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"I'll be the very near damned thing if it means making sure you're safe, Sisi."

"Oh, Vlad," she sighs, her eyes clear and fuck, so damned beautiful. "No matter how much I'd like to argue that sometimes things simply happen, I can't. I know what you're feeling because I feel it too." She takes my hand and places it on her chest, right above her heart.

"The thought that those men could get to you while you were incapacitated, or unable to fight them off almost killed me. I would have doneanythingto keep you safe."

"Then you understand. There's this monstrous rage inside of me, ready to be unleashed at the mere suggestion that you'd be in danger. And it's not my berserker rage. No, this is something so much more potent, so much more violent that I fearno onewould make it out alive."

"I trust you," she immediately says and the words warm my heart. Just a while ago I'd thought I would never be able to gain her trust back. "And I know I'm safe with you." The corner of her mouth pulls up.

"You're my protector," her smile widens, "my guardian devil," she cheekily adds and I find myself returning the smile. "As long as you're around I know that nothing and no one can harm me."

It humbles me to realize that she truly means those words. She actually trusts me to protect her, and in that moment I vow to never disappoint her.

"But maybe now you can tell me whatthatwas all about." She looks at me questioningly, and I release a deep breath.

"I'm not entirely sure. Remember Meester from the club?" I ask, reminding her of the short encounter and that he's been the owner of the fighter who'd lost against Seth. "I don't know why he'd send people after me.

To my knowledge, the only time I offended him was years ago when I refused marriage to his daughter. But he would have had plenty of time to make attempts on my lifebeforenow," I add pensively.

Things aren't making much sense, and the more I think about it, the more I become suspicious ofeveryone.

"That's odd," she notes and I agree.

"I know I'm currently persona non grata on the East Coast, especially since I killed the leaders of most of the Russian syndicates in the area. Honestly, I would have expectedanyof them to be behind the attack, but Meester?" I shake my head, unable to find a logical connection. "Maybe if he's acting in conjunction with them?"

"Do you think he might be connected to Miles too?" Sisi asks, biting her lip in consternation.

I'd already given her a rundown of the situation with Miles, or at least the new information I'd gathered recently, including the fact that the attack at the warehouse must have had something to do with Miles.

After I'd realized that he had gone to Giovanni Lastra for funding, I'd gotten the idea that he couldn't have been the only one he'd reached out to.

Following the attack, when Vanya had called me out for being too complacent, I'd done a little digging inside the other syndicates' financials. The results had been rather predictable and most of them had been investing with a ghost company foryears.

The only way I'd managed to connect that to Miles had been by cross-referencing some of the older transactions with those of Lastra, since he'd ended up making some payments to Miles.

As it stands, it's clear that Miles's enterprise isn't just the absurd work of a mad scientist. It's a business. And he's managed to rope some of the most dangerous men from the East Coast into it.

I'm still unsure about what he promised them or what the terms of their agreement were. I have to wonder if he promised them a cut of the business when he succeeded in creating the perfect soldier, or if they'd simply been interested in obtaining those soldiers for their own organizations.

Still, it seems a bit ludicrous that so many people would blindly invest based on mere theories and conjectures. In my memories, and to my knowledge, Miles had never succeeded in creating a perfect soldier.

There must be something I'm missing.

"Possibly," I admit. "I have Seth working in Boston, gathering intel from one of the ruling Bratvas. From what he's been telling me, it's not only money that these people have been funneling into Miles' business, but also people."

Sisi frowns. "You mean they've been scouting potential test subjects?"

"I'm a little unclear on that. Seth's managed to compile a list of missing people, but so far none have had the mutation. There is a chance it wasn't in their records. But with how rare it is," I purse my lips, "I doubtallwould have had it."

"Then why would Miles need them? More tests? Maybe he's trying something different?"

"That's what we need to find out," I add grimly.

While in New Orleans, I'd tried not to think too much about Miles and the people gunning for me. I wanted to enjoy my time alone with Sisi. Together, in our little bubble, everything hadbeen nothing short of perfect. But it seems I can't neglect this forever.

"One thing is for sure, though. Miles knows I'm looking for him, and he's been trying to take me out for a while," I say, a bleak expression on my face. All my snooping had gotten his attention at last. "But now Meester? If he's also working with Miles, then it might make sense."

"What's the plan?" she asks, "Because you always have a plan." She raises an eyebrow at me, and I chuckle.