Luck (9 page)

“Very safe. He’s not even in the country,” he says. “If we get all this over soon enough, Damon could make it back in time for homecoming dance.”

“That would be nice,” I say, not able to stop the smile.

I want to dress pretty, dance all night with my future boyfriend, and just pretend like everything is normal. That sounds pretty perfect right now.

America is growing on me.

Maybe not so much the food, but the people are.

“I got permission for you to call Damon. If you want to talk to him,” Tristan says, nodding to his phone on the nightstand between our two beds. “You should call him. I think it would make you feel better.”

I get up and grab the phone. “I’m going to talk to him in the bathroom. For privacy.”

“Okay,” he says.

Once I’m in the bathroom, I shut the door and sit on the edge of the tub. I dial Damon’s number. It rings twice before he picks up.

“Please tell me this is Katerina,” he says, answering the phone.

“It is so good to hear your voice,” I tell him, realizing just how much I missed him.

“I miss you, like, ridiculous amounts.”

“Ditto,” I say, using a phrase I heard from Savannah. Maybe my speech is becoming more American-like.

“I want to kiss you,” he tells me.

“Why?” I ask, feeling a little stunned.

He is quiet for a few seconds. I pull the phone away to make sure he’s still there. He is.

“I’m attracted to you, Katerina,” he finally answers. “And, to be honest, I’ve thought about kissing you for a long time now. But I don’t want to push you into something that you’re not ready for.”

“It’s not that,” I say. “I just… haven’t kissed anybody before. And you’re not my boyfriend yet. I just don’t want to kiss somebody who isn’t my boyfriend. At least not the first time. I want it to be special… romantic.”

“Maybe we should be officially boyfriend/ girlfriend,” he says.

“Damon Hartley, I know you did not just ask me to be your girlfriend over the phone,” I say. “You get your butt back to America and ask me in person. Until then, I am going to have to decline.”

“Does that mean that when I see you again, you would say yes?” he asks.

“Maybe.”

“Just do me a favor and don’t fall in love with anybody else while I’m gone,” he says.

“Who says I’m in love with you. I told you I’m falling in like. There is a huge difference between love and like,” I say.

“Still, I’m one step closer,” he says. I can hear his grin when he speaks, making me miss him even more. “I’m hoping by this time Saturday night, I’ll be holding my girlfriend in my arms.”

“If I’m going to date you, you’re going to have to buy me chocolate. And not American chocolate either. Yuck,” I say, remembering the bite I had of Savannah’s candy bar. “I want the good stuff. From Switzerland. Or Germany.”

“Okay,” he says. “That I can do. I’ll also tell you ten times a day how beautiful you are.”

I laugh. “You don’t want me to be arrogant, do you?”

“Of course not,” he says. “But I do want you to be confident and know how much I care about you.”

“Smooth,” I say. “I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

“Only you. I can’t get you out of my head.”

“Should I apologize?” I ask, knowing that Americans like to apologize—for everything.

“No,” he says quickly. “I kind of like you being in my head. I just wish you were here with me now. I miss you so bad that I can hardly stand it.”

“Soon,” I promise.

Because I know something that you don’t.

“Not soon enough,” he says.

Damon and I end up talking on the phone for an hour before we have to get off. I’m exhausted, but I really could’ve talked to him all night long.

I remember all the days Dimitri would wake up looking exhausted, but he would always have a huge smile on his face. Him and Elana spent a lot of late nights on the phone. I never understood how somebody could be worth foregoing sleep. But now I do understand.

Damon is smart, funny and very gorgeous. The best part about it all is that he likes me back—maybe even loves me. It scares me to think about the “love” part. But someday, I could imagine falling in love with him. There are definitely worse people to fall in love with.

I think about Tristan and wonder what kind of boyfriend he would be.

But then I remember he’s never been in a relationship longer than two weeks.

He’s the kind of guy you would fall madly in love with only to have your heart shattered.

I’m glad Damon won’t be breaking my heart any time soon.

SEVEN

Save me.

“Dad,” I say, shocked that he is, in fact, standing in at the door of my hotel room.

I panic slightly, because Tristan is in the shower. I’m also relieved he’s in there. My dad would most definitely get the wrong idea if he saw that I was in a hotel room alone with a boy. Especially an
American
boy.

Of course that is the time that Tristan decides to walk out of the bathroom.

“Showers free,” he says to me.

Then I hear my dad do something he’s never done in front of me before. He cusses at Tristan—in Russian.

He pushes past me towards Tristan and Tristan goes into defensive mode.

“She’s my
daughter
,” he says, mixing English with Russian.

Tristan blocks each punch my dad swings at him.

“I think there is a misunderstanding,” Tristan says. “Umm…
nedorazumeniye
.”

Dad stops swinging punches, but he still looks angry. “
Profolzhat
.”
Continue
, my dad says.

“I didn’t feel safe at school,” I tell my dad. “Tristan is just a friend. We slept in different beds. See.”

He looks over and sees both beds have been slept in.

“I don’t like it,” Dad says, his Russian accent heavy. He looks at Tristan. “And I don’t like you. You look too old for my daughter.”

“Dad, he’s a senior,” I say, not
technically
lying. He is enrolled as a senior at
New Hope Academy
. “Only one grade higher than me. But it doesn’t matter, we are just friends, like I said. And Tristan is a complete gentleman.”

Dad curses again. “He’s American.”

“Dad, stop saying bad words,” I say to him. “You’ll get fined.”

“This is America. You don’t get fines for saying cuss words here,” Dad says to me, then looks at Tristan. “This is why my daughter can’t date American boy. She’s a good kid. But very sheltered. I want to keep that way.”

I forgot how broken my dad’s English can be. It seems like he’d have it down by now, after being married to my mum almost twenty three years. But now that I think about it, he has been gone a lot.

Too much.

“Trust me, I’m the last guy you’d have to worry about your daughter dating,” Tristan says.

Did he have to say it like
that
? Ouch.

“What? You don’t think she’s good enough for you?” Dad asks, looking mad.

“It’s not that. It’s just…” Tristan looks at me for help.

“Dad, enough with the third degree. Tristan is my friend. A good friend,” I say. “Please don’t scare him off.”

“Okay, okay,” Dad says, then looks at Tristan. “She’s my baby girl. My only girl. You treat her good or I kill you.”

Tristan doesn’t laugh or smile. Probably because he knows my dad could follow through on the threat. “I will treat her like I do my own sister.”

Sister?

Tristan has a sister?

There is so much I still have to learn about him.

“So, what is your plan?” I ask. “To catch Kazimir.”

“You…” Dad pauses, as if to search for the right word. “
Primanka
.”

Bait.

He wants me to be bait.

“What does
primanka
mean?” Tristan asks.

“Bait,” I answer.

“Not happening,” Tristan says, pulling me behind him. “
Ne proiskhodit
,” he repeats in Russia for my dad.

My dad looks at me, speaking in Russia. “
Katerina, are you sure you and this guy are just friends
?”

How can I explain this to Dad? Tristan is only protective because he’s my bodyguard. But he can’t know that, because he doesn’t know that I know about him being a terrorist. I don’t want to put my mum’s life in danger.

“Okay, okay. Fine. Tristan is my boyfriend,” I say, grabbing Tristan’s hand, hoping he goes along with it. We just spend the last few minutes convincing him that we’re just friends, so I hope this works.

Tristan steps up beside me and pulls me closer. “What she said.”

“I was going to tell you,” I tell Dad. “But I was scared you would be mad. Because we slept here. But I swear nothing happened. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

Dad smiles. “Good. You’re too young for kissing.”

“That’s what I keep telling her,” Tristan says.

I stomp on his food.

Seriously, Tristan. Just shut up.

“Dad, what about Kazimir? What are you going to do to him once you catch him?” I ask.

“I kill him for hurting my girl,” he answers.

“How can you kill him?” I ask. “Won’t you go to jail?”

“
Katerina
,” he says, switching to Russian. “
I haven’t been very honest with you
.”

“
What’s going on
?” I ask, wondering if he’s about to tell me that he’s a Russian terrorist.

“
I’m not an engineer. I… work for the Russian government
,” he says, but he looks at my forehead when he says it, so I know he’s lying. “
Nobody knows, except Dimitri. And he only knows because he’s going to work with me after his marriage. Your mama can’t know. Kazimir is an agent who has gone rogue, so the group I work for has ordered me to kill him.
”

“Oh,” I say, leaning into Tristan.

Tristan does not look happy right now.

“
Does your boyfriend understand Russian
?” Dad asks.

“
Nemnogo
,” I answer. “He’s learning.”

“
How much of that do you think he understood
?” he asks, still choosing to speak Russia.

“
Maybe like ten percent
,” I say, knowing it’s a lie. He probably understood a lot of it, but if I tell my dad that, he might kill him. I have to protect Tristan.

Besides, Tristan already knows what my dad does.

And it’s definitely not working for the government.

Dad seems to like my response.

“Can we switch to English?” Tristan asks. “I’m so confused right now.”

Dad looks at him. “You protect my girl when I’m not here.”

“I will, sir,” Tristan says. “With my life.”

He’s not lying. He already has risked his own life to save me.

Somehow, I feel safer knowing Tristan will always be around to save me.

Maybe normal.

I run through the woods, hoping Kazimir will come chase me.

I know with absolute certainty that I can outrun him. And that it my goal. No matter what, don’t let him catch me.

Tristan chases after me, staying close enough to intervene if he has to. And my dad is waiting for us by the lake. He has a gun. And I’m a little scared, because even though I know I’ll be safer with Kazimir dead, I don’t want to see him die.

But that decision isn’t up to me.

It’s up to my dad.

Since he knows abut Kazimir holding me with a knife to my throat, I know he won’t back down. I’m his baby girl and he will do anything to protect me, even kill.

Growing up, whenever kids at school would make fun of me, I never told anybody except Eduard. Because I knew Dimitri, Alik and my dad would do something bad to the other kid if I told them. But not Eduard. He would just walk me to class and if it persisted, he may give the kid a bloody nose. But that’s it.

I did tell Dimitri and Alik once. The kid came to school the next day wearing a cast on his arm and using crutches. His face was swollen and he looked horrible. The kid was so scared of me that he actually switched schools after a few days. I felt bad for him. Sure, he shouldn’t have bullied me, but my brothers had no right to do that. I learned never to tell them anything after that.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about this now, as I run through the woods, hoping to be chased by a bad guy.

“Katerina, look out!” I hear Tristan yell behind me.

I look to my side to see Kazimir running towards me. I pick up my pace, giving it everything I’ve got. At this pace, I know I can go about five miles before I get exhausted. Lets hope Kazimir can’t run as well as me.

As I am running from Kazimir, I can’t help but feel… alive. For the first time since Eduard died, I feel like my life has a real purpose. Defeat Kazimir. Bring down the bad guy. It’s like I was born for this exact moment.

Maybe I am supposed to be a spy.

But maybe not a Russian spy.

Maybe I can be an American spy. I can work with Tristan. That would be a lot of fun.

I wonder if Damon wants to be a spy. I imagine us working together with Tristan to bring down bad guys. It’s a nice dream, though I know better than to plan for anything to happen. Life never turns out the way I expect or want it to.

As I approach the lake, I do exactly what my dad told me to do. I run and dive in head first into the water. I swim down, holding my breath. I’m supposed to count to twenty and then swim to the top. That should give my dad plenty of time.

Under the water, I can’t hear well. A few muffled voices.

Then I see something.

A spark.

I know that a gun has went off, but I didn’t hear anything.

Dad has a silencer on his gun. We’re on a school campus. We can’t exactly be shooting guns around here.

Once I hit twenty, I swim to the top, letting my lungs fill with oxygen.

Tristan is sitting at the side of the the rock, waiting to help me out of the water. I swim over to him and he pulls me up. I collapse on the ground beside him, breathing heavy. The sunlight peeks through the trees.

“Are you all right?” Tristan asks me.

“Yeah,” I answer. “A little cold.”

He laughs. “Well, you did just go swimming and it’s forty degrees out here.”

“The water was warm,” I say. “So did Dad… you know?”

“Yeah,” Tristan answers. “He’s taking care of the body now.”