Natalia’s POV

Waking up to an empty bed wasn’t something that I enjoyed. I loved the feeling of a warm body next to mine as I woke from a night of deep and restful sleep. I had grown used to the feeling of warm arms around my waist and warm breath against my neck. One of my favourite memories of being with Dexter these last few months were the unplanned quiet mornings in bed, warm and comforting arms wrapped around me as the world seemed to disappear.  

Rolling over and stretching my arm out, I noticed that I was in fact, waking to an empty bed. We had arrived at this room yesterday afternoon, and after our very emotional talk, we had fallen asleep. I was so glad that Dexter had forgiven me, and it felt like today was the first day of the rest of our lives together.

Groaning, I searched the room with my half open, sleepy eyes to find Dexter’s form but came up short.

‘Dex?’ I called out softly, but received no answer.

I gave up the comfort of the soft sheets in favour of getting out of the bed to find him. Walking out of the bedroom I entered the main room where I finally found him. Reading the paper at the small table, a coffee in his hand.

‘You left the room?’ I questioned, looking at the Starbucks cup in his hand.

‘Yeah, got us some bagels and coffees,’ he smiled, putting down the paper and handing me a coffee.

‘I said don’t leave the room,’ I told him, but my voice wasn’t blameful or angry, just slightly amused.

‘I was careful,’ he smiled, and I sat on the seat next to him.

‘So,’ he turned to me, ‘What are we going to do Natalia?’

He had only called me Natalia since yesterday afternoon, and I had to repress a smile every time my name flew rhythmically out of his mouth.

‘Dominika, my friend, and I have got it covered. We have contacts at the airport, who have secured a private plane for us.’

‘We are leaving the city?’ he asked, taking a sip of coffee.

‘We are leaving the country,’ He choked on his drink and my eyes widened as I watched him cough a few times before finally breathing normally again.

‘The country?’

‘It’s the only way to make sure that my father doesn’t find us, we have to start fresh in another country,’ His expression was hard to read and I felt fear slowly rising in my chest. ‘Are you having second thoughts about going with me?’

He looked shocked for a second, ‘No, no, nothing like that Natalia, I would follow you to the ends of the earth, I just, I am a police officer. It’s what I have always done, and the thought of leaving my job behind, it’s just sad.’

‘I get that,’ I said, linking our hands.

‘I always believed, from when I was a kid, that cops were amazing. They were the good guys, the ones who saved people and always did what was right, but now I am not that naive. I know that the police force is corrupt and as much as I want to fix that, I would rather spend my life with you than attempting to fix a broken system that doesn’t want to be fixed.’

‘You really don’t mind giving up your career for me?’

‘The police force isn’t what it used to be, and even if I went back there, your father or your brother or any one of Cherkesov’s men would find me and I would be killed anyway. I would much rather explore the world with the woman I love’ he squeezed my hand and the fear I had been harbouring vanished instantly. 

‘You could always get another job wherever we end up?’

‘Maybe, as long as I am with you, I don’t need anything else,’ He said honestly, a small smile on his lips.

‘I feel exactly the same way,’ I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, causing his smile to widen.

‘I have to make a call,’ I told him, pulling away gently.

‘Ok,’ Dexter pressed a kiss to our linked hands before letting mine go, picking up the paper again.

It took a few minutes for me to find my burn phone, but once I did I noticed that I had a few missed calls from my friend.

She answered after the first ring, ‘Natalia?! What happened are you alright?’

‘I am fine, Dexter and I are just fine.’

‘Good,’ she sighed, relief evident in her voice.

‘What about Oleg, how is he?’

‘Taking it hard, but he is working on destroying the evidence that Molly has against him and everyone else.’

‘Good,’ I said.

‘Erik called me today, wanting to know if I had seen you and if I had I was supposed to call him or your Papa right away. They are looking hard for you, whether it is to kill you or just out of worry I have no clue.’

‘Well, they won’t ever find me, or Dexter,’ I told her determinedly.

‘Speaking of that, what are we going to do about you and Dexter, which plan?’

I didn’t speak at first. We had many plans set out for this situation, but there was one which I knew needed to be done, no matter how drastic it seemed to be.

‘Implement Plan G.’  

I heard her gasp lightly, ‘G? Are you sure Natalia?’

‘Yes.’

‘If you leave the country, there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever be able to return. You know the consequences to this plan.’  

‘This is the only option Dominika, I-I wish I could stay here, but there’s no other choice.’

She didn’t speak for a few moments, and when she did I could tell that she was holding back tears, ‘I will miss you Kitten.'

‘I will miss you too Nika.'

‘Enough with the sappy stuff, we can do that tomorrow. I will have everything set up for you, I’ll call the pilot right now and the, well you know. Do you have the money and bank information?’

‘I do,’ I told her, looking at the black bag sitting in the corner of the room.

‘Good, I will see you soon to give you the documents you’ll need to get into the country, can we meet at my place in three hours? By then I should have the exact time for you to leave for the airport.’

‘Thank-you, See you then Nika.’

I hung up the phone turning to look at Dexter.  

‘Problem?’

‘No problem,’ I told him, coming over to him and sitting on his lap.

The paper he was reading was quickly forgotten in favour of his hands being placed on my back as he gently brought his mouth to mine, pulling me into a toe-curling kiss.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

(This next part is in third person, so I hope that it isn’t too confusing, it just felt like the rest of the chapter would make more sense in third person, but the next chapter – epilogue – will be back in first person)

Nicolai Cherkesov was not the sort of man who people double crossed and lived to tell the tale. One time he caught one of his own men stealing money off of him, nothing too big, but if you let one person walk all over you then you might as well invite the rest of the world to do the same, so Nicolai put a bullet between his eyes. It didn’t matter that he was a father or that he had been working for Nicolai for well over ten years, what mattered was the fact that Nicolai believed in respect. Everyone had to respect Nicolai, even his own blood.

The thought of his own daughter, his own flesh and blood, betraying him caused an anger to rise up in him like a monster and he would stop at nothing to see the man who caused his daughter to do such things in pain, in some serious pain. He refused to see the hypocrisy in his logic, he had lied to his daughter, but that was different, he decided.   

His daughter, he concluded, wasn’t cut out for this life. His plan was to find her and get her back, get back the girl who listened to her father’s words with interest and respect, not the idiotic woman who thought that she was able to make her own choices. Nicolai Cherkesov made the choices here, no-one else.

That was why he was in his office, on the phone to his contacts, trying to figure out where on earth his daughter was. Erik and Leo were in their offices, both of them also trying to figure out where the two had run off to.

Nicolai wasn’t going to stop, wasn’t going to let anyone stop, until his daughter was back under his control and Dexter Wyatt was no longer breathing.

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As Dominika ran through the busy lobby she turned a few heads, most people wondering what the woman was doing. She ignored the curious looks and the shameful glances of those around her as she ran, the sound of heels hitting the tiles following her. The girl realised that she must look like a mess, tears streaming down her face, her hair falling out of its ponytail and her short black dress swirling around her legs as she made her way towards the elevator.

She passed the receptionist, Alina, as she did, and the woman gave her a curious glance, opening her mouth to ask why she was in such a rush. However, before she could speak to her, Dominika had reached the elevator, shoving her hand between the closing doors which opened at her action.

There was a woman in the elevator, a young girl with blonde hair and thick glasses who cast Dominika a worried glance as she stood beside her.

‘A-Are you alright?’ The woman asked and Dominika nodded.

The blonde woman made a face that suggested she knew Dominika was lying, but the other woman didn’t say anything else, just wiped at her eyes as she pressed the button which would lead her to the top floor.

Stepping out of the elevator, Dominika ran to Erik’s office, not stopping even when she ran into a man, who scowled at her before bending down to pick up the files she had caused him to drop or when several people asked if she was alright or if she needed help.

‘Erik!’ she got his attention as she entered his office. The man had been at his desk with a phone in his hand when she walked in. He spoke quickly into the phone before hanging up.

‘Dominika? What’s wrong!?’ he questioned, standing up from his desk with worry covering his features.

The worry he showed her made Dominika want to punch him, the fact that he showed that much emotion towards her, yet was willing to kill his own sister angered her deep in her core. This wasn’t the time for Dominika to show those emotions, not yet, not until Erik new what he had caused.

‘Come with me,’ She said quickly, turning on her heels and running out into the bullpen, where she found Leo, walking and talking with an older man.

‘Dominika?’ Leo recognised her, taking a step away from the man and one towards Dominika, ‘Why are you crying? What’s wrong?’

Dominika felt the hot tears running down her face but didn’t try to stop them, instead she ignored Leo and Erik who were both asking questions filled with worry and fear and took the few remaining steps towards Nicolai’s office.

Walking into the room she noticed Nicolai, sitting at his desk with a phone pressed tightly against his ear. The second that he saw her and his sons in the doorway he put the phone down, confusion radiating off him.

‘Wha-‘ he started but Dominika quickly walked over to his desk, picking up the remote and turning on the television which was suspending from the wall.

‘What have you done?’ she asked quietly, tears falling from her eyes.

All eyes turned towards the screen as a woman with dark hair and brightly coloured clothes was talking. The woman spoke confidently, with a grave undertone to her voice.

‘-have reported that the plane suffered from mechanical errors. It was recorded that the pilot contacted the ground, stating that the plane was suffering an engine failure and decreasing in elevation at a rapid pace. It was reported that at 3.35pm, which was just under an hour ago, the private plane, carrying one pilot, one flight attendant and two passengers crashed into an abandoned field, the pilot being the only survivor. False papers, firearms as well as copious amounts of cash were found on the plane which has led police to believe that the passengers of the plane were leaving the country illegally and are possibly involved in illegal activities. The police released this statement just moments ago’

The scene changed to a field, where the burning remains of a plane took centre stage. The shot then panned over to a police officer who was speaking before a small group of people.

‘What is this about Dominika?’ Nicolai asked, getting up from his desk and walking over to the woman and his sons.

‘Who were the passengers?’ Leo asked, fear evident in his tone.

Erik stayed silent and so did Dominika, both their attentions focussed on the screen.

‘We have a team of investigators which will be working this scene until we have conclusive details of what exactly caused this tragedy today. However, we have spoken to the man who Piloted the plane, and he has claimed mechanical failure was the cause for this accident which occurred only ten minutes after take-off. The flight attendant has been identified and her family is being notified at this moment.’

‘Who were the passengers?’ the question came from the crowd.

‘Records show that the couple was attempting to leave the country illegally and appear to be moving illegal firearms overseas, therefore their names will not be released to the public until further investigation has been made into this situation. We will reveal that the passengers were a female in her early twenties and a male in his late twenties. That is all for now.’

Dominika turned off the television before turning towards Nicolai.

‘That was them! That was your daughter! She’s dead!’ The woman screamed at Nicolai, tears rolling down her face.

‘Natalia? Natalia was on that plane?’ Erik asked.

‘No’ Leo shook his head, ‘She-She can’t be d-dead’.

‘Dexter and Natalia were leaving! They were getting away because if they didn’t you’ she pushed an accusatory finger into Nicolai’s chest, ‘were going to have them killed!’

‘I did not cause that plane to crash’ was all Nicolai said as he shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Dominika felt anger rise up in her chest at his attitude towards the death of his own child. It was as if he didn’t really care, like it was some business arrangement that went sour, unfortunate but not the end of the world.

‘She wouldn’t have been on that plane if it wasn’t for you!’

‘Yes,’ he said in this thick accent, ‘but it seems that God has done my dirty work for me, for once.’

Shocked, Dominika slapped him. Hard.

Anger flared up in Nicolai’s face, but he made no move to retaliate.

‘How do you know that was her?’ Erik asked, his hand on Dominika’s arm.

‘I watched her get on that plane! I know it was them.’

‘So you were a part of this? I should have known’ Nicolai scowled, ‘Your future looks a lot like managing that Café now. I was stupid to think I could trust you with anything more than making drinks.’

Dominika scowled at the man, ‘What was I supposed to do? Let them die?’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter now does it? They are dead’ Nicolai said strongly.

‘Natalia shouldn’t have done what she did,’ Erik told her, ‘and she never would have died if she had listened to me. She got too close and it seems that you did too Dominika.’

Dominika shook out of his grasp, ‘She would have been alive if it weren’t for you three! I was just protecting my friend!’ She screamed at them.

‘Leo, get her out of here before she says something else she will regret,’ Nicolai instructed, going back to his desk as if nothing had happened. As if the death of his own child didn’t faze him in the slightest.

‘Come on Dominika, let me take you home,’ Leo grasped her arm gently and the woman turned, pressing her body against his and crying into his chest.

‘Shhh it’s ok,’ Leo, rubbed a hand up and down her back as she continued to cry against his chest.  

‘No it’s not ok, our sisters dead,’ Erik said, his eyes hard, but rimmed with unshed tears as he stormed past them. He said the words low enough that only Dominika and Leo would be able to hear them and Dominika knew why. The tough guy act was for his father’s benefit, and to know that his sister was actually dead was weighing heavily on Erik’s heart.

He deserves a lifetime of sorrow, him and his father. Dominika thought. 

‘Get her out of here, I have work to do,’ Nicolai said, his voice harsh and demanding.

Leo ushered Dominika down to the lobby and out onto the streets of Chicago. The tears which had filled Dominika’s eyes were gone now, her unkempt appearance the only proof of her emotional outburst.

Leo hailed her a cap, and opened the door for her.

‘Natalia and Dexter, they are ok right? That plane crash was a trick, right? To get Papa off their backs?’

Solemnly, Dominika shook her head, ‘I wish it was.’

The woman then got into the cab, leaving Leo to ponder the reality of the situation. His sister was dead and Dominika had lost the only real friend she had ever known.

If Dominika had of looked back as the cab drove off she would have seen the tears that fell silently down Leo's pale cheeks. She would have seen the heartbreak which had overcome him. She would have seen a broken man who had just lost the only person he truly cared for.

She didn't look back.