"My goodness, such a stubborn little kitty, aren't you?"
Alexei chuckles as he gently scratches behind the small kitten's ears, pushing him towards the bowl of cat food.
"This is premium caviar, you know. And over here–
Sliding over a bowl of milk, he watches as the kitten quickly goes to it.
"Aha. You like milk but you don't seem to fancy caviar. What an interesting animal you are."
DING!
Picking up his cellphone from the table, his eyes brighten at the email notification.
"The results have been posted and we've been ranked as well. I will admit, I did struggle on one part. Hope it isn't too bad."
Looking down the list, Alexei reads through the names before smiling at the number 1 beside his.
"I did it. All that work of studying and losing sleep paid off. No one here to help me but myself. I'm finally going to have my own law firm."
He laughs as he looks out the window, a reflection of a picture frame catching his eye.
Walking to the fireplace, he picks up the framed photo of him and his friend during their high school graduation.
"I did it, Amir. I know I handled the main perpetrator but now I can finally get your family proper justice."
BRRRRINNNNGG!
With a deep sigh, the young man looks down at the caller ID before answering.
"Good evening, Jai. How can I help you?"
"BRO! I GOT FIRST PLACE! YOU AND ME GOT FIRST PLACE!"
With a confused face, Alexei quickly opens his laptop to check the list from there.
"What the hell?"
"I KNOW BRO! I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD PASS BUT I DID! AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO YIMIRAH! SHE HELPED ME OUT A LOT!"
"So why isn't she in 1st? Why is she in 2nd?" Alexei asks, reading over the list again.
"I don't know. Wait, I do know! She said she didn't know we were supposed to study for the last two sections. Cut her some slack, man. The poor girl's been working full-time trying to help with her family's expenses."
"Well why didn't you help her with those expenses, Mr. Apex Legends?"
"I tried but she kept denying and didn't want to rely on a guy because she thinks I have "ulterior motives"." Jai replies.
"And do you not?"
"I do not, my man. I don't want to push her away and make her think that I do but I just wish she knows that I'm there for her. It makes my heart sad to see her do all that by herself. I mean 10 hour shifts every 5 days, man. She needs to chill."
Alexei smirks as he listens to Jai's complaints.
"Then start stalking her. Start blackmailing and threatening her."
"Huh? What in the–I can't do that, that's in–
"So was killing that boy and stuffing him into a locker. Yimirah was the victim, not you. It would've been a different story had she killed him, but that guy posed no threat to you."
Jai sits up in his seat and raises a brow.
"She was getting assaulted, Alexei. What're you talking about?"
"I'm just talking from a legal standpoint, Jai. You're already a criminal. Might as well use it to your advantage while you can."
"But that was helping her and other–
"Jai. The guy didn't touch you. You proceeded to kill him. Now that you have a dirty trail, you might as well go ahead and add to it."
"Or I can finally take over my dad's company and have her work for me."
Alexei nods as he takes a sip of water.
"That's a great idea. She seems to like working. Lead her on for a while with just the idea that she's an employee but while you're doing that, give her special treatment from everyone else. Start out small so she won't be suspicious; thank you notes and coffee. Then as she gets comfortable, invite her to lunch and dinner. After that, lavish gifts and then ask her to be your lady. She won't hesitate to say yes."
Shrugging, Jai nods.
"Honestly, that doesn't even sound bad at all."
"It never was. If you'll excuse me, I have to go."
Jai listens to the line on the other end go dead before swiping on another contact.
"Hello, Yimirah? It's Jai. I have a position for you."
—————
"And the little princess lived happily ever after."
Smiling as Khristina drifted away in slumber, Kazimir kisses her forehead.
"Goodnight my little princess."
Quietly closing her door, he makes his way to his room to finish finalizing two large purchases.
"Good, they'll be here in two days."
"ARF!"
Looking down, Kazimir sighs.
"Carabelle, your room is on the other side."
"ARF!"
"What're you crying about? I need one of these cars for my trip to Florida. I have business to handle. I wonder if Xolani has ever been to Florida."
ARF!"
"Oh, I haven't told you about her yet. Xolani's a new girl at work. Just like Nia except add on that she's out for blood. I like that. Nia was a little more hesitant to do those things. Don't get me wrong, I would want for my woman to be caring but she also needs to understand the corruption running rampant through this city. Don't you agree, girl?"
Scratching the puppy's back, Kazimir blinks a few times.
"I just wish she'd listen to me more. She's skilled but she needs hella practice. I wanna help her but I don't want her to be in the front and killing others. I don't think so much of that is meant for women. Maybe she should start working behind the scenes, handing me the guns while I shoot and making sure they have bullets. Or hiding behind me while she tracks the enemy's next movements."
He picks up Carabelle, taking her to the next room.
"Sweet dreams, girl."
—————-
"Mr. Kazimir!"
Slowly opening his eyes, the young detective watches as Khristina holds a plush sea otter close to her chest.
"Khristina, it's 2:00 in the—
"There's someone standing in the driveway! It looks scary!"
Getting out of bed, Kazimir follows Khristina to her room and looks out of the window. A tallish figure dressed in all black stood near one of the vehicles, almost as if the person was waiting for someone to come along.
"You stay up here, Khristina."
"But you can't go alone, Mr. Kazimir! I don't like the words it was saying earlier."
"Words?"
The small girl nods.
"It was saying something I couldn't understand but I heard it and it made me scared to go to you. But I did it anyway!"
"Do you know if he climbed up to your window and said this to you directly or did he just shout it from the driveway?"
"I don't know, I was scared to look out my window but I saw a hand at my window and I ran to you!"
Kazimir nods and tells Khristina to stay in her room until he came back.
Walking downstairs, the young detective enters the foyer and immediately looks out the window.
"I don't wanna scare him away, so I guess I should use the garage to creep up on him. What the hell is he just standing there for? Unless he's wait—
Out of the corner of his eye, Kazimir watches as one of the bushes below him moves and he laughs.
"I see now. Whoever these people are must be surrounding the house. Using the garage will definitely be a good idea, especially since it came with that back door."
Going into the garage, Kazimir closes the door behind him before slowly unlocking the back door and opening it, locking it back as he did so.
Gently closing it, he steps outside and looks around, scanning his property's perimeter.
"Four of them in total. I'll start with the one behind the tree."
Stealthily walking over, Kazimir sneaks up onto the man and presses a hand against his mouth, holding a .19 with a silencer against the man's temple.
"Shh, shh, shh. You wouldn't want your friends to be worried, would you?"
Bashing the man's head into the tree, he watches as his victim quickly grows unconscious and gently places him on the ground.
"That'll hold him for a few seconds."
Gently walking along the side of his house, he quickly turns a corner, grabbing the second guy, repeating his steps from the first.
"One of your buddies is asleep right now. Why don't you join him?"
Punching the man in the neck, he watches as the man quickly drops to the ground and checks for a pulse.
"Seems like he might not be alive by the time I come back. Oh well."
Walking further, the young detective squats down and walks, sneaking up on the tall figure Khristina had originally saw.
Pulling the man down onto the concrete, Kazimir quickly uses his foot to stomp his head in between his shoe and the cold concrete.
"I tend to sleep better when my pillow is cold. How about you?"
After making sure the third man was unconscious, he crawls over to the bushes and looks inside.
Reaching in, he grabs the man's arm, pulling him and throwing him onto the ground with force.
"A sleepover with all of your friends. Doesn't that sound fun?"
The young detective watches as the man looks at him with a look of fear in his eyes.
"Maybe you should think twice before trying to take me out on my own property."
Knocking him out, Kazimir watches as he falls face first in the bushes and claps his hands.
Opening the back door to his garage, he drags the unconscious men in, one by one.
Taking a large bedsheet from upstairs, he places them on it, tying each of their hands and feet up.
"Not a sleepover I'd like to attend."