"I look like my brother!"
"You look just fine, Alexei! Besides, Dréy doesn't have short twists!"
Staring into the mirror, the two young men take a look at their new haircuts.
"You did a wonderful job, Miss Jazlyn." Kazimir says, fluffing his hair. "I like it."
"Why thank you, Kazimir. I wish my cousin here was more thankful as well."
Alexei sighs.
"I am thankful. I just don't think it suits me, but I'll take it. Here's a tip for your hard work."
"No, it's all on me!" Jazlyn says, smiling.
"Look Alexei! Look Mr. Kazimir! Look what Jaz did to my hair!"
"It's very pretty, Khristina." Kazimir says, watching as the young girl twirls around the salon.
"Yes, it's nice, although it's kind of adultish." Alexei adds, grabbing his sister's hand.
"No it's not! You better shut up before I pour ice cream in your hair!" Khristina says, angrily stomping her foot.
The young law student sighs, picking up Khristina and walking over to the door.
"I guess that's our cue to get going. Thank you, Jazlyn. See you soon."
"Goodbye Alexei! Bye bye, Khristina!" Jazlyn says, waving.
"Goodbye, Kazimir!"
"Thanks again, miss." Kazimir says, following behind the two siblings.
"Can we make pecan pie later?" Khristina asks, swinging her legs.
Alexei shrugs.
"I don't see why not."
Throwing her arms up in the air, Khristina happily cheers.
"Yay! Bro Bro, are those your friends surrounding the car?"
Looking over at his car, Alexei lightly groans as a group of men take pictures of it.
"I don't know who those people are, Khrissy."
Walking over to the car, one of the men wave Alexei over.
"Yo, this yo' Dawn?!"
"Yes, it is." The young law student says, putting Khristina down who runs over to Kazimir.
"You mind if we take a lil' spin in it?" another one of the men asks. "She's cute as hell."
"Yeah, I do mind." Alexei says, reaching underneath his shirt. "Now get the fuck away from my car."
The men loudly groan before walking off.
"Hurry and get in." Alexei says, starting the car. "They'll be back in a few."
"Can we get cheeseburgers?!" Khristina asks, climbing into the backseat.
"Of course, Khrissy."
Looking through the back window, the small girl frowns.
"There's a car following us! It's blue and it has the same people in it that you said weren't your friends!"
Quickly turning a random corner, Alexei stops the car and turns to his little sister before giving her a smile.
"I'm going to drop you and Mr. Cizetto off here. There should be a Dairy Queen a couple of blocks down where you can get your food. Mr. Cizetto will take you there and I'll meet up with you two in a couple of minutes."
"Okay, Bro Bro!" the small girl replies, getting out of the car. "But why can't you come too?"
"I have some business that I need to handle first, alright?"
"Alright." Khristina says, sighing. "Come on Mr. Kazimir! I know where the restaurant is!"
The two walk down the sidewalk before entering the Dairy Queen.
"Can I get onion rings and a cookies and cream milkshake too, Mr. Kazimir?"
"Sure." the young detective replies with a nod.
Watching as Kazimir orders, Khristina excitedly spins around, eventually falling into a seat.
"Have you ever been to America?" Khristina asks, as Kazimir hands her the milkshake.
"Nah, it's my first time."
"Did you not want anything, Mr. Cizetto?"
"I ordered some chicken nuggets." Kazimir replies, watching as Alexei took a seat next to his sister.
"Order 174!" a cashier calls out, sliding the fast food bag on the counter.
After grabbing the food, the young law student hands it to his sister who quickly begins to eat.
"Can we go shopping after this?" Khristina asks, sipping part of her milkshake.
Alexei shrugs and nods.
"Where would you like to go?"
"Where papa always took me!" Khristina replies. "To the toy store!"
"Finish your food first and then we'll go."
"But I'm not hungry anymore! And what if I wanna drink my milkshake while pointing out toys that I want?"
"Khristina, I know you're telling lies." Alexei says, picking up one of Kazimir's chicken nuggets. "You can take the milkshake with you, but finish eating."
"Hey, don't make the little one so full she'll burst!"
Looking up, a fair-skinned man with grayish-blackish hair, light stubble, and hazel eyes smiled down at the three. A little girl around a year old stood next to him, eating an ice cream cone.
"UNCLE BRENT!"
Jumping up from her seat, Khristina gives the man a hug and smiles up at him.
"Small world, ain't it?" Brent says, picking Khristina up. "What're you all doing in town?"
"Well, I'd like to ask you the same thing." Alexei says, giving the man a soft smile.
"My son, my daughter-in-law, my niece and I are all going on a trip around the States. Now may I get an answer to my question?"
"I'm headed to Vegas along with my right-hand man, Kazimir Cizetto."
"Cizetto, Cizetto, Cizetto." Brent repeats as he sits down. "You have any relation to a Camille Cizetto?"
The young detective nods.
"So you haven't forgotten?"
"Of course not. My younger son planned to marry your sister once they both finished college. He was head over heels for the girl. Went and got him therapy after her death, but he kept saying a sense of guilt would always follow him for life. I'm sure you know he ended his own shortly after Camille's murder."
"Sorry to hear that." Kazimir says.
The older man shrugs.
"It's fine. Hopefully he's doing better now. Alexei, have you heard from the head CEO of our company recently?"
"No, I haven't. Why?"
"Well, he's vanished into thin air. No one at the company knows where he went. Even his own family doesn't have a clue."
"I see." the law student says. "Then until he's found, we'll need an acting CEO. We can't just-
*Ding!*
Picking up his phone, Brent reads the message on the screen before putting it down and sighing.
"Welp, they found him. Dead. In an abandoned building in Monaco along with hundreds of other people."
Pretending to be surprised, Alexei raises a brow.
"What?! No, this can't be true. I just had lunch with him a couple days ago."
"It is, son." Brent replies, handing the young man the phone. "The board members talked to the police and they believe he was part of some type of trafficking cult."
"And here I was thinking he was a good man. Just goes to show you can't really trust anyone these days."
Handing the phone back to his co-worker, Alexei gets up from his seat.
"It was nice seeing you, Mr. Domonkos. However, Khristina here wants some new toys and we should get going before the store closes. Believe it or not, this little one will waste a whole day in the place."
"Finally!" Khristina says, hopping out of her seat. "Bye bye, uncle Brent! See you later!"
"Goodbye, Khrissy! Goodbye, Alexei. Goodbye, Mr. Cizetto."
The two young men wave bye as Khristina skips between them.
"How much would you like to bet he's here for the trip to Vegas?" Alexei asks, watching as the small girl ran ahead to the car.
Kazimir mentally chuckles and looks up at the sky.
"My life."
------
"And this turkey sandwich is for you!"
Unwrapping the foil, Caio thanks Nia as he takes a bite.
"I feel useless for not helping you in any of this picnic preparation."
"It's fine, Caio! You've been working very hard and need this time to relax, anyway."
"I do hope I'm not too late."
Watching as Mihajl sat down, Nia shakes her head.
"You're not late at all, Mihajl! I made you a sandwich!"
She hands him a sandwich and he smiles.
"Turkey. One of my favorites."
"Now that you're both here, I can properly introduce you both. Caio, this is my friend, Mihajl Hatmanu. Mihajl, this is my friend, Caio Níserraté." Nia says, clasping her hands together.
Mihajl extends a hand for Caio to shake.
"It's nice to meet you, young man."
"No, it's a pleasure meeting you. I do hope you're treating Nia with manners. She's a very sweet person and deserves the world." Caio says, glaring into what he deemed his enemy's eyes.
Mihajl smirks and glares back at him.
"Well, only Nia can be the judge of that."
The young woman giggles and nods.
"Both of you are very well-mannered men. You both needn't to worry about the other. I'm going to get us some cookies from the bakery. Why don't you two stay here and get to know each other more?"
Waiting until she walked a bit further away, Caio speaks up.
"I usually don't prefer Nia to have guy friends, but you seem to be a decent man."
"She's your lady?" Mihajl asks, feeding a small bird a bread crumb.
"Yes she is, which means don't try and get comfy with her."
Chuckling, Mihajl shakes his head and puts his sandwich on the foil.
"I believe we're sharing the same woman, Mr. Níserraté. You should know she has a beautiful voice that goes beyond reading."
"You fucking liar; Nia isn't like that." Caio says, his brows furrowing. "I knew you were bad news."
"When I said beyond reading, I meant singing. You're a dirty-minded little bastard, aren't you?"
"You bitch, I know what you meant by that." Caio replies, gritting his teeth. "I don't know what you have planned up your sleeve, but it you dare try and come between me and Nia, I'll make sure the only place she can see you again is from your grave."
Mihajl laughs.
"I feel as if you're all talk, Mr. Níserraté. Please feel free to kill me anytime you'd like because I'm not letting Nia out of my grasp."
"I'll take up your offer then." Caio says, with a smile as Nia hands him a chocolate chip cookie.
"I'm glad you two are getting along!" Nia says, sitting across from the two men. "I was a bit worried that you both wouldn't want anything to do with the other, but I'm glad you proved me wrong."
"Afraid?" Mihajl asks, taking a bite of his cookie.
"Yes. Sometimes in the books I read, when there's two men and one girl, the two men tend to get jealous of the other causing the girl to either leave or get killed somehow. Not saying it'll happen between the three of us, but it does happen more often than one would think in reality."
Jumping up, the young woman stretches and smiles down at the two men.
"How about we go for a walk around the city? I haven't gotten to take one in so long and now that I know I have two good friends, I highly believe this'll be one for the books!"