I Never Told You I Love You - Complete

Chapter 39 - Fast and Quiet

Dimitri looked mortified and disentangled Tasha from him as quickly as possible, placing her on the ground.

"Sorry!" she giggled, "I've just been so excited about seeing you! I'm so glad you're here – I only just arrived myself!"

Rose glared at Dimitri giving him a 'well now you know why I was so upset' look.

Tasha turned to Vika then spotted Rose standing beside her. "Rose? What are you doing here?" she asked, clearly stunned to see her.

"I'm here with Dimitri. We visit his family every weekend."

"Sorry? I meant what are you doing in Russia!?"

"Didn't Christian tell you? Dimitri and I are at St. Basil's for a couple of months. Together."

Rose could see Tasha working through what she had said.

"So you're studying there, and he's teaching?"

"Yeah. He's teaching me lots," Rose laughed. "It's a long story, and we'll tell you inside. It's too cold out here." Turning to face Dimitri, who was standing to one side waiting for a Hathaway explosion to occur, Rose continued sweetly "Comrade? Can you take our bags up to our room? I'll get started on some hot chocolates." Without a backward glance, Rose walked up the pathway leaving an ominous silence in her wake. "Hi, guys! We're home!" she called out as she walked through into the house.

Olena and Karolina were in the living room, oblivious to what had happened outside. Rose went and greeted each with a kiss, smiling and tickling little Zoya's feet where she sat in her bouncer, then moving to the kitchen to start some hot chocolates. Following her towards the kitchen, Tasha was still looking very surprised. Vika had followed in their wake - she didn't want to miss a moment of this.

"Rose? What do you mean that you and Dimka are here together?"

Before Rose had a chance to reply, Dimitri appeared at the foot of the stairs. He must have thrown the bags in their room and raced back down.

"Tasha? You remember at Christmas I told you that I was in love with someone?" Dimitri started, discreetly not mentioning Tasha's friends with benefits offer. "Well, it's Rose. We're in love. We tried to ignore it and just be friends, but we couldn't fight it."

"So you're together? Lovers?" Tasha asked, clearly needing it to be spelled out.

"Yes. We're lovers and so very happy together," Dimitri said, stepping into the kitchen and wrapping his arm around Rose from behind. "They know about us at St. Basil's and are ok with it, as long as we're private about it in class."

A look of anger flashed across Tasha's face but was quickly replaced with a fixed smile. "Well that's wonderful – I'm really happy for you both," Tasha said insincerely, looking away as Rose tilted her head up to gently kiss her man.

Dimitri gave a huge smile. "Thanks, Tasha. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you before. What with coming to Russia, and then all the combat training, we've been busy."

Yeva chose that moment to come out of her bedroom. She walked over giving Dimitri a fond hug and a kiss, before turning to Rose and doing the same. Ever since the Abe luncheon, Yeva had been particularly loving towards Rose – much to the consternation of Viktoria, Karolina, and Sonya!

"Hmmm – you're back," she grunted in an unhappy voice towards where Viktoria and Tasha stood on the threshold of the kitchen. Both chose to believe Yeva was addressing the other.

"Who's for a hot chocolate?" Rose asked sweetly, the milk now heated. She deftly made the required number, putting the mugs on a tray and bringing them out to the living room. Dimitri picked one up and sat in the corner of one of the sofas, holding his arm out for Rose to sit tucked in against him.