Is this destiny?

After a pleasant and very harmonious celebratory dinner, Sarah and Aiden headed back to the apartment, while their parents went to the hotel. Their plan is to meet for breakfast, and after that Hills will go to Seattle while Whites will be heading to Reno.

When they reached Riverside Hotel and Spa, Stella, Edward, Elanor and Oscar went to the private lounge of the hotel.

"Is this a safe place to talk?" Oscar asked as soon as staff members left and closed the door behind them.

Edward pulled a palm sized device from his pocket and placed in on the desk.

"Signal jammer." Edward explained. "It prevents spying and recording within twenty meter radius."

"So… where do we start?" Stella asked after about a minute of silence.

"We can start by you telling us about how much is your family involved in lives of your daughters.", Elanor told Stella.

Stella raised her eyebrows in response.

"Will it help start the conversation if we also say that we are aware it's Lebedev family?", Oscar added.

Edward smirked. "I see that underground networks hidden behind White foundation are impressive."

It was time for Oscar to raise his eyebrows while listening to Edward speak further: "Now that Jeffrey is getting married, are you finally going to give him rights to control your underground forces and you go to enjoy retirement?"

Oscar's smirk showed a hint of irritation. He didn't like that Edward knows so much. But he responded: "It will be a gradual process."

"I believe that we should stop with games, and speak openly.", Elanor interjected.

Edward faced Elanor. "As expected from the main strategist of White family. You know when team play is beneficial for everyone."

Elanor squinted while looking at Edward. "And you were never part of the team… always working alone." Elanor paused and smirked confidently. "Hiding behind a ghostly alias."

Edward frowned. "How do you know that?"

Elanor let out a small laugh. "We had you narrowed down to three possibilities. During this talk I eliminated one… between two persons which deal with nearly-impossible-to-obtain information, I guessed it's the more dangerous one."

Edward laughed. "You guessed…"

"Since we know who is who, and what each of us represents…" Elanor turned to Stella. "Let's go back to the original topic of Lebedev family controlling your daughters."

"They are not controlling…" Stella objected immediately. "But they are watching. We thought that their focus is mostly on Sarah, but recently we got proof that they are watching all three of them. However, except for few incidences of meddling into their love life, Lebedevs are keeping their distance… for now."

"Meddling into their love life?" Elanor paused before continuing. "Are you saying that they approve of Anna and Jeff, as well as Sarah and Aiden since they allowed them to reach to this stage without incidents? Also, what about Sophia?"

Edward shook his head, showing that he does not have those answers. "We only acquired data they have, not their plans or decisions."

Stella continued. "However, I don't think they approve of any of it. I believe that everything just happened too fast for them to react. Sophia met Felix in New York, and two of them were low key until recently. Even her pregnancy is kept confidential."

"That man on the roof knows that she is pregnant." Elanor reminded Stella.

Stella sighed. "Yes. They found out somehow, but it should not be surprising. Between hospital staff and people in the company, they should have at least few people on their payroll. Anna and Jeff moved so fast that even we were shocked, and the agreement which Jeff had with Isabella threw Lebedevs off the right track, at first. Also, they were focusing on Anna's mentor, and they were more than happy when I delivered him to them…" Stella paused and frowned. "As for Sarah and Aiden, two of them are on their radar from the beginning, from both Levedevs and Voronins…"

Edward observed stunned expressions of Oscar and Elanor.

"Yes, we know about Aiden and Voronin family. I thought you wanted this to be an open conversation.", Edward reminded them.

"We know that until recently this White corp. employee was keeping an eye on Aiden." Edward placed a folder in front of Oscar and Elanor. "She is from Voronin branch family. Few months ago, she was fired, and we lost her trace. She was probably called back. We are confident that replacement was put in place, and these two…" Edward pointed at a file, "…fit the profile. It can be one of them, or both."

Oscar and Elanor silently looked at the documents that Edward provided.

"As next Madam of the White family, Anna will be well protected.", Elanor said.

"I will talk to Jeff and start introducing him to what is under the name of White foundation within next few days." Oscar added. "He will be able to help Aiden and Sarah with manpower. I spoke with Felix about his work, and he is impressive. In return for him improving our security, I will provide him and Sophia with additional men. I believe that will be acceptable."

Stella approved the idea and told Oscar: "I will give you several of my men, mix them in with yours. They will provide additional skillsets. However, they answer with respect only to me and to my daughters. That means, you will not be able to use them for your purposes."

"All that sounds good." Oscar responded. "But I'm concerned with Aiden and Sarah. Two of them are persistently refusing bodyguards."

Stella shrugged. "They refuse to be followed by people who are weaker than they are. They find them just to be in the way. There is a high chance that with incapable bodyguards around in case of an attack, Sarah and Aiden will have additional tasks to watch over bodyguards, and they will not be able to go all out. As much as I would like to see them heavily protected, I can't say that I disagree with them."

"What about those kids?", Edward remembered kids which Aiden and Sarah brought from Africa.

"They are just kids… but they are growing up. In few years, they will be very valuable. I saw that their loyalty is with Sarah. Even now, they can beat up any of my regular men." Oscar remembered beatings his men got in the rink during training.

"Of course, they can. I train them.", Stella showed a victorious smile.

"How much do our kids know?" Elanor asked.

Edward and Stella indicated that they are not sure.

"They know a lot…" Stella spoke. "But not because we told them. They are smart, and they figured out a lot of things by themselves, we are not sure how much. It seems they are coming up with plans of their own to stay safe. I believe that no matter how good they are, they need our assistance."

Elanor listened and sighed. "All this sounds good. But we are only talking about defending."

Stella's smile faded and turned into a frown. "Are you suggesting that we should be attacking?"

Elanor shrugged. "With only defending, it is inevitable that other side will get a break and get through defense no matter how strong it is. Even a blind chicken eventually pecks a seed. If we want to keep our kids safe, we should come up with a strategy to attack, cripple the opponents, annihilate them… so that they can't come back anymore. Only then our kids will be safe… We should also talk with all six of them openly. As you said, they are smart kids, they can handle the truth and use it to their advantage."

Stella and Edward were pleasantly surprised that Elanor spoke about all six of them. They expected that Whites will cooperate related to JoAnna and Sarah, because of Jeffrey and Aiden, and having them include Sophia and Felix in the discussion, makes them more than happy. What Oscar said next, dispelled any remaining doubts they had.

Oscar patted Elanor's back. "I agree. But let's think of setting up defenses first. Jeff needs to take over White foundation in entirety. You work with Anna on the role of a Madam. Aiden and Sarah need to accept additional manpower. Felix will help with high-tech devices he is making… and Sophia should focus on her safety and pregnancy, for now."

Elanor looked at Edward. "It would be good if you help with additional information gathering. Make sure that medical staff around Sophia can be trusted." Then she faced Stella. "We hope you can help train number of people who will be added to our regular forces…"

Four of them talked until late into the night.

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