Mia exited the bathroom, and Sarah noticed that Mia was pale.
"Everything alright?", Sarah asked Mia.
"It seems I've upset my stomach.", Mia said with a grimace.
"Are you sick?", Sarah continued probing.
"No. Liz warned me that I'm overdoing it, but I always stuffed myself with random stuff and I was fine. Must be the trip, or something…"
"Or something…", Sarah said absentmindedly and rubbed her stomach. "Are you pregnant?"
Mia's eyebrows shot into her hairline. "What? No."
Sarah was amused by Mia's exaggerated reaction. "No, you don't know? Or no, there is no chance?"
Mia opened her mouth and closed it. She decided to shift the topic. "Are YOU pregnant?"
Sarah cradled her stomach with her palms and smiled gently. "Yes. Four and a half months along. It's a boy."
"Oh…", a sound escaped Mia's lips. She asked only to return the question, and it turned out that it's true.
Mia stared at Sarah's abdomen and noticed a bump. With Sarah's loose top, it was not obvious. "Uhm… congratulations."
"Thanks…", Sarah stood up and started rummaging through drawers in JoAnna's desk.
Mia assumed that Sarah dropped the topic, but a minute later, Sarah gave her a pregnancy test stick.
"Go and check."
Mia stared at the stick. "No need."
Sarah rolled her eyes and stuffed the test into Mia's hand. "Go and check. You have nothing to lose other than a few minutes of your time. Anna has boatloads of these. She won't notice that one is missing."
Sarah didn't lie. JoAnna stopped taking contraceptive pills and is hoping that her husband will impregnate her. That is why JoAnna has pregnancy tests stocked in her office. She doesn't want Jeff to find them. It would spoil the surprise.
Mia didn't want to argue. She took the test and went into the bathroom.
The door of the bathroom closed behind Mia and Sarah looked at Oni and Nala.
Oni's face was lit, and Sarah noticed.
"You found something?"
"I think I did…", Oni said, and Sarah frowned in anticipation.
If they found evidence that Albert and Rance are about to attack the Army of Chaos, another conflict will be inevitable and considering the amount of power the Council holds, Sarah was unable to estimate the consequences.
The only good thing in this scenario is that Suvedini was not lying.
"Albert's assistant, Bjorn, made two trips to Germany and one to France in the last few days.", Oni said while looking at the reports.
"What is unusual about it?", Sarah asked.
"They are not listed as business trips, there are no meetings in Bjorn's schedule, and he has no family there, so… that is a lot of traveling for leisure, and he didn't stay long enough to call it a vacation.", Oni responded.
"Now that you mention it…", Nala said. "I have similar behavior for Albert's assistant, Makia. Saturday in Greece, Monday in Romania, and in-between she made a stop in Bulgaria."
"Find out where they went and with whom they met.", Sarah instructed stiffly and started thinking at loud, "There is a chance that Albert is planning to cut off our transportation routes, or maybe to launch a campaign that will expose us in some way… It would be easier to deal with him if he is a regular boss of some dark organization…"
"Is someone giving you a hard time?"
Mia's voice startled Sarah.
"I thought you are doing the pregnancy test.", Sarah said with a frown which indicated her displeasure that Mia was eavesdropping.
"I peed on it. It says to wait a few minutes and I came out and I overheard things.", Mia explained. "I didn't mean to listen in, but maybe I can help."
Sarah observed Mia with a complex expression. What does Mia mean by, she can help? With advice? Maybe Mia heard some bits and pieces and thinks that this is a game.
Sarah reminded herself to be polite. Mia is here because they are waiting for Dr. Williams (aka Liz) to examine Vasily and if she offends Mia, it might have negative effects on Vasily's treatment.
"The situation is delicate.", Sarah said, hoping that Mia will get the hint that it's none of her business.
Mia glanced at Oni and Nala. "Can we talk here?"
Sarah understood that the question was if they can talk in front of Oni and Nala. "The two of them are family. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of them."
Mia nodded in acknowledgment and spoke with pride, "My men are trained to deal with delicate situations."
Sarah frowned at these words. Her men? Who is Mia?
They looked into Liz and Max because they were the main people coming. With the mess that the Council created and the urgency of Vasily's situation, none of them thought of checking the background of 'the bodyguards'.
Sarah moved her fingers in the air, and a second later she spoke while reading from Eve-lens, "Mia Anderson, born on April 14, 1991, as Mia Russo. Father Fabricio…"
As Sarah spoke, Oni and Nala became aware that Mia is not a simple woman. The two of them swiftly stood up and walked to stand in front of Sarah. If anything happens to Sarah or the baby, they will not forgive themselves, and Aiden will punish them harshly.
Mia smirked while her eyes moved from Oni to Nala before settling on Sarah. "Impressive. But I wouldn't expect anything less from the famous Nyx."
Oni and Nala assumed battle stances, ready to attack, and Mia lifted her hands in the air, indicating that she has no intention to fight.
"I mean no harm. I came here to accompany my friend."
Sarah didn't believe it. "Are you saying that you had no intention of approaching me?"
"That was a bonus. We tried setting up a meeting more than once, but were rejected.", Mia responded.
Sarah sneered. "There is a reason we rejected you. I don't work with people who earn money by killing."
Mia shrugged. "I inherited the organization two years ago. We changed our ways, but the reputation remains."
"Really? You changed your ways?", Sarah asked with disbelief dripping from her words. "Are you telling me that you don't kill anymore?"
"We focus on information exchange and protection.", Mia responded with a smile before adding, "However, there are times when we do what needs to be done. I am confident that you share the same policy. When I said that I can help, I meant it."
Sarah's eyebrow arched suspiciously. "How?"
"I will need to hear more details to offer you anything solid, but so far I know your opponent is powerful enough to cause the Army of Chaos to worry and he is not a leader of an underground organization. My conclusion is that straightforward attacking will bring unwanted attention and probably losses which makes me think that he is from the military. Or a politician?"
Sarah was impressed. Based on few bits that Mia heard, she already concluded all this. It told Sarah that Mia knows what she is doing.
Sarah gestured to Oni and Nala to relax before asking Mia, "And how would you deal delicately with this situation?"
"It depends on what you want to achieve. Do you want to take him out, warn him? And it will also depend on his background and circumstances."
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