Chapter 383 - Unity

Next morning, JoAnna, Jeff, Sophia and Felix came to Sarah's and Aiden's apartment.

After a round of excited screams and congratulations, three sisters discussed ring for a while, and then they moved on to have breakfast.

Sarah wanted to hear details about the proposal and pregnancy. Sisters went out and settled on lounging chairs next to the swimming pool. Sophia talked about proposal and JoAnna about Sophia's pregnancy. During that time Aiden was on the East terrace with a city view, accompanied by Jeff and Felix. They didn't pay attention to the view; they were busy talking about security needs for Jeff and JoAnna's future house (which they still didn't pick). Felix will provide devices while Aiden will create necessary software. Jeff was still secretly hoping that Sarah will let him have Eve.

Later, all six of them sat in the living room with two topics on their minds to discuss.

First one to start was Sarah, "As I mentioned, we got to know some information about our background. Something from what I'm about to tell you came from Stella, and something is our deduction. Aiden and I talked about this and our conclusions are identical."

JoAnna and Sophia were very curious and listened carefully as Sarah spoke. "It might sound crazy, but please listen carefully. It's related to Hill and White families. Felix, since you are with Sophia, we believe that you should know this as well."

"OK. Some background first... " Sarah told them about how two Eastern European families grew in power, branch families, Elders, Council, as well as importance of their own martial arts. "Now, how do we fit there... We are confident that Stella is from one of those families, and she is related with main family. When we go to train, she is teaching me their secret martial art. Somehow, she got out of there, but it seems that the family has their eyes on us. We can only assume that they want to pull us in, while Stella is shielding us from that." Sarah and Aiden suspected that their story is close to truth, but they didn't know that their assumptions are spot on.

Sarah turned to Aiden. "Now you tell your part."

Aiden told them about the camp he attended and how Elder from second family taught him some moves which made him a target for other disciples since they don't want to associate themselves with an outsider.

"Crazy story, a?" Sarah glanced over JoAnna, Jeff, Sophia and Felix who looked at her and Aiden with a mix of worry and disbelief. "We would not tell you this if we don't think it's important. But let's ignore crazy parts, where two of us know mystical martial arts which can propel us to the positions of Elders in two opposing mafia-families. Without that, we are left with a scenario of two powerful families keeping an eye on us, and they don't seem to be friendly. We need to stay vigilant. I believe that Stella didn't tell us everything, but what she said seems to be the truth. Each of us here witnessed at least once that Stella has means to make people disappear without blinking, that proves that she is not a simple person."

When Sarah and Aiden finished talking, there was a silence in the room while everyone absorbed what they heard.

JoAnna spoke first. "How do we fight this?"

Jeff looked at JoAnna with admiration. He believes that attack is the best defense, and he is proud that JoAnna is not trying to hide from this.

Sarah looked at Sophia who gave a small nod of approval to JoAnna's question.

Sarah smiled. "I was hoping for this reaction. First, we need to figure out who they are. But we can't act recklessly. Our only advantage at this point is that we found out about this before they made any moves."

Sophia agreed. "No matter how big they are, once we drain their finances, they will be crippled. After that we remove their helpers. Just main family without manpower and resources will not be much of a threat."

Sarah glanced at Jeff and Felix and then at her sisters. "Maybe you should talk with your guys about this."

Jeff scooted closer to JoAnna and held her around her waist. "We don't need to talk. Let me know how I can help."

JoAnna leaned on Jeff and kissed him. She was happy that he is supportive.

Felix protectively put his arm on Sophia's shoulder. "Same here."

Sophia tilted her head and brushed her cheek on Felix's fingers which rested on her shoulder.

Sarah and Aiden glanced at each other, smiling. They are all in this together.

JoAnna got an idea. "Can we count on mom?"

"I don't think so." Sarah responded. "She spent more than twenty years keeping us out of it. If we tell her that we are going to face this head on, I can't imagine that she will be happy about it. Knowing her, if mom finds out about this, she will stand in our way."

"Let's not talk to mom about this, for now." Sophia agreed with Sarah. "First step is to gather information, so that we know what kind of a monster we are facing here."

"We are on it." Sarah and Aiden said in unison and Sarah continued. "The challenge is that we don't have much to start with, and we need to be extra careful not to alert anyone that we are poking around."

"Not much to start with?" JoAnna was confused. "How about we start with Stella? And grandparents Bogdan and Svetlana?"

"Eh..." Sarah exhaled. "Bogdan and Svetlana Asenov don't exist. Not as a married couple in Eastern Europe with corresponding ages. Stella Asenov is a person who showed up first time as a student who entered US in 1988 at the O'Hare Airport port in Chicago. We don't find her as a passenger on any flights arriving that day."

JoAnna understood. "Oh, fake identities."

"We will find what we are looking for." Aiden assured them. "It will just take longer than usual."

They all confirmed that they are in this together. There was a strong sense of unity in the room.

Sophia felt her heart warm up from emotions. She loves the idea of six of them working together and getting along well. She was still trying to find a good name for their team of six. Her thoughts were interrupted by JoAnna.

"You know...", JoAnna looked at Sarah and Aiden. "This is like Romeo and Juliette. Two lovers, opposing families... very romantic."

Felix cleared his throat, and said solemnly, "That is a tragedy. Two teenagers fall in love and three days later a lot of people are dead. Including them."

JoAnna frowned. "You just killed romance."

"What is romantic about people dying?" Felix retorted.

"I think we can all agree that was a bad example." Sarah scolded JoAnna.

Sophia didn't want this to escalate, so decided to change topic. "Let's talk about Cox Industries."

Felix didn't approve. He wants Sophia to take rest, all this is too much stress for her. "Do we need to do that now? You should take it easy."

"I'm OK." Sophia squeezed his hand gently. "Thank you for your concern. I organized data, and it seems that they have two more companies with whom they are collaborating in their shady dealings..." Sophia summarized her findings and sent copies to everyone for review. By the time they finished, it was lunch time.