Is this destiny?

Maksim glanced to the side to see that Hong's face was not covered with a mask. His clothes were dark gray, but that was not the uniform Sarah and her three guardians were wearing.

Maksim was recollecting all the rumors he heard about the Army of Chaos, which included that they are solidifying their presence and expanding from Europe toward the East. There are stories about ghosts and undefeatable soldiers, and as much as Maksim knows that half of it came from someone's imagination, it is undeniable that the Army of Chaos is a formidable force.

He was curious to know how did that old man (aka Hong) associate himself with the Army of Chaos? It is obvious that he is not a member.

Also, the Army of Chaos is led by their Goddess Nyx and Maksim's eyes sparkled at the realization that he is looking at her, and that those three men are probably her generals.

Other than a Lebedev, his Divna is the leader of the Army of Chaos. And he saw photos of her being a speaker about software security and a model on a runway... it made him wonder what other secrets she is hiding. 

"Aren't you afraid that I will tell someone about your identity?", Maksim asked Sarah.

"No.", Sarah said flatly as her red eyes looked at Maksim from behind the black mask and he found her to be enchanting as she threatened him: "We are watching you, young master Maksim. If you reveal this to anyone, you will be dead before you know it together with anyone who got a whisper of your words. Do you think it's accidental that no one knows who I am?"

"What happened to trust?", Maksim reminded Sarah.

Sarah smiled smugly. "Trust needs to be earned. Other than letting you hold onto your gun, I showed you who I am. That is how far I will go with trusting you. Now it's up to you to show me if my trust was misplaced. People who betray me don't have a good ending."

Maksim was surprised that Sarah is aware of his gun. Maksim was unable to decide if Sarah is confident or reckless. "You call it trust, but I don't see it more than a test."

"Those are just labels. I am sure you are smart enough to see that I showed goodwill and I sincerely hope that we can collaborate. Trusting you blindly would be stupid and if I am such a person, I would be dead a long time ago. However, a series of successful collaborations will eventually lead to developing trust. Show me that I can trust you by doing your part and not deceiving me."

Maksim was dazed. The more Sarah spoke, the more he was attracted to her and with these words about trust and that she is giving him a chance… Maksim found himself to be absolutely smitten.

Aaron frowned as he observed changes in Maksim's expression. What's up with that goofy smile? Aaron snapped his fingers, which got Maksim back to reality.

"I assume you know who betrayed you from the Lebedev family.", Maksim said to Sarah, and her mood fell at the thought of Ivan which inevitably made her think of Vasily.

"Our house was cleaned from rats.", Sarah said before adding: "We are coming tomorrow to clean up this place."

"Why?" Maksim had to ask.

Maksim was curious to know why Sarah is after Voronins. How much he knows, Voronins never openly attacked the Army of Chaos. Sure, they tried infiltrating it a few times, but all those were failures, and Voronins were never able to cause any damage. If Sarah is a high ranking Lebedev, it means she belongs to that family. The Lebedevs and Voronins have a long feud with nothing new popping up recently. She is not a Voronin also, is she? Are they some distant cousins? That would be a pity, Maksim thought, because if they are related he needs to drop the idea of pursuing Sarah.

"Voronins meddled into my life too many times to be left alone. As for specifics… you will find out tomorrow if you watch carefully."

Based on Sarah's tone, Maksim understood that this is personal. "Alright. I look forward to it."

"Time to go.", Sarah told to four people who were accompanying her and glanced at Maksim. "Until tomorrow."

Maksim grinned. "It's a date."

Noah let out an angry growl which was ignored by Maksim who by now understood that all these people obey Sarah, and he knows that she needs him, so no one will dare to harm him.

Sarah paused at the door and looked to her left.

Maksim saw two figures in black uniforms with backpacks joining them.

"Done?", Sarah asked.

Ade and Hande nodded. The upper half of their faces were covered with masks, but Maksim saw that both of them grinned.

"What is that?", Maksim asked with a frown while gesturing to the backpacks.

Sarah threw Maksim a side-glace as he approached them, and she was unable to hide mischief from her eyes that were back to enchanting green. "We are making sure your cover is solid. Are you sure you want to keep those paintings?" Sarah laughed at Maksim's confused expression that mixed with outrage which told her that he figured out they swiped something from his villa. "Young master Maksim, the security feed will continue to work as usually ten seconds after we leave your lovely home."

Maksim walked after them and he stood in the hallway, watching seven people and a black leopard exit through the front door like they own the place.

Maksim checked the time. If Sarah was correct, his men should be back in the next ten minutes or so.

Unable to settle the unease inside his stomach, Maksim walked in the direction from where Ade and Hande emerged and he exhaled in frustration when he peeked inside his study only to see that his safe is wide open and empty.

Maksim sat on the leather chair behind his desk and powered up his computer. He said that she is his Divna and anything else does not matter, but the more he found out about Sarah, the more intrigued he was.

Maksim spent a big chunk of the night reading files on the recent changes in the Lebedev family and intel related to the Army of Chaos.

…

In one tunnel close to Maksim's villa…

"Did you need to tend to his wound personally?", Aiden asked Sarah grumpily.

"Don't tell me you are jealous. It was a gesture of good faith because he volunteered to give his blood. Nothing more.", Sarah assured Aiden even though she knew that he was aware of it.

"You could have just stabbed him. He already gave you the knife. Why did you play nice?"

Sarah laughed at Aiden's sulking expression.

"Having him on our side tomorrow will be good."

"He is unstable.", Aiden warned Sarah.

"I know. That is why Eve is watching over him."

Sarah hoped that after tomorrow, she will not see Maksim anymore. They don't have a solid plan for Voronins, but she wishes that things happen fast and that Hong and a selected few can stay behind, and Sarah can return to sorting out Lebedevs before they head back home to Los Angeles.

Sarah wanted to change the topic. "How are things on your side?"

"We emptied all storages and safes in houses of senior officials, Elders, and the Grand Master. But it's hard to tell how much we gained. Voronins are collecting everything from trinkets to valuables, and we also got a lot of papers. It will take some time to go through all that and see what is useful."

"Is there anything sparkling for me?", Sarah asked innocently like a child who is asking for candy.

"If there is anything, it's yours."

Aiden chuckled and put his arm around Sarah's shoulders, pulling her closer to him as they walked down the tunnel, away from the main base of the Voronin family.

Sarah always loved sparkling things. They have their own mines and Blanc that can make her anything sparkly she wants but… this is his wife, and Aiden would call her insatiable greedy if he does not know that she supports selflessly a hundred people in their home and thousands of members of the Army of Chaos.

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