Without a word, I take a seat. I can breathe a little better now that two of my bodyguards are gone. I just want some privacy. Unfortunately, privacy isn’t a luxury I can afford. Having people follow me around 24/7 is much better than being locked in a basement.
“How are you doing with all this?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
I went from having a completely normal life in Russia to have an insane life in America. I’m not handling it very well.
Plus, I don’t know how to handle the feelings I have for Tristan. I’ve seen the girls Alik and Dimitri have broken up with. I always said I would never be that girl. But here I am, heart broken over a guy who was never my boyfriend. He kissed me one time. Once. And he even warned me that he’s never had a girlfriend. Why would I think I’d be the exception?
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“Sorry about what?” I ask, not looking at him. I really don’t need him to break up with me. I get it. I do. He only thought he was in love with me. Now that he realizes he’s not, he wants to make a clean break. It’s been that it’s happening now than a few months down the road.
He doesn’t answer my question. “Do you want to hear about my family?”
I turn to him, feeling shocked. He never talks about his family. It’s one of those taboo subjects. I desperately want to hear about them. What made Tristan the person he is today? So closed off an obsessed with his job.
“My mom and dad had the same job as I do,” he says. “Growing up, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I only got to know little details about their job, but I knew it was all top secret. My siblings and I used to always pretend we were spies and would solve a fake crime together.”
I try to imagine a younger Tristan running around playing with his siblings, but I can’t. He sounds like he was happy back then. Now, there isn’t much that makes him happy. I used to think I made him happy, but not anymore.
“When I was a freshman, I got accepted into a boarding school in Switzerland. All my older siblings went there, so I was excited,” he says. “Basically, the school trains kids. It’s top secret, but we learn different languages, we learn how to fight, how to hack computers and anything else they deem useful.”
“A spy school for kids?” I ask. “That’s so cool.”
“I thought so,” he says. “They don’t just train spies though. People that graduate from there always go on to do awesome things. Some join the military, some the CIA, some become assassins. There is a lot you can do with the training.”
Assassins? That’s scary.
Spy school doesn’t sound so awesome anymore.
“My mom and dad had been working on a case for a few years. They were taking down a Russian terrorist group,” he says. “The group your dad formed. And they were close. Really, really close. While I was away at school, the group found my parents and two of my siblings. They were murdered.”
I want to say something, but I’m not sure what to say. My dad is basically the reason his parents are dead. And I know he changed. He’s working for the good guys now. But he’s working to clean up a mess that he made.
“My other siblings all got as far away from this as possible. But I wanted to finish what they started,” he says. “They told me as long as I have this job, they don’t want anything to do with me. I can’t blame them. Some of them have kids of their own. And we’ve lost so much already. They don’t want to lose more.”
“So you lost all of your family,” I say.
He nods.
“I’m sorry, Tristan.”
“My parents knew the risk,” he says. “And so do I. I have given up everything to take down this organization.”
“Which means that you definitely aren’t going to let some random sixteen year old girl get in the way,” I say. “Especially not considering it’s my dad’s fault your parents and siblings are dead.”
“It’s not your fault,” Tristan says. “It’s not even your dad’s fault. If it wouldn’t have been this group, it would’ve been another. My parents knew the risk to them and to their kids. They took the risk, because their job was important. The world is a safer place because of what they did.”
Still…
“And you’re not just a random sixteen year old girl. Not to me. Not anymore,” he says.
I want to ask him what he means by that, but I’m scared that it won’t mean what I want it to. I can’t get my hopes up when it comes to him. This is the one guy on the planet that could shatter my heart.
“I know that I should keep my distance from you and that we should definitely wait until your seventeenth birthday to make this official, but I don’t want to wait,” he says. “Because I hate not talking to you. And even though you’ve been right there the past couple days, I miss you. I can tell you miss me too.”
I do miss him.
More than anything.
“You’re a distraction. I can’t stop thinking about you,” he says, now looking me directly in the eye. I feel like he’s gazing into my soul and seeing the inner most parts of me. The good and the bad. But it doesn’t matter, because he likes everything he sees. “And I thought keeping my distance would be better. That I could keep you safer. But it doesn’t matter how far away you are. I’m always thinking about you. Always. And I don’t know how to handle this. I’ve never felt like this before.”
Me either.
But I don’t say it out loud, because I don’t want to ruin this moment. I want him to keep talking. No, I need him to keep talking. This is the most honest he’s ever been with me. I have to know how he feels.
“My job—taking down this group—it has always been the most important thing in my life. Until you,” he says. “Now, I would give it all up for you. But the thing is, you’re in danger. I have to finish this. It’s no longer about getting revenge for my family. It’s about protecting you.”
My heart beats hard. Because I realize now that Tristan feels the same way about me as I do about him. It’s not one sided. He hasn’t changed his mind. If anything, he has fell more in love with me. Which equally excites and frightens me.
“I want to finish this assignment for you. And then I want to be with you. Not as Tristan Thomas. But as the real me. Tristan Copeland. I want to do this properly. I want to meet your family and I want you to meet mine. I want to take you out on dates and do all the other romantic stuff that I’ll have to Google, because I don’t know the first thing about romance.”
I giggle.
It’s so girly, but I don’t care. This moment is making me feel girly. I’ve never had somebody say what he’s saying to me. It’s what I’ve been waiting a long time to hear.
“I want you to be my girlfriend, Katerina,” he says.
“I want that as well,” I say.
He smiles. “So does that mean you’re my girlfriend?”
“I suppose it does.”
Going through all of this—terrorist chasing me, having bodyguards follow my every move, getting kidnapped—it is all worth it. Because without it, I wouldn’t have met Tristan.
If anybody is worth getting kidnapped for, it’s Tristan.
FIVE
Halloween.
It’s Halloween.
In Russia, Halloween isn’t really acknowledged by many. But in America, I guess everybody dresses up in costumes for the occasion. It’s weird, but Savannah tells me that they pass out candy during school.
American candy is growing on me, but I still think it’s way too sweet.
“What are you supposed to be?” I ask Savannah.
“Lily,” she says.
I look at her.
“From Tekken,” she says.
What?
“It’s a game,” she explains.
I shrug.
Savannah kind of looks like a character from one of those Japanese anime cartoons.
“You’re hopeless,” she says. “Who are you supposed to be?”
I look down at the normal clothes I
always wear. “Katerina Vasin.”
“Lame. You’re supposed to dress up. It’s Halloween!”
“Americans like to dress up a lot in costumes,” I say. “First spirit week and now Halloween.”
“It’s fun,” she says. “We get to pretend to be somebody else for a day.”
There is a knock on the door. I open it and see Tristan standing on the other side.
“Wow. You actually knocked,” I say, opening the door wider. He also isn’t wearing a costume. I didn’t expect him to.
“You guys are lame,” Savannah says, when she sees him. “And you’re kind of perfect for each other. You can be lame together.”
“Why do you look like a Japanese anime character?” Tristan asks Savannah.
“I’m a character from a game! Geez, you guys need to get out more.” She pauses. “I wonder how many times I’m going to be asked that question today,” she says, walking past us out the door.
I’d say she is probably going to get asked that question a lot.
“Where is your costume?” Tristan asks.
“I don’t do Halloween,” I answer. “What about you?”
“Me either,” he says. “Though, when I was a kid, my parents couldn’t get me to wear anything besides a Spiderman costume. Apparently I used to go around pretending to shoot a web out of my hand all the time. I thought I was a superhero.”
I laugh, wondering what Tristan was like as a kid. I try to imagine him running around in a Spiderman costume.
“I bet you were an awesome Spiderman,” I say.
“Absolutely,” he says, grinning.
“I always just did whatever my brothers wanted to do when I was little,” I tell him.
“I highly doubt that,” Tristan says. “Alik told me you were spoiled. He said you were cute and could get your brothers to do whatever you wanted. You’d just pout or cry and they’d give in to you.”
“That only worked when I was little,” I say.
“I’m pretty sure you could still convince Alik to do anything you want,” he says. “So, what is the deal with your cousin and Salvador? I saw the two of them hanging out yesterday in the student lounge.”
“I introduced them,” I say. “I think she has a crush on him.”
“Huh,” he says.
The door to my dorm room swings open and Alik walks inside.
“He never knocks,” I tell Tristan.
“Like you have privacy anyway,” Alik says.
“You’ve never knocked,” I say, then look at Tristan. “It sucked being the only girl with three older brothers. They always picked on me. Locking my door didn’t work, because they would just pick the lock.”
“Eduard wouldn’t let us pick on you that much,” Alik says.
“That’s why Eduard was my favorite.”
When the words leave my mouth, I realize, for the first time since he died, it doesn’t hurt to talk about him. I miss him, but talking about him helps.
“That hurts, Kat,” Alik says, pretending to be offended. “I thought I was your favorite.”
I laugh.
“Do you have any siblings?” Alik asks Tristan.
“Um… yeah. Two sisters and three brothers,” Tristan answers. “My youngest sister and oldest brother are dead, though. So now I just have three siblings. And the last I heard, my older sister has three kids and my older brother has one kid. And my younger brother is in college, I think.”
“You don’t talk to them?”
“Not anymore.”
“That is sad,” Alik says. “I can’t imagine not talking to Kat or Dimitri. I had a rough time accepting the fact that my parents were sending Kat to America for school. I mean, I knew it was for the best, but I wanted her close. I’m glad I’m in America with her so I can take care of her.”
“Why does everybody think I need taken care of?” I ask.
“Maybe because you’re so short,” Tristan says.
“Or maybe because you were kidnapped,” Alik says.
“Whatever,” I say. “I need caffeine. Let’s go get breakfast.”
Found.
Dean Bello pulls me out of my math class. It happens to be my least favorite class, so I can’t say I’m too disappointed by this fact. All my bodyguards follow me as I walk through the hallway.
I know I was kidnapped, but I think having this many bodyguards is an overkill. I’m not anybody important. Not like Damon is. Nobody even knows who my father is. He’s not a politician. He’s just helping take down a terrorist group. A group that he helped create.
When I follow Dean Bello into the office and see that Tristan and Alik are both sitting inside. I take a seat in a chair between them and Dean Bello takes the seat at the desk across from us.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Is it my mum? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Tristan says.
“Good,” I say, feeling relief wash over me.
“Kat,” Alik says, his voice sounding off. “They found Mum and Elana.”
“That’s good,” I say, but nobody says anything. “It’s good that they found them, right?”
“Mum is fine,” Alik tells me. “But Elana isn’t.”
“Elana… is she dead?” I ask.
“No, but it doesn’t look good,” Alik answers.
“How is Dimitri?” I ask.
“He’s okay. He’s worried about you,” he says. “Since Mum is okay, Dad is coming to America. Mum is going to stay with Dimitri.”
“Good,” I say, thinking Dimitri needs her with him. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now.
“They are doing what they can to save Elana,” Alik tells me. “But they don’t think she can survive the surgery that she needs. They’re going to try and hold it off as long as they can, but they probably won’t be able to.”
Poor Dimitri.
I wish I could be there with him.
“Katerina, if you need to take a few days off from school, I would understand,” Dean Bello tells me. “You have went through so much already, being kidnapped and now this. I’ve already informed your teachers you won’t be coming to class for a little while.”
“Thank you,” I tell her.
“I’m also not going to be going to classes anymore,” Alik says. “I guess I couldn’t pretend to be a high school student forever. I’m staying on campus with you until all this is over, though.”
“So we can tell people you’re my brother?” I ask. “I’m sick of people thinking I’m dating you.”
Dean Bello laughs. “I think I heard that rumor.”
“Do you hear all the rumors?”
“Pretty much,” she says. “I also heard a rumor that you set my daughter up with Salvador Grishin. I don’t know what happened while you were kidnapped in Russia, but what I do know is that you brought that kid back with you and the president of the United States insisted I enroll the kid. Is he safe?”
“He’s fine,” I say. “He helped save Damon and me.”
“He’s Russian,” Dean Bello says.
“So am I,” I say, trying not to be offended by her tone.
“Me too,” Alik says.
“Yeah, but my sister married a Russian man, and he turned out to be a terrorist,” she says.
“My dad is a good guy,” I say, defending him. “Maybe he has a rough past, but he’s working on correcting it. He loves my mum and he’s never treated her bad. He’s been a great dad to us.”
“Our dad loves our mum. A lot,” Alik says. “It’s why I’ve never had a girlfriend. I want a love like they have.”
I grin at Alik’s words.
Who knew he was such a sweet, romantic guy.
“I bet you’ve broken a lot of hearts,” Dean Bello says to Alik, then looks at me. “I want to make sure my daughter doesn’t get her heart broken.”
“She might,” I say. “She’s fifteen. But Salvador really is a good guy. He has had a rough past, but it’s only made him grow up faster. I thought he was older when I first
met him. He doesn’t act like a fifteen year old boy.”
“That’s what I’m scared of,” she says. “But if you think he’s a good boy, I guess I can’t stop it. Jade is a good kid. She doesn’t have any friends in school, so I think having him as a friend will be good for her.”
“I think so too.”
“Why does nobody like her?” Dean Bello asks.
“Honestly, because of you,” I answer. “You’re her mum and you’re also the dean. People are scared she will tell you things to get them in trouble. But they’re just freshman. I think things will get better as they grow up a little. It’s always hard for freshman to make friends. Eduard and Raslan were my only friends then.”
“She looked like an eleven year old until about halfway through being fifteen,” Alik says. “She was so small.”
“I was like Jade,” I tell Dean Bello.
“Your mum and I were the same way,” Dean Bello says.
“I hated it,” I say. “People always thought I was younger than what I was.”
“Dad liked it,” Alik says, laughing. “None of the guys were interested in dating her.”
“Thanks, Alik,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. “Not like I was interested in dating any of those guys anyway.”
“I always wished I would have had a sibling for Jade,” Dean Bello says.
“Why didn’t you?” I ask. “And what about Jade’s dad? I’ve never heard her or you talk about him.”
“Her dad isn’t apart of our life,” she says, her voice now cold. “I’ve got to get back to work now. You three are free to go.”
Huh.
Now I’m curious who Jade’s dad is. But unless Jade wants to know, it’s none of my business.
SIX
Scary.
The next day, Alik goes to pick up Dad from the airport, and we meet him at the Russian restaurant in New Hope. I wanted to go to the airport, but Tristan wouldn’t let me go for safety reasons. He even sent a couple of my bodyguards with Alik, just in case.
When I see Dad and Alik walk into the Russian restaurant, I am relieved to see that they’re safe.
Wish Page 5
