*

I had Niko and Marco follow Alexi home to tell me where he lived and they gave me his address and watched him for a few days to see if anybody else was watching him. Unsurprisingly, he met with a few sketchy characters that were known to be in the Russian mafia, but nobody was posted outside watching him and the ones he met were lower-level intel and not assassins. I was able to convince them not to bug his place or bother watching him because I told them I was sure he wasn't the one who tried to poison me after I went through his place during one of his classes. I found quite a few well-hidden guns, some knives, and I checked to make sure he hadn't already been bugged. I was surprised to not find any evidence of him being watched and only worried that maybe his laptop and cell phone would be listening and both of those were with him.

I guessed the one who poisoned me was somebody protecting Amelia or an assassin sent by the Lucianos. I easily convinced Papi to station my friend Gia, a spy, in the lunch staff and he gladly sent one of my cousins with her who was shadowing her to learn about becoming a spy. I was disappointed that my cousin, Lena, had already finished high school and wouldn't be attending the school with me and instead would be working with the lunch staff with Gia. It would be hard to pretend not to know them, but I needed them to find my would-be assassin.

*

I almost died when I opened my backpack in my first class the next morning to see I had very stupidly still had my gun and silencer in there. If anybody even got a peek, I'd be out of Golds so fast and I'd probably get my whole family in trouble.

"What's the matter, Chernoff? Forget about the test?" Michelle asked when she looked back from the seat in front of her and Victoria strode down the aisle to take her seat next to me. I had pulled out my notebook and was holding my backpack closed. I had totally forgotten about the Calculus test...

"Yep!" I answered, before dissolving into awkward laughter.

"Well, you'll probably be fine. Your homeworks have all been hundreds, right?" she probed.

"Yeah. I just wish it wasn't the first class of the day. I haven't had enough coffee." I joked as Mrs. Harrison walked in with the pile of tests and plopped them heavily onto her desk at the front. Michelle spun to face the front and I put my notebook back in my backpack with a vision of hitting the corner on the trigger and accidentally shooting somebody. I had to get somewhere to unload it at some point. There was no safety on it. It was a tactical 9 mm and the trigger was kind of the safety, but you could still press it and shoot, the first shot just took a little bit more pressure.

The test was placed in front of me by Mrs. Harrison and she gave me a look like she almost wanted to reprimand me for not studying because I looked nervous. My leg was shaking, pencil tapping, and my eye kept going to my backpack on the floor by my seat as if my gun was just going to explode any minute. If someone kicked my bag... or even tripped over it...

I guessed the test would've gone better if my mind wasn't whirling. I understood most of the concepts, but I was struggling to do the actual multiplying and adding in my head that felt like each of my thoughts were like moths fluttering around so I couldn't focus on what I was trying to do. I caught myself make a few mistakes that I was able to correct, but I guessed there were a few I didn't catch.

I tried to slip away from the classroom after we spent the whole class time doing the test and waiting for everyone to finish, but Victoria linked arms with me and I realized we were both going to Literature. Damn it...

"I'm going to run to the bathroom!" I told her, slipping my arm out of her grasp and almost bumping into a surprised Michelle with another image of accidently shooting someone or myself in the hallway.

"Somebody has diarrhea." Tia said, making the others laugh. I couldn't help rolling my eyes as I walked toward the single men's bathroom. I locked the door after the light went on automatically and ripped open my backpack. I unscrewed the silencer and pulled the slide back to drop the bullet out of the chamber. I thought about keeping the magazine in so I wouldn't be defenseless if I needed it, but I ended up dropping the magazine out and pressing the bullet in before leaving the three pieces separate. I tucked them in a separate pocket and thought about locking it with a zip tie, but worried still that there was an assassin after me and if I needed it... There was a knock at the door that made me jump.

"Just a second." I called zipping my bag. When the door opened anyway, I spun with my heart pounding. Alexi came in looking tall and serious, and he closed the door behind him. I looked in confusion at the knob. "But I locked the door." I blurted out.

"It doesn't really lock." He told me with a smirk as he came closer to me and his smell came over me, making me want to pull him into my arms.

"You could've just walked in on me." I accused with a raised eyebrow. He didn't answer. Instead, he put his lips to mine and I breathed in as I kissed him back. He pushed me back against the wall and I felt a spark of pleasure run through me at the feel of his soft, seductive lips. His tongue was persuasive against mine and I couldn't get enough as he invaded my open mouth. I was breathing heavily when I pulled away. "Crap, someone could come in!" I hissed as he pressed his lips to my neck making me practically melt as I leaned into it against my better judgement.

"Mm." His lips were still against my neck and I felt his sculpted shoulder through his silky suit before my hand slid to his neck. "You smell so good." He murmured as his hands ran firmly down my sides making me ache inside with desire. He let me go as we heard the hallways start to clear out as feet rushed to class. "Go to class." He said emotionlessly, with his grey eyes looking down at me with his desire plain in them. I took a deep breath and let it out. I was sure he could see the effect he had on me.

"You smell good too. You're going to be late for your own class." I told him with smirk as I grabbed my bag.

"Stall them." He joked as I went to the door. I was glad no one saw me come out. I could tell I still looked a little disheveled and maybe flustered. I straightened out my hair, pulled down my skirt, and re-tucked my shirt as the late bell rang. When I stepped into the room, the eyes all looked up to accuse me of being late, but I skittered to my seat, knowing there wouldn't be a teacher to catch me anyway.

"What took you so long? Are you on your period or something?" Victoria accused as Mr. Montgomery strode in looking way calmer and more collected than I had.

"Yeah." I lied quietly, seeing Victoria study my expression out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't get my lusty eyes of my damn teacher... of course.

I spent the class struggling to pay attention as usual and was acutely aware of his location in the room. Did he really like me? Was he thinking of using me to get to Amelia? Did I care that much? Yeah, Amelia doesn't deserve to be killed for her father. She didn't choose this life.

When class was over, I was actually surprised how quickly it passed and worried about how much I had missed while I was thinking about fucking my teacher instead of stupid Gatsby.

*

It was excruciatingly difficult not to smile at Lena's familiar, bronze face when she served my food at lunch. She seemed to struggle too and I was so upset I couldn't just go live with them off campus. I was dying to visit her, but I was worried about my friends asking me about where I got off to and I was sure I'd end up spending the night if I hung out with her after school. Another issue with going to see her was the thought of my would-be assassin following me and finding them. That was the thought I clung to when I refused to show any sign of knowing Gia and Lena. I wouldn't be the same if they were killed because of me.

I moved away from the lunch line and when I took my seat, I noticed the look on Lena's face when she served Mr. Montgomery. His eyes were too observant, the way he watched her and she looked practically flustered at the intimidating sight of him in his fancy black suit. I had been good about not contacting her and wondered if she had an inkling about who he was even though they didn't exchange any words. I guessed Niko and Markus would've warned her about his real name and why he was there. I hadn't told any of them about him thinking I was Amelia or pointing a gun at me. I guessed Papi would have someone take him out if he knew about it. I yearned to tell Lena that he had me on his desk- she would laugh her butt off about it, but I decided waiting until the actual assassin was dealt with was a good reason to wait. I remembered I had already told her about my crush on the guy and guessed she might've remembered and that was the reason for the funny look on her face when she served him. Either that or she was just as into him as me- similar genes and all...

"Are you going to eat?" Shane's voice shook me from my reverie.

"Oh." I uttered, looking down at my hand to see no sign of poison after hovering my hand over my food for who knows how long. I took a tentative bite of the chili and then turned to see Shane and the others watching me.

"Chili's good. It's one of the few things they actually make and don't just pull out of the freezer premade." Margaret commented, sounding bright.

"It's...okay." I muttered. Shane put her arm around me.

"Sorry about the prison food. You must be used to home-cooked meals." She laughed, making me send her a weak smile.

"You have a thing for Mr. Montgomery." Gina said out of the blue, making my eyes snap back to her from watching him join a few teachers at one of the tables.

"Uh... yeah, don't you?" I accused with a laugh. Her dark glossy lips pulled into a little smile. "Have you smelled him?" I joked, making Shane make a face.

"Smelled him?" Shane repeated, looking disturbed.

"His cologne smells like heaven and look at him in his damn sexy suit." I couldn't help blurting it out as my eyes analyzed the shape of his broad shoulders and muscular neck.

"He does smell really good." Margaret giggled.

"I'm not really into white guys, but I can see what you mean." Gina insisted as her eyes followed my gaze and Montgomery looked up and caught me staring. I couldn't help smirking, but let my eyes drop to my food on my tray.

"Oh my god, he's totally looking at you." Gina told me with a smile in her voice.

"I was staring." I told her sheepishly.

"You guys are weird. Mr. Montgomery's a dick." Shane insisted, making me laugh out in surprise.

"I always date guys that are dicks." I murmured, looking up to meet Shane's judgmental eyes.

"Well, you can't date him. He's a teacher." Shane warned in a lowered voice.

"Oh, lighten up, Shane." Gina chuckled. "Students here date teachers all the time. Don't you remember Mr. Terez?"

"Yeah, I can't believe they didn't fire him." Margaret commented.

"Who's Mr. Terez?" I asked in curiosity.

"There were rumors about him dating like three Seniors. They got into a huge fight over him and pretty much everybody knew. He played favorites and hit on tons of students." Jenna explained. "He hit on me. He was so pushy." She said in distaste.

"He didn't get fired? Does he still work here?" I asked in surprise.

"No, I think he resigned." Gina said, sounding almost disappointed.

*

I woke from a wet dream about Alexi and took a deep breath when I felt the sexual pleasure fade quickly at the sight of Shane sleeping five feet from me soundly. I hadn't finished, of course... so I was still feeling unsatisfied. The thought of Melissa freaking out and the look on Shane's face if they caught me attempting to masturbate in the room with them was enough to stay my hand. I ran my hands over my head and pulled at my hair as I tossed and turned. I closed my eyes picturing him in bed with me, but my soft pillow was nothing like his hard abs or tattooed pecks and I yearned to smell his smell.

It was Friday and I had skipped the gym because we had a game that evening. I was dreading seeing Coach Beals... I felt restless all day and after getting my damn Calculus test back and seeing that I had gotten an 80%, I was in a bad mood. On top of that, Victoria and her friends had practically mocked me about it. I was worried about how badly I had hidden my gun and silencer in the lining of my suitcase. The gun would've hidden well, but the silencer didn't fit so I had just put it in another pocket that I zip-tied closed. I had replaced my knife under my pillow too and I guessed that was stupid since that was where Melissa had found it the first time. I also had a knife taped to the underside of my desk and there was one hidden in my backpack as well. If they ever searched our bags, I guessed I'd be in some trouble, but I wasn't as worried about getting in trouble as I was about getting jumped by the person who tried to poison me.

*

During the soccer game that evening, I ended up getting a red card for shoving a girl who tried to hurt Shane. I wanted to knock her out and my fists clenched as I resisted. Shane held me back and the Coach practically dragged me from the field kicking and screaming. I almost spewed out a million swears in Italian at her and barely kept my cool as I plopped myself on the bench angrily with my arms crossed.

"She's a bitch. She should have the red card, not you." Izzy agreed in a whisper, making me turn my angry eyes on her and soften my expression at the unexpected sentiment.

"Kate, you need to be careful or you could get banned from playing." The coach told me softly as he sat beside me.

"I'm sorry Coach." I huffed, sounding not that sorry. "She could've hurt Shane. None of us will play if we lose our best player and start losing all our games. We'd never make it to play offs." He had a slight smile on his face.

"You're just as good as Shane. We need to keep you in the game too." He said it with a smile in his voice as my eyes followed the big blond bitch as she took the kick off across from Danielle.