Kazimir currently was not sick.
Fact.
Kazimir did not feel bad.
Fact.
Simple. Replace Kaz with Baikal, and the concept should have been the same, and yet his cousin wasn’t built the same way he was.
Not for the first time, a small part of Kaz felt a little envious of that. They’d been raised in a similar fashion with one major difference. Baikal Void’s father had loved him.
Kazimir’s dad could barely look him in the eye.
He hated being that pathetic dude who cried that his parents didn’t love him, blah, blah, blah, but even the doctors had explained that was a large reason behind the way his mind had formulated.
Baikal was an arrogant, spoiled, rich, mafia leader. He didn’t like losing because he’d been raised knowing he was aboveeveryone else. Kazimir, on the other hand, was an arrogant, spoiled, rich, high-standing mafia member who didn’t like losing because his braintold himhe was above everyone else.
When he’d been forced into therapy as a young teen, the hope had been to teach him various tools and tricks to help normalize him, but Kaz hadn’t been interested in that then, and he wasn’t interested in it now. He was fine with who he was.
The fact that his dad hated having a son who fit within the parameters of the dark triad?
Even fucking better.
Kaz:Something happen?
He wasn’t due for his meeting with the old underboss for another day.
Baikal:Apparently Pious Prince found what he was looking for. Whim is escorting him off planet as we speak. Afterward, he’ll need to give you a briefing so you’re caught up on all the details.
Right, because Kazimir was the new underboss and therefore needed to know everything there was to know about Brumal business. That was well and good, but he found himself stuck on the first part of that message.
Looked like Nate’s friend hadn’t managed to escape in the end. Oh well. Kaz had given him a phenomenal head start last night. Wasn’t his fault if the guy hadn’t been able to avoid capture.
Kaz:Will do.
He stood up and stretched his arms before his eyes dropped to the fallen plushie. When he picked it up and replaced it on the windowsill, he was careful to make sure it was in the exact position he’d found it in, staring at it for a long moment before shaking his head.
Screw this. Maybe other people didn’t discipline their boyfriends, but Kazimir wasn’t like other people. He onlydeserved the best, and he was going to ensure that Nate was it. Still, the punishment had to fit the crime, so he needed something that wasn’t too over the top. Something that would make his point without risking pushing Nate too far…
The idea formulated in his head quickly and he got to work executing it. In less than fifteen minutes he was finished and calling Whim to find out his location.
Kaz locked Nate’s front door on his way out and drove off with a smile on his face.
Chapter 16:
The last time Nate had visited campus had been a little under a year ago, when his sister had needed to pick up some paperwork after graduation. When she’d still been attending, he’d also visit on occasion and eat lunch with her in the cafeteria. Even though the two of them had lived together then, they were close.
Which was the reminder he needed that he should give her a call. He’d been avoiding her all week after losing his job at Quartet Air, but any longer and she’d start to get suspicious.
He parked his car outside the business lecture hall, taking the space closest to the front entrance, and then got out and rounded his vehicle to perch on the edge of the hood. The clock on his multi-slate said there were still ten minutes to go before three, so he had time.
“Where the hell have you been, brother?” Neve picked up on the third ring and greeted with a sharp tongue.
Nate chuckled and crossed his ankles, propping a hand back on the warm hood. The sun was out today, hanging bright in a cloudless sky, and if it weren’t for the blanket of snow and the chill, he’d call it a perfect day.
Well, technically, he did still think it was one, but others might not. Proof was in the fact that most of the students whowere walking around campus were bundled up and huddled together if they were with friends.
“I’ve already got one sibling who’s constantly MIA, I don’t need another,” she added.
