When secrets become known

Chapter 8

I can feel the panic start t well inside me. Why would somebody on the inside set this up? Why or rather, who would want to have me dead? I look over at $Rose who is glaring daggers at Anton. I couldn't understand why she was glaring at him so hard. But at the same time Anton just looked at her and was glaring back at her with the same ferocity.

“Rose you know that this needs to happen we can't go on hiding this from her and you know damn good and well dish deserves to know.” and walks away from the door and proceeds to walk towards the edge of my bed and he sits on the opposite side of where Rose is.

“Kat, I don't mean to scare you and I need you to understand that, but I am here to protect you and that is of the orders of your parents. the fact that you got shot today while there were four of us on duty to guard you is something that I take very seriously, and we need to get to the bottom of this. now what I am about to tell you, well you are probably not gonna like and quite honestly that’s just gonna have to be how it is because you have to know because And more importantly Rose cannot keep you safe if you don't know what you're up against.” he looks me dead in the eyes and I stare back at him to meet his gaze so that I can at least try to understand the message that he is trying to convey. When I look into his eyes, they're shining a bright emerald green and I know that he is telling me the truth.

I shift my gaze over to Rose. I look at her with the question in my eyes and she knows exactly what I mean. The only thing that's different now is that she can't even bother to look me in the eyes her gaze shifts away as she starts to fidget with her fingers at her sides. finally, after a couple of minutes she takes a deep breath she looks at me and then looks at Anton.

“yeah, I guess you're right. She does need to know what happens I was just hoping that I could have hit it from her a little bit longer because she deserved to have the happiness. But all things considered,” she looks me directly in the eyes and takes my hands within hers. “cat the one thing that you need to remember is that Anton and I are the only ones that you can trust. We have been here since the beginning as you know and we're the ones that know exactly what's going on and we tell you this it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be pretty.”

I can feel my heart rate speeding up and I can feel my hands starting to get clammy. What on earth could they possibly want to tell me every possible scenario is going through my head. Some of them are as innocent as Rose doesn't even love me and she just wanted to see if she could get with me others are more dangerous like did my family fail and does God owe money to someone that we can't pay back. I don't understand how it's possible because where the richest syndicate on this side of the world so I really don't understand how that would be. Rose must have seen my spiraling mind. Because she quickly took my face in her hands.

“Now I know that you’re scared KitKat, but Anton and I are going to make sure that you're safe.”  normally I nod my head in a silent agreement to let them continue.

“So, let's start from the beginning.” Anton told me. His voice had gotten extremely quiet and he couldn't look me in the eyes. It was almost as if he was ashamed of what was happening. I arch my eyebrows up in a silent question to them both.

“Katherine your parents are not actually your parents.” I wait to see what their reaction is thinking that they're just pulling my leg of course my parents are my real parents. I'm not adopted I've got baby photos to prove it I've only been around my parents my entire life. You would think that I would know if I was adopted. I’ve got my dad's eyes and I've got my mom's hair and I've got both of their complexions like it's pretty clear that I'm their child. a wide grin splits on my face.

“What on earth are you even talking about? Of course, my parents are my real parents. Rose I know you’ve only been here since I was 15 but Anton you should have realized it since you were here since I can remember.” I look between the two of them and realize that they're staring at each other partially in disbelief and partially in agreement.

“Kat that's why this is so hard to tell you.” Rose shifts so that she's closer to me.

 “I see the evidence I've seen everything and so has Anton. The reason why there are baby pictures of you and your adopted parents is because technically yes, they did adopt you when you were a baby. But that doesn't mean that your adoptive mom is the one that gave birth to you. You see the real reason we’re here in this situation is because…” she trails off and looks at Anton. The look in her eyes almost is asking him if he's sure that they should be telling me this next big secret and I can tell that it's big because it's almost like they're having a silent conversation with just their eyes. finally, I get too nervous and too worked up over this situation look at both of them and cross my arms over my chest.

“The real reason is because of what?! Both of you need to start talking before I get seriously pissed you have been beating around the damn bush for the past 10 minutes now if you have something to say I want to hear it and stop circumventing subject.”

On the inside I was very proud of myself for how I sounded because I actually sounded like I had all of my emotions and control when in reality if you would have dug down a little bit deeper, I am a scared mess. On the inside I was absolutely trembling and shaking as to what they were going to tell me like am I promised to another person that is of serial killer or something? I mean technically if you think about it, they've already just dropped the biggest bombshell that they could have on me.

Granted do I fully believe them No. Not right now there is no substantial proof and maybe there will be proof with what they were trying to tell me but right now I'm kind of just feeling it out. Well yes, I have very significant feelings for Rose, and I am greatly indebted to Anton because he has been there since the beginning this is a lot to take in.

 After about another 5 minutes of absolute silence and me sitting there panicking about what they're going to say Anton finally takes a deep breath and let's it out very slowly. He takes his hand, and he pinches the bridge in between his eyes and almost as if he regrets saying it, he says,

“Rose just spit it out. Just spit it out as fast as you can it's not going to make this any easier on her it's not going to make this any better. It's not going to take away the pain and she needs to know she has the right to know. And you know how I am. I don't sugarcoat things not that I think she needs it, but it'll be easier for her to hear it from you than to hear it from me. “I am now down right panicking. I can feel my limbs shaking I can feel my heartbeat becoming so fast that I know that I can't be healthy, and I can hear the panting that my labored breathing is causing me to do. I am on the verge of having a full-blown panic attack.

 Rose notices this and she snaps out of whatever she had been thinking about and takes my face in their hands like she has done countless times when I was having panic attacks when I was younger.

“Kat, I need you to look me in the eyes right now.” the way she says it is commuting but it's also soft and almost alluring. I bring my eyes up to meet hers.

“All right now just like old times need you to name five things that you can see.” I look around the room for a little bit recognizing the grounding tactic for what it is and being thankful that she knows exactly what to do. I don’t know what I would do if she wasn’t by my side.

“I can see you, I can see Anton, I can see my cream white sheets, I can see the picture hanging on the wall of a Meadow, I can see the wall in front of me.” I replied to her. My voice is super soft, and I can hear my voice trembling with the effort of not just breaking down screaming.

                “Good girl.” Rose replies to me in a very soft and endearing tone that makes me calm down a little bit further.

“Now I need you to tell me 4 things that you can touch or four things that you can feel.”

I sit there for a minute before I can finally get out.

“I can feel the warmth of your breath on my face, I can feel how the bed is dipped down where Anton is sitting on it, I can feel the smoothness of the sheets underneath my fingertips, then I can feel the tears running down my face.” To be honest I didn't even know I was crying until I had told her that I could feel my tears it didn't even register to mouths did the same thing that she always does when I have a panic attack. With her hands cupped around my face she used her thumbs to wipe away my tears. Just like she did when I first met her. It’s crazy to think that we've come so far, it’s also crazy to think how much time is passed. Rose pulls me out of my own thoughts when she says,

“Good. You’re doing great baby girl. Now I need you to name three things that you can hear.”

“I can hear your breathing and how it's steady and calm. I can hear the birds chirping outside and I can also hear Anton’s breathing which is a little faster than yours because he's trying to calm himself down.”

I hear a small snicker from Anton.

“I am perfectly calm I'll have you know.” He says a little defensively at me.

Rose just rolled her eyes and smiles.

“Alright now I need two things that you can smell.”

“I can smell your perfume and I can smell Anton sweat.” I giggle at the response because I know that Anton wouldn't want me talking about that. Almost as if on cue Anton mockingly puts his hand over his heart in exaggeration and inhales deeply and speaks.

“It's not that bad! It not my fault that we have been here for a week and they don’t have any men’s products laying around here in this hideout!” I giggle at his outburst. Just the sound of him getting slightly defensive and the way we are all getting along right now is helping to ease the tension. It's also helping to ground me. It reminds me that eve3rything will be okay as long as I have them by my side.

“Alright last one name one thing that you can taste.” Already feeling closer to my normal sarcastic self, I lick my lips a few times and give her a coy smile.

“I can taste your strawberry Chapstick on my lips.” I see Rose's eyes go wide and she realizes what I just said. I can also hear Anton stifling a laugh from the corner of my bed. It doesn't take long at all before he just full-on bursts out laughing and looks at rose looks back at me and says,

“And that ladies are how we know that Kit Kat is back!” Anton and I start laughing at it well I can see the faintest blush appear on Roses cheeks and I almost go to say something but then I see her throw something at Anton. It hit him smack in the center of his forehead and think better of it.

“Alright you too now that I am mostly calm and I'm not about to go off the deep end what’s going on what do I need to know let's so important promise I can handle it. Especially if you two are the only people that I can trust them I've gotta say I think I'm gonna do great well taken care of trust both of you with my life.” and as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I can visibly see both of them deflate as if they were expecting me to reject this in a way. They still have some tension in their bodies but it's not nearly as much as it was before.

“Alright then I'm just gonna cut to the chase. Your parents want your parents that much you already know nothing that you don't know is that your real parents one murdered by your foster parents. Your real parents where the heads of the largest mafia chain in Europe. No one knows exactly how your foster parents did it, but we do know that the entire European mafia is looking for you and they have been looking for you since you were five.”