Kai Villalvazo’s Nemesis (The Kalon Tetralogy #1)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

R E D R U M — AUSTIN HULL

?? KAI ??

T he water consumed my muscles, tightening with each stroke I made through the rough morning waters.

It was way below zero degrees, but that shit never stopped me from taking my routinely swims. I was used to it, being left out in the cold for ages until I could barely feel my bones.

My seven-year-old self would narrate the story better.

I felt so fucking alive while my body drifted through the dark, dangerous waters. Danger was my second name. There was a high chance my body would give in, but that never happened. Ever. I was walking titanium, and this was nothing compared to what we did in the Mafia.

I swam and swam until I completed my lap, then got out of the water. Something was in the air lately and I would do anything to kill it. Especially if it was convincing me to do the dirtiest things to Yasmina.

My target.

Someone I had been assigned to kill to prove myself to my boss and end my own suffering. They wanted her father to come out of hiding after he killed the Pakhan and collected all the Bratva Association’s information.

He had been collecting it for ten years and if it ever got into the wrong hands, we’d be done for. The whole Mafia would fall apart in a minute.

Hence, I was assigned to obtain information from his daughter. She definitely knew about her father’s deeds.

I was determined to incinerate her till she was unrecognisable and regain my freedom. I'd push her right into Hell and watch her burn for her father’s actions. I was anticipating that; my hatred for her surpassed any emotion I felt for anyone.

I could easily stab her on sight, but she had some information I was looking for. I'd suck her dry then leave her to die while I roamed the Earth a happy man.

Life was unfair and pretty much a fucking bitch, but tough shit. I had to do what I had to do.

From afar, Yasmina was really unfriendly and unapproachable. No one dared to talk about her, especially whenever she was with Kayden.

But up close, she was quite friendly. And hot. God, she was so fucking hot it spiked my annoying curiosity. Those long legs and thick thighs, that dark hair that would look exquisite in my fist, those viper green eyes that lured her prey in so easily it should have been illegal, and those pretty pink lips?—

Godamnit, I nearly lost my entire fucking mind when she kissed Callum on a whim. She was so feisty and unpredictable, I liked it.

She was mine. My target. Mine to kill. Mine to destroy. Mine to fucking annihilate.

I worked with algorithms and anatomy, and she barely followed the laws of human nature I’d studied and perfected over the years. It brought out a primal part of me, one that wanted to know exactly how her brain was wired.

Now usually, I brushed girls off like they were nothing. Most of them were, in fact, nothing to me but a good sport in bed. They all acted the same, reacted the same, fucked the same…

And Yasmina should have been another one of them, but something about her told me she wasn’t. The masculine mindset was wired to chase, and right now, she was doing a lot of things that wanted me to hunt her down, emotionally and mentally.

At first glance, she was nothing but a moody trust fund kid. Head held high, nose scrunched up, brows furrowed, articulate, polished English, her regal body language said it all.

And the way she punched Don last night was something I had found incredibly hot, as well. My girl was feisty as fuck; I could deal with that.

Often, I watched the way she moved, the way she sat, the way she took her time acclimatising her pen to her complex loops in her left hand. I even watched the way she smiled.

I kept making a mental reminder to incinerate whatever emotion that tried to flicker whenever she did that. But of course, she was…insufferable.

I derived joy from provoking her. The way her mouth twisted in distaste at the way I talked back fascinated me, more so the glint of irritation and fury that shaded her eyes.

I liked seeing her out of place, uncomposed. Fuck, I loved it whenever she lost her composure and acted upon her instincts. Now that’s when she followed the laws of human nature. She was naturally a fighter, and I was going to taunt her until she unleashed her inner madness.

Actions done out of anger were predictable, and I knew almost all the outcomes. After Yasmina used silence and witty comebacks as a weapon, it intrigued a part of me that wanted to always push her limits. Until she gave in and followed my strategy. One I’d worked on for ages and had been followed by everyone.

Everyone but her.

But it was only a matter of time before she surrendered. And I never fucking lost.

She thrived on competition. I did, too, and this time, she’d met her match. I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible before I took that sweet, little life of hers.

This was my job, after all; most girls fell for my eyes and physique. A few words down the line and their legs would be spreading for me. It was the same routine. I shook my head as I thought about Alice, my last victim.

It was a shame she had to die in the middle of a random street. Burying her after taking pictures of proof for the person who paid for her death hadn’t been a problem, and I went about my life as usual the next day. That was, until I was given Yasmina’s file.

Then I went through intensive training to blend in with these stupid fucking elites. The academy was the definition of old money, but with a few hints of new money. A lot of people here hadn’t lifted a mop their entire life and were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

They didn’t know what it felt like to starve. To work hard when you’re fucking tired. To be beaten up for every little mistake and to be chained to a dark past. They took life for granted.

I went back to my room for a hot shower to ease my aching muscles. When I was thoroughly washed, I simply dried myself and walked out of the bathroom, assuming no one was in my room.

I should have known Kayden would be here so early after what had happened last night while I was ‘asleep’.

“You poisoned Callum, didn’t you? And Don is actually in the ICU now.” He smirked without looking up from his phone, the toothpick between his lips rolling from side to side.

“You have so little faith in me to be a good guy.” I sucked my teeth before walking into the closet and dressing in all-black attire. My signature look.

“You don’t want to be a good guy, Kai. You love being bad.”

“Perhaps I do. But I have priorities, and there are bigger problems in the world.” I shrugged, slipping my rings on while using one swift pivot of my broad shoulder blades to wear the rest of my jacket.

Kayden was my first and most likely was going to be my only friend. We immediately clicked the first time we met and I knew we had the same, dark, fucked up thoughts and personality traits. Surprisingly, he spoke Russian due to his father’s affiliation with our Mafia.

His father was Yasmina’s father’s partner in crime. Hence, they had both disappeared off the face of the Earth. Kayden’s father was important, but not as important as Yasmina’s.

Yasmina’s father held the fate of the Bratva Association in his palm.

Kayden and I were close. Close enough for me to reveal my struggles in the Mafia, but not close enough to tell him why I was truly here. He couldn’t and wouldn’t know, but I had to be cautious. Kayden could sniff a rat from a mile away and he had good investigation skills.

I had made sure all my information was concealed, hence the fake surname I brought to the academy.

It had been a difficult process getting into the academy, they had high security. Hector, Yasmina’s father, had strategized really well by putting Yasmina in this academy. And Kayden was safe here, too.

No one left or entered the academy easily, and no visits were allowed from externals unless they had a thorough background check. So the only way I could get to her was by becoming a Willowcrest student. I had practised the procedures over and over again, and now, I was close enough to my sweet girl.

“There are indeed. Shit man, I didn’t think you liked her that much.” He looked amused.

“I don’t like her. We’re just classmates.” I kept my emotions concealed, but he only laughed at my statement.

“So, is that normal? Like, poisoning a guy your classmate kissed for no reason? Seems you like her.”

“I didn’t do it. Like I said, I have better things to do. Speaking of which, I’m off to class.” I packed a random exercise book and my laptop into my bag. I had a shit ton of academic material that had been on the list of requirements that I barely even used.

Hell, I didn’t need a file with the brain I had. It was a file itself.

“Hmm. You’re like a brother to me—I know when you’re lying.” He shrugged, giving his phone one last look before tucking it away and pointing at me with his toothpick. “I know she’s pretty, your type.”

“I like blondes,” I deadpanned, lying yet again smoothly through my teeth.

“Sure, that totally explains why you rejected Arabella.” He smiled and I ignored the smugness in his tone. She was the prettiest blonde, and the boldest for asking someone like me out.

But I did the pursuing, not the other way around.

“Next time you pull that kind of stunt, you won’t have a brother anymore,” I said in a cold, stern voice. I knew he had heard me well, but chose not to react, instead, putting the pick back between his lips. He worked well as a right-hand man.

“Yes, sir.” He saluted before following me out. We barely had the same lectures and that was good. I didn’t need him to see me stalking Yasmina like some kind of psychopath.

And indeed, before the start of the lesson, I sat in the back of the room and patiently waited. Some people filed in, but I didn’t care. They were of no importance. Only one person was the sole centre of my attention right now.

I shouldn’t have entertained any thoughts of her, but she was so fucking irresistible. A puzzle I needed to solve. I toyed with my silver chain that never left my neck, thinking about the femme fatale to the point of near madness.

As soon as my timer went off, she walked in exactly a millisecond after. Hmm, I wonder what delayed her. My calculations were accurate and I had taken thirty days to test it out. This was my final mission and everything had to go according to plan.

Yasmina followed the same routine every day during the week: early morning studying, meditation, showering, breakfast, texting or calling her friends, then walking to her classes.

Then I realised something. She didn’t have her headphones on. She always had them on every morning because she loved listening to her favourite playlist as a way of starting her day.

She normally played Travis Scott more than any other artist. And she often repeated one part of her favourite song at one minute and fifty seconds. She was meticulous about her routine.

She spent approximately eleven hours a day listening to music: an hour and twelve minutes while getting ready in the morning, three while she studied, one and a half during lunch, four while she read her romance novels throughout the day, then one hour and eighteen minutes for her nightly meditation.

She usually broke down during this music session. And while I never had anything to offer, I always contemplated eliminating all her problems just so she wouldn’t cry. Seeing her sad was my least favourite part of observing her.

But anyway, what had changed today?

My brain was in overdrive as she sat at the front, her face impassive as she did so. She was the most beautiful girl in the school, but also the moodiest. She barely smiled at anyone she didn’t like or associated with.

Not to mention her violent tendencies that protruded whenever she was provoked.

Hence, I was greatly intrigued when she declared we have a truce. There was clearly some unspoken tension between us. The friction was so palpable, I could hardly resist accepting her offer.

Yasmina must have sensed my calculating stare because she tilted her head slightly to the side, pausing for a brief minute before she turned back to the front and focused on the novel she was reading today.

Fascinating.

She didn’t have to look at me to know that my eyes were burning holes into her back.

I always caught up on her novels while she slept, taking note of her highlighted lines and other annotations. That was the only way to get into her head, for now. From all the novels I'd read, she had a weird obsession with lovemaking and slow, passionate kisses.

That shit didn’t sit right with me. Love has always just been a word to me. It was a substitution for an apology of incompetence.

Cheated on your partner? Tell them you love them. Failed to give your partner a gift for Valentine’s Day? Tell them you love them. Failed to be there for your child and left them to suffer for most of their life? Tell them you fucking love them. I didn’t believe in that shit.

Anyway, Yasmina usually fell asleep with the book in her hands, so I always book marked the last page.

She didn’t know I was entering her room, mainly because her bodyguard also came in to do security checks and organise a few things in her room. I fisted my hands at the thought of another man entering her room; I hated it. But it was also to my advantage.

After what felt like seconds of wondering what was up with her, the sound of my name pulled me out of my thoughts. It was the lecturer. She was saying something I couldn’t hear, but could see with the rapid movement of her lips.

“See, that’s the problem. Don’t choose classes you won’t pay attention in. We should all know what figure unitary elasticity is equal to, that’s basic knowledge from high school. But clearly, Kai doesn’t?—”

“One.” The brief, deep echo of my voice summoned everyone’s attention, but out of all of them, Yasmina’s gaze was the one that captured me.

Her thin, dark pupils that were embedded in a vibrant green, her silky, raven hair, her symmetrical nose and the soft, precise planes of her geometric face coordinated perfectly into something you’d only see in a movie.

The intricate details of her face never failed to fascinate me.

“Um, well thank you for participating, Kai. Moving on…” Her voice drowned out as I kept eye contact with the femme fatale in front of me.

Her back curved beautifully, her feline mannerisms intriguing me way more than they should have. She was so graceful in the movements she made. I fisted my hand as the urge to snap her in half gripped me.

That’s what I was good at. Tainting pretty things.

She looked away when I gave her a wink, but not before I noticed the deep tint of rouge over her cheeks. Hmm, that’s what I thought…

She’d submit someday, and I’d come out as a victor for the thousandth time. But something told me that I wasn’t going to achieve this so easily. Not with her on the loose.

When the lesson ended, I finally pulled out my phone to check for any notifications before I went for my lunch break with Kayden. And indeed, there were three texts. A reminder of exactly why I was here. A reminder of the freedom that awaited me.

Time is ticking, Vazo.

Tick.

Tock.