3. Kazi

Chapter 3

Kazi

K azi pulled out his cell phone and made a call. “It’s escalating. He’s going to do something worse soon.”

“Look, I sent you there to watch over her ten years ago. Do your job.”

Kazi growled into the phone, “No, you sent me here to get intel on Izzy. You let me stay when you realized how close they still are. Don’t be an ass, Emilio. Or is it Emil now? Don’t you think infiltrating her investigative team was a bit overkill?”

“I don’t know Kazi, I didn’t realize you would take my directive to watch over her so literally. You weren’t supposed to become her friend, let alone her assistant, you moronic man.”

Kazi didn’t bother to correct Emilio. He wanted to be more than Yara’s friend, but it didn’t take much to notice how broken the poor woman was. He was giving her the time she needed to heal. Except after a decade of time he was beginning to suspect she needed more. Another push to make her realize the spectacular woman she was and that he wouldn’t be going anywhere. The problem was Kazi recognized abuse victims, and it didn’t take long for him to realize her trauma was deeper than she let on.

On the surface, Yara was a beautiful angelic woman, but that wasn’t her true self. She was a dark fallen angel; a damaged woman littered with scars both physically and mentally. It made Kazi want her all the more. To protect her. To keep her by his side. To not let the world take another spark of light from her eyes .

Ten years ago, he was livid when he had first been sent out here by his boss, Emilio. He wanted nothing more than to return to the family as soon as he could. But not any longer. Now he dreaded the day Emilio tried to drag him home.

Kazi wasn’t sure what he would do. He couldn’t leave Yara behind.

But could he convince her to join him?

Distracting himself from the depressing line of thought, Kazi looked around the office space. The rest of the employees had long since gone home for the night, and he had business to attend to. Yara wouldn’t tell him who she thought the stalker was, but he knew where to look.

“Cat got your tongue? Or are you daydreaming again about a certain blonde haired woman?” Emilio chuckled caustically.

Kazi walked inside Yara’s office, shutting the door behind him. “She needed a friend here.” He didn’t dare lose his temper on Emilio even if he wanted nothing more than to do so in this moment.

“Sure, is that why you wouldn’t swap with Mateo? He’s interested to see what has kept you in California so long. So fascinated, in fact, he decided to make the trip himself.”

Icy dread spread across Kazi’s nerves. “You said you were sending Logan.”

“Logan is busy handling a different matter. Mateo won’t hurt her, he’s just curious. From what I heard he’s already at the restaurant waiting to be her white knight as needed.” Emilio tsked in his ear.

“Fuck, you idiot!” Kazi exclaimed before he could stop himself. “You know how he can be. What happens if he is interested in her?” Kazi’s heart pounded in his chest, but it was too late now.

“You don’t have to worry about that, he never cares about women.” Emilio’s words did nothing to comfort Kazi and his tone had turned sour .

Kazi knew better than to push him on it .

Emilio and Kazi came from the same family , and Mateo was part of it too. In fact he was an integral part–the muscle, the enforcer. He was the boogeyman you never saw coming.

Mateo was uncomfortable, off . Kazi hated being in the same vicinity as him, but Mateo wouldn’t hurt Yara.

Unless directed to.

Kazi hadn’t been part of the family very long before Emilio was shipping him off to California with his mission to watch over Yara. Now their only communication was via phone calls and the occasional visit, but even still, Kazi had enough run-ins with Mateo to want to avoid the man.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Kazi entered the password to get onto her computer, but it pinged that it was wrong.

What the fuck?

“She changed her computer password, can you get me the new one?”

Emilio sighed in his ear, annoyed. “Give me a few days. Do you need anything else?”

“Book Mateo a return flight, he can’t stay here,” Kazi grumbled searching her desk instead.

“You do remember I’m the boss right?” Emilio voiced in warning, he was clearly done with this conversation. “But fine, I’ll see what I can do.” The phone clicked in Kazi’s ear as the call ended.

Kazi was aggravated but used to Emilio’s jackass ways. Continuing his search, he combed through Yara’s desk and paused as he flipped through the folders on it. Buried in the middle was a large envelope he hadn’t seen before, addressed to the deputy that hadn’t done much of anything with their concerns.

He opened it, upending its contents .

For a moment, his anger clouded his eyesight, stars shooting across his vision. He blinked a few times. The rage was replaced with disgust; it settled into his gut, an unwelcome guest.

“A fucking sasaeng ,” he muttered under his breath. An obsessive fan, a stalker.

There were dozens of pictures of Yara in different locations. Looking through them, he recognized that these pictures spanned several years. Moving the photos aside he found a letter on the bottom.

Panic slithered up Kazi’s throat and he attempted to gulp it down, spluttering out a cough as it choked him. He thought that the stalker was someone new. A random creep that found her from Darkest Desires , but he discerned now it was someone else entirely.

This stalker? This person that had been leaving letters? Taking pictures? Attempting to upend Yara’s life?

It wasn’t a stranger as she had made it out to be.

It was a person from her past.

Someone that she knew.

Kazi heaved a sigh. He had hoped she would trust him with all of her secrets, but he couldn't fault the woman. He wasn’t exactly being fully honest with her either.

Kazi replaced the items into the envelope and stuffed it back where he found it.

He decided it was best to not leave her with Mateo any longer.