Is this destiny?

~ the main base of the Voronin family ~

Before entering his villa, Maksim stopped and observed the night sky that was clear and speckled with stars.

It was unusually quiet, and Maksim wondered if it\'s because of the heat.

He remembered that he told the usual guards to take the evening off. There is no need to guard him in this place as no one will dare to make a move against young master Maksim. Also, Maksim wants to minimize the number of people who might see him in this state.

His face is fine, but he knows that his body is bruised and that he probably has internal injuries. Standing up seems to be challenging, but he will push through this.

Maksim took a deep breath and stopped halfway while clutching his chest. On the previous day, Sarah and Aiden escaped and even though Grand Master Simeon didn\'t have access to the security footage due to a mysterious outage (aka Eve), Simeon heard from the people present that Maksim delayed them from going after the prisoners.

Maksim knew that his father would punish him, but Sarah is safe, so it was worth it.

He coughed weakly and spat metallic tasting liquid that pooled in his throat only to see that it is blood. He would not expect anything less from his father. It\'s not the first time, and Maksim knew that he will heal eventually.

Maksim made his way inside while wondering where Sarah is. Probably far from here. Will he see her again? Considering her identity, there is a big chance for them to reunite. Simeon told Maksim that Sarah is high-ranked in the Lebedev family, and the incident from yesterday proved it. Not that Maksim cares who Sarah is because, for him, she is enchanting Divna who brings thrill into his life, something he never experienced before.

Maksim\'s steps halted in front of the living room which was in the dark. That is unusual because they always keep the lower floor lit up.

He stepped in and flicked the switch, only to realize that nothing is happening.

"Marko? Marko!", Maksim called one of his henchmen who is taking care of the place. He dismissed the guards, but Marko should still be here. Did the bulbs go bad? All of them? It\'s probably the fuse in the basement. "Marko!!!" This last call was a shout that made him cough again and clutch his chest.

"You don\'t sound so good, young master Maksim.", a soft female voice came from the living room that made Maksim pause.

Is he imagining or…?

The lights came on and his eyes widened in shock at the sight of Sarah sitting on the couch with Kitty by her side. Behind Sarah are Michael, Noah, and Aaron standing in attention with their arms behind their backs and glares directed at Maksim.

Before they came here, Aiden said to Michael, Noah, and Aaron that Maksim has dirty thoughts toward Sarah, so Sarah\'s guardians are on high alert. Sarah told Aiden that Noah and Aaron are more protection than she needs (she has drones as well), but Aiden does not trust Noah and Aaron because those two are a danger of their own. Sarah thought that Aiden is silly, but she agreed to take someone else.

"Only one more. We need to sneak in and out without being detected and with every additional person the undetected part is getting more difficult to achieve.", Sarah tried to reason, and Aiden picked Michael.

Back to the present.

"Why are you here?", Maksim asked with a frown and nervously glanced into the hallway. Luckily, it was empty. No… Why is the hallway empty? There is usually someone present. He dismissed the guards, but still, there should be at least the staff that is maintaining the house.

Maksim turned slowly and looked at Sarah questionably.

Sarah tilted her head. "I thought you will be happy to see me."

Maksim glanced at the camera in the top corner.

"Don\'t worry about that. Right now, it\'s showing an empty room.", Sarah assured him and gestured to the sofa chair opposite from her, for him to sit.

"Why are you here?", Maksim repeated his question without moving from the door.

Sarah used Eve-lens to check Maksim for weapons. He had a pistol, a knife, and she didn\'t expect to see several internal injuries. It seems that his father beat him up badly. Sarah assumed that is the case because some areas (like Simeon\'s office and the interrogation rooms) don\'t have surveillance, but she saw that yesterday Maksim walked into one of the buildings at the core of the base and he came out a few hours later, in a visibly bad state. The same thing happened today.

"You are not well, you should sit.", Sarah said.

Maksim shook his head. "Will you answer my question?"

Sarah smirked and gestured again to the sofa chair. "Will you sit?"

Maksim threw another glance at the deserted hallway before sauntering to the chair she assigned to him.

As he got closer, Kitty growled, and Sarah scratched Kitty\'s head. "Stay Kitty… Don\'t eat him, yet." Sarah continued scratching Kitty\'s head while grinning mischievously at Maksim. She can\'t help it. His shocked expression was priceless.

Maksim lifted an eyebrow and took a seat without a word and Sarah knew that he is expecting an explanation for her presence.

"I came here to talk.", Sarah said.

"A phone call would do. After all the trouble to escape, you are playing a dangerous game of being here. How did you get in here without being noticed?"

Maksim knows that getting into the outer areas of the base does not require much skill, but this is the core that has a lot of security and checkpoints. Other than that, they have radars that would detect any aircraft. For an outsider, it\'s impossible to come here and not cause a ruckus.

Sarah didn\'t want to say that they used tunnels, and that Eve navigated them to the shortest route with the least enemies, and that those few unfortunate ones who got in their way got knocked out by the drones… or that there are more than a dozen invisible drones in the villa (three above them), with a dozen more patrolling the perimeter.

"I admit that when I came here last time, I was not prepared. Now it\'s different.", Sarah said without answering his question. 

Maksim glanced at Noah and then his eyes moved to Aaron before he visually inspected Michael. All three of them have lean and muscular bodies that can\'t be hidden by the black uniforms they are wearing. Noah and Michael are handsome, but Aaron stands out with his chiseled features which earned him many contracts while he worked as a model.

Other than them being soldiers and nice to look at, Maksim observed how all three are protective of Sarah. And one person was missing…

"Where is the pretty boy? Don\'t tell me you replaced one for three? Do you have a harem going on? Where do I sign up?", Maksim ended with a big grin.

"Watch your mouth!", Aaron warned Maksim to what Sarah raised her arm to get Aaron to calm down.

Sarah stifled a laugh. Not because of Maksim\'s words but because she heard through her ear stud Aiden cursing.

Aiden\'s heated reaction confirmed that it was the right decision for her to bring Michel, Noah, and Aaron with her while Aiden was left in charge of swiping stuff from the warehouses that are placed through the base. With drones knocking everyone out and Eve manipulating the surveillance, emptying warehouses is a piece of cake.

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