“Daddy!” I run over to him and give him a hug.
“Katerina, it is good to see you,” Dad says, hugging me tightly back. “I was worried about you.”
“Alik is a terrible bodyguard,” I tell him, laughing.
“Hopefully we can put an end to all this so you won’t need a bodyguard anymore.”
“I hope so too,” I hear Tristan say. “I’m tired of pretending to be a high school senior. School was torturous enough the first time around.”
“But then you won’t get to hang out with me,” I say.
“Yeah, I will,” he says, putting an arm around me. “I will always make time for you.”
Dad looks between us. “So this is… a thing?”
“Yep,” Alik answers, letting out an annoyed sigh. “I kind of want to hate him just because he’s dating my sister, but he’s a good guy. I couldn’t have picked somebody better for her if I tried.”
“And he’s going to be sticking around a while?” Dad asks.
“I plan on it,” Tristan says.
I smile at his words.
I like the idea of Tristan “sticking around” for a while.
Dad smiles too. “Wait until you meet Dimitri to make up mind.”
Alik laughs. “Yeah, Dimitri is the oldest. And he was always the most protective of Kat. He will most definitely hate you on principle. But he will grow to like you. Maybe. But only after you’ve been married ten years and have kids.”
Married.
Really?
Ugh… big brothers are so embarrassing.
“Alik, stop embarrassing your sister,” Dad says, then changes the subject. “So, is food good here?”
“It’s totally amazing,” I say.
“You sound American,” Dad says.
“She does,” Alik agrees. “It’s weird. I think your accent has even changed.”
“You still sound very Russian to me,” Tristan says. “You guys can speak Russia if you’re more comfortable. I won’t be able to keep up completely, but I should understand enough to get most of what you’re saying.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
Tristan nods. “It’s fine. I need to practice my Russian anyway.”
We switch to speaking Russian. I miss speaking my native language, and I know my dad is more comfortable speaking Russian. We try to speak slower for Tristan, because I don’t want to leave him out of the conversation.
When Tristan speaks, he sounds really good. I can hear his American accent, which is pretty strong, but if I met him in Russia, I would have no idea that he has only been studying Russian for a few months.
I also like how well he fits in with my family. I know my dad and Alik will probably joke around with him, but I can tell they like him already. Dimitri will like him too. Especially considering all Tristan has done to protect me.
Since I moved to America about three months ago, my life has changed a lot. I’m surprised at how quickly I have adapted to an American lifestyle. The food still isn’t any good, but I have grown attached to the people. I will always be a Russian girl at heart, but I really could see myself living in America one day. And I mean for good, not just for school.
“You really don’t want to go back to Russia with me?” Dad asks, as we’re leaving the restaurant. He’s only staying in America for a couple days, then he’s heading back to Russia.
“No, I like it here,” I tell him.
“I don’t think I would’ve sent you to school here if I knew you were going to fall in love with an American boy,” he says.
“Do you like Tristan?” I ask.
“He’s a good boy,” Dad answers. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s smart. And I can tell he loves you. I just don’t like that America is so far from Russia and I don’t like his choice in job, but I’m glad he’s protecting you. I think the two of you are good together.”
“Thanks,” I tell him.
After that, Tristan and I go back to campus. Dad is going to come on campus and see me before he leaves. I wish I could stay with him, but it’s not really safe for me to right now. Alik is going to be staying with him some though, so at least he won’t be alone.
On the way back to campus, Tristan and I talk.
“Do you think your dad likes me?” he asks.
“Yes, definitely,” I answer. “Well, aside from your job. I don’t think he likes your job. He also doesn’t like that you live in America.”
“Because my job would put you in danger,” he says.
“My dad’s job puts me in danger.”
“Not forever,” Tristan says. “Your dad is working hard to clean up this mess. He’s doing it to protect you and your family. My job would just put you in more danger. Like it did my family. That’s why the rest of my siblings don’t want anything to do with me.”
“I don’t care what the risk is.”
“I do,” he says. “To be honest, I’m kind of tired of what I do. I want to see my nieces and nephews. I want to see my siblings. I bet my oldest niece is probably six years old. I’ve missed so much of her life because I’ve been so obsessed with this.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“After this assignment is over, I’m going to quit my job. I have all this training. I could do something else,” he answers. “My sister sends me pictures of the family every once in a while. They’ve all changed so much since I left after I graduated high school. They’ve grown older. So have I. I’ve wasted so much time being obsessed with this mission. I can’t do it anymore, Katerina.”
“So don’t,” I say.
“After what happened, my family moved away from Tennessee,” Tristan tells me. “I guess they didn’t want to be anywhere near there. I can’t blame them for it. I hate going back there, to see where we used to live. It hurts to know that all those happy memories have been replaced with bad ones.”
“Where do they live now?” I ask.
“Georgia,” he answers. “Somewhere close to Atlanta.”
“Where is Georgia?”
Yeah, yeah. I still don’t know American geography. I don’t have a class on it, so I’ve never taken the time to learn it. I think they take geography classes when they’re younger in American schools.
“It’s the state right by South Carolina,” he answers.
I remember South Carolina. We went to Kaiden’s beach house there on Labor Day weekend.
“So they live close to the ocean?” I ask, thinking it would be nice to live close to the ocean.
“Not exactly,” he answers. “Atlanta is in the middle of Georgia. You have to drive a ways to get to the ocean.”
“Oh,” I say. “That’s too bad. I like the ocean.”
“Yeah. It get’s really hot there in the south during the summer,” Tristan says.
“It gets hot in Russia.”
“But it’s a different kind of heat,” he says. “You just have to experience it. And it hardly ever snows there. Like, if they’re lucky, once a year. But not even that often.”
“Huh,” I say. “That would be sad. I like the snow.”
“Me too,” he says.
“I hope it snows here soon. Besides that one snow earlier in October, it hasn’t snowed any. And that snow didn’t count because it didn’t stick,” I say.
“It probably will snow soon,” he says. “Madox was telling me that last year, it snowed so much that they had to delay people coming back from Christmas break for a week. There was a crazy blizzard or something and nobody could get to the school.”
“That’s awesome,” I say. “Do you think we will get to go home for Christmas? I mean, to Russia. Are you still going?”
“I’m not sure if we will get to go to Russia. I suppose that depends on Rafael and Matthews.”
“I still can’t believe Matthews is Gaidar,” I say. “I always trusted him, you know? The guy slept on my dorm room floor quite a few times. He had so many opportunities to kidnap me. Why did he wait?”
“
I don’t know,” Tristan answers. “I trusted him too. I had no reason not to. For him to pass the security and background checks that they gave him before he became Damon’s bodyguard, well, it’s scary.”
“How is Damon?” I ask.
“He’s good,” he answers. “He’s ready to come back to school. I talked to him yesterday, and he said he’s really bored. He misses you.”
“I miss him too,” I say. “He was a good friend. And we spent a couple days locked in a basement together. I feel like we bonded or something.”
“I guess getting kidnapped will do that.”
“When will he get to come back?” I ask.
“When Rafael and Matthews are caught,” he answers. “We are working on that. We have both countries looking for him. They can’t stay hidden forever. Not with technology today. Nobody can. They’re bound to walk past a security camera at some point. And when they do, we’ve got them.”
Technology is pretty scary.
Especially considering it isn’t just the good guys using that technology. I’m pretty sure the bad guys can use it too. Meaning that Rafael and Matthews can watch my every move. That thought alone will probably keep me up late tonight.
Just tell him.
Later that night, I hang out with Savannah. I’m surprised she’s not hanging out with Kaiden and Madox tonight. She said something about them having game party with just guys in their dorm tonight. She seems really upset about being excluded. I can’t believe they would exclude her.
“It has to be because I’m a better gamer than them. They just don’t want to lose to a girl in front of all the other guys,” Savannah says.
I laugh, because she’s probably right. I don’t know a lot about video games, but after living with three older brothers, I like to think I know about boys. And boys hate losing. Especially if it’s to a girl. Of course, my brothers are so much bigger than me. I hardly ever won.
“So how are things between you and Kaiden?” I ask her.
“They’re fine,” she says. She stops pacing and sits on her twin bed, facing me. “I don’t understand boys. When Kaiden and I hang out alone, things are good. I think that maybe he might like me, you know? But then when we get around Madox, he is completely different.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to make Madox uncomfortable,” I say. “Or maybe he likes things the way they are. You guys are friends. If you dated and then broke up, it would ruin things.”
“Yeah, but he won’t even give us a chance,” she says. “I really like him.”
“Then tell him.”
“Yeah, right,” she says. “I can’t just tell him.”
“Yes, you can,” I say. “It’s simple. Damon practically told me the first night we met that he was in love with me. And you know how I am. I’m outspoken. If I like a guy, I’m going to tell him.”
“Did you tell Tristan that you like him first?” she asks.
“Well, kind of. I kissed him.”
“Oh, right,” she says. “I wish I were that brave.”
“I don’t recommend just walking up to him and kissing him,” I say. “But I do recommend you telling him how you feel.”
“What if he doesn’t feel the same?” she asks.
“Wouldn’t it be better to know so you can move on instead of sitting in here, pinning over him?” I ask.
“I guess. It would hurt if he didn’t feel the same,” she says.
“What if he does? You’ll never know unless you tell him. Besides, getting hurt is part of the process, right? I’m sure Kaiden won’t be your only heartbreak in life. We’re still in high school,” I say. “Who finds their true love in high school?”
“My parents did,” Savannah says.
“Yeah, but that’s, like, the exception,” I say.
“I bet you and Tristan will be together forever.”
“I would like to hope so. I don’t think anybody wants to think the person they’re dating will eventually break their heart.”
“You broke Damon’s heart,” Savannah says.
“I know. I hate that I did,” I say. “I thought that I liked him. I mean, I did like him. But not enough. I liked Tristan more and didn’t even realize it. While I was supposed to be falling in love with Damon, I was falling in love with Tristan.”
“You can’t help what your heart wants,” she says. “Maybe it would be better if I know how he feels. Because if he doesn’t like me, I can find somebody who does, you know? I don’t want to go to prom with Kaiden and Madox. We always go to the dances together. And I always liked it, but I think I’m ready to not go as a group. I want a boyfriend.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” I say.
“Is Tristan your boyfriend now?”
“Yeah,” I answer. “I mean, he’s still my bodyguard. Him protecting me has to come first, so he says.”
“I guess you are his job,” she says.
“He says after this is over, he’s going to quit his job,” I tell her. “Like, he doesn’t want to have a dangerous job anymore because he doesn’t want me to be in danger.”
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Savannah says. “He’s twenty one, so he’s probably thinking about the long term future. Like marriage and all that.”
“I think about that stuff too,” I say. “Sometimes I think I’d like to live in America. But then I think about Dimitri and Alik and my parents. Dimitri is engaged to a Russian girl. I mean, if she lives. But she doesn’t speak English. There is no way they’d want to live in America. Alik might, but what about Dad and Mum? They’d probably want to stay in Russia or move to England. How could I handle living so far from my family? And what about with Dimitri and Elana have kids? I want to be close to my nieces and nephews.”
“Yeah,” she says. “I don’t have to worry about that. I’m an only child. I already told my parents that when I’m older, I’m not living in Chicago. They told me that they would move wherever I go. My dad was raised in the south in a small town. I think they’re both ready to get out of the city. My dad is a cop. And Chicago is kind of dangerous.”
“Chicago is that city that’s really windy, right?” I ask.
She laughs. “Yeah.”
“I really should learn more about American geography.”
“Probably,” she says, then sighs. “And I should probably figure out what to do about Kaiden.”
“I already told you. You think too much. Just tell him how you feel,” I say.
“Easier said.”
SEVEN
Zillion bodyguards.
When I wake up on Wednesday morning, there is snow on the ground. Only about half an inch, but it’s still coming down hard. I look at the weather forecast on my phone and see that we’re supposed to get six inches today. But tomorrow it’s supposed to be in the 40’s, so it’ll melt.
Still, snow!
“Savannah, wake up!”
She mumbles something and turns over.
“It snowed!”
She opens one eye. “Really, Katerina? It’s four in the morning.”
“It’s fifteen till five,” I say. “Seriously, though. There is snow.”
“I have school today,” she says. “And in case you didn’t know, they don’t cancel school for snow here. It’s boarding school. They don’t care if we have ten feet of snow and have to dig a tunnel. They expect us to always be at class.”
“Why would they cancel school for snow?” I ask.
“Well, cause the roads get dangerous,” she answers.
“They don’t care if the roads are dangerous in Russia. They never cancel school for bad weather.”
“Russia is weird,” she says, then puts a pillow over her face. “Now shut up so I can go back to sleep.”
A few seconds later, I hear her snoring.
She is so not a morning person.
I get up and get dressed for my morning run. I wonder if we’re still going to run outside. Tristan and Alik both arrive at my dorm room at exactly five o’clock. Instead of going out t
o the trail, we go to the gym and get on the treadmills.
“I don’t like running on the treadmill,” I say, about a quarter of a mile in.
“You were the one excited about snow,” Alik says.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble.
“This is my last morning with you guys,” he says. “I’m going with Dad to Russia for a little bit. I want to see Dimitri. Elana lived through the night, but things are looking really bad. I need to be there for him.”
“I wish I could go,” I say.
“It’s not safe,” Tristan says. “I’m not even sure it’s safe to be at school. That’s why Damon isn’t here.”
“But I have a zillion bodyguards,” I say, knowing that there are at least five bodyguards close by right now. Though, I still don’t trust bodyguards. Look how Rafael and Matthews turned out. Damon and I were kidnapped by the very people that were supposed to keep him safe.
I trusted Matthews—Gaidar, whoever he is. He always seemed like such a good guy. I still can’t believe he turned out to be so bad.
“Do we know we can trust these bodyguards?” Alik asks.
“Yes,” Tristan answers. “The people I hired went to the same school as me and have worked at the same agency as me. They’re all older than me, but if my boss trusts them, then I trust them.”
“I trust your judgment,” Alik tells him.
I do too. Like, I trust Tristan completely. I’m glad that Alik trusts him too.
“I hope Damon comes back to school soon,” I say. “After we were rescued, I didn’t even get to tell him bye before he was taken away to a safe spot. I spent almost three days locked in a basement with him.”
“I can get him on the phone,” Tristan says. “Your dad is going to come on campus for lunch today. Maybe after, we can call him.”
“Okay,” I say.
“I’ll set up a time.”
Good.
I miss Damon. I know that I hurt him by everything that went down with Tristan, but I didn’t mean to. I think us getting kidnapped together really helped our friendship. Hopefully they will catch Matthews and Rafael soon so he can get back to school.
You with me.
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