor! Weren't you dating Adrian?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now mum" I replied.

"Janine, I made the best of a bad situation. As for the matter with Belikov, we are not done with that by a long shot. But I think it is best this be discussed in private." Abe replied.

Lissa, Christian and Eddie came up to me, they each hugged me in turn. Dimitri and Tasha were far away from others, with his escort nearby having a very tense discussion.

"I'm going to do some damage control, but we will talk soon" Abe said to me and I nodded in response.

"Lets go to my apartments". Suggested Lissa. She wrapped her arm around me and we walked off, not wanting to stay amongst the gawking crowd. Christian and Eddie followed closely behind. my mother muttered something and left in the opposite direction.

Halfway to Lissa's apartments Christian spoke up "Rose, only you would have an alibi for murder by sleeping with your ex".

"Shut up Sparky" I snapped.

"I'm seriously impressed with the stamina -" He continued.

"Christian!" Lissa fixed him with a fierce look until he shut up.

Janine walked into a Dhampir bar and asked for a bottle of Gin and a glass. He took one look at her face, deposited the items and walked away. Janine had leave from Lord Szelsky once her daughter was arrested for treason. For the first time in a long time, she didn't have to work the next day and she didn't want to think about what just happened in the courtroom.

She was drinking her second glass when she finally noticed her companion beside her, Adrian Ivashkov.

"Guardian Hathaway" He slurred.

"Lord Ivashkov" she replied as she finished the glass in a big gulp.

They sat there in silence for a while, eventually she said. "I'm sorry about my daughter". While Janine had not approved of their relationship and was glad that it was seemingly over, she felt sorry for the boy.

"You didn't force her to do anything, no-one does" He muttered.

Janine practically inhaled her next glass. "Maybe if I was a better mother".

"I doubt it, like it or not, she is the product of you and her father, which is quite frankly a dangerous combination." He responded.

Janine swayed, she was not usually a drinker and had already consumed half the bottle. "I'm going to kill Belikov."

He snorted. "Goodluck, not that I don't doubt your skills, but I know your daughter will defend cradle snatcher to the end."

Janine smashed her glass on the bar, ignoring the fresh cut on her hand she turned to Adrian. "What don't I know about him?"

Rose lay on Lissa's bed, Rose lay cuddled into Lissa's shoulders and Lissa stroked her hair. I had been silently crying on her shoulder for the past half an hour.

"How are you Rose?" She asked tentatively.

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"What happened with Dimitri?" She asked.

I turned to look at her. "I confronted him again, this time I got in his face and didn't back down, I goaded him into a reaction and we had sex, then he pushed me away again."

I didn't want to tell her how much his words hurt me. I opened myself up to the bond, I could tell that she thought this was good progress for us. She worried about the impact of the information at court for both of us. There was a lot of evidence pointing towards me and the council seemed to want to point fingers far too quickly.

"What about Adrian?" Lissa asked

"I've definitely hurt him, I didn't mean to, but I have"

She was more concerned on my mental state and the darkness when she spoke "Maybe you should get away for a while, i'm happy to fund a holiday".

"Thanks Liss, I'll think about it."

We went into the living room, Eddie was on the couch and Christian was making pizza and pasta. I could smell brownies baking in the oven and smiled, he was making my favourite comfort food.

Eddie gave me a big hug and pulled me onto the couch. There was a knock at the door, Lissa answered to find Mia Rinaldi. "Hi Mia".

"Hey Lissa, I came to check on Rose"

Christian walked in, "Hey Mia, you arrived just in time for dinner and to grill Rose foe the dirty details".

She gave him a hug and punched him in the arm. "Christian, you are the human version of a period cramp"

She came over to the couch and gave me a hug. "So Belikov huh… I totally picked it in school. Bitchy younger me would have had a field day." She smirked at me.

"Well you did call me an idiot when it came to guys" I replied. I tried to redirect, knowing I was in for a lot of questions "Food sounds awesome".

We sat down at the table and started to fill our plates.

"I'm sure you worked up quite the appetite" Christian smirked and Lissa whacked him on the back of the head. Eddie glared at him and Mia hid her chuckle with a cough.

"Fine. I'll tell you what happened. I went to his place and baited him until I got a response, which was a lot of angry sex. The next morning he pushed me away. May I remind you all that I only ever had sex with one person and now all of court knows about this, plus all the other rumours that people spread about me in school. END OF DISCUSSION."

"Sorry Rose" muttered Mia and Christian

Everyone quietly ate their food until Eddie spoke up. "Why you? The murderer took your stake and tried to pin it on you".

"You did make a scene at the clinical council" Lissa said.

"Lots of people were angry, and Rose isn't known for thinking before she speaks. She doesn't interact with the queen on the regular, she wouldn't be my first choice as a suspect" Eddie replied.

I thought about the evidence, motive and means. They used my stake and capitalised on my public display, but I didn't have easy access to the queen. "Not many people have easy access to the queen, I certainly don't. This feels personal, they chose me for a reason."

I thought to the prediction by Ambrose's Aunt Rhonda, as much as I tried to forget I had burned the cards and their meaning in my head. Two of cups upside down, Queen of swords upside down, Page of cups, Eight of swords and six of swords.

The two of cups was plainly obvious to me - Dimitri my lost love.

Queen of swords, its not Tatiana but could they be the person who framed me?

The eight of swords - I'd been accused of murdering Tatiana.

The six of swords - a journey, one that I had yet to take.

Page of cups - Who was this person, someone trustworthy and creative. Optimistic. That might join me on my Journey.

"I does feel personal. I wish I could help, if I was on the council, I could access the investigation details" Lissa said.

"Stupid quorum" Said Christian.

Yes, if only she had another family member…

I'm thinking of a Dimitri POV, let me know if you want one. Where do you think the story should go? Please review, feedback helps let me know if i'm hitting the mark.