Chapter 3: Mae Kazimi

I'm going to be really honest and say Alek Russo has changed.

Like….a lot.

One minute I was sitting at the booth all alone, and the next second Alek Russo was sliding into the chair beside me and then his hood was off.

And damn that sexy nose!

His nose was just a perfect shape and fit so amazingly on his face. I've never felt so jealous in my entire life. I tried so hard not to gawk but like….you would too if you saw it.

He'd grown older and looked mature. The last time I saw him was three years ago, when he was only eighteen years old. It's surprising how much three years can change a person.

I can still remember the flush on my skin when he asked about my parents, his black eyes boring into mine as he spoke. I can still remember the smirk he shot me after I asked what use he was to his father. I still recall the way his soft black hair shone under the sparkling lights of the bar.

And all of this just made me want to strangle him ten times more.

Now, as I fight my way through the roaring crowd after him as the fire rages on behind us, I know we're being followed. All the training from Hale and experience from being Shadow suddenly kicks in, and I am no longer Mae Kazimi.

I'm Shadow.

I watch the man in black making his way towards the back door, the same way Alek went five seconds ago. I shove a sobbing man who clutches an injured arm out of my way, hands going straight to the set of knives I've hidden away in my clothes.

Alright, go on. Say what you want. It may sound stupid to bring knives to a gun fight but you won't be saying that when I throw one at your throat.

"Alek, you freaking idiot," I mutter under my breath as I finally reach Alek who stands frozen at the back door.

Before I can yell at him to get out, my eyes fall onto the man in black and his hands that are slowly slipping into his back pocket.

Shit.

Just as something sharp and deadly whisks past my face, I open the back door and shove Alek out into the night. The small knife wedges into the wooden walls of the bar with a loud thud, making my heart slowly crawl into my throat.

A knife.

I run after Alek, shutting the back door behind me, the sound of sirens wailing in the distance. Alek stands before me, his dark hair a mess on his head, and his dark eyes blinking at a bleeding wound on his left arm.

"Why were you just standing there?" I breathe, clutching my stomach as the recent events replay in my brain. "What kind of mafia heir are you? Did your training just….poof!...disappear?"

Alek slowly turns his angry eyes to meet my wild ones, and says nothing. I'm still breathing hard, and anger is slowly making its way through my veins. How dare he ignore me?

"Russo!" I bark, shoving him hard in the chest. "Are you deaf as well as dumb?"

This time, he turns to me, eyes flashing in such anger I've never seen before.

"Vaffanculo! (fuck off!)" he snarls. "Vattene! (Get out!)"

"I don't speak Italian, mr.mobster," I hiss in reply. "I just saved your life! A thank you will do just fine!"

"Thank you," a voice equally as breathless as mine speaks from behind. "Thank you Ms.Kazmi, our father will greatly appreciate this gesture."

I whirl around at the sound, and come face to face with a tall man, his hair almost identical to Alek's and his eyes a light brown under the lamp light.

"Lorenzo," Alek grits his teeth. "What are you doing here?"

Lorenzo, who must be his half brother if all the rumors are correct, turns to Alek, "Father heard of what happened, Alek. He wants you home-"

Alek lets out an angry laugh and approaches his younger brother. From where I stand, I can feel the tension oozing off of the two brothers as Alek looms over Lorenzo, a threatening six foot something. I mean, I didn't have time to exactly count.

"Is that it, Lorenzo? You're not here to babysit me?" Alek asks, clenching his jaw.

Lorenzo sighs, "Alek, please-"

"Go home."

"Alek-"

"That was an order."

From the way Lorenzo looks at Alek, his older brother, all I can see is admiration in his eyes. He looks up to Alek, and he loves him. It's obvious. The emotion is so blatant on his face that it makes me so furious to see Alek just simply reject it.

I step in, "Go home Alek. I'll deal with the assassin."

Alek snorts. I watch him from where he stands under the lamp light. His face glows and from that angle he looks almost like a fallen angel.

"Would you like a ride?" Lorenzo asks, turning his hopeful eyes to me.

His gaze is so welcoming and warm, it makes me melt. And then, I snap out of it so fast, it makes me almost jump. Those eyes….they remind me so much of Avery's. How one look from her little puppy eyes gets her whatever she wishes for.

I'll have to watch out for Lorenzo it seems.

I smile at him, and point down the alleyway to my motorbike hidden near the dumpsters. Though I doubt he can see it, I continue to point my finger at it anyways, "I've got my ride hidden somewhere down there. You two better go."

Surprisingly, this time, when Lorenzo turns to Alek, he's already moving. Without turning to give me a second glance, Alek disappears behind the building, the leather jacket that he wears over his hoodie glistening.

For a second, it's just me and Lorenzo standing under the lamp light. He turns to give me a small but knowing smile, "Thank you for saving my brother's life. I hope I can repay you in someway-"

"Don't worry about it too much," I shoot him a grin. "Just make sure he gets ice on that wound. It looks nasty."

Lorenzo gives me a small wave before following his brother down the sidewalk and behind the building, leaving me alone under the dark and starry night of New York.

After following Alek around for a week, I slipped into this club without telling Avery and Rashid. I don't know why I did it, but I did.

You see, I'm interested in Alek Russo. There's so much I don't know about what happened three years ago that I really want to know, and the only way I can find out is if I speak to Alek.

But Alek seems to hate me.

But why?

Before I can spiral away into insanity, there's a specific number I have to call. I open The HIT Network onto my phone and go into my messages.

I click the call button on User111's profile.

And then I wait.

User111 picks up at the first ring, as if they had been waiting for my call the entire time. As if they had been anticipating it.

"Shadow," they say, speaking under a voice disguise. It's a deliberate and obvious move to hide their own identity. "What is the reason for this call?"

I grit my teeth. User111 is playing with me, something I should have realized much before all of this happened. Shadow knew things before they happened, so why did I miss this important detail now?

Before I speak, I double check to make sure my own voice disguise is enabled before opening my mouth, "That assassin you sent to eliminate Alek Russo. Why was he here?"

"Ah," User111 chuckles. "You figured it out."

"Of course I figured it out, you idiot. Did you really think you could hide the fact that you sent a HIT request to more than one assassin on the network? It was smart, but it was predictable. And being predictable is never good."

User111 huffs into the phone as if they find my words amusing, "There were a lot of assassins eager for this job and money. How could I refuse?"

I clench my jaw and wait for User111 to continue.

"You have a limited amount of days to kill Alek Russo, Shadow. If you saw one of my assassins, that means you were either with him or near him. Whatever the case, I advise you to hurry up with whatever tactics or plans you come up with before assassinating someone as powerful and well-trained as him. I should warn you though, he is quite dangerous."

I bring my phone closer to my mouth, "This is a dirty game you're playing, User111. Don't bite more than you can chew."

And with that, I close the call.

And yes, that last sentence was a threat. A threat User111 might not realize now, but they will soon enough. When it's too late of course.

I now have two options. One, play into User111's hands and do as they please. Which is, by the way, to kill Alek. Or two, I can completely ignore User111's demands and do as I please. Which means, keep Alek alive just to spite User111. And perhaps, maybe, even find out who wants Alek dead.

Which one is the bigger win?

But then again, I could also keep Alek alive until I find out who User111 is. Once I find out, I can kill Alek, get my money and live happily ever after.

But whatever option I choose, there's a nagging question I can't get out of my head. Why does User111 want Alek eliminated so badly? What makes User111 so desperate that they sent out more than one dangerously trained assassin after Alek Russo, the heir to the Italian mafia?

You know how they say, 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer?' Well, that's exactly what I plan to do.

There is no way I am playing into anyone's game. I'm going to play my own game and get that 150 million bucks by the end of it.

Because why not?

With my decision made, I make my way towards my motorcycle that is hidden behind the cluster of large dumpsters with a skip in my step.

"Count your days Alek Russo," I whisper into the air. "You ain't got that many left."