~ Los Angeles, the Cliffside Villa ~
Sophia and Felix are having dinner with Sarah and Aiden.
Kitty is relaxing by Sarah's side and nudging Sarah's leg occasionally as a reminder that even though she finished her dinner before her human family, Kitty will not mind if Sarah gives her something off from her plate.
Sarah offered her a broccoli and Kitty's eyes lit up for a moment before she realized what it is. Kitty looked at her human mother with eyes which said: 'It smells good because you dipped it in some yummy gravy, but it's still a green tree-looking vegetable!'
Kitty snorted and turned her head away, but she was not angry enough to leave her human mother. Sarah laughed. Kitty still does not want to eat vegetables.
After inevitable discussion about the Marcus and Jeff, Sarah decided to get more information on the new face which she noticed earlier by Sophia's side.
"Tell me about Pam. Where did she come from?"
Sophia saw this coming. "You know that I never stopped looking for an assistant. But it was nearly impossible to find a replacement for Leah. I interviewed many candidates, and no matter what education and references they have… it didn't click for me. I met Pam last week and as soon as we started talking, it was like a ray of sunshine and I knew that she is the one."
Sarah looked at her sister in disbelief. "Did you look for an assistant or a lover?"
Sophia laughed. "I know it sounds weird, but there are many qualified people, and this is a sensitive position. I was looking for someone who will be by my side and I can rely on that person. It is a matter of trust. Pam is working as my assistant four days and she is observant and a quick learner and so far she didn't give me a reason to doubt my decision to hire her."
"You are confident.", Sarah stated.
Sophia confirmed. "As an added bonus, she is not ogling at my husband. She knows where the boundary is no matter how handsome my man is."
Sarah could not deny this. She noticed that Pam didn't look at Aiden either. So, the woman either has an amazing self-control or she is not interested in men. But that is not Sarah's business.
After dinner, they went downstairs into the computer room.
Sarah and Aiden told Sophia and Felix high level information related to the army of Chaos: their role, that the kids are generals, goals and the current status.
Felix nodded in understanding. He knew that they are up to something, but he didn't know that it's this big. Felix wanted to ask more details about the performance of some of his gadgets but then he saw that Sophia is about to blow up and he decided to keep his questions for… later.
Sophia rubbed her temples forcefully while glaring at Sarah. "Wait, wait… the two of you are some underground bosses, fighting against Lebedev and Voronin families and whoever comes your way. And you have more than two hundred fighters, a fightclub, and a number of residential and business properties, and my lovely husband created for you thousands of drones… and this is going on for half a year and I'm finding about it only now because…?"
Sarah lowered her head. "You were pregnant and dealing with other things. I never told Felix for what his drones will be used. And I didn't think it will grow this much…"
"What were you thinking?!", Sophia asked angrily.
Sarah sighed. She knew that Sophia will be angry. After all, even Stella and Edward know about the army of Chaos and Sophia is the last one to find out. To make things worse, they were living together until two months ago which means that Sarah was sneaking out to perform her missions. Well, she never lied about it, she just didn't bring it up. But Sarah knows that if she says this to Sophia, it will only make things worse instead of pacifying her.
Sarah did her best puppy-eyed look in an effort to remind her big sister that she is the baby in the family and that Sophia should not be mad at her.
Sarah saw that Sophia relaxed a bit (puppy-eyed look worked!), so she responded: "Aiden was in a coma and I was angry, and I wanted to get them as far away as possible. I was a mess and I… was not thinking."
Sophia remembered that Sarah was a mess. Well, who wouldn't be if an enemy puts your loved one in a coma? And Sophia also knows that other than suffering an injury to her arm, Sarah also lost a baby. Last bits of Sophia's anger turned into sadness. Sophia scolded herself silently because her baby sister endured a lot, and here she is: throwing a tantrum because she was not aware of some things.
And Sarah is right that Sophia was occupied with her pregnancy and work and merger and house-hunting... If she was more alert, she would notice that something is happening because they were living in the same house.
"Anna knows about this?", Sophia asked.
"We told Anna and Jeff recently… are you angry?", Sarah asked Sophia reluctantly.
"No. I am disappointed that you did all this without letting me know. I know that you have your life, but this is something that impacts all of us. What would we do if something happened to you during one of your missions? What would happen to Aiden who was non-responsive? What would I tell him when he wakes up and asks where are you? Don't shoulder everything by yourself."
Sarah listened to Sophia and her heart ached. She didn't think about those things. She knew that Sophia would be upset that she is in the dark, but she didn't think about the possibility that something happens to her. Sarah realized that Sophia is more concerned about Sarah's safety than angry because she didn't know what is going on.
"Sorry, big sis. That is why we are telling you. We want you to know what is going on and to give us some advice."
Sarah saw that Sophia gestured for her to continue and Sarah approached a large map on the screen. "We have a full control over these areas…"
Later that evening…
Sarah and Aiden are at the front door, waving at the departing car which will take Sophia and Felix to their Tuscan villa.
"That went rather good.", Aiden told Sarah.
"Yeah. Felix is cool about it and I am sure that any reservation from his side will disappear when he sees all the goodies in the warehouses which he can use. Sophia was angry at first, but I've seen worse. She will take a day or two to adjust to this information and then we can talk again. I'm sure that she will have great advices related to our next moves."
"We should hold off on expansion until we deal with Marcus."
Sarah agreed with that. Now that Aiden mentioned Marcus, Sarah remembered: "In the meantime, I will visit Eric and those twenty something bodyguards that joined us at Marcus' party. Noah, Jesse and Ron are managing their trainings for more than a month. I want check on their progress."
Aiden can see that there is more: "You have plans for them?"
"I'm not comfortable mixing them with the regulars. That is why I want to create a specialized unit with Eric as the leader. But twenty people is a lot. I hope to find at least one or two more capable people and break them into smaller groups…"
Sarah's words stopped when she saw a notification on Eve-vision lens that someone is approaching, and a second later she heard rustling from the direction of the garden.
With few swift movements, she turned on night vision on her lens.
"Julius?"
Julius approached Sarah and Aiden and stepped on into the light. "Boss Sarah, may I have a word with you?"
Aiden understood that Julius wants to talk to Sarah in private. "You can use the study…"
---
If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l .. c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.