ROYAL SECRETS

CH 6

IVAN

The banquet went off without a hitch and little Demi had the time of her life. Ivan was right and he and Adrian hit it off right away. They were currently enjoying each other's company sharing a drink in his room. They decided they were going to take in some of the hotel's amenities and go down to the spa and enjoy the hot tub.

They had left Dimitri, Rose, and Dimi about an hour ago. They could only hope it was going well with them. Ivan knew how much this meant to Dimitri to get to know his daughter and be a part of her life. To be honest he knew he wanted to spend just as much time with Rose.

Rose was the one that got away, Ivan knew that if things could be different that Dimitri would have married Rose. He admired, but also thought it was stupid of him to marry Tasha. Biai had gotten better since Dimitri became King, he couldn't deny that. But the longer he was the king the more he fell into a depression. He had never seen him as happy as he was when he was around Rose and Demi.

He and Adrain were on their way down to the spa. Their conversation hadn't stopped since they got to his room. They were already very comfortable with each other, so much so that Ivan didn't want to go back to Russia. They had gotten off the elevator hand in hand and walked towards the pool/spa area. When they arrived they noticed Mickhail standing at the door.

"What's going on Mickhail?" Ivan asked.

"Miss Demi wanted to go swimming so I'm here watching and to make sure they are left alone."

"Gotcha, we're just coming to use the hot tub."

"Have fun." Mickhail opened the door and winked at Ivan. Poor Mickhail had to be the whiteness to many of the men that Ivan would bring around. He could tell that Adrian was different, Ivan was different when he was with him. Unfortunately he knew that they would be leaving soon and going back to their lives in Russia.

Ivan and Adrian walked over towards where the new family was in the pool. Dimitri spoke up before Ivan could even ask the question.

"We haven't told her yet, once she saw the pool she just had to come swimming." Dimitri said in Russian.

"Gotcha." Ivan replied in English.

"Well we are going to leave you three alone and go enjoy the hot tub."

"Ivan, please keep it PG there is a child here."

"Always." Ivan winked and the two headed off towards the hot tub.

DIMITRI

We made the mistake of walking by where the pool area was on our way back to our rooms. Once Demi saw the pool she just had to go swimming. Of course we couldn't say no to her, we figured we would just tell her after we went swimming. She was having a blast and I was too. Ivan had come in with Adrian and they were in the hot tub. I spied them holding hands a couple of times, it was kind of cute to see them together.

"Mr. Dimitri, will you take me to the deep end?"

"Of course." I grabbed her underneath her arms and started to head to the deep end. Rose was not too far behind me, I couldn't help but stare at her. She looked absolutely amazing in her bikini, you could never tell she had ever had a child. I wanted nothing more than to take her back to my room and worship her like the goddess she was.

We were enjoying being carefree for the moment, flashes of what my life could have looked like if I never got married and stayed in America. I didn't want to leave Rose again, I wanted to stay and be a family.

I swam around the deep end with Demi in my arms, taking her underwater a few times. Her smile never left her face, I would carry that with me when I went back home along with her infectious laugh. She was starting to get a little cold so we decided to get out and get in the hot tub for a little bit. Ivan and Adrian had left a while ago, I could only assume what they were up to now. Rose and I were sitting next to each other with Demi on her lap.

It was such a serene moment and I felt like it was time to say something. I decided to bite the bullet and get this over with.

"Sweetie, your mom and I would like to talk to you about something."

"Ok." She said timidly. Rose started to talk before I had a chance to and at the moment I was glad. I really didn't know how to start.

"You know how I've always told you your daddy lived far away and that one day you would get to meet him?" Demi nodded her head.

"What if I told you he's here right now." Rose stopped talking, I could tell she was getting nervous, so I grabbed her hand.

"Demi, Dimitri is your daddy."

"Good." Demi said like it was no big deal.

"Good?"

"Yeah, I like him. He makes you smile."

"Do you have any questions?"

"Nope, can we go back to our room? I'm tired."

"We can." Well that went easier than we thought, but I had a feeling she was going to have more questions later. I got out of the hot tub and dried off and grabbed a towel for Demi. I helped her out and wrapped her in it and sat her down in a chair. I grabbed another towel for Rose and when she got out I wrapped it around her. I lingered there for longer than I should with my arms around her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light coming from the windows outside. I knew exactly what was going on. Someone had found us in the pool and was taking pictures. I let go of Rose and quickly picked up Demi, put my slides on and headed for the door. It took Rose a couple of seconds to realize what was going on and grabbed her bag and clothes and was quickly on my heels.

Mickhail was already in communication with the others on my security team and ushered us towards the elevator.

"I'm so sorry." I said to Rose once the door closed.

"It's not your fault."

I'm glad Demi had no idea what was going on. She had laid her head on my shoulder, her eyes very heavy.

We reached our floor and Mickhail got out first to make sure we were clear, once he was sure he motioned for us to follow him back to our rooms. Demi had fallen asleep on the elevator ride so I gently placed her on the bed. Rose went to her suitcase and got out some pajamas for her. I stepped out for a minute to give her some privacy. I could only hope that they didn't get any incriminating photos of the three of us. No I wasn't ashamed of Demi and Rose, this was not how I wanted it to get out to the public.

"Aleksandr was able to apprehend the photographer, we deleted his photos and spiridon was able to get his SIM card."

"Thank you. We won't be leaving our rooms for the rest of the night. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

"We'll still be keeping watch, just in case it was leaked you are staying here ." He bowed and went back to their room. I was very lucky I had the team I did surrounding me. I trusted them with my life and by extension Demi's. I opened the door back up to see Rose in a pair of sweats and a t- shirt snuggling up with Demi. It was the sweetest thing to see them together.

"Everything ok?" She whispered as to not wake up Demi.

"Yeah they got the guy and made him delete any pictures that he took."

"Good." She paused for a second and untangled herself from Demi and got off the bed. She covered her with a blanket and motioned for me to the door that joined our two rooms. I hadn't locked the door to mine so we were able to just walk on through. We left both doors open so we could hear Demi. I had a feeling she wanted to talk.

"I'm going to get out of my wet clothes real quick, have a seat." I had left a change of clothes in the bathroom before I left for the pool. I quickly changed and put my wet hair up in a towel to help it dry.

"Nice look, comrade." Rose said with a laugh as she pointed to my head. She had made herself comfortable on my bed and patted the spot next to her. I didn't hesitate and made my way over. After I got myself situated,she moved closer and put her head on my shoulder.

"Is it always like this?" She asked

"Is what?"

"People following you,trying to get your picture?"

"Here in the states? Yes, but back in Biai? No. They tend to leave me alone and give me my privacy. I think that's because I'm approachable. I like to be out in the province and get to know my people and their needs. Anyone can come and talk to me when it's appropriate. My father was never that way; he alway thought he was better than the people he was ruling. I don't."

"You know you're a good king right?"

"I try to be, but the question is can I be a good father as well?"

"You already are."