Is this destiny?

~ Austin, White Mansion ~

Saturday, November 30

Jeff is seated at the head of the massive table, on his left is JoAnna and on his right is Steve. Bridgette is by JoAnna\'s side.

Oscar and Elanor are not present. They told Jeff that they were there for the first meeting to show their support for Jeff as the next Master, but if he wants to get the respect of his subordinates, he needs to do the rest by himself.

Sarah is standing few steps behind Jeff, and on her left are Jesse and Ade, while on her right are Haru and Jamari. All five of them are standing straight with their legs slightly apart and arms behind back. Their identical postures and all black outfits tell everyone that they are a team.

Three lieutenants of White foundation are present as well as their direct subordinates.

They are discussing current status and pressing matters as well as suggesting potential solutions.

Jeff is listening to their inputs before deciding on how to tackle the problems. This is their second meeting and even with Oscar\'s teachings, Jeff still needs to understand all aspects of the organization in order to lead it successfully.

Shawn is unable to hide his displeasure with the current situation. The more he looks at Jeff and his behavior, more he is confident that Marcus would be a better Master. Jeff is too young and too inexperienced, and Shawn sees that Jeff wants to introduce too many changes, including those five greenhorns behind him!

JoAnna can see that Shawn is getting visibly more irritated by the minute and she is pleased with the results of her plan. They want to get Shawn and his men out of the organization, but in order to avoid a potential large scale disapproval from other members by just dismissing them, they need a situation where Shawn will be the one asking for trouble. That is why JoAnna suggested that besides Steve and Bridgette, they bring Sarah and few of her men as their \'personal\' security.

It saddens both JoAnna and Jeff to admit that Sarah\'s kids are better fighters than their regular bodyguards.

It\'s a fact that all other men they have who are more proficient in fighting than their usual staff are under Shawn\'s command and they hope that after this weekend that fact changes.

JoAnna estimated that a proud man like Shawn will take Sarah\'s presence as a challenge of his authority and he will not be able to control himself. To add salt to the wound, they are all visibly much younger than he is. Well, it\'s working perfectly. Ah, if only Elanor could see her now.

The third time Shawn snorted, Jeff raised his hand to stop Ryder from talking.

"It seems that you have something on your mind.", Jeff addressed Shawn. "Do you care to share it with the rest of us? Get if off from your chest so that we can continue the meeting without interruptions."

Shawn narrowed his eyes. "What is the meaning of this?" He gestured behind Jeff, toward Sarah and the others.

Jeff glanced behind. "Do you have something against my personal security?"

They don\'t know who Sarah is, or other four people by her side. Even if someone remembers Sarah from the wedding, she looks different in this outfit and hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Her stern expression is nothing like a cheerful girl with flowers in her hair from the wedding.

Shawn lifted his chin while scrutinizing Sarah. He can tell that she is the leader of this \'personal security\' nonsense.

Shawn looked at Jeff with a scorn. "All of us have personal security and they are not in this room because we are all on the same side, and the Mansion is protected from outsiders by my men. Is there a need to have your people here, listening to what we are talking about?"

Jeff raised his eyebrows slightly. "MY people? Aren\'t all of YOU here my people?"

Jeff could see discomfort in Shawn\'s expression, but he didn\'t give him time to respond. "As you requested, we didn\'t deploy drones at this meeting, but it seems that you have additional complaints. If anything we discuss here leaks outside of this room, I personally guarantee that it will not come from them. I will ask for your understanding since I\'m still new at this, and I\'m not confident in the competence of existing security."

Shawn\'s expression darkened. "Do you think that a woman and kids can protect you better than my men?"

"If you have doubts, how about we confirm?" Jeff confidently returned Shawn\'s stern gaze. "I have five of MY people here. Give me YOUR five strongest men and let\'s see who performs better."

"Are you serious?" Shawn was not sure what to think of this. Why is Jeff so confident? There is no way that those greenhorns can be better than his men who fought numerous battles. Shawn thought how this must be his lucky day, because he got an opportunity to show his supremacy over this joke of a newly appointed Master.

Jeff ignored Shawn\'s smirk. "I am so serious that you can include yourself in those five if you are confident in your skills."

Shawn narrowed his eyes at Sarah, and he wanted to say something, but Jeff interrupted him. "It\'s getting late, and we have a lot to discuss. Let\'s have this competition tomorrow. At 11 AM?"

Shawn happily agreed and they continued with the meeting.

…

After the meeting, Jeff and JoAnna were in the room with Sarah, Jesse, Haru, Ade and Jamari.

"Are you sure you want to do this?", Jeff asked them.

Sarah looked at her four companions who all nodded confidently.

Jeff exhaled. "This will not be a friendly match. They will have an intention to hurt you. Maybe kill. Be ready to defend yourself."

"We hope that you are capable of disabling them. But make the fight last, we want them to be embarrassed first. Don\'t give them a one-hit-defeat where they can say that you got lucky.", JoAnna added.

"We know what to do.", Sarah assured them.

After dinner, Sarah went to Black & White club with her eager entourage. They were all excited for what awaits for them in that underground fight club.

…

Jeff and JoAnna went to their bedroom.

"Are you worried about Sarah?", Jeff asked JoAnna.

JoAnna confirmed. "She changed."

"Can you blame her?"

"No.", JoAnna exhaled and forced herself to think about the next day. "Their fights tomorrow will be an event which Shawn\'s subordinates will be watching. If they show their complete dominance, Shawn will lose his influence."

"That is the plan.", Jeff said smugly.

JoAnna hesitated before asking: "Do you know where Sarah went?" She was not sure if she wants to know.

"Underground fighting club."

JoAnna remembered the story about Sarah and Aiden which included fighting in a cage and being a champion. She shook her head helplessly. "I hope that she takes it easy with her left arm. She didn\'t heal properly, and she is able to push herself because of the painkillers."

"She is pushing herself because of Aiden.", Jeff reminded JoAnna.

JoAnna sighed while thinking how since Sarah woke up in the hospital, she didn\'t see her sister cry, or smile.

"I guess that is her way of coping with the situation. Do you know why she asked for that property outside Los Angeles?"

Jeff shrugged. "She said that it should not be connected to any of our families, and not to ask about it."

JoAnna massaged her temples. "Lately she is more and more secretive. I am worried about her."

Jeff embraced JoAnna and kissed her forehead. "Aren\'t we all?"

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