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Ciro was behind Scarlet when she burst the door open. He tensed a little, knowing that Alfons might mistake him for the old "Vinny."

"Ah, Scarlet. I was wondering when you'd be here." Alfons turned to face her. He raised an eyebrow at Ciro, then went back to Scarlet. "Were my men too loud?"

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"~Maybe I should start climbing.~" Dmitri started his way up. He only had a few feet to go to get to the window, but it was still too much in his opinion. "For zis I expect vodka from boss."

good boy. Cassandra thought. She now stood, and walked behind Devonte's chair.
"You are far too tense, my dear." she cooed, and began to massage the young vampires shoulders. "My goodness, you are nearly as tense as a victim going through rigor!" Cassandra now leaned in closer, close enough to whisper in his ear, "Relax."

This she tried to also push into his mind, but he kept it secured enough that he would notice any tampering. Valthier seemed busy with mouse, she was sure he would not feel the need of competition, and Devonte more then likely had decent insight into his sister. A gentle massage might loosen his mind just enough.

Alfons let out a hearty laugh, "Nein, nein! The irony isn't lost on me, and I'm not leaving. Only Jamie left." Uncannily fast, he became solemn again. "In fact, I was going to ask you about something... important." His eyes darted to Ciro again, trying to place where he'd seen him before.

Ciro was standing behind and to the right of Scarlet. He could tell that Alfons was suspicious, but didn't recognize him. He listened to the faint sound of the man climbing outside, mentally preparing himself for a potential fight.

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"Boss is talking with someone." Dmitri realized. With only a foot to go, he yelled, "HEY! SVOLOCH!"

Alfons facepalmed. "The idiot outside is Dmitri Zolnerovich. Former Red Army. I was hoping that it was someone else." Dmitri climbed through the window.
"So boss, vhat did I miss? Was zere party? Wiz vodka?"
Alfons sighed heavily. "Just shut up and listen."
"Mudak," Dmitri muttered.
"I heard that!"

Ciro shook his head. "I never thought GoldschmidtArms would hire someone like this."

"What do you say, Devonte?" Cassandra's accent slipped through just a little. "Should we be left alone and allow valthier to play with his new toy?" It was hard for her to focus on the task at hand when this poor think had knots in his undead tissue absolutely everywhere. This massage business was probably doing more harm then good, so she lightened up on it a little, focusing less on the muscle, and more on the skin itself.

Valthier. She thought out loud to him, I'll be listening. And believe you me, even though you can feel me inside your head, Mouse won't. Play nice.

Devonte curled a lip in a silent snarl at Valthier, but let him go without contest. If the dark elf displeased Scarlet in any way by weltching on their agreement, Devonte would take personal pleasure in feeding Valthier's entrails to the hell hounds.

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"He doesn't seem to be very well trained," Scarlet said with a sliver of rebuke in her tone. "Take my body guard, for example." She walked around Ciro as if he were a new sports car in a game show, touching the lines of his muscles to emphasize his physique. "See how silent and stoic he is? How utterly confidant? He takes orders quickly and without question, and he would never dare insult me in front of company like that. Perhaps you should get one like mine, Alfons. I could commission it for you. Perhaps a beautiful mädchen that measures 34-26-34, with perfect aim and a history with the Munich circus?"

Scarlet smiled a very predatory smile, showing her fangs to best effect. "I've chosen to expand my empire, to bring it out of the shadows, so to speak. Care to invest in my budding world power?"