Betrothed (currently being edited)

Chapter 9-The Ring (just revised)

As they pulled into a very full parking lot at Romanov's, and before they got out of the car Dimitri turned to her and asked "Are you nervous?" 

She shook her head replying "No.  Should I be?" Grinning at her, he said most certainly not. 

Nickolai Marco, or Marco as they call him, was Dimitri's bodyguard and trusted friend and driver, held the door for them and then went to park the car.

Carina's parents and two best friends in the world, Sveltlana Ivanov and Anastasia Bogrov, or Lana and Ana for short, had set this whole thing up along with her cohort at the restaurant, Clarissa Reddy. 

When they walked in there were probably about 120 people there; only a select few were given invitations to this gathering.  Don Leo Costas and his sons were the first to greet them.

"My dear you look stunning" the old man said kissing her cheek.  Dimitri received a hug from the man and a stern warning about not breaking her heart and taking care of her, etc. 

Carina looked over at Dimitri, his upper lip twitching at the older man's warning and he knew things were done differently in America and he knew the place from which this sage advice was given, which he accepted with graciousness. 

Adriano and Alessio Costas shook Dimitri's hand and Carina got very brotherly hugs from them both as they made their way through to the back room.

Both of them received lots of hugs, warm greetings and congratulations as they passed and then she saw her dad and mom, looking at them so proudly. 

Releasing her arm from Dimitri's, she went straight for them.  "My dear you are absolutely gorgeous" her mom said.

She looked pretty amazing as well.  She was wearing a deep purple cocktail dress that went below her knees and comfortable heels. 

Her silver hair was coiffed to beauty; she was positively glowing. 

My dad waited patiently for his turn; "Carina, dorogaya, you are beautiful child" that and a hug was all she got but if you knew her dad, the fewer words spoken meant there was a lot of affection and feeling behind it; being from the old country men didn't show their feelings much and especially in the form of words.

Carina kissed and hugged him and told him he was the most handsome man in the room. 

He chuckled looking up as Dimitri joined them saying "You say that now Carina Mia, but I know now that your heart belongs to another.  Dimitri, my son, take care of her" he said gruffly clearing his throat trying not show his emotion.

He got a simple nod and exchanged glances with her father and it was known only to them and was between only them. 

They finished up with her parents as her betrothed led her to another part of the room. 

"Car, I don't know if you remember them or not but these are my parents...Anatoly and Natasha Yershov". 

She could see where Di gets his devastatingly good looks from.  His mother is a very beautiful woman, even in her 60's and it Carina even more curious about Di's father.

She grabbed Carina, hugged her, kissing her on both cheeks and said "Carina my love, you get more beautiful every time I see you.  Welcome to the family dorogaya!" 

Carina hugged her back, emotions threatening to run down her face but she managed to keep it together; then Anatoly grabbed her and hugged her saying "Child, you may call me papa and welcome to our family." 

Carina kissed and hugged him as well as Dimitri led her to their table, pulling out her chair and kissing her cheek.

Dimitri could tell that she was riding high on emotions and leaned over and asked her if she was alright. 

"Ahren (angel) are you alright?" 

Carina leaned over and kissed him on his cheek and said "Don't worry about the tears, they are from happiness."  He smiled at her, that smile that took her breath away.

Her thoughts were all over the place as she tried to piece together the last ten years. 

In retrospect it seems to have flown by and other times she thought this day would never get here.  Her father clinking his glass with his knife drove her back to reality.

"Thank you everyone for coming tonight.  To be honest this is a day Nadia and I never expected that we would have but God had everything planned out for us when he led us to the most beautiful child in the world.

He knew what we needed and He gave it to us in the form of a precocious, intelligent and intriguing little girl. 

Carina, my daughter, 22 years ago you became a part of our family, blood and otherwise.  You learned our ways quickly and our language too. 

Do you remember when I was teaching you Russian and I went to say something in English and you corrected me very quickly saying 'Net papa!  Tol'ko na Russkom (No daddy!  Only in Russian)!"

Everyone laughed as he continued.  "And when you got into high school we received a phone call from your alternative language teacher saying that you didn't need to take Russian because you spoke it better than she did!" 

This brought out a raucous laugh from the group.  "But seriously though, I could go on all night about my Carina, my dorogaya, but this isn't my night. 

It belongs to my daughter and future son-in-law.  I wish you peace, love, happiness, health and long life."

Carina stood up and went to her father embracing him and silently sobbing into his neck at his words of love. 

The place was quiet except for a few sniffles.  "Now, now my dear" her father said taking her face in his hands "Don't cry away all of your makeup!" 

The two of them laughed and so did everyone else bringing levity to the room.

They both sat back down as Dimitri stood up.  "Thank you all for coming tonight; a special thank you to the people who prepared all of this, the thought and love that went into it is very appreciated. 

I would like to thank my parents for coming all of this way.  I didn't tell anyone because we were still finalizing a few things back home and weren't sure until the last minute. 

Boris, what you said about Carina was very moving and I can absolutely picture everything you said.  I began corresponding with Carina when she was about 15 years old and even though I was 22 at the time I looked forward to her letters. 

She could have sent emails but she took the time to hand write letters; she's mature way beyond her years and I guess I found that comforting somehow and when we would talk she always wanted to talk about me...so selfless in that regard. 

I had to drag out of her sometimes what was going on with her.  I had already grown attached to her, if that makes any sense. 

I didn't have to physically see her to know how beautiful she was inside and out but when I walked in here last night and saw her for myself I felt like the air had left my body and all I kept asking myself was how did I get so lucky" he stopped for a moment letting his words sink in.

He turned to Carina as she wiped under her eyes for the millionth time and held out his hand to her, motioning her to stand up. 

"Carina, on your 21st birthday I purchased something for you, to give you on this day, but looking at it now it pales in comparison to you.

When I went looking I tried to keep in mind the things I knew about you, what you liked and to be honest I looked forever and was about to give up when I found a small out-of-the-way place and was drawn to it. 

I described you, your personality, the things I loved about you and by some miracle the proprietor came up with this..." he said opening a black velvet box.

Inside was the most opulent ring she had ever laid eyes on.  It was a platinum setting, the band had diamonds all the way around it, trilliant diamonds on the side surrounded by smaller diamonds, a large oval stone in the middle surrounded by diamonds and then those were surrounded by smaller diamonds. 

She gasped as he slid the ring on her finger and then lifted her hand to his mouth gently kissing it.  Everyone held their breath, waiting for her answer.