Roni heard footsteps and turned his head to look at who was invading his and William's lair.

William had left the door open again. The guy was incorrigible. The typical absentminded scientist.

"Hello, Kian. What brings you here?" A visit from the big boss probably meant a big job, which was good. Roni needed all the distraction he could get to keep busy and not obsess about the transition that wasn't happening.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. Nothing is happening."

"I mean in general. Do you feel like you are back to how you were before the pneumonia?"

Roni shook his head. "No, that shit totally fucked me over. I feel feeble like an old man, which I'm going to be soon if the fucking transition doesn't happen."

Kian patted Roni's head as if he was a child in need of soothing. "You're years away from old age. You shouldn't have gone for another try so soon. Your body is not ready yet."

"It's what I keep telling myself, but that too is getting old."

Kian raked his fingers through his hair, looking as frustrated as Roni felt. "How many pushups could you do before the pneumonia?"

"Twenty-five."

"How many can you do now?"

Roni closed one eye as he grimaced. "I didn't try, but probably no more than two."

"That's what I thought. I'll make a deal with you. You get back to twenty-five pushups, and I'll induce your transition myself. Bridget says my venom is the most potent since I'm a direct descendant of the goddess."

Wow, that was unexpected. "Thank you. I'm honored, really, I'm not just saying it to sound polite or anything."

Kian chuckled. "I know. You and I have this in common—a dirty mouth and little patience for niceties. Maybe that's why I like you."

Another surprise. "I thought you couldn't stand me."

"Why would you think that?"

Roni shrugged. "It's not as if you were overly friendly with me. You treated me like a nuisance."

"I treat everyone like that. I'm short-tempered and rude. Just ask my sisters, and they will confirm."

Interesting, so his wife had no problem with his cussing and his rudeness. Sylvia didn't mind either. They were both lucky to have such forgiving mates.

Apparently, Kian was a kindred spirit. Who would have guessed?

"I assume you didn't trudge all the way here to inquire about my health. What can I do for you, boss?"

"What I need from you is not a quick fix, but I don't want you to overexert yourself. Treat it as a side project and take your time with it."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find out all you can about human trafficking, and by that, I mean the sex slave market. I prefer to call things the way they are. But the information I want you to find will be called human trafficking. A fucking euphemism for a despicable evil that is allowed to spread and form a spider web large enough to envelop our world."

Kian must've riled himself up because his fangs were starting to peek over his lower lip.

"Dude." Roni pointed at them. "Calm down, you're scaring me with those."

He rubbed his neck where Brundar had bitten him. "By the way, according to that induction ceremony, I'm under the assassin's protection. Wouldn't it hurt his feelings if you take his place? I really don't want to get on that guy's bad side. I'm sure there is no one there because they are all dead."

Kian smiled, his fangs receding so fast they were almost back to normal. "Brundar is not an assassin. What gave you that impression?"

"Duh, the guy is lethal. Even a soft civilian like me feels it."

"He is a warrior and a defender, and in those capacities he is lethal. But I assure you I never sent out any of my Guardians to assassinate anyone."

"Why not? I can think of a few cases when an assassination could've saved a lot of lives. No offense to your leadership abilities, but if I were you, I would have definitely sent people to take out a few fuckers and make the world a safer place for the good people."

"None taken. You're a smart guy, Roni, I'll let you figure it out on your own. In the meantime, though, collect information for me. Organize it as best you can and then email it to Shai. He will make a condensed version for me."

"Yes, boss."

With a mock stern look, Kian waggled a finger at him. "You're not allowed to work more than eight hours a day. Am I clear?"

"Yes, boss."

Kian cocked a brow. "Don't think for a moment that I'm not going to check. One of the basic tenets of good leadership is not to expect, but to inspect."

"Noted." Roni saluted Kian as the guy turned and strode out.

The question was how the hell was he supposed to finish all the jobs everyone was dropping on his desk in a forty-hour week?

With Roni handling all the hacking and information gathering assignments, William was free to dedicate all his time to software development and improvement, which was exactly how it should be. Each one was doing what he was best qualified for. To ask William to assist him would be counterproductive.

Roni sighed and leaned back in his chair. He would need to prioritize, and some people would have to wait longer than others. But with everyone claiming theirs was the most pressing job, he was going to make some people unhappy.

"Hi, handsome." Sylvia snuck up behind him and kissed his forehead. "Are you ready to call it a day? I met Kian outside, and he appointed me in charge of your schedule. No more than eight hours a day."

"Right. I don't know how I'm supposed to manage all the things everyone wants me to and do it in less time. I'm good but not that good."

She came around and sat on his lap. "Can I help?'

He was about to tell her no but then changed his mind. Some of the research Kian wanted could be done by anyone. Roni would hack into the government database, which no doubt contained a lot of information on the subject, while Sylvia researched what was available on the net.

"You can. How do you feel about working here by my side?"

She smiled happily. "I would love to. What do you need me to do?"

"Kian asked me to research human trafficking. You can check out what's available on the net."

"No problem. When do I start?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"What time do you need me?"

He wrapped his arms around her. "I need you all of the time. I want you to stay the night, then wake up with me in the morning and eat breakfast, then come down here to work with me. We could be spending entire days together."

"Sounds lovely."

"I don't know about lovely. This slavery thing is a damn depressing subject. I need you for moral support too."

"We will cheer each other up."

"So, can you stay the night?"

She squirmed in his lap. "I can stay until the early morning hours and then go home to shower and change."

Roni let his head drop back. "How long are we going to drag it out? You need to introduce me to your mother. And since I can't leave the keep, you'll need to invite her to my place."

"You're right, but I'm chicken."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Of her having an emotional meltdown. You don't know how hard it is to live through those when you care about the person experiencing them. She is not doing it on purpose. She is just fragile."

"She needs to get out of the house."

"Didn't I tell you? She started working for Jackson."

"In the café?"

"That's great."

"Yeah. I think so too. She seems much more upbeat. I don't want to send her into a downward spiral just when she is getting better. Give me a little more time."

Roni closed his eyes. He wasn't a patient guy. But Sylvia was doing her best, and it wasn't fair to put more pressure on her.

"You'll have to make it up to me for being such an understating and patient boyfriend."

Sylvia waggled her brows. "Let's go up to your apartment and I will."