Kai read over the report for quite literally, the twentieth time.
He should have come to terms with reality by now, but the more he glanced through the details, the more his eyes could not believe what they saw.
His two targets should've been dead by now. It would've been a cold and hard lesson to the other nobles who would dare double cross him.
But when his hitman came back with a downtrodden expression and bad news that Roland and Hannah Drew were still walking free, Kai wanted to lose it.
He did things in a calculated way, taking risks only where necessary and ensuring that he finished whatever he started.
He had pondered over the different methods with which to kill them, not because they were hard to kill, but because he enjoyed this game of death, and as expected, wanted to savour the experience.
There were a variety of ways, but the simplest and most clinical approach to ending the lives of his arch-nemeses would have been a simple, well-placed, sniper shot.
He had tons of trained snipers he would've dispatched to that cause.
One bullet would've been enough, fired at an angle that would've ensured it whizzed through both skulls of the supermodels who stood side by side, killing them on the spot.
He would've—quite literally—killed two birds with one stone.
But that would've been too easy.
Instead, he decided to be more traditional, deploying one of his best assassin hitmen to finish the job.
All it took was one wide horizontal slice across the throats of both targets.
They would've both bled to death on the spot, and his hitman would've snuck away, anonymous as required.
He would've had his men on sight take pictures of the gruesome corpses to serve as an example of what happens to those who would double cross him.
And he would've relished every detail, from the blood of his victims to their lifeless eyes.
He would've tasted the sweet saltiness of victory one more time, a small addition to the countless others he had gotten.
But for some reason, that was not the case yesterday.
And today, as he sat on his pristine and polished oak wood desk—both legs crossed across its surface—he had a different taste in his mouth.
One that he wasn't used to.
It was bitter and sour, a bad taste that was stuck on his tongue. A taste he so desperately wanted to spit out but could not.
The taste of failure.
And the very thought of it angered him.
What even angered him more was that it was the Banker's daughter that got in his way.
The very girl that he had saved was the one who saw to his undoing.
Although he didn't care much for her intentions, he perfectly understood how and why she did it.
She must've spotted his hitman wielding the knife and rushed in to save the day. The mafia boss knew that she would've had good reason to do so as well.
His targets were her friend's parents afterall.
He had already gotten reports that they were at the event, but he didn't expect it to be a problem for his guy.
In fact, he soecifically told the hit man to also keep tabs on Zara and Bertha, for personal reasons of course.
Why was why he had least expected them to be a problem.
It should've been a simple in-and-out operation, but the man failed. That was probably why his body lay bloodied and mangled at the bottom of a ditch at Imperial City's outskirts.
Kai's next move would've been to dispose of this Zara girl. No one dared double cross him in this business. It rarely happened and the few times it did, he corrected it.
#But somehow, against his sheer instinct and pure will, Kai hesitated.
That was odd. He never stopped to think, even for a fleeting moment. It was something that led to failure 90% of the time.
The human instinct is a pure and untampered sense of direction. It sums up who you are as a person. It doesn't second-guess or think, it just acts.
A weapon of pure will and destruction.
And somehow, Kai found himself going entirely against his instinct, which was usually always to kill and worry about the mess later.
What even befuddled him further was understanding why he was hesitating.
This girl had ruined his operation and cheated him out of a lot of money he could've gotten from extorting and pillaging the couple's businesses.
Of course, it wasn't their modelling empire he was after. The money from that would've been peanuts to him.
No, it was something more unexpected of a noble family to be involved in, but all of that didn't matter now.
The girl had really fucked him up.
She deserved beheading, and nothing less.
So why was he restrained against his urge to kill.
Perhaps it was something about the way she walked and breathed with defiance. When she was struck down with his 2800 pound gold-plated Rolls Royce, she struggled to survive, holding onto the final strands of her consciousness like her life depended on it.
Then there was something about that feisty spirit; that sharp tongue of hers. Kai had been very amused by their last encounter.
But above all, was the fact that she had the nerve to tackle a seasoned hitman.
This girl wasn't like any other, and despite the fact that it cost him, Kai found himself admiring the whole situation.
Also, he had gotten extra reports that she was in jail. Somehow, the investigation had gone south and the whole incident had been pinned on her.
It was heavily unfair, but Kai didn't know how to feel about the issue.
Logically, he would've preferred her dead.
But emotionally, he was at a loss.
As if on cue, his phone rang.
An unknown number flashed to life on the screen, his Truecaller quickly picking up the caller's identity.
Bertha Drew.
In less than a millisecond, Kai figured everything out.
Bertha must have tried to save her friend by normal means—maybe an opposing testimony or bail money—but surely that wouldn't have worked.
He remembered giving Zara his business card. At the time, he was truly interested in who this mysterious girl was. At least then, she hadn't interrupted with his dealings.
He never expected a call from her—or at least her best friend—so soon, but now that she was in jail…
The options were limited.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Kai's lips, his neatly trimmed moustache slightly curving at the sides.
He was going to relish this.