Chapter 58 – The Missing Ones.
Around 3 am something woke Leon up from the deepest sleep he could remember having in a very long time. He yawned and stretched the wondered at the warmth of something curled up against his side.
Then he remembered his evening with Kat and smiled. It was nice to wake up with the girl you cared about asleep against your side, even if her hair was everywhere and tickling your neck, nose, chest, and wrapped around your arm that was still holding the aforementioned girl close to you.
He turned on the lamp, wanting to see her again. She was just as pretty as he'd remembered, she hadn't been a dream. Well, not this time. He couldn't count the number of actual dreams he'd had about Kat in his bed and he didn't have words for how happy he was that this time wasn't a dream, that she was real.
He couldn't resist the impulse he had so he leaned down and kissed her forehead then the tip of her nose.
A second later he was looking into a pair of dark green, sleepy eyes.
"Hey." She murmured then blushed and buried her face against his side. She'd remembered what she'd done seconds after waking. And while she didn't have any regrets, she figured she was allowed to find it slightly embarrassing that anyone had seen her the way Leon had seen her.
"Hey." He answered back and laughed. He couldn't believe the girl with no shame was so embarrassed to wake up next to him. Then he got concerned she was hurt or sore and just hadn't known till the excitement of before died down. "You ok baby girl?" He asked softly.
His tenderness almost made her cry. She was so happy to have gotten her chance to have him. She was happy to know what things were supposed to be like before she found out first hand how things should never be. Thinking of the deadline fast approaching almost made her cry for different reasons. She sniffled then answered.
"I'm fine. Incredible is a better word for it I think." She was still hiding behind her hair and his chest, not wanting to look him in the eyes yet.
"Good. Um, Kitten?"
"Yeah?" She finally met his gaze.
"I hate to bring it up but I think we need to talk about what happened before I found you last night." Leon probed gently.
Kat sighed resignedly. They did need to talk about it and he deserved to know. It didn't mean she had to be happy about it.
"I guess I do need to tell you the story don't I?"
"Yeah. I think I need to know." Now that he had Kat, finally, he wasn't giving her up. He'd find a way to help her. There had to be a way.
"My mother was Russian. She moved here when she was 17. She moved here with a man named Sergei. He was a handsome man, and charming. My mother was a beautiful woman, and a Ballet dancer. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School in Russia from 8 years old till she was 16 and then she went on to dance in the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Sergei saw her on stage one evening and he decided he just had to have her."
"I know how he felt if you mom was as pretty as you are." Leon said softly and waited for Kat to continue her story. She smiled at him, glad she was still in the happy part of the tale.
"My mama had never made time for men up till then. I mean, she was only 17, but no man had ever interested her before Sergei came along. He swept her off her feet. Not only was my mother a great dancer, one of the best, but her mother was Prima Ballerina for the same company, and her mother had been one of the best dancers in Russian. It's like a tradition in our family for women to dance. My mama was a ballerina too, she was on her way to being the star of the company when Sergei came around. And for the first time she met a guy she couldn't say no to. He swept her off her feet."
Kat looked up at Leon. She knew how her mother felt. She was with the first guy she couldn't say no to right at that moment.
"But her Mama and papa didn't approve of him. Mama didn't know but Sergei was into things that made him dangerous. My grandmother and grandfather told my mother that if she dated Sergei they didn't want her to live with them. They wanted her to dance and only dance, than they figured in the natural order of things she'd find a male dancer to marry. See, ballet dancers who have companies, especially prima ballerinas are often told they can't have children, it's in their contract. Having a baby changes their bodies and plus they're out for a year while they're pregnant and having the baby. When two ballet dancers get together they're both on the same wavelength but a lot of times, especially with a girl dancer and a man who's not the man doesn't understand why the girl's gotta eat so strict and why she can't get pregnant till she doesn't want to dance anymore and the guy pressures the girl to have kids or whatever and the woman loses her place with her company. But my mother didn't care. She'd been the good daughter up till then and she was in love with Sergei. Sergei told my mother they should move to America. Mama had been here before, once, to dance in New York for ABT on a tour with her company from Russia. She agreed, she figured she could get on with ABT, even if she had to take a year in ABA first." She caught Leon's puzzled look and figured it was over the ballet acronyms. She knew them as a ballet dancer and a native New Yorker but he had no idea.
"ABT is the American Ballet Theatre in New York, it's sometimes called ABC too, American Ballet Company. ABA is the academy that's sort of tied to the company. My mama didn't have to go to ABA, she was so well trained when she arrived that she just got in the company."
"Where did you learn to dance?" Leon asked, enjoying the story but wanting to know more about Kat at the same time.
"How'd you know?" Kat asked in shock.
"A little bird told me." Leon smiled softly. "So, where'd you learn?"
"ABA of course. My mama was teaching there as well as dancing when I started to learn. She'd go to work and I'd go with her for lessons. I didn't go to public school so that I'd have more time to practice my dancing. I was sort of home schooled I guess. I started at 7, after my dad was gone and I wasn't following him around while he worked with cars anymore. But anyway. My mom had been in New York for a year when she found out she was pregnant with my older brother. She was insanely happy and devastated at the same time. She wanted to have children with Sergei but she didn't want to give up dancing. She was young, which was really on her side because she didn't show till she was like 6 or 7 months along, she was back dancing by 2 months after having my brother and the company took her back. She was just a corps dancer at the time. Then she had my other brother two years after Josef. And things still worked out for her. I don't know, it's like she's the luckiest dancer ever because she should have been finished each time. But she's like me, she can't get bigger no matter what she tries. Then I came along when my mom was 23, three years after Ivan. My mom and Sergei were still very much in love but it had gotten to the point that my mother couldn't ignore the fact that while Sergei said he was just working for people his parents had connected him with from Russia the money he was making was too good for what he said he did."
"I don't like where this is going." Leon said, knowing from the look on Kat's face it wouldn't be a good revelation.
"Nope, it's not a good thing. Sergei was working for the Mob. He'd been the child of mobsters in Russia and his parents had wanted him to come to America to run their concerns here for them. He really loved my mother but he saw her as an easy way to come to America too. And when she found out what he was she was mad that he'd never told her but she still loved him too. So they stayed together."
"I guess love is blind then huh?" Leon asked.
"Not really. I mean, she wasn't blind to what he was doing but she loved him. But she got vocal about the fact she didn't like him being involved in the Mob and he got nasty with her. I mean, people in the mob are just like how you think they are. They can be mean and heartless. They can kill in the blink of an eye and never feel a moment of guilt. So when my mom started to complain about what he did out loud Sergei got pissed. They fought all the time and about two years after Ivan was born, so, about a year before me they finally split up."
"Then what?"
"Well, she met my father. And realized what she'd felt for Sergei was very much just infatuation. She'd seen him as a way to rebel against her parents I guess. She likely loved him too, but she also didn't really understand love at the time either I don't think. But what she felt for my dad was real. They were so perfect together. My brothers went to see their 'real' dad all the time but he didn't even know about me. The boys were too young to think to tell him I guess. He must have known about my mom getting remarried but he didn't seem to care. We were happy. We were so happy that I even remember how happy we were even though I was only 6 when he left. I don't remember him but I remember how happy he made mom and how much he loved to have me tag along with him when he went to work and raced his car."
"Why'd he leave then?"
"Well, like I said, Sergei wasn't a nice man. He found out how happy mama was with her new husband and he didn't like it. He also finally found out about me and that made him mad too. Mama had always wanted a daughter. The boys had no interest in dance. My mother wanted a daughter she could train as the perfect ballerina. I mean, that sounds cold but it's just that the woman of our family have been handing down ballet to their daughters for so long it would have crushed her not to have a daughter to do the same for. But all Sergei and mama had had were boys. I think he was jealous my father made mama happy and gave her the daughter she'd longed for. So he decided to come back."
"But your mother was already married again." Leon looked confused.
"Yep, but when she found out that Sergei was coming back into her life and he wasn't pleased about what he'd heard she sent my father away. She told him she never wanted to see him again and that she wasn't happy with him. It was a hard sell since they were so very happy. My mother knew that if Sergei wanted her back and my father wouldn't give her up without a fight Sergei would not be above just killing my dad to put him out of the picture. My mother was scared of Sergei and she loved my dad so much that she knew she'd rather see him alive and not with her then dead over something he couldn't do anything about. So she banished him from her life and mine and sent him away. She got back together with Sergei and we never heard from my dad again. I guess that was for the best because from what I saw of Sergei it was a totally accurate assumption that he would have killed my father to get him out of the way. He started to bring Josef and Ivan into the 'family' business. I don't think Sergei was overly impressed with another man playing a bigger role in raising his sons then he was playing. I don't really think he wanted to be back with my mama, he just didn't want to see her happy and didn't want to see the boys calling another man 'dad'. But he didn't really care about me. I wasn't his and he didn't really want me. I missed my own father but I was only 6 when he left after all so it went away. But my mother never let me forget that Sergei wasn't my real father. My brothers got deeper and deeper into the business with their father. Then my mother was killed when I was 14. It didn't take long for Sergei to take off for Russia after it happened. He left me in the care of Josef."
"The brother who tried to sell you?"
"Yeah. But the more I think about it the more I realize he was just doing something that Sergei told him too. So I ran. You know that I've been living in California for the last 5 years now, more or less hiding from my brothers and step father. Well, my step father saw my magazine spreads and recognized me. He came looking for me and found me. But he just observed me for a while to figure out what I was into and where I lived. Who I cared about, that sort of thing."
"Well, I mean it'd be hard to miss someone with your step daughter's name who looked just like her." Leon added.
"Well, looked just like her yeah, but the name you all call me isn't my real name. I changed it when I was 14 and I'm so used to it now I don't even think about it but my name isn't really Katherine."
Kat looked upset; she figured Leon was going to be mad at her for lying about her name to him too.
Leon looked thoughtfully down at her, he didn't look mad, just curious.
"So now that the cat's out of the bag," he chuckled at his bad pun, "what's your real name?"
"Kat. It's still Kat." Kat blushed. She didn't want to go into her full name. It was doubtful Leon could say the names right anyway.
"Oh, come on now. I told you my real first name even though it's pretty terrible. You have to tell me your real name." He smiled encouragingly.
"Ok. Ok, I'll tell you. It's Ekaterina Ninochka Leone." Kat answered in a flawless Russian accent.
"What language is that?" Leon asked in shock.
"Russian." Kat looked embarrassed.
"What's that mean in English?" Leon figured it must mean something.
"It doesn't mean anything. It's just my name." Kat danced around the issue.
"Come on now Kitten. I got good at figuring out when you were lying pretty quick." Leon smiled.
"Ok, but it's corny and stupid and I can't count how many times I've wanted to shoot my mother over it." Kat hedged.
"Alright, out with it."
"The first two names, the Russian ones, mean pure grace. My third name is my mother's concession to my dad. It's Italian and means lion."
"Pure grace. Your mom knew you as soon as you were born." Leon couldn't believe how much Kat's real name suited her. He was glad that Kat was still the short form of her real name so he didn't get to know her under a fake name. He just hadn't known the real story of what her name was short for.
"It was wishful thinking. She was hoping she hadn't just given birth to the first ballet failure in our family history."
"And was it wishful thinking or did it prove true?"
"I'm told I have beautiful technique, very classically Russian, very classically trained. But I don't really have the desire for it I guess. I've always been the tomboy. I did ballet only because my mom really wanted me to and I wanted to make her happy. And I still love to dance, even ballet, but I love to do it for me, not to be perfect at it. I know, and have known for a long time, that dancing isn't what I want to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to race."
"Wanted to? There's more to the story isn't there?"
"Yeah. Sergei's back. And he figured out how to get to me. He has my friend Sean. And if I don't figure out what to do he'll kill him." Kat didn't plan on telling Leon she was going to turn herself over to Sergei to save her friend. He'd just protest and try to scheme like her guys had and she knew it was pointless. She didn't want to spend her last few hours with Leon watching him come up with fruitless plan after plan.
"There's still more." Leon narrowed his eyes at Kat, knowing she was hiding something from him.
He watched as desperation clouded her eyes and made her frown. He leaned down to kiss her lips, to try and reassure her. She wouldn't let him stop after a simple kiss and before he knew it he was making love to her again. It hadn't been his plan to but her sadness and desperation made him want to do something to show her that things weren't that bad. He tried his best.
But like her story and their actions had tired her out she fell asleep again before he could talk to her any more.
He studied her in the lamplight in his room. She was asleep on her stomach and he was laying on his side, head supported on one palm, looking down on her. Her hair was everywhere and she was snoring lightly. He traced the bumps of her spine down her back till they disappeared under the sheet just above the slight arch of her butt. His look was pensive and his thoughts were mixed up.
Kat had just given herself to him, mind, body and soul. He knew she was hiding something from him. There was an important piece of the puzzle she wasn't sharing with him and he really wanted to know what it was. But he didn't want to wake her up either.
There was a knock on his door, than Dom just walked in. Dom hadn't known Leon wasn't alone in his room. Leon groaned. There was going to be hell to pay.
"Leon, I just got a..." Dom noticed there was more then Leon in the bed. "Shit I'm sorry. I though you were alone." Then Dom realized who it was.
"Damn Dom, you couldn't wait for me to say hello before you just barged in?" Leon asked in annoyance.
"What is Kat doing here?"
"What's it look like?" Leon wasn't in the mood to play nice with Dom.
Dom got a look on his face that did not bode well for how the next few minutes were going to go for Leon. Leon sighed.
"I though she left you?" Dom growled.
"She did. It's a long ass story and I assume you had a reason for coming in here that didn't have anything to do with who might be in my room with me."
"Yeah. Have you seen Jesse? He went out for Corona at like 1 am and he never came back." Dom looked worried.
"I've been home since like 11 so no, I haven't seen him." Leon looked concerned. Dom seemed genuinely worried and that made Leon nervous.
"It's not like him to take off like this. It's 3am now, he's been gone too long." Dom went to leave the room. "I'll have to go looking for him. If he calls here or comes home call me on my cell ok?"
"Sure dawg." Leon answered and with a shake of his head Dom left the room and closed the door. Kat slept on but Leon found he couldn't get back to sleep himself.
It really wasn't like Jesse to take off and not let someone know where he was if he was going to be a while. Leon couldn't stop wondering what might have happened. He figured he'd get up and go help search. He'd just leave Kat a note telling her where he'd gone.
As he got up to get dressed the phone rang. Leon answered it quickly, hoping it wouldn't wake Kat.
"Hello." He answered softly.
"Yes, I'm looking for the girl you call Kat." A Russian voice asked.
Around 3 am something woke Leon up from the deepest sleep he could remember having in a very long time. He yawned and stretched the wondered at the warmth of something curled up against his side.
Then he remembered his evening with Kat and smiled. It was nice to wake up with the girl you cared about asleep against your side, even if her hair was everywhere and tickling your neck, nose, chest, and wrapped around your arm that was still holding the aforementioned girl close to you.
He turned on the lamp, wanting to see her again. She was just as pretty as he'd remembered, she hadn't been a dream. Well, not this time. He couldn't count the number of actual dreams he'd had about Kat in his bed and he didn't have words for how happy he was that this time wasn't a dream, that she was real.
He couldn't resist the impulse he had so he leaned down and kissed her forehead then the tip of her nose.
A second later he was looking into a pair of dark green, sleepy eyes.
"Hey." She murmured then blushed and buried her face against his side. She'd remembered what she'd done seconds after waking. And while she didn't have any regrets, she figured she was allowed to find it slightly embarrassing that anyone had seen her the way Leon had seen her.
"Hey." He answered back and laughed. He couldn't believe the girl with no shame was so embarrassed to wake up next to him. Then he got concerned she was hurt or sore and just hadn't known till the excitement of before died down. "You ok baby girl?" He asked softly.
His tenderness almost made her cry. She was so happy to have gotten her chance to have him. She was happy to know what things were supposed to be like before she found out first hand how things should never be. Thinking of the deadline fast approaching almost made her cry for different reasons. She sniffled then answered.
"I'm fine. Incredible is a better word for it I think." She was still hiding behind her hair and his chest, not wanting to look him in the eyes yet.
"Good. Um, Kitten?"
"Yeah?" She finally met his gaze.
"I hate to bring it up but I think we need to talk about what happened before I found you last night." Leon probed gently.
Kat sighed resignedly. They did need to talk about it and he deserved to know. It didn't mean she had to be happy about it.
"I guess I do need to tell you the story don't I?"
"Yeah. I think I need to know." Now that he had Kat, finally, he wasn't giving her up. He'd find a way to help her. There had to be a way.
"My mother was Russian. She moved here when she was 17. She moved here with a man named Sergei. He was a handsome man, and charming. My mother was a beautiful woman, and a Ballet dancer. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School in Russia from 8 years old till she was 16 and then she went on to dance in the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Sergei saw her on stage one evening and he decided he just had to have her."
"I know how he felt if you mom was as pretty as you are." Leon said softly and waited for Kat to continue her story. She smiled at him, glad she was still in the happy part of the tale.
"My mama had never made time for men up till then. I mean, she was only 17, but no man had ever interested her before Sergei came along. He swept her off her feet. Not only was my mother a great dancer, one of the best, but her mother was Prima Ballerina for the same company, and her mother had been one of the best dancers in Russian. It's like a tradition in our family for women to dance. My mama was a ballerina too, she was on her way to being the star of the company when Sergei came around. And for the first time she met a guy she couldn't say no to. He swept her off her feet."
Kat looked up at Leon. She knew how her mother felt. She was with the first guy she couldn't say no to right at that moment.
"But her Mama and papa didn't approve of him. Mama didn't know but Sergei was into things that made him dangerous. My grandmother and grandfather told my mother that if she dated Sergei they didn't want her to live with them. They wanted her to dance and only dance, than they figured in the natural order of things she'd find a male dancer to marry. See, ballet dancers who have companies, especially prima ballerinas are often told they can't have children, it's in their contract. Having a baby changes their bodies and plus they're out for a year while they're pregnant and having the baby. When two ballet dancers get together they're both on the same wavelength but a lot of times, especially with a girl dancer and a man who's not the man doesn't understand why the girl's gotta eat so strict and why she can't get pregnant till she doesn't want to dance anymore and the guy pressures the girl to have kids or whatever and the woman loses her place with her company. But my mother didn't care. She'd been the good daughter up till then and she was in love with Sergei. Sergei told my mother they should move to America. Mama had been here before, once, to dance in New York for ABT on a tour with her company from Russia. She agreed, she figured she could get on with ABT, even if she had to take a year in ABA first." She caught Leon's puzzled look and figured it was over the ballet acronyms. She knew them as a ballet dancer and a native New Yorker but he had no idea.
"ABT is the American Ballet Theatre in New York, it's sometimes called ABC too, American Ballet Company. ABA is the academy that's sort of tied to the company. My mama didn't have to go to ABA, she was so well trained when she arrived that she just got in the company."
"Where did you learn to dance?" Leon asked, enjoying the story but wanting to know more about Kat at the same time.
"How'd you know?" Kat asked in shock.
"A little bird told me." Leon smiled softly. "So, where'd you learn?"
"ABA of course. My mama was teaching there as well as dancing when I started to learn. She'd go to work and I'd go with her for lessons. I didn't go to public school so that I'd have more time to practice my dancing. I was sort of home schooled I guess. I started at 7, after my dad was gone and I wasn't following him around while he worked with cars anymore. But anyway. My mom had been in New York for a year when she found out she was pregnant with my older brother. She was insanely happy and devastated at the same time. She wanted to have children with Sergei but she didn't want to give up dancing. She was young, which was really on her side because she didn't show till she was like 6 or 7 months along, she was back dancing by 2 months after having my brother and the company took her back. She was just a corps dancer at the time. Then she had my other brother two years after Josef. And things still worked out for her. I don't know, it's like she's the luckiest dancer ever because she should have been finished each time. But she's like me, she can't get bigger no matter what she tries. Then I came along when my mom was 23, three years after Ivan. My mom and Sergei were still very much in love but it had gotten to the point that my mother couldn't ignore the fact that while Sergei said he was just working for people his parents had connected him with from Russia the money he was making was too good for what he said he did."
"I don't like where this is going." Leon said, knowing from the look on Kat's face it wouldn't be a good revelation.
"Nope, it's not a good thing. Sergei was working for the Mob. He'd been the child of mobsters in Russia and his parents had wanted him to come to America to run their concerns here for them. He really loved my mother but he saw her as an easy way to come to America too. And when she found out what he was she was mad that he'd never told her but she still loved him too. So they stayed together."
"I guess love is blind then huh?" Leon asked.
"Not really. I mean, she wasn't blind to what he was doing but she loved him. But she got vocal about the fact she didn't like him being involved in the Mob and he got nasty with her. I mean, people in the mob are just like how you think they are. They can be mean and heartless. They can kill in the blink of an eye and never feel a moment of guilt. So when my mom started to complain about what he did out loud Sergei got pissed. They fought all the time and about two years after Ivan was born, so, about a year before me they finally split up."
"Then what?"
"Well, she met my father. And realized what she'd felt for Sergei was very much just infatuation. She'd seen him as a way to rebel against her parents I guess. She likely loved him too, but she also didn't really understand love at the time either I don't think. But what she felt for my dad was real. They were so perfect together. My brothers went to see their 'real' dad all the time but he didn't even know about me. The boys were too young to think to tell him I guess. He must have known about my mom getting remarried but he didn't seem to care. We were happy. We were so happy that I even remember how happy we were even though I was only 6 when he left. I don't remember him but I remember how happy he made mom and how much he loved to have me tag along with him when he went to work and raced his car."
"Why'd he leave then?"
"Well, like I said, Sergei wasn't a nice man. He found out how happy mama was with her new husband and he didn't like it. He also finally found out about me and that made him mad too. Mama had always wanted a daughter. The boys had no interest in dance. My mother wanted a daughter she could train as the perfect ballerina. I mean, that sounds cold but it's just that the woman of our family have been handing down ballet to their daughters for so long it would have crushed her not to have a daughter to do the same for. But all Sergei and mama had had were boys. I think he was jealous my father made mama happy and gave her the daughter she'd longed for. So he decided to come back."
"But your mother was already married again." Leon looked confused.
"Yep, but when she found out that Sergei was coming back into her life and he wasn't pleased about what he'd heard she sent my father away. She told him she never wanted to see him again and that she wasn't happy with him. It was a hard sell since they were so very happy. My mother knew that if Sergei wanted her back and my father wouldn't give her up without a fight Sergei would not be above just killing my dad to put him out of the picture. My mother was scared of Sergei and she loved my dad so much that she knew she'd rather see him alive and not with her then dead over something he couldn't do anything about. So she banished him from her life and mine and sent him away. She got back together with Sergei and we never heard from my dad again. I guess that was for the best because from what I saw of Sergei it was a totally accurate assumption that he would have killed my father to get him out of the way. He started to bring Josef and Ivan into the 'family' business. I don't think Sergei was overly impressed with another man playing a bigger role in raising his sons then he was playing. I don't really think he wanted to be back with my mama, he just didn't want to see her happy and didn't want to see the boys calling another man 'dad'. But he didn't really care about me. I wasn't his and he didn't really want me. I missed my own father but I was only 6 when he left after all so it went away. But my mother never let me forget that Sergei wasn't my real father. My brothers got deeper and deeper into the business with their father. Then my mother was killed when I was 14. It didn't take long for Sergei to take off for Russia after it happened. He left me in the care of Josef."
"The brother who tried to sell you?"
"Yeah. But the more I think about it the more I realize he was just doing something that Sergei told him too. So I ran. You know that I've been living in California for the last 5 years now, more or less hiding from my brothers and step father. Well, my step father saw my magazine spreads and recognized me. He came looking for me and found me. But he just observed me for a while to figure out what I was into and where I lived. Who I cared about, that sort of thing."
"Well, I mean it'd be hard to miss someone with your step daughter's name who looked just like her." Leon added.
"Well, looked just like her yeah, but the name you all call me isn't my real name. I changed it when I was 14 and I'm so used to it now I don't even think about it but my name isn't really Katherine."
Kat looked upset; she figured Leon was going to be mad at her for lying about her name to him too.
Leon looked thoughtfully down at her, he didn't look mad, just curious.
"So now that the cat's out of the bag," he chuckled at his bad pun, "what's your real name?"
"Kat. It's still Kat." Kat blushed. She didn't want to go into her full name. It was doubtful Leon could say the names right anyway.
"Oh, come on now. I told you my real first name even though it's pretty terrible. You have to tell me your real name." He smiled encouragingly.
"Ok. Ok, I'll tell you. It's Ekaterina Ninochka Leone." Kat answered in a flawless Russian accent.
"What language is that?" Leon asked in shock.
"Russian." Kat looked embarrassed.
"What's that mean in English?" Leon figured it must mean something.
"It doesn't mean anything. It's just my name." Kat danced around the issue.
"Come on now Kitten. I got good at figuring out when you were lying pretty quick." Leon smiled.
"Ok, but it's corny and stupid and I can't count how many times I've wanted to shoot my mother over it." Kat hedged.
"Alright, out with it."
"The first two names, the Russian ones, mean pure grace. My third name is my mother's concession to my dad. It's Italian and means lion."
"Pure grace. Your mom knew you as soon as you were born." Leon couldn't believe how much Kat's real name suited her. He was glad that Kat was still the short form of her real name so he didn't get to know her under a fake name. He just hadn't known the real story of what her name was short for.
"It was wishful thinking. She was hoping she hadn't just given birth to the first ballet failure in our family history."
"And was it wishful thinking or did it prove true?"
"I'm told I have beautiful technique, very classically Russian, very classically trained. But I don't really have the desire for it I guess. I've always been the tomboy. I did ballet only because my mom really wanted me to and I wanted to make her happy. And I still love to dance, even ballet, but I love to do it for me, not to be perfect at it. I know, and have known for a long time, that dancing isn't what I want to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to race."
"Wanted to? There's more to the story isn't there?"
"Yeah. Sergei's back. And he figured out how to get to me. He has my friend Sean. And if I don't figure out what to do he'll kill him." Kat didn't plan on telling Leon she was going to turn herself over to Sergei to save her friend. He'd just protest and try to scheme like her guys had and she knew it was pointless. She didn't want to spend her last few hours with Leon watching him come up with fruitless plan after plan.
"There's still more." Leon narrowed his eyes at Kat, knowing she was hiding something from him.
He watched as desperation clouded her eyes and made her frown. He leaned down to kiss her lips, to try and reassure her. She wouldn't let him stop after a simple kiss and before he knew it he was making love to her again. It hadn't been his plan to but her sadness and desperation made him want to do something to show her that things weren't that bad. He tried his best.
But like her story and their actions had tired her out she fell asleep again before he could talk to her any more.
He studied her in the lamplight in his room. She was asleep on her stomach and he was laying on his side, head supported on one palm, looking down on her. Her hair was everywhere and she was snoring lightly. He traced the bumps of her spine down her back till they disappeared under the sheet just above the slight arch of her butt. His look was pensive and his thoughts were mixed up.
Kat had just given herself to him, mind, body and soul. He knew she was hiding something from him. There was an important piece of the puzzle she wasn't sharing with him and he really wanted to know what it was. But he didn't want to wake her up either.
There was a knock on his door, than Dom just walked in. Dom hadn't known Leon wasn't alone in his room. Leon groaned. There was going to be hell to pay.
"Leon, I just got a..." Dom noticed there was more then Leon in the bed. "Shit I'm sorry. I though you were alone." Then Dom realized who it was.
"Damn Dom, you couldn't wait for me to say hello before you just barged in?" Leon asked in annoyance.
"What is Kat doing here?"
"What's it look like?" Leon wasn't in the mood to play nice with Dom.
Dom got a look on his face that did not bode well for how the next few minutes were going to go for Leon. Leon sighed.
"I though she left you?" Dom growled.
"She did. It's a long ass story and I assume you had a reason for coming in here that didn't have anything to do with who might be in my room with me."
"Yeah. Have you seen Jesse? He went out for Corona at like 1 am and he never came back." Dom looked worried.
"I've been home since like 11 so no, I haven't seen him." Leon looked concerned. Dom seemed genuinely worried and that made Leon nervous.
"It's not like him to take off like this. It's 3am now, he's been gone too long." Dom went to leave the room. "I'll have to go looking for him. If he calls here or comes home call me on my cell ok?"
"Sure dawg." Leon answered and with a shake of his head Dom left the room and closed the door. Kat slept on but Leon found he couldn't get back to sleep himself.
It really wasn't like Jesse to take off and not let someone know where he was if he was going to be a while. Leon couldn't stop wondering what might have happened. He figured he'd get up and go help search. He'd just leave Kat a note telling her where he'd gone.
As he got up to get dressed the phone rang. Leon answered it quickly, hoping it wouldn't wake Kat.
"Hello." He answered softly.
"Yes, I'm looking for the girl you call Kat." A Russian voice asked.