“Forget everything you think you know about our family,” I say.
“Katerina, no,” Tristan says. “You can’t tell him. You don’t even know if you can trust him.”
I turn to look at him. “Tristan, he’s my brother. I trust him with my life.”
“Dimitri is your brother too and he’s working with your dad,” he says.
“Somebody tell me what’s going on,” Alik says.
“Let’s get out of here,” Tristan suggests. “This place is too public.”
“Fine, but Kat is riding with me,” Alik says, looking at Tristan. “I don’t know what is going on, but if you’ve got my little sister wrapped up in something dangerous, I will kill you.”
“Anger runs in the family,” Tristan says, looking at me. “Must be a Russian thing.”
“You have no idea,” I say, half-smiling.
This is absolutely crazy.
Why does bad stuff always happen to me?
We are a team.
“Let me get this straight,” Alik says, looking only at me. I think he’d rather forget the fact that Tristan Thomas even exists. “Our dad is a billionaire terrorist. Our mom is secretly working for the United States government in order to bring down Dad. Dimitri has joined a terrorist group. And you have decided to help bring Dad down by working with this guy.”
This guy.
Alik won’t even mention Tristan’s name.
“I promise that once you get to know him, you will like him. He’s my bodyguard,” I say. “He’s saved my life more than once. And he’s been training me. I can fight now.”
Alik smirks. “I bet you still can’t take me on, little sis.”
“I don’t know,” I say, shrugging. “Maybe I can. He’s been teaching me how to use my small size against somebody larger.”
“I hope that’s all he’s been teaching you how to do,” Alik says, now looking at Tristan.
“Tristan isn’t like that,” I say, feeling the need to defend Tristan. “He’s a good guy. You should give him a chance.”
Alik doesn’t look happy. “Kat, I can never say no to you. I’ll give him a chance, but if I find out he’s done anything to…”
“You won’t,” I say. “Because Tristan is a gentleman.”
“Fine,” he says.
“I need to find your mom,” Tristan says to me. “I’m worried. I need to get back to campus and find out where the email was sent from. I’ll see if it really was her or your dad.”
“I don’t think Dad would hurt her,” I say, thinking about how he defended me when he came to America. He killed Kazimir for me. “Dad loves her.”
“You feel that way after everything you’ve seen?” Tristan asks. “Your dad killed somebody.”
“But he did it to protect me,” I say.
“He did it because Kazimir went rogue. It was just convenient that he happened to be here,” Tristan says. “Your father cannot be trusted.”
“I’m not saying I trust him,” I say. “I’m just saying I don’t think he would kill my mum. They’ve been married twenty three years. They’ve been through a lot together. I know that he wouldn’t do it.”
“Let’s just find her,” Alik says, before Tristan can respond. “I don’t agree with you, but in the off chance that you are right and my father has done something to her, I want to know so I can save her.”
“We,” I say, bumping him with my elbow. “We’re a team, Alik.”
“No. You are my little sister and you are going to stay out of this. As far away as humanly possible,” Alik says, looking at Tristan. “Come on, man. If you care anything about my little sister, you would know that if this is all true, it’s dangerous. I don’t want her involved.”
Tristan looks at me. “He’s right.”
“No way,” I say, putting my foot down hard on the floor. “I’ve trained for this. Now suddenly my big brother is here and you don’t need me anymore?”
“I never wanted to use you in the first place,” Tristan says. “You’re so small.”
“Who cares?” I ask, saying it a little loudly. “I’m the same girl who knocked you on the ground a couple weeks ago.”
Alik grins at me. “You did that?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling very proud of myself.
“Kat, I don’t care how strong you think you are now,” Alik says. “I’m not letting you get involved any—.”
Before he can finish his statement, I swiftly move my leg under his feet, knocking him to the ground.
“Ouch,” he says, looking up at me.
“I am helping,” I say to him. “You would let Dimitri and Eduard help, therefore you not getting rid of me. It doesn’t matter that I’m a girl.”
“Fine,” Alik says, getting off the ground. “But you’re sticking with me.”
“No,” Tristan says. “I’ve had years of training. This is my job. She is my job. I will protect her.”
“She’s my sister. I’ve protected her for almost seventeen years now and I will continue to do so.”
“I was here protecting her when—.”
“Enough!” I yell. “I will protect myself.”
“No,” Tristan and Alik say at the same time.
Alik looks at me and starts speaking Russian. “Do you really trust this guy? You barely know him.”
“Yes, I trust him,” I say. “You should too. I promise that he is a good guy.”
“And you’re sure you don’t feel that way because you’re in love with him?” he asks.
I blush, knowing that Tristan can understand every word we are saying. “I never said I loved him.”
“You didn’t have to,” he says. “You’re my little sister. I know you.”
“Let’s go back to campus,” I say, switching back to English. I’m so over having embarrassing conversations in front of Tristan. “We can find mum and get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay,” Alik says. “But you’re still riding with me.”
“Yeah, okay.”
You might have a shot.
Alik, Tristan and I are sitting in Tristan’s dorm room. He’s got his laptop in front of him, trying to see where the email from my mum was sent from. I check my own email to see if I have one from her, but I don’t.
“It was sent from London,” Tristan says, looking at his computer. “I’m going to try and get ahold of her and see what’s going on. I’m going to Damon’s room. One of his bodyguards has this phone that’s completely untraceable, even by me. Better safe than sorry. I don’t want your dad knowing I’ve contacted her.”
“Okay,” I say.
I take a seat by Alik on the bed while Tristan walks out into the hallway.
“Just so you know, Tristan speaks Russian,” I tell Alik. “So that whole conversation we had earlier, he understood.”
“Huh,” Alik says, looking impressed.
“You basically just told him that you think I’m in love with him,” I say.
“You haven’t told him?” he asks, looking confused.
“No. I haven’t. We’re not really dating. He just told you that to protect me. He wasn’t sure why you were there,” I tell him. “He’s twenty one. And he’s my bodyguard. And I’m only sixteen.”
“So what,” he says. “Age doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, but it does to him. We can’t be together. He won’t be with me.”
“He likes you,” Alik says. “Maybe even loves you.”
“It doesn’t matter though,” I say. “There are things a lot more important to worry about than a high school romance. I’ve seen you and Dimitri date enough girls in high school to know that it wouldn’t last anyway.”
“Hey, you’re not us,” Alik says. “You’re… different. And I know you. You don’t fall in love easily. If you love him, then he must be a pretty great guy. And he’s not in high school. He’s older, which is perfect for you. You act a lot older than you are.”
“You think?” I ask.
“Yea
h,” he answers. “And it doesn’t matter what else is going on in life. You should always do something that makes you happy. Tristan makes you happy. Date him. Love him. If you want to, marry the guy. I just want to see you happy.”
“Thanks, Alik.”
The door opens up, and Tristan walks in… followed by Damon and two of his bodyguards.
Damon hasn’t talked to me all week. Not since I broke up with him. Not that I expected him to. I was just hoping that him and I could be friends. Damon is a good guy and I really hate to lose our friendship.
Alik looks between Damon and me and grins. He bumps his elbow against mine.
“You little player,” he says, low enough that only I can hear.
“Shut up,” I say, but can’t stop the smile from forming.
Maybe I deserved that. I always make fun of Alik for having a new girlfriend every week, and here I am doing the same thing.
But it’s really not my fault. I didn’t think I had a shot with Tristan. And I really did like Damon. I still do. Just maybe not in the way that a girl should when it comes to a member of the opposite sex.
Damon walks over to me.
Tristan and Damon’s two bodyguards go stand around his desk, looking at something on his computer.
“Hey,” he says, not looking me in the eyes. He still looks hurt, and I feel bad that I’m the one who hurt him.
“Hey. This is my brother, Alik,” I tell him. “Alik, this is Damon. He’s my friend.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” Damon clarifies, looking at Alik. Then he looks at me. “Wow, you two look nothing alike.”
“She looks like our mum,” Alik says. “And I look like our father. She definitely got the good genes.” He looks at me. “Just think of all the girls I could date if I had your pretty blue eyes. I’d be a regular heart breaker.”
“Like you need anymore girlfriends,” I say, rolling my eyes. I look at Damon. “He has a different girlfriend every week.”
“Must run in the family,” Damon says.
Ouch.
“Did my sister break your heart?” Alik asks.
“You could say that,” he says. “She broke up with me because she didn’t want to be photographed. I’m the president’s son, which she knew. So people take pictures of me when I go out in public. I understood why she didn’t want that. But then two days later, she made out with another guy in the school hallway.”
“Made out?” Alik asks, then looks at me. “No. My little sister can not already be at the making out stage. I’m not even sure I’m ready for you to hold hands with a guy yet.”
“Are you kidding? Eduard told me you made out with a girl when you were, like, eleven,” I say.
Alik grins. “When we were in London for the summer. Christine Smith. She was an American visiting London for the first time and she was older. She was thirteen, and she was so hot.”
“I’m sixteen,” I remind him.
“Wow. You two are just alike,” Damon says.
“You shouldn’t take it personally,” Alik says. “My sister likes you. It’s just she loves him. I’m sorry, but you can’t always help how you feel.”
“Love?” Damon asks, then frowns. “I really don’t have a shot, do I?”
Tristan stands up and walks over to us. “I am going to London. Alik, can you stay here and watch Katerina?”
“Of course,” Alik says.
“What do you mean you’re going to London?” I ask.
“I mean, my plane is leaving in three hours,” Tristan answers, pulling out a duffle bag. He starts filling it with clothes. “I’ve got to pack and get going.”
“I’m going with you,” I say.
“No. You’re not,” Tristan says. “You are staying here and doing your school thing. I’m going to set Alik up as a student. I sent the email to Dean Bello explaining the situation. Alik, you’re now a junior at New Hope Academy. Congratulations.”
“I am not going back to high school,” Alik says.
“Girls here will love your accent,” Tristan says.
Alik grins. “You convinced me. I think I could handle a redo of high school.”
“No, no. Just no. It won’t work. Savannah knows how old Alik is. I’ve told her,” I say.
“Alik isn’t going to be your brother,” Tristan says. “Alik is your best friend from back home. He missed you, so here he is. He happens to have the same name as your brother because Alik is a common name in Russia.”
He’s right. It is. “He’s not going to pass for a seventeen year old, Tristan,” I say.
“And I do?” he asks.
“Not exactly,” I say.
“But nobody has ever questioned. And they won’t. They’ll just think Alik is a… really buff seventeen year old,” Tristan says, zipping up his bag. “Katerina, I have to do this. I can’t get ahold of your mum. I got an address in London that I am going to check out. I have to make sure she is okay. She is the reason I started this mission.”
“Fine,” I say. “Just be careful.”
“Always,” he says. He kisses me on the cheek and then walks out of his dorm leaving me there with my brother, my ex-boyfriend, and two bodyguards.
I think I am in over my head.
“I think you might have a shot,” Alik says to Damon. “Tristan is going to be gone a few days.”
I stand up. “You guys suck.”
I walk out the door, and Alik follows me.
Will I never have a normal life?
SEVEN
I’ll get over you. Eventually.
Tristan landed safely in London.
At least, that is what one of Damon’s bodyguards told me.
I’m not allowed to talk to Tristan while he’s in London, just in case. We won’t know anything until he comes back to America, and I’m not even sure when that will be. It could be a few days or a few weeks.
That Saturday night, there is a party on the soccer field. Alik wants to go, therefore, I am forced to go with him. The absolute last thing I want is to be around people right now.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” I tell him, as we walk towards the party. I tried to get Savannah to come with us, but she said something about a Halo match with Madox and Kaiden.
“Cheer up,” Alik says. “You’re in high school. You have no idea how hard it gets after you graduate. This is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I get to repeat my junior year.”
“Only until Tristan comes back,” I say. Which will hopefully be soon.
“Well, until he comes back, I want to enjoy every second,” he says. “Maybe I’ll find a hot girl to make out with.”
I roll my eyes as I walk behind him towards the field. “You can’t make out with somebody. You’re supposed to be watching me. You’re my bodyguard, remember?”
“Right,” he says, like he really did forget.
Oh, my gosh.
I am going to die.
Alik is the worst bodyguard ever.
“Maybe you’ll find a hot guy to make out with,” he says.
“Alik, you’re my brother. Saying things like that is completely inappropriate.”
“Not tonight,” he says. “I am not Alik, your big brother. I’m Alik, your best friend from Russia, who happens to be very single, and really into brunettes. Especially the American kind.”
“Wait, didn’t you just get on to me yesterday for dating an American?” I ask. “You sounded appalled by the idea.”
“Yeah, that’s because you are my baby sister. I know how American guys are,” he says. “I’ve watched TV.”
“For one, they’re not like they are on TV.” They’re worse. Much worse. “And second, guys in Russia are just as bad.”
“Yeah, but guys in Russia live in the same country as I do. If you fall in love with some American and decide to move here, I’ll be lucky to see you every other year at Christmas,” he says. “I want you to stay close.”
“Me too,” I say, thinking I would like to live clo
se to my family. “Maybe you can move to America. You know I have a dual citizenship now. I bet Tristan can get you one.”
“Maybe,” he says, then turns to me with a huge smile on his face. “Or maybe you and Tristan can move to Russia. He already speaks the language.”
“Why would Tristan want to move to Russia?” I ask.
“Because that guy has clearly got some mad feelings for you,” he answers.
“Ugh, let’s not talk about this,” I say, as we walk onto the soccer field. A very annoying American song is pouring out of the speakers and there is a bon fire lit in the middle of the soccer field.
How is the school okay with teenagers lighting fires?
That’s when I see my English teacher pouring lighter fluid onto the fire, making the flames jump higher.
All right, then. I’ve officially seen it all.
I see people around us watch Alik and me as we walk. They’re whispering to each other.
“What’s this about?” Alik asks.
“They all probably think we’re together. You know, cause I was photographed going out with Tristan and Damon the same night,” I say.
He grins way too big. “You are awesome, little sis. I’ve taken four different girls out in the same day, but two is not bad for your first time.”
I smack his arm. “Excuse me, but it wasn’t like that!”
“You sound American,” he says.
“I think they’re starting to rub off on me,” I say.
“It’s not a bad thing,” he says. “All right, so who do I need to beat up first to get them to stop talking about you?”
“No… Don’t…”
But Alik doesn’t listen. He just runs towards a booth at the edge of the field.
What the heck?
The music stops and there is a squeal that goes through the speakers. I cover my ears and see that most people are doing the same.
“All right you guys, listen up. I’m Alik. My best friend is Katerina Vasin. If you morons say one word bad about her, I will get revenge by cutting out your tongue and then forcing you to swallow it.”
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
The music starts again and Alik walks out of the booth, moving towards me. Everybody on the field is looking back and forth between Alik and me.
Fame (New Hope Academy Book 3) Page 5
