Due to the plan

Kristof focused his eyes on me, then sighed and rubbed the back of his head. 

"I do believe you know Markus made a bloody path to his current position, respected in the whole USA and outside this country. He saw the goal, not the obstacles. Markus killed, murdered, tortured, kidnapped, and burned a lot of people, vampires, and other creatures before he reached his final goal. Only after that, he looked back at his path and decided to change something, as respect can be gained not only by the number of murders." 

I knew only a little about those old times when Markus was a killing machine. Was I scared? Not at all. Of course, I knew he was a monster in those days, but from the time he met me, he changed a lot, and now being with him didn't make me feel any danger. However, I was always curious about those old times, I never dared to ask.