Walking into the casino building, Kazimir looks around the busy room, both men and women gambling their paycheck away, hoping to win a big lump sum.
"Now there's a game we can get into." Alexei says with a smile as he makes his way through the large crowd. "Seems like this round of baccarat is paying pretty well. Mr. Cizetto, just watch what I do."
The two make their way over to the table and Alexei takes a seat, swiping his card into the card reader.
"$2 million on a tie, sir."
The others sitting at the table go silent and turn to each other. They all thought the young law student had lost it.
"I'd like to up his offer! I want to place $5 million on the banker's hand!" an older man yells.
He turns to Alexei and gives him a smirk.
"You're quite bold to put that much on a tie, young one. But everyone knows the banker's card always triumphs in the end."
The dealer of the cards nods and begins to shuffle.
"Does it?" Alexei asks, watching as the dealer lays out the cards. "As the saying goes, always trust your instinct."
Sliding the cards forward, the dealer turns them over.
"Eight on the banker's, eight on the player's! Our winner is Mr. Alexei La'rine!"
The large group watches as all of their money gets transferred over to the young law student.
Grinning, Alexei places the card back into his wallet and walks back over to Kazimir.
"Simple $8 million. Remember, bet a comfortable amount of money and trust your first instinct."
"Got it." Kazimir says.
Taking a seat, Kazimir places around $3,000 on the table. He carefully watches the dealer hands, noticing he tapped both of his palms the same amount of times.
"I'd like to place $3,000 on a tie."
A woman sitting beside Kazimir laughs and turns to him.
"You and that other kid must be friends. They're not going to allow two ties in a row. Dealer, $700,000 on the player's hand!"
After taking the large group's bids, the dealer begins to shuffle and Kazimir watches as other people talk with each other about how they'd use the money.
"You sure don't look too confident in your guess." the woman says, taking out a cigarette. "What's your name, kid?"
"It's Kazimir."
She stares at him for a bit.
"Is that your natural look or did you just dye your hair and put in eye contacts?"
"It's how I came out the womb, miss." the young detective replies.
Placing the cards down, everyone watches as the dealer turns them over.
"Two on player's and two on banker's! Our winner for this round is Kazimir Cizetto!"
Everyone angrily watches as the young man inserts his card into a reader to receive his money.
"What?! How is this even right?!" the woman asks, putting her still lit cigarette on the table.
"You'll be paying more than $700,000 if you don't put your cigarette out, lady."
Kazimir walks back over to Alexei who gives him a warm smile.
"That was pretty bold of you to bet a tie."
"I really didn't know what to pick, but I watched the dealer's hands before he dealt the cards and that pretty much summed it all up."
Alexei deeply chuckles.
"A hand trick? Never heard of it."
"Cuban cigar, boys?"
Turning to their left, Kazimir and Alexei come face to face with Brent Domonkos.
"I suppose it really is a small world, no?" Alexei says, shaking his hand at the man's offer.
"Your father used to smoke these all the time. That's the only habit you haven't picked up from him, huh? What about you, son?"
"Thanks, but I don't smoke." Kazimir replies.
Shrugging, Brent puts the cigars back into his suit pocket.
"Still gambling like a lunatic?" Alexei asks, watching as a bartender pours the older man a glass of wine.
"No, I've given up on that a long time ago. I'm just here because my daughter-in-law wouldn't shut up about taking a trip here to Las Vegas." Brent replies.
He points to a lady who was currently standing in front of a slot machine.
"Kazimir!"
Turning around, the young man watches as Ellie quickly walks over to him, motioning for him to come down to her height.
"I've found him! I know where Arnold Tamb is!"
Nodding, Kazimir turns back to Alexei and Brent.
"I'll be back."
The two watch as Kazimir and Ellie quickly walk off.
"Your friend doesn't seem like the type to be into quickies."
The young law student shrugs.
"Doubt that's what it is. Anyway, I'd like to discuss something with you."
Heading onto the balcony, Alexei leans against the railing, looking at the busy street down below.
"So what-
"I want the company, Brent."
The older man laughs.
"Maybe when you're older. Like your father."
"It's funny that you say that since my father never became the head CEO like he should've." Alexei says, crossing his arms. "I know you were the one who killed him, Brent."
Brent laughs and shakes his head.
"Me? Kill my wingman? You've got it all wrong, son."
"Does the name Merderaé ring a bell?"
Taking out his phone, Alexei shows him a picture of the lifeless airline CEO he killed back in Monaco and Brent raises a brow.
"First, I'll let the media know you were the one who killed my father and I'll make sure the rest of your family goes down with you. After that, I'll have your dead body photographed next to the former CEO if you don't agree to turn the company over to me. I suggest you take up this one-time offer; I'd hate to see Jai lose his favorite uncle."
"Alright, she's all yours." Brent says. "I was planning on quitting after one more year, anyway. Seems my time has come earlier than expected. And one more thing before we part ways; give this to your brother."
Brent hands Alexei an envelope and he opens it.
"Your father and I were young and dumb, both fooling around with your mother. Ended up having a threesome one drunken night before your parents' wedding and that's when baby Dréy was conceived."
"Eh, so my brother is a half-breed." Alexei says, looking at Dréy's DNA statement. "I always knew he didn't look like a full part of the family."
"Well shit, you're making it seem like he's an animal of some sort. See you around, kid."
Grabbing Brent's arm, Alexei shakes the envelope in the man's face.
"He's your child, not mine. You're going to be the one to tell him, deadbeat. I'll arrange a meeting in a public spot where you two can meet up. Things don't seem to end well with you visiting people on your own."
"If you say so." Brent says, looking at his watch. "Later."
The law student watches as the older man waves to Kazimir who made his way over to the balcony's railing.
"Ellie's talking to Arnold right now. She should be bringing him out here in the next couple of minutes."
Looking at the young detective's eyes, Alexei laughs.
"You look like your starving to kill someone, Kazimir. Luckily for you, there's no cameras around. Hoping to put on a good show tonight?"
"Yeah, but it'll be fast."
Hearing the balcony's door slide open, Kazimir and Alexei watch as Ellie leads a young man over to the both of them.
"Arnold, these are my friends, Alexei and Kazimir."
"It's nice to meet you both." Arnold says, shaking each of the young men's hands. "Ellie tells me you each have your own company."
Arnold leans against the railing and chuckles.
"I think we should talk more business; I mean, we'd all make great business partners."
"You may have a point, but I don't just do business with anyone." Alexei replies, subtly giving Kazimir a thumbs up. "However since your father is the new head of Claiza's City Police and Special Forces Department and I'm very good acquaintances with them, I may consider a trade of some sort. What type of company do you own anyway?"
Turning to Alexei, Arnold gives him a smile.
"I sell cars for a living. The luxury brands."
"Hmm, I could use a new car. May I have your-
*BANG!*
Watching as the man fell to the ground, Alexei smiles as Kazimir puts his handgun back into his suit pocket.
"Just kidding about doing business with you."
Picking Arnold's lifeless body up, Kazimir slides it up against the balcony railing, before pushing the dead man over.
"He dropped his wallet." the young detective says, handing it to Ellie. "Take this, max out each of his cards, and use some of the money to take a flight back to wherever you said you were from."
"But I promised myself that I'd stop participating in illegal activities." the young woman says, frowning.
Alexei chuckles and cups Ellie's chin.
"You participated in trafficking, dear. A little identity theft won't hurt you."
"Um, didn't you say you were in law school?"
"Arnold raped and killed Mr. Cizetto's sister. He deserved what was coming to him. Just think of yourself as doing Kazimir a good favor once you max out the cards." Alexei replies. "Put yourself in Kazimir's shoes; if Arnold killed your current boyfriend to get to you, wouldn't you want him dead as well?"
"I see where you're coming from. This'll be the last illegal act I'm participating in, though."
Ellie puts the wallet in her purse before giving the two young men a hug.
"I'd like to thank you both for continuing to help me out even though I lied at first. Please keep doing what you're doing. You don't know how many people would be so grateful to have such caring young men such as you two come to their rescue. Goodbye."
Alexei and Kazimir watch as Ellie makes her way back inside, before turning to each other.
"Well played, detective. Tomorrow's game of the night will be poker." the law student says, checking his phone. "I'm heading back to the hotel, don't stay out too late."
Looking up at the night sky, Kazimir closes his eyes. The small breeze felt nice against his face.
"Ah, you sure clean up nice."
Annoyed, Kazimir turns to the familiar voice and groans, before looking forward.
"Can I fucking help you, Haruno?"
"It's Haruki, but yes, you can. My little cousin Milette has a crush on you."
"I'm flattered."
"You sound sarcastic, that's good." Haruki says. "I don't want you dating her. Something seems off about you."
The young detective sighs.
"Wasn't planning to."
*CLICK!*
Kazimir turns to Haruki, who held a gun in between his eyes.
"Now that that's over, I'd like to talk you about Khristina La'rine."