Mark’s POV

Walking down the red carpeted hallway, I adjusted the collar of my suit before shrugging down my right sleeve to reveal my watch that read 2 P.M. I smirked at it, knowing that I was decently late for my appointment. Looking away from my watch, ahead of me stood a bodyguard dressed in a black suit guarding the big, bright red door.

Seeing me approach him through his tinted sunglasses, he asked, “What is your business here?”

“I am here to see your boss. I am sure that he’s expecting my arrival- I am Mark Moore.” I stated.

The guard quirked his eyebrow before speaking in to his earpiece, relaying my arrival to his boss to receive an answer back that made him nod his head. Having my identity confirmed, he looked back at me and commented, “You're late. Your appointment was at 12 P.M.”

I gasped dramatically, looking at him with eyes that carried shock. “No way, I must have not seen the 1 next to the 2. I was sure that I had to be here at 2 P.M.”

The guard pursed his lips into a frown as he saw through my act. Placing his hand on the door, he said, “The boss doesn’t like tardiness.” Before pushing the door open, making way for me to walk inside.

Walking past him to enter the room, I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him over my shoulder, smiling maliciously. “I know.” Hearing the door close behind me, I continued to walk to where the person who I wanted to kill the most was situated- behind a white desk on a chair, having its back facing me.

With a calm smile on my face, darting my eyes around to survey the room, I noticed a guard standing on each side of the room with their hands held behind their back. From within the jacket pocket of my suit, I pulled out a wireless earbud, placing it inside my ear so that I could listen in on the conversation between April and her mom.

I sometimes forget that my kitten can see farther than the length of her cute button nose I didn’t expect her request of her not wanting me to listen into her conversation and seeing the pleading look in her eyes, I had no choice but to relent to her cute request, telling her yes- however my actions were saying otherwise as I was quick to slip in a listening bug inside her handbag.

Lately the look in my kitten’s eyes has changed. Her perfect pair of green globes that previously held contempt and fear whenever they saw me now held the look of curiosity and reluctance of acceptance. I have made her get used to me, stepping in to her boundaries against her will and breaking down her walls. And my hard work paid off as her thoughts of escaping me had finally started to dissipate into thin air, making room for adjustments in her life to accept me.

I know my kitten won’t do anything foolish, but the same can’t be said for her accursed mother. She may start to unnecessarily run off her mouth to April, telling her how she came in possession of that letter that I had Snake discreetly deliver to her. Well, if she does say something unwise to kitten, then it will at least make my decision on what to do with her after this a lot easier.

Besides, I prefer to listen to April’s savory voice than to the aggravating voice of this mutant rabbit.

Pulling my gun out promptly, I cocked it against the back of his head. Just as I did that the guards present in the room swiftly stood beside me directing their own guns at me, but I paid no heed to them as I gazed apathetic down at Casper. Removing the safety of the gun, I placed my index finger on the trigger.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t blow your fucking brains out right now.” I pressed through gritted teeth, almost breaking a chip of my tooth as I wasn’t able to control my seething anger as I got reminded of the state that my Kitten was in that night. Her bloodied clothes, her fear- stricken face and the purple bruises marring her pale white skin. Every time my blood boils whenever I think about it- and that was all this motherfucker’s fault.

A mechanical chuckle could be heard. “What happened to the peace treaty?”

I laughed dryly. “Since when do killers keep their word?”

“True, but you won’t shoot me.”

“You don’t feel this gun on your head?” I said, pressing the nozzle harder against his head.

“Oh no, I certainly felt that, but I know you won’t pull the trigger.” He sounded certain that I won’t splatter his brain out, making me arch my brow as I mused, “And why’s that?”

“Is our dear Mark already getting dementia? I was sure that we already went over this- you need me, Mark, why else? You know how influential I am and you need that. With just a word, I’ll have the military at your disposal or even have all of your traces erased from the police databank.” Casper finally turned around in his chair, his elbows resting on the armchair with his fingers interlocked together as he rested his chin on them. He glanced up at me with a condescending smile. The nuzzle of my gun had shifted from the back of his head to his forehead. “You want that, right?”

For passing seconds, our eyes were locked on to each other like a magnet, with no further words exchanged as Casper waited for my answer. A slow smile spread across my face before I laughed loudly, placing my hand on my forehead as I dropped the arm that was holding the gun to my side. “You shrewd little bastard.” I said, my shoulders quacking from the ripples of laughter spilling from my mouth.

At the ‘little’ part, the condescending smile on his face dropped to a frown. “You’re right, I won’t kill you when you’re still so useful and the same way goes for you. I am useful to you, so you won’t kill me either.”

“Exactly,” Casper said and gestured to the guards to lower their gun. “Now that we have finally agreed to that, can you take a seat? I don’t think that it will be pleasant to have a conversation while you’re standing up.” He nodded at the chair next to me. I placed the gun away and took place on the chair; swinging my legs up on top of his desk, crossing them as I leaned back. Dirt fell off the sole of my shoes on his white varnished desk, causing his expression to darken as he narrowed his eyes at it before exasperating. “I would have butchered you by now if it wasn’t for the fact that you know where Snake is.” He pushed my legs off his desk and took out a handkerchief out of his front pocket of his suit and wiped the dirt off.

“So do you have it?” He questioned, throwing his handkerchief away in the small trashcan next to his desk. From the inside of my suit, I pulled out a pile of documents, placing them on the desk. “These are all the transactions that Snake had made in the past few days- and information about her next destination, just as you’ve asked for.” I smiled as I explained.

Casper took the stack of papers and glanced over at them. As he did that, he shifted the papers so that a new page would come in front of him to look over it. He nodded his head, humming satisfied before holding them by the sides, raising them up vertically and drop them onto the desk- repeating it a few times so that the papers would align and placed them away in the drawer.

Pulling on a different drawer, a new set of stapled documents emerged in his hand and he handed them over to me. Looking through them, I saw a profile picture of a person with information written below it. “That’s your new target.” Casper pointed out. “I want him gone by the end of this week.”

I hummed thoughtfully as I read the profile thoroughly. The son of a politic. I wonder how I should kill him. So many techniques to use but so little time to enjoy each of them. Placing the papers inside my suit, I offered Casper a smile. “Consider it to be done.”

“I have no doubt about it.” Casper smirked before leaning back in his chair. “And I’ll send your next job through a different means next time, seeing how you’re not so keen on being on time for an appointment.” He commented.

The corner of my lips pulled into a lopsided grin. “If only you were just as accommodating towards Snake, then you wouldn’t be in such a predicament.”

I watched how his mood changed. His eyebrows twitched and the smirk on his face got wiped away. “What do you mean?” His voice was clipped and filled with foreboding rage, something that filled me up with mirth and I couldn’t stop my smile from broadening.

“I am just saying that she won’t have run away from you if you weren’t so self-centered.” I asserted calmly.

“Then did you just expect me to watch her go down her merry-fucking-way and leave me behind when I was the one who saw her first? When she fucking belongs to me?” he tried to make his voice come out even, but it was tight as a plucked wire- ready to snap at any moment.

I put my hands up in defense. “Just see it as an advice coming from an old friend. You should stop trying to put her in a cage.”

He scoffed. “I don’t want to hear it from a person who has caged his pet.”

The corner of my lips curled up into a slow smile- placing the palms of my hands on the surface of the desk as I leaned in closer, leering, “But I haven’t cut off my pet’s legs, have I? She’s still able to run around freely, right?” I placed my hand on Casper’s shoulder, patting it before giving it a slight squeeze- bringing him closer so that his ear came next to my mouth and whispered low, “As long as you place them in a cage that is wide enough for them to run around in, they wouldn’t even notice that they have been confined and robbed of their freedom.” Letting him go, I leaned back in the chair with my arms folded in front of my chest.

Casper stared silently at me before his lips twitched into a knowing smile as if something finally downed on him. “You knew all this time, didn’t you?”

My brows quirked, amused, “I don’t speak in riddles, Casper. Speak clearly.”

“You orchestrated everything. You knew I was in the neighborhood and made your presence known to me on purpose so that I would take the bait and kidnap the Black Queen.” He elaborated, receiving a smile from me. Shaking my head, I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Casper snapped with his fingers, and one of the guards came to him, carrying a laptop. Placing the laptop in front of Casper, the guard opened it and turned it on before twirling it around so that it would face me.

The screen showed a paused video. Casper smirked at me and pressed the play button for the video to run. It showed images of me and April running down the hallway.

“Do you know where the hell we’re going!?” Came the loud voice of April through the speaker as I dragged her by her arm down the hallway.

“I have memorized the maps of every hotel that Casper is managing! There should be a parking garage down this hallway!” I responded and exactly at that scene, Casper pressed down his index finger on the space bar of the keyboard to pause the video.

Gesturing at the guard to take the laptop away, he placed his elbows on the surface of the desk and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers- aiming his eyes at me with a gleeful expression. “From all the hotels that I have been managing, how did you know you were in that specific hotel? And don’t come with the ‘I recognized the interior’ bullshit because we both know that I am the type that changes the interior often.”

Not answering him, I let the silence waft inside the room, smiling quietly at him as I cocked my head to the side with a dense expression.

Casper hummed at that and said, “Silence speaks louder than volume. Fine, say nothing.” He exasperated as he held up his hands- leaning back in his chair. But then his eyes slanted into a pair of slits as he uttered begrudgingly, “But tell me this- did you take Snake under your wing because you knew I would be looking for her and you expected this to happen?”