Not today, West. I refuse to give in to your little mind games.
“It’s Friday night, West. Don’t you and Alek try to pick up chicks or something?” Kal asks.
Alek snorts. “Kal, you usually come with us.”
Kal doesn’t deny it. He just drapes an arm around me. “Why pick up a stranger when there is a hot girl in our condo?”
I push his arm off. “You should go with them. I guarantee your chances of making out with me if you stay home tonight are exactly zero percent.”
West and Alek both laugh. Kal’s face turns red.
“I didn’t say it because—” Kal lets out a frustrated breath. “I like hanging out with Roxy. It has nothing do with physical stuff.”
“Sure, it doesn’t.” West pats him on the back. “Just remember the rules—nobody is allowed to date her.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m standing right here.”
But they ignore me.
“Whatever.” Kal storms toward his room, but stops before entering. He can’t disturb Ian right now, so he heads out to the balcony instead.
I turn to West. “You’re a jerk.”
West just shrugs, like he doesn’t care.
He can pretend all he wants, but I know he cares about his teammates. He thinks of them like brothers. But he does hate me.
I wish I could walk away. The team would be so much better without me, but I can’t. I’m too selfish. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything. So, I stay.
Later that night, Kal ends up going out with West and Alek. And even though a pit of jealousy grows in my stomach at the thought of Kal picking up chicks, I know it’s for the best. We’re just teammates. And nothing should get in the way of that, especially not romance.
At least, that is what I tell myself.
Sunday, October 22
Don’t let it go to your head.
September quickly fades to October and now it’s nearly November, though you couldn’t tell by the Florida heat. The trees are green, the air is still warm and humid, and it’s still hot enough to swim—and I’ve been doing a lot of swimming.
I’ve been working hard. Every morning, I do five miles before the guys even wake up, and then I run with them. My legs have finally gotten used to the extra miles and they’re getting stronger.
Aside from the extra running, I’ve also been doing an hour training session with Alek every afternoon. He is incredible, and even after training for almost a month, I still can’t beat him. I can hold my own against him a little better. Instead of being tossed onto my back fifty times in an hour, now it’s only twenty times. I’m trying to take that as a victory, but I still feel so weak.
Just once, I’d like to beat Alek during our training session. Just once, I’d like to knock him on the floor and see how he likes it.
Someday, I tell myself.
As soon as our normal two-hour training session is over, our trainer leaves and the rest of guys file out of the room. Ian practically runs back to his computer, where he has spent every waking moment for the past month. I’ve barely even seen him, other than in training. Kal and West don’t say a word as they leave. They don’t even give Alek and me dirty looks as they leave, like they used to. Maybe they’re getting used to us staying.
The rest of the guys have made it very clear that they don’t like Alek training me. They want me gone. They want me to mess up so they have a reason to boot me. But I’m too stubborn for that. I am going to be the best agent I can be. To do that, I need to be in The Royals. Not even their sour attitudes and haughty looks can scare me away.
Alek gets into position, neither of us saying a word.
During these sessions, Alek never talks to me. Well, that’s not exactly true. He does yell at me. He orders me around. He calls me names. But we never have a conversation. A few weeks ago, I tried to talk about the hurricane that was coming in, and he asked, ‘do you want to train or talk about the weather?’ I don’t get why we can’t do both.
The hurricane wasn’t that bad—only a cat 3. And West still made us run in the hurricane, though we got to run inside that day. It was kind of cool to watch the hurricane blow by from the windows as we trained. It didn’t hit us head on, it made landfall at a town about an hour north of here, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as was predicted.
Still, that night it was hard to sleep as I listened to the wind howling between the huge condos, making a whistling sound. I swear I could almost feel the building swaying, though it was probably just my imagination. After getting up to go to the bathroom about five times, West yelled at me, then something weird happened. He got up from the couch, went to my room, and grabbed my pillow and blanket off the bed. He told me to sleep on the other side of the sectional. It was weird, but also comforting. I was able to go to sleep after that, even as the wind howled and the thunder shook the sky, I felt safe with West. We haven’t spoken a word about it since, but I think about it often.
I’m beginning to think that maybe West doesn’t hate me as much as he lets on. Maybe I am starting to grow on him. But then he will glare at me while we’re eating breakfast simply for breathing too loud. I honestly can’t figure out if he wants to murder me or befriend me.
Alek isn’t much better. Even though we don’t talk during our training sessions, I see the smoldering looks he gives me. And sometimes I swear I can feel his eyes on me when we’re running in the mornings. Neither of us say a word about it. And I won’t say anything. I’m too scared to. What would happen if I did acknowledge the attraction between us?
Instead, I keep my mouth shut, and I train as hard as I can. I train until my arms and legs shake. I push until I can’t push anymore. And somehow, after a month of this, I’ve been able to hold my own for longer. It’s progress, even if it’s not happening as fast as I would like it to.
Even now, as Alek and I face off against one another, I don’t crack. He swings and I block. He kicks and I avoid. I even manage to get a swing in, but he swats my hand away easily, like he’s swatting away a fly—but still! I got in a hit! Which is super rare and has only happened three other times since we started training.
I hear the door to the training room open and close, but I keep my focus on Alek. It’s probably just another Spy School agent coming in to use the exercise equipment. We are not the only Spy School agents in this condo and a lot of them come and go often. We’re definitely the youngest, and we’re the only ones in training for The Royals.
That’s how it works—only one team trains at a time. Sometime in the spring, when Michael Sinclair deems us good enough, we will leave here and he will bring another team in to train. The Royals are very important to Spy School, even if most don’t know they exist.
Alek does a double punch at me, which usually gets me, but not today. He seems surprised that I block both hits.
“Wow,” a voice says off to the side.
Alek drops his hands, turning. “West, what are you doing here?”
I turn to see West standing there. I remain quiet—he’s obviously not here for me. But he wouldn’t interrupt our training session if it weren’t important. West might not approve of our training together, but he also doesn’t disapprove of it.
“Ian hacked into the Saudi prince’s computer,” West says. “He needs us.” Alek and I both start to walk toward the door, but West puts a hand out to stop us. “Alek, you run ahead. I want to talk to Princess for a minute.”
Alek looks between West and me for a moment. I can tell Alek wants to object. He wants to stay, probably to protect me from West, but it’s not like he can do anything. He has to follow West’s order. After a moment, he turns and leaves West and me alone in the training room.
West looks at me with an eyebrow raised. “It’s curious how Alek nearly defied me to protect you.”
“No, he didn’t,” I deny, pushing a piece of hair that has fallen from my bun behind my ear. “Alek would never defy you.”
“No, he wouldn’t. But he wanted to.”
West studies me. “You did really good, by the way. Against Alek, that is. He’s a hard opponent to hold your own against. I am impressed.”
I chew on my lip to try and hide my grin, but I have a feeling West knows. “Thanks.”
“You’re good, but don’t let it go to your head. You still have a long way to go,” he clarifies.
Of course.
He would never want to ever truly compliment me. It’s always push and pull with him. He’s the only person I know who can tell me I’m smart and stupid all in the same sentence, but that’s just West. I’ve learned to deal with it.
“You’re just training during these sessions, right?” West asks.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean...” he lowers his voice. “You guys aren’t just using the room to make out, right?”
Is that what he thinks?
My face grows warm and I can literally feel my blood pressure rising.
“You just told me I was getting better. Do you really think I’d be getting better if Alek and I weren’t training?” I clench my fist tightly. My hand shakes because I want to swing it at West’s face so bad. It physically hurts to not punch him. “You might think that I am here to ruin your team, but I’m not. I’m trying to become somebody you and the rest of the guys can be proud of. I’m not going to mess things up by making out with one of my teammates.”
I want to say that Alek doesn’t like me like that anyway, but we’d both know it was a lie. Even I can’t deny that I’m attracted to the Russian. But I won’t admit it out loud. My attraction to my teammates will be my own dirty little secret, and I plan on keeping it that way.
“I’ve offended you,” West observes.
“No crap.” I huff. “West, I’m not making out with anybody on our team, but if that changes, I’m sure you’ll be the first person I tell.”
He rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Princess. I don’t care. Just don’t mess up my team.”
I wasn’t planning on it.
West turns and walks from the gym. I don’t have a choice but to follow him.
Still, I wonder—how much trouble would I be in if I punched him in the face?
Daddy’s favorite.
I am fuming as I walk toward the condo. West is hot on my trail which only fuels my anger.
Why does he have to act this way with me? Why does he hate me so much? I want to say it’s because of what happened with Kal in Santorini, but his problems with me started long before we ever went to Greece. It is something else, I just can’t figure it out.
I glance over my shoulder at him. His eyebrows are scrunched together and he’s got a scowl on his face. I roll my eyes, turning forward again.
There is no denying that I do make him angry. I’m just not sure what it is about me that makes him so furious, other than the fact that I exist. He does keep bringing up that he thinks I will screw up his team, but how could I do that? West isn’t the only one who hates me. In fact, everybody on the team, except for Kal, hates me. So, how could I possibly mess anything up?
If we weren’t on our way back to the condo because Ian asked us to come back, I would stop and demand answers from West. But our case, what we’ve been working on since Santorini, that is what is important. Saudi Arabia is on the brink of war with whomever they feel like blaming that particular day, and we have to stop it. There will be time to confront West later. For now… my job comes first.
I walk into the condo and consider letting the screen door shut in his face, but I’m not that rude, so I hold it open so he can grab it. I don’t acknowledge him as I walk farther inside.
Ian is sitting with his laptop at the dining room table. Kal and Alek sit next to him, looking bored, but they jump up from their seats when West and I walk in.
Ian glares at me before looking at his computer.
“I don’t know if the Saudi King will be happy with what I’ve found out, but the assassin that killed the Saudi Prince was hired by the king’s older son,” Ian tells us. “The oldest, and the one who is in line for the throne had him killed.”
His son ordered the hit?
“The eldest Saudi Prince was born days before his younger brother. The younger one was supposed to be born first, but other’s mom went into labor early, meaning the throne was going to be his, despite the fact that the younger one was born from the Saudi King’s favorite wife.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Favorite wife?”
“He has a lot of wives,” Ian explains. “Anyway… the oldest son was paranoid that his dad was going to put out a hit on him so his favorite son could take the throne, so he hired an assassin.”
“Seriously?” West asks. “That’s it?”
Ian nods. “Pretty much.”
West sighs, shaking his head. “He had his brother killed because he was daddy’s favorite. That’s just the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He’s not wrong.
I can’t believe a war was about to start over family drama.
“I’m going to call Michael Sinclair and tell him the news.” West turns and walks out of the condo, probably to find a quiet place to make the call.
Kal sits down in the chair closest to Ian. “I suppose that means you can rest now?”
Ian shrugs. “I might check out his computer a little bit more and make sure I’m not missing anything. I like to be thorough.”
That doesn’t surprise me. Ian is slightly obsessive, even I can see that. He wouldn’t have even eaten this past month if the guys hadn’t been forcing him to. When Ian gets in the zone, he kind of forgets literally everything else. It’s probably why Michael Sinclair had to tell him to sleep—because he probably wouldn’t sleep if he wasn’t forced to.
“I’m going to shower.” Alek stands up from the table, looking at me. “Our training session was pretty much over anyway.”
“It’s fine.”
I sit down at the table while Alek goes to take his shower. I’ll shower whenever he’s done.
As soon as I sit down at the table, Ian huffs, getting up. He grabs his computer and storms into his room.
I try not to be upset by how he acts with me, but he hates me. I just don’t know what I did to anger him so much. I wish I knew so I could apologize. I want us to get along—I want to get along with all the guys. But Ian especially. He’s the nice one. I should be able to have a conversation with the guy. But no, he can’t stand to even be in the same room as me.
Kal scoots to a chair closer to me. “He’ll come around.”
Maybe.
Or maybe West is right and I am going to screw up their team. I’ve already made their lives miserable by being in their space and getting Kal shot.
No matter what I do, I will never be good enough for these guys.
Kal grabs my hands on the table.
I look up at him. “Be careful. West will yell at you for being nice to me.”
“I can handle West,” Kal promises. “Just don’t let them get you down, okay? I see the progress you’ve made. The hard work you’re putting in is working. West and the rest of the guys see it, too. Just keep working hard and they’ll come around. It’s really hard not to like you.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “I just feel like things will never change. I’ve been here two and a half months and everybody still treats me like I’m a pariah.”
“Like I said, it’s hard to dislike you, Roxy. But they are trying so hard to not like you. Eventually they won’t be able to pretend anymore,” he says. “And I like having you on the team. Everybody might think that they’re crankier with you here, but they’re not. This is the happiest I’ve seen them in a long time.”
I snort. “They must’ve been really miserable before I came then.”
Because now, they are super miserable. They don’t like being in the same room as me. They only talk to me if it’s to criticize me. It’s not quite as bad as it is at home with my parents, but it’s almost as bad.
“You are changing things.” Kal looks at me, his
head cocked to the side. “I don’t know yet how you’re changing them, but you are. And that scares the rest of them. It scares me a little bit, too, but this team needs to change.”
“Did you vote for me?” I blurt out the question that I’ve been dying to know.
Certainly, it was Kal, right? He’s the only one who is nice to me.
He shakes his head. “No. But I wish that I had.”
Kal looks away from me, and I’m left wondering who voted for me. If it wasn’t Kal, then who could it have been?
The door to their bedroom opens up and Alek walks out. “You can shower now, Roxy.”
“Thanks.”
I get up from the chair and head to the bathroom, the whole time I’m wondering which one of these guys put my name in for consideration. I feel like I’m back at square one again. Because the rest of the guys hate me.
More to the story.
When I am done with my shower, I’m surprised to see that Ian is sitting on the couch with his laptop. He tenses a little when I step out of the bathroom, but I try to ignore that. At least he’s not hiding in his room anymore, trying to avoid seeing me.
I try to be as quiet as I can as I walk into the living room, not wanting to annoy Ian any further.
Normally, I wouldn’t care that somebody doesn’t like me. I would be noisy on purpose just to get under their skin. But it’s different with Ian. I want him to like me. I need him to. With West and Alek, it’s different. They push me and I push them back—it’s what is going to make them inevitably like me one day. With Ian, I have to take my time and slowly let him get used to me. He was getting used to me, before Santorini, but then he iced me out even more than before. And he isn’t letting me back in at all.
I sit on the couch and grab my laptop from the coffee table. Everybody has the same computer, except for Ian. He has some weird brand that I’ve never heard of. But my computer has a sticker with a pink unicorn on it. The guys always make fun of it, but I don’t care.
The Unwanted Spy Page 11
