Poison Ivy

Ch 21

Dimitri

We were sitting in a conference room waiting for Croft to come back. Rose was a nervous wreck. I know this wasn't how she wanted to meet her dad, but it was necessary. We needed him, I needed him to get me out of trouble again.

Ivan was here with Tasha and Adrian with Sydney.. We looked like quite the motley crew. Adrian was trying to make small talk, but it wasn't working. Everyone was on edge. I had no idea how this was going to go, I knew I was innocent, but I didn't like having charges against me. Plus the thought of my father being involved, made me sick to my stomach.

The door opened and Croft walked in followed by Tanner. I could see Rose looking behind them to see if her dad was there, but he wasn't.

"Dimitri, Rose, would you come with me?" Rose looked at me with wide eyes. I stood up and squeezed her hand for reassurance and helped her stand. Everyone was staring at us as we walked towards the door.

"I just need these two for a moment. Detective Tanner will fill you all in, till I get back." We followed Croft into the hallway and he shut the door.

"I know this has all been a little crazy and I appreciate you both coming here so quickly."

"Not a problem, we just want this behind us as quickly as possible."

"Me too, I knew they would fight this, but I didn't think they would go after you and Ivan."

"I did." Rose spoke up, but didn't elaborate. I could tell she was getting more anxious by the second.

"Is there something else going on?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh no, sorry to scare you. Mazer is waiting for you in my office. He thought it would be best to meet you in private first."

"Oh, ok." Rose said, kind of surprised.

"If it's ok I'm going to go back in and get this started so you all can get on with your day. You know where my office is." I nodded. We watched Croft go back in and I led Rose down the hall. It was a short walk and she had my hand in a death grip the whole time. Croft's office had a window with the blinds open and we could see the back of Abe's head when we approached. I could also see Pavel in there, he was standing and they looked deep in conversation.

Rose stopped dead in her tracks.

"He's really in there?"

"He is, that's him in the chair. The man standing is his bodyguard of sorts, Pavel."

"Well I will say that I know where I got my hair from." She chuckled.

"That you did. Do you want me to go with you or would you rather do this by yourself?"

"Actually if you can get Adrian, I would kind of like him to be here too if that's ok?"

"Roza, this is a big deal for you, if you want your brother there with you it's ok. Besides, I don't need another "fatherly" talk from him."

"Don't tell me he threatened you?" She smiled.

"He didn't need to, I know what he can do to me. He did, though give me his blessing to date you."

"I'm not sure if I should be pissed or touched. I haven't even met the old man yet and he's already inserted himself into my love life."

"You feel whatever you need to, if you want my honest opinion?" She nodded her head yes.

"He only just found out that you exist, so he is probably going to go a bit overboard for a while. Just let him, it's only coming from a place of love. He is fiercely protective of his family, be that by blood or not."

"You and your damn zen."

"Get used to it because it's not going away anytime soon." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Ok so I open the door and meet my dad."

"Yes, just open the door."

"You got this Roza." She kissed me on the lips then let go of my hand. I watched her take a deep breath and open the door. I stood there and watched and made sure she was ok. She quickly looked my way and smiled and gave me the thumbs up. So I turned around and went back to the conference room to get Adrian.

ROSE

After I watched Dimitri walk away I went the rest of the way into the office. Him and his bodyguard were talking and stopped the moment I walked in the room. I just stood there at first taking him in. He was in the flashiest suit I have ever seen, a god awful gold tie, and to complete his mob look a gold hoop in his ear. I definitely got my tan complexion from him and my dark hair. He stood up and cautiously came towards me. What he did next I was not expecting, he grabbed me in the biggest hug I have ever had.

"I'm so sorry, I wish I would have known about you sooner." He whispered in my ear. With that I started to cry, I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't stop the tears from falling. After we stood there embracing for a minute he let go and grabbed my arms. I looked over to see his bodyguard tear up too.

"Let me get a good look at you." He proceeded to look over me from top to bottom. Not in a dirty way, like I have been checked out at the club.

"God, you remind me so much of your mother." He said with a tear in his eye.

"Did you really love my mother?" I blurted out.

"Sorry, not too sure why I just said that."

"It's ok. I very much loved her, Kiz."

"Kiz?"

"It means Daughter in Turkish."

"Oh. I like it."

"I would love to tell you all about me and your mother sometime,but we have more pressing matters to get to.

Right now we need to figure out how we're going to bury that asshole."

"Dad, really you just met her, let's save the Mob stuff for later." Adrian said as he walked in the door.

"Good luck with that one." Pavel finally spoke up, I almost forgot he was there. My dad gave him the side eye.

"Son, I wouldn't have to meet my daughter for the first time in a police station if it wasn't for him and his family. Your sister's boyfriend wouldn't be accused of something we know he didn't do if it wasn't for him. Need I go on?"

"It's ok Addy, we have plenty of time for some family bonding. Right now I'd like to not see Dimtiri locked away for something he didn't do."

"Kiz, I would never let that happen."

"Then what do you plan on doing?"

"What I always do is take care of business."