Dimitri Belikov

It had been three days since Roza and I said goodbye to Chris, Michelle and Baby Reid. In that time, they'd been moved to a safe house. Addie, Amelia, and Leigh had stayed behind as well.

If Jace and Matthew's Intel were correct then Abe was being held inside a warehouse along the bank. It was a seedy part of the city but ideal if you wanted a place to lay low and stay out of sight from the law.

Speaking of the law, Roza and I needed an exit strategy. Neither of us could return to our previous lives. After we rescued Abe and killed her Uncle; Rose Hathaway-Mazur and Dimitri Belikov would disappear permanently.

Once again Ibrahim Mazur would walk away with his life intact.

"He knows we're coming," Roza said. "There's no way into that building without announcing our arrival."

"You've got to give the prick points for location." The warehouse was three stories tall and there was only one way in… A deliberate tactic so that he'd know when we arrived. Smart. "It doesn't leave us with a lot of options."

"No," Roza agreed. "How do you want to do this?"

"Quietly," I eyed the building. "Your Uncle has a thing for warehouses."

"It's the only thing about him that is predictable."

I sink into the driver's seat as a plan begins forming. "Our only advantage is that he doesn't know we're here yet."

"He's a patient man."

I scoffed at the understatement. "He's spent the last two decades planning his revenge… He's certainly something." I muttered. "He'll take his time with Abe."

"Having the object of his rage will make him sloppy." Roza whispered. "He'll be so focused on my father that he'll react slowly."

"Which is why our best bet is to go in while he's preoccupied."

Roza rolled her eyes but smiled. "That's a nice way to look at it."

"Does it bother you that we're going to let him be tortured?"

Roza thought about it before answering. "He'll survive… It's nothing he doesn't deserve. What do you want to do about his men?"

"Matthew can take care of the guards; isn't that right?"

"Yes sir." Matthew's voice came through the earpiece.

"Jace will have his back," I continued. "You and I will go in together."

"When?"

"After dark," I nodded to the setting sun. "It ends here."

An hour later I watched as Roza dressed for battle… She'd had a chance to heal from the warehouse, but she still favoured her ribs on one side. The dark circles beneath her eyes were fading but the sadness and pain within them still haunted me. Her strength and resilience awed me everyday as she forced herself to keep living.

That takes a strength not many people possess, strength that she seemed unaware that she possessed. She was not the lay down and die kind of woman; thank god for that otherwise she wouldn't have survived the doctor or the asylum.

I knew it was unfair of me to push her but I could feel her trying to withdraw not just from myself but those who cared for her… I couldn't let her do that. I wouldn't.

She looked up at me and managed the smallest of smiles. "What?"

"You're amazing," I told her strapping on the last belt.

Roza brushed my hands away and began tightening the straps. "Please don't be a hero tonight," Roza tilted her head back and stared at me. "You're still healing; you shouldn't even be coming in-"

"I'm healed enough to have your back," I cupped her face between my hands and kissed her deeply. I didn't hold back nor did she pull away as her arms wrapped around my neck and deepened the kiss. It was through that kiss that we said all that was left unsaid.

"Don't be a hero." She breathed pressing her forehead to my chest. "Please."

I kissed the top of her head and threaded my hand through her hair. "No matter what happens tonight; remember that I love you… always."

"We're in position." Jace's voice came through the earpiece. "Going in on your count."

Roza straightened and took a step back. "Let's get this over with."

…

Roza and I pressed our backs flat against the wall as Jace and Matthew created a distraction and drew the guards from the warehouse. The plan was to make it look like two drunks getting into a fight. The guards would want to put a stop to the fight before it brought too much attention to the area…The drunks would fight back and they'd call for backup and then Roza and I would slip through the front door and take on the remainder of the guards.

My ribs ached at the thought but I pushed the pain to the back of my mind and sank further into my kill zone. I had three goals; survive the night, kill Alistair, and walk away from this fight forever with Roza by my side.

"Go now." Matthew ordered.

Roza slipped ahead of me around the corner and through the front door. It'd happened so quickly that I'd almost missed it. I cursed and slipped around the corner and into the doorway just as a guard moved to come up behind Roza as she fought two guards at once.

Despite the injuries still healing the woman's moves were flawless… Every kick, punch, and swipe of her dagger aimed true. One moment two guards were on her and the next one was dying at her feet clutching his throat and the other had a dagger buried in his eye.

I stepped into place behind the stunned guard and snapped his neck while he gaped at the dark beauty before him…He was horrified. I was oddly turned on by the display and as she turned to me with a split lip and her eyes blazing black with the adrenaline of her kill.

I resisted the urge to throw her against the wall and kiss her… It was this side of her that sang to the darkest parts of myself. She was my equal; the other half of my soul as corny as that shit sounded.

Roza moved further into the warehouse and we split up to do a sweep of the first floor to check for the remaining guards. Alistair was on the 3rd floor of the warehouse but we'd need to find stairs leading up and we'd need to kill the guards we crossed to avoid alerting Alistair.

I rounded the corner and was pinned against the wall with a knife at my throat. My hand shot out and I grabbed the tiny wrist barely stopping it before it managed to slit my throat… "Roza stop." I ordered meeting her gaze and finding them void of emotion. "Roza- It's me." I whispered still holding her wrist and struggling to hold her back from slitting my throat.

She'd gone too far into herself that she couldn't hear me. I weighed my options and decided the risk was worth it. I moved quickly and twisted her wrist earning a knee to the gut for my troubles before I spun her around and pinned her face first to the wall.

"Let me go!" She snapped and bucked against me. "I'll kill you."

I covered her mouth and pressed my body to hers praying there weren't any guards remaining on this floor. I hissed and cursed in Russian as she bit my hand and refused to let go. I let go of her wrist and grabbed a fistful of her hair ripping her head back.

"If you want to act like a bitch, I'll treat you like a bitch." I growled in her ear listening as her breathing increased and she stilled in my grasp. "Come back to me, Roza, whatever happened- wherever you just went, come back to me."

"Let me go." I kissed her throat knowing what she meant.

"I can't." I whispered. "I can't ever let you go."

"Why?"

"Because you're all I have left," I breathed in her ear. "If I let you go then it's all for nothing."

"We don't have time for this," Roza whispers quietly pressing her forehead to the cement wall. "You can let me go; I'm okay now."

Reluctantly I released her and took a step back. "Did you find the stairs?"

She gestured down the hall where a guard laid dead. "Yes."

"Are you hurt?" I asked turning my attention back to her and running my gaze over her. "You're bleeding?"

"It's not my blood." She pushed passed me and stepped over the dead guard without a second glance down at him. "Are you coming?"

"Right behind you."

"Something doesn't feel right." Roza whispered after finding me halfway into my sweep of the floor. "There are no guards on this floor."

"None?" I asked earning an annoyed eye roll. "That doesn't sound like your Uncle."

"No, it doesn't…" She trailed off coming to a stop in front of a storage room door.

"Is that-"

"Blood." I finished spotting the blood from beneath the door. "Open it when I say," I ordered withdrawing my gun and pocket torch as a precaution. "Now." Roza swung open the door and piled up were the missing guards. I looked at Roza and lowered the gun. "They're dead."

She stepped out from behind the door and knelt beside the closest body as I shined my torch over them. "Alistair wouldn't kill his own men… And if he did, he certainly wouldn't clean up after himself."

"I don't like this," I pulled her out the storage room and shut the door. "We need to find your father."

"The staircase is on the other side of the building;" Roza whispered her eyes still glued to the storage door. "Comrade," She turned to me with tears in her eyes. "Do you think my father did this?"

I wouldn't have put anything past the bastard, but this seemed unlikely. "Your father wouldn't have taken the time to hide the bodies. Abe is a smart man; he'd know his best bet at surviving would be to escape and live to fight another day."

I reached out taking her hand and leading her down the hall. The temptation to throw her over my shoulder and run increased with every step closer to the third floor. Roza wasn't going to leave without her father.

We reached the top the stairs and came to a stop at the door. It was slightly ajar and there was a ceiling light swinging back and forth… I grabbed Roza and pushed her behind me ignoring her protests as I pushed the door open with my foot and held my gun up with my free hand.

Swinging from the ceiling was Alistair; his arms hung limply at his sides and his head drooped forward. I hissed as his body turned through the swing and saw the two butcher hooks piercing through his back.

"Stop." A weak voice called from across the room. "The floor is booby-trapped. If you step on it the whole building will go up."

"Dad!" I caught Roza before she could push past me. "What are you doing?"

"Roza, stop!" I ordered. "Listen to what your father is saying."

"There is a bomb," Abe continued still hidden from sight. "Get out of here."

"I'm not leaving without you!" Roza called out her eyes frantically searching the room. "Where are you?"

"So stubborn." Abe grunted.

"Just like her mother," Came Alistair's choked response.

A bitter laugh from Abe. "You just won't die, will you?"

"I refuse to die while you can still breath." This time they both laughed though it was weak and bitter. "Come niece; join us."

My grip tightened on Roza, but she glared at me at me. "I'm going to get my father out of here… You can either help me or get out of my way?"

I released her and watched as she picked her way across the floor. I followed in her path ignoring Alistair's remarks as we picked our way through the professionally laid wires to where Abe sat leaning against the wall.

"I wish you hadn't come." Abe's head rolled back as Roza knelt beside him. "This is all my fault."

"Dad?" Aaliyah reached for him. "Can you stand?"

Abe opened his eyes and looked at his daughter. "It's too late for me…" He lifted his bloody hand from his stomach and brushed Roza's hair back. "You're everything that I dreamed you'd be and more… I'm sorry for that."

"Stop it," Roza cried. "Get up."

"Roza," I knelt next to her. "He isn't going to make it."

Her head shot up and she glared at me. "You don't know that."

I looked at the wound on his stomach and the blood surrounding him. "Even if we could get him out of the building… He'd be dead before we could get him to a hospital."

"No."

"Rose, sweetheart, listen to the Russian." Abe struggled to sit himself up and I helped him into a more comfortable position. I moved to stand but he gripped my arm with a strength a dying man shouldn't have had, his eyes met mine and I saw death and acceptance within them. "Promise me you'll take care of her."

"Dad-"

"Promise me, Son." Abe's grip tightened. "Swear that no matter what, you'll be there for her if she needs you."

"I swear," I promised him and squeezed his hand. Abe turned to his daughter and she knelt forward to wrap her arms around him. He whispered into her ear and her shoulders shook as she whispered back something in Arabic and stood up withdrawing her gun. "No." My hand shot out and I took the gun from her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm ending his suffering." She cried and lifted her head to look at me. "He's my father… I have to do this."

"No." I whispered dropping my gaze to the dying man watching us. "You son of a bitch… You can't expect her to do this."

"Give me the gun, Dimitri." Roza reached for it but I moved it out of her reach. My eyes never leaving Abe's as he smiled up at me as if he'd won something. "I'm his daughter."

"Haven't you taken enough from her?" I snapped at him. "First her childhood, then her innocence, and let's not forget the last seven months of her life! I won't let her do this," I looked at Roza seeing the tears in her eyes. "I won't let you do this."

"Then give me the gun and I'll do it myself."

I shook my head and raised the gun staring into his eyes as I spoke to Roza. "Don't watch this." She moved in closer and for a moment I thought she'd try to stop me. Instead she wrapped her arms around me from behind and buried her face into my back.

"Just do it."

"Look after my girl." Those were Abe's last words before I pulled the trigger and watched his body slump against the wall. Roza's arms tightened and I covered her arm with my hand.

"It's time to go-" The sound of an explosion followed by the entire building shaking cut me off and Roza and I were thrown to the floor. I caught myself barely as a second explosion hit and fire exploded through the door.

"Comrade!" Roza screamed. "Get up!" I managed to get to my feet and take her hand… I looked at Alistair who hung from the ceiling laughing as stared at Abe's limp body. "We have to get out of here!"

"Get out of there now!" Jace and Matthew screamed into the mic.

"The window." I handed her the gun and pulled out my own as we both took arm at the windows closest to us over looking the lake. The glass shattered almost immediately and we took off running and leaped from the third floor as a third and final explosion filled the air and levelled the warehouse.

Those few seconds that Roza and I were frozen mid-flight our eyes met and both seemed to ask. 'This is how it ends?' We fell and the impact of hitting the lake forced us apart and our screams were drowned out by the cracking of ice, or bone, as the freezing water filled our lungs and drowned out the world.

I fought to get to her, but it was as if I was paralysed. I couldn't move, I couldn't see, my arms felt weightless and heavy all at once and I was sinking deeper and deeper into the black abyss of the lake. I struggled to reach the surface, to reach her, but I could do nothing and in my mind I watched as she let herself go and was pulled further and further away from me.

As in life, in death she too was just out of my reach.

Five Year Later

I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of the ocean, listening to the sound of waves crashing against the shore as the music began to play. A smile tugged on my lips as I thought about the last five years. I didn't believe in fairytales or happy endings, at least not the kind you're familiar with.

Our love story though, while epic, is far from being a fairytale. It's been dark, traumatic, and full of drama with moments of really EPIC sex. Oh god; the sex. I wish that I could tell you that the last five years have been easy, that after the loss of Roza's entire family we were able to bounce back and live happily ever after... But that'd be bullshit and unrealistic. I don't know who was the bigger train-wreck; myself or Roza. I don't know how she managed to hold it together for as long as she did; the moment we were able to stop and breathe I fell apart.

We spent three months pretending to be 'okay' and trying to help 'fix' each other when we could barely fix ourselves. I survived on a combination of vodka and pills. It was exhausting and towards the end I became resentful and angry... Neither of us was okay, and that was okay.

It's okay, not to be okay.

The end hadn't been messy... But with five little words it was all over.

I can't do this anymore.

Roza and I went our seperate ways... I quit drinking and I sought help through therapy and returned to work.

Roza vanished and started a new life, a normal life, with a new job and a new love with Mr. Swat's It's Face and his chocolate labrador... And for a while we both got what we needed in order to recover from the trauma but the funny thing about fate is that she has a way of bringing two people back together but that's a story for the next book... We're skipping to the end to wrap this story up.

I turned at the sound of the flower girls giggling, and smiled as I watched Marie Darling Ozera tossing rose petals onto the aisle. She was adorable, with her jade coloured eyes and jet black hair. She wore a flowing pink dress, identical to that of her mothers whom walked behind her cradling her infant son. Though I lost all train of thought as Roza came into view wearing a strapless white dress, her shoulder length hair curled and hanging around her face.

"Hi." She whispered once she'd reached the end of the aisle where I stood.

"Hi." I whispered offering her my hand. "You look beautiful."

She smiled looking me up and down. "You don't look half bad either, Comrade."

"I'm so glad you approve." I smirked trying to resist the urge to pull her in for a kiss. "Are you ready to get married?"

"I'm ready," She grinned squeezing my hand. "I can't believe it took us this long,"

"Neither can I." Chris popped up between us grinning ear to ear. "If you two are done making eyes; what's say we get this started? The people have waited long enough for a happy ending."

I winked at my bride. "I'm all about the happy ending,"