A/N: I'm currently editing and rewriting some parts of this fic.
To my old readers: You're welcome to reread and review.
To any new readers: Thanks for deciding to read this fic! Hope you like it! Reviews are appreciated


Kamani sighed and looked at the files, shaking her head.

A yawn escaped her lips before she pushed it aside. She had no time to be exhausted nor did she have to energy to waste to be exhausted.

She looked up from the files as a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in." She said in a strained and tired voice. The door opened, tentatively at first and then fully. In stepped Melanie, a clipboard in one hand and Kamani's coffee in the other.

She looked at Kamani, who was peering at the files, before she let out an inaudible sigh and headed towards her employer's desk.

"Miss Azu, pardon me for saying this, but you look terrible. Did you get any sleep last night?" She asked, setting the coffee down in front of Kamani. Kamani looked up and laughed at Melanie's worried face.

"You know me so well, Melanie." She said, sitting up and leaning against her chair. Melanie sighed as Kamani shook her head before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Thank you for the coffee. Now, what are my plans for today?" Kamani asked, putting away the file. Melanie looked down at the clipboard in her hand.

"Um, there's the dinner with Gabriel tonight at La Bonne Soupe. Steve also called back about the charity event that's to take place this weekend. The Board canceled your meeting for today as well. So you're free tonight for the dinner. Also, Mr. Kaiba called again, demanding a meeting. He wants to discuss the partnership he had with your company when your father ran it." Melanie finished reporting her events for the day. Kamani sighed an looked at her watch. It was already 2 in the afternoon and she was beyond exhausted.

"Melanie, I can't go to the dinner tonight. Can you please be a sweetheart and tell Gabriel that something came up and that I value his time and my usual crap. And tell Mr. Kaiba that I cannot have a meeting with him until next week or the other week. I'm leaving here in a few minutes either way. I have so much to do today." Kamani said, dropping her head.

Melanie nodded and wrote it down on her clipboard.

"Forgive me for asking ma'am, but you're so tired all the time and you never get sleep. How do you keep going on everyday?" Melanie asked, obviously shocked at her employer's endurance and stamina. Kamani smiled as she prepared to answer. After all, it was one of her favorite questions to be asked.

"Because I push myself, Melanie. When I got my father's company, it was going downhill. I promised myself that I would make it successful and spread it across the globe. Now, only three years later, this company is one of the most recognized companies in the world. I'm the most powerful woman in the business world. There is at least one of this company located on every continent. My company has branches in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. It's the monopoly in Japan. After building up my father's company, I worked to make my mother's company the best as well. Then, less than one year later, I opened my own. Now, look at me. The richest woman in the world. But, money means nothing to me. What means the most to me is that all of my hard work and dedication paid off in the end." Kamani smiled.

"I cannot afford to take a break for personal reasons. I promised myself that I would prove that I'm the best and I did. I am one of the most powerful and influential figures int he business world." Kamani said, folding her hands. She smiled up at Melanie. who was looking at her with awe.

"You're a very persistent and powerful woman. You prove that women are as capable as men. Until you, everyone thought that only men could dominate the business world. However, you proved it wrong and became an inspiration for women everywhere. An idol. i know that you are my idol and I hope that someday, I will be able to have half the success you're had." Melanie said.

"I'm a good judge of character and I recognize dedicated people when I see them. And you, Melanie, are very dedicated and outgoing. I'm sure that you will follow in my footsteps one day. You have the enthusiasm and you're very outgoing. Like me." Kamani said, causing Melanie to smile.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll should get to making your calls. Oh, your daughter called not too long ago. She wants to know the dinner for tonight was still on." Melanie said. Kamani looked down at her watch before she shook her head and sighed.

"Tell her that I'm busy tonight. Some business. She'll know what I mean." Kamani said. Melanie nodded and turned to leave before Kamani called out to her.

"Can you call Steve and put him on my line?" Kamani asked, logging off of her computer.

"I need to give him the information before I leave. I have," She paused and looked at her watch

"Five minutes." She said, looking over at Melanie, who was nodding and already leaving.

She sighed and let out a yawn. Only God knew what she did every night and only he knew how tired she was everyday. She never told anyone about her life and what she did.

Kamani looked at her watch. Four minutes thirty seconds left. Just as she tore her eyes away from the watch, the phone rang.

"Hello Steve." She said as she answered the phone, making a conscious attempt to conceal the tiredness in her voice.

"Kamani, how are you love?" Steve replied. She gnashed her teeth together. She had asked him not to call her that on numerous occasions. However, she kept her temper at bay as she responded.

"Fine. And you?" She asked, not really caring.

"Good. I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner," He began before she cut him off.

"Actually, I'm very busy tonight. I was calling about the charity event." She said.

"Oh right. It's this weekend. Would you like to go together?" He asked, once again begging for a date. Kamani almost growled in anger. Steve was a pretty attractive guy. Hell, he was one of the sexiest bachelors she'd ever seen, but she hated his attempts at flirting with her. As it was, she had no time for a relationship. She barely had time to scratch her head.

"I'm actually not going to be able to come." She said. She heard the defeated sigh.

"Oh, how sad. And here I was looking forward to seeing your beautiful face at the event." He replied.

'Save me your cheesy, bullshit lines.' Was what she wanted to reply. However, she forced herself to remain civil and respectful.

"I'm very sorry, but something really urgent came up and I can't make it. But, don't worry. You'll still have my donation of a million dollars." She said.

"Thanks. The children will really be grateful. Sorry that you can't make it, but there's always next year." He said.

"Of course." She chuckled.

"I'll send the check out today and we can have lunch together next week to make up for my skipping out on you." She said in an attempt to mend his crushed hopes. After all, he was a nice guy. He was one of those few billionaires who genuinely cared about people besides himself. After all, he was organizing an entire event to raise money for the new hospital he was building for the children who couldn't afford it. Kamani's offer worked and he was back to his old self in less than a second.

"Great. I'll see you then." He said, obviously excited. Kamani chuckled before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

She looked down at her watch. Three minutes. The conversation had taken her only three minutes and she still a minute to spare. Her mind flashed to Thomas and her current case. Just as she reached over to call him, her phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered, wondering who was calling her.

"Kamani, I'm glad I got you. We just got a report about a murder. Come here as soon as you can." Thomas' urgent voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

"I'll be there in half an hour." She said, already getting to her feet.

"Great. See you then." Thomas said. Kamani hung up the phone and grabbed her coffee.

Murder? What did he mean 'murder'? Who was murdered?

Her mind was racing as she grabbed her coat. First Marc's disappearance and Dan's betrayal. Now a murder.

She opened her office door and ran down the hall to her elevator. She stood, impatiently tapping her fingers as she waited for the elevator to reach her floor. She was about to take the stairs when she heard the ding and the elevator door opened.

"Finally." She muttered as she moved aside for people to exit it.

However, she froze when the door opened. Standing in the elevator was the last person she expected to see.

"Kaiba?" She whispered under her breath. She couldn't believe her eyes. Of all the people in the world, it had to be him in her elevator?

Then, the knowledge registered itself in her brain.

He was in her building, in her elevator. She almost let out a groan. Had he come looking for Kamani?

Her eyes quickly scanned him.

He looked the same. Same chestnut-colored hair, only a little longer. The same straight and determined nose. Same cocky and superior smirk on his lips.

She looked at his eyes.

The same cold, calculating cobalt eyes. The ones she had fallen for what seemed like only yesterday. He was studying her with the same eyes, his features becoming somewhat annoyed as he waited for her to move aside so he could pass. She quickly realized she was blocking the doorway and he couldn't get out.

Yep, the same impatient, cocky, egotistical, arrogant, and, she hated to admit it, sexy CEO she had left behind.

She sighed and stepped into the elevator as he headed down the hallway without sparing her another glance. She smiled as she pressed the button for the floor. He didn't recognize her, which was just how she wanted it to be.

However, her breath froze as he stopped in front of her office just as Melanie was heading into it.

"Where is Miss Azu's office?" She heard him ask Melanie. She held her breath, hoping Melanie wouldn't give her away.

"Down the hall, but she stepped out." Melanie said, causing her to release a breath of relief.

Suddenly, Melanie turned and caught Kamani looking at her from the elevator.

"She's in the elevator." Melanie said, pointing at the elevator. Kamani held her breath as he turned and caught sight of her.

She prayed for the door to close as he made his way towards the elevator.

Her prayers were answered. As soon as he reached the door, the elevator closed and began to descend. She heard him spit out a curse before she was carried down to the lobby.

Kamani sighed and breathed out. That was close.

The door opened and she stepped out into the lobby. She looked over and saw Melanie, who was exhausted. She had obviously run down the stairs.

"He's coming down in the other elevator!" She yelled. Kamani turned just as the elevator door opened and saw him stepping out of it. She turned and headed towards the door.

Thankfully, her convertible was already on and prepared to go. She made a mental note to thank Melanie and Damian, who must have told Damian to start it up.

As soon as she shifted into drive, she stepped on the accelerator. Just as she pulled off, she saw Seto running out of the building.

She saw him stomp his foot in anger in her rear view mirror. She smiled to herself as her heart pace returned to normal.

She had narrowly escaped him.

After months of canceling meetings and rejecting dinners and lunches, he finally lost his patience and acted. However, she didn't expect him to come to her office, hunting her down.

She was snapped out of her thought when her phone rang. She let out a growl before she answered.

"Hello?" She yelled above the roar of the other cars.

"Hello Miss Azu. This is Kaiba. I was just at your office for our meeting, but I saw you leaving." He said, his tone smug and clearly annoyed.

Kamani groaned inwardly. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Well, in this case, call. She sighed and put on her best sweet voice and tried to sound as civil as she was capable of being with him.

"Oh, Mr. Kaiba, I'm terribly sorry, but something came up. I did see you, but I was already in the lift and it was already going down. However, I told my secretary to reschedule our meeting. Choose a day next week that is most convenient for you and we will have our meeting. Again, I'm sorry that I had to leave without meeting you." Kamani said, nearly gagging inside.

"Thank you. I look forward to it." Kaiba replied, obviously pleased that he had finally gotten her to agree. So much for her months of avoiding him.

"Me too. Goodbye." Kamani said, hanging up the phone. She let out a groan and slumped her head forward as she stopped at the red light

"Why the hell did you have to call me? Why did you have to see me too?" She yelled, banging her hand on the steering wheel. She could always cancel the meeting, but that might create suspicion, as he might soon begin to wonder why their meetings were always canceled. As it was, she was already testing his patience.

The last thing she needed was an angry Kaiba after her.

Kamani sighed as she realized she would have to keep the meeting this time. If she didn't, she was positive that he would waste no time in prying into her personal life and uncovering details about her.

The slightest detail about her life was lethal in the wrong hands.

She didn't need anyone finding out about her job and about Marc. Especially Kaiba. Hell, he was the last person she wanted to know anything about her life. And he was also the most curious one.

How wonderful for her.

Kamani looked at her watch. It was now 2:25. Her time just kept disappearing. Before she knew it, the day would be over and she would have to crawl out of bed the next morning to repeat her day all once again. No surprise there.


"Where's the body?" Kamani asked after she had parked her car.

Thomas was beside her in a second and leading her towards the morgue.

"What was her name?" Kamani asked as they entered the building.

"Amania Kuzz. Age 22. Neighbor called and said he heard yelling and a woman screaming. She was found in her apartment last night. Shot to death. Four bullets. Two in her chest, one in her back, and one in her head. There were marks around her wrists, suggesting they were bound and a bruise on her cheek, probably from a struggle. There were also rope marks around her neck. I don't know if she was strangled and then shot or shot and then strangled. The suspect is Marc. The bullet matched the bullets extracted from the two officers we found last week. No fingerprints on anything. But we found tire track leading away from her apartment and an abandoned car in the woods. We searched it and found hair. After doing a DNA check, we found that the DNA from the hair matched Marc's." Thomas replied.

"So, Marc did it." Kamani said, stopping in front of the cold chamber. Thomas pulled out the drawer and Kamani looked down at the corpse. The girl was young, no older than her own age. Brown hair framed her face. Kamani could see the marks around her neck.

"Any family?" She asked as Thomas closed the drawer. He shook his head.

"We couldn't find any relatives. Her driver's license and neighbor helped identify her." He replied. Kamani nodded.

"Who's investigating the murder?" She asked, turning and heading towards the window. She looked down at her watch.

"A new officer. He's from England. Darci Mellsruis. He was one of the top officers in England. However, he transferred here about a month ago. He's been working for us for almost four weeks now. He asked to have your help on the case." Thomas said. Kamani turned and looked at him as if to ask if he were insane.

"A new officer is investigating a murder? Are you insane?" She breathed.

"I see no problem with it. After all, he is skilled and more than capable of handling this case." Thomas replied. However, Kamani was not convinced.

"This murder was committed by Marc. How can he handle Marc?" She asked, obviously skeptical about this new officer's abilities.

"Well, he's got you, doesn't he?" Thomas smiled as her jaw clenched and locked into place.

"Where is he?" She growled, narrowing her eyes.

"He's in the next room." Thomas replied, turning and leading her to the next room. Kamani folded her arms in anger as she followed him.

"I want to have a word with him." She said as they stopped outside the door. Thomas nodded and opened the door.

He stepped in before beckoning for him to join her.

In the room were two men. One was a tall and well built man with short, dark blond hair and the other was a short, black haired man in a white coat.

Both men turned to face them as they entered.

"Mellsruis, this is Azu. Azu, Mellsruis." Thomas said, his way of introducing them. He turned towards the man in the white coat.

"Dr. Webber, can I speak to you for a moment?" He asked, gesturing for them to go outside. The man nodded and left with Thomas, leaving her in the room with Darci. He took one look at her and nodded.

"Hello, I'm Kamani." She said, extending her hand. He looked at her and put out his own hand.

She felt a shock shoot through her as she touched his hand.

He smiled before pressing her hand to his lip.

"Charmed to meet you." He smiled. Kamani felt as if the ground had slipped from her feet for a moment. She had worked with many male officers, but none as sexy as him.

Sure, she had not dated anyone in years, so she was excited to see someone who was hot. But, he went beyond hot. He was sexy, dangerously sexy. Enough to make any woman swoon and become starry-eyes. And he knew it, judging from the flirty smile he cast at her.

His dark blond hair was short and a bit spiked in the front. A light stubble coated his sharp jawline. His lips were full and curved in a way that was almost exciting. His brown eyes were dark, dangerous. Exciting.

All in all, his aura and manner was suave. Yet, there was something about him that made her feel intoxicated. Almost excited. She still couldn't get past the kiss he had placed on her hand.

Yep, it was going to be a problem working with him, the problem being him.

"Thomas told me all about you and all the cases you have solved. I must say, I'm quite impressed. It is not often that one has the privilege to meet a woman of your skills. However, he forgot to mention how beautiful you are. He did you say you're pretty, but he did you injustice. You're not pretty, you're stunning. I'm happy I asked for your help with this case." Darci smirked, his words low and husky.

Kamani smiled, trying to control her emotions. It was shocking how simple words could make her feel like swooning. No, she needed to keep her mind out of the clouds and she needed to stay on Earth.

"It's nice to meet you too. So, Thomas told you about me? Did he also mention that I don't fall for the cheesy compliment and the flirting?" She asked, smiling and attempting to gain the upper hand in the situation. Darci laughed, a low, throaty laugh that made her almost die inside. Yep, this was getting to be more and more difficult with each passing second. As it was, being in the same room with this man was beginning to become more and more challenging for her.

"Yes, he did mention that. I just wanted to see if he was right. I guess he was." He smiled. Kamani felt her inside melt at the sight of his smile. Curse this man and his ability to make her mind go blank and stupid.

"So, have you gotten any other information as yet?" She asked, pushing the distraction he was creating aside, the distraction being him. He shook his head, his face suddenly serious and professional. She couldn't help but want to swoon slightly.

No! This was work! She couldn't fall for him. He was her partner. She needed to be professional.

"No, she has no family, no relatives. There are no clues as to where Marc went. The car was found abandoned in the woods." He said. He turned and looked at her as she nodded and began to pace around the room.

"This Marc, he seems like a very intelligent criminal. He left no clue for us to track him, yet he left enough for us to know it was him. He made sure he left his hair. He wanted us to know he was the killer." Darci said. He watched her stop and nod.

"That's how he is. He's smart. But not smarter than us." Kamani smiled. Darci nodded and folded his arms. Kamani tried not to notice the way his muscles flexed and bulged in his black t-shirt.

"Very well. I'm sorry, but I have to leave. However, if you find anymore information, do send it to me. Thank you and it was nice meeting you." Kamani said, smiling as she turned to head out of the room before she threw herself on top of him.

"It was nice meeting you too. And I look forward to working with you." Darci said, his voice suddenly becoming low, dark, and... Suggestive? It took all her strength to force herself to walk out of the room instead of running and throwing herself into his arms.

She had a feeling that this was going to be her most interesting case yet.


Darci watched as the female officer left the room.

She had a sexy and mysterious aura to her, the kind of woman he loved.

He had watched the way her eyes had flickered to his face and he had seen the desire and passion that had entered them for a second before it left.

The way her body moved as she left. The way her lips formed her words. The way she behaved.

And, he had found himself more and more attracted to her in the brief moments they had spent together.

He had been telling the truth. He was looking forward to working with her.


Soooo, reviews! Tell me what you think!
-DramaQueen95