Is this destiny?

In a private room of a restaurant, downtown Los Angeles…

12:03 PM

Charlie and Emma joined Jeff and JoAnna.

"This must be important.", Charlie said while helping Emma with her chair.

Jeff never called them to come on such a short notice and he even requested that they cancel any meetings and to keep their lunch time open for this occasion.

"It is.", Jeff responded and pushed a folder toward Charlie and Emma.

Charlie confirmed that this IS important. Jeff went right to business before appetizers.

Charlie opened the folder and his brows furrowed at the sight of photos with a familiar face on them.

"Bruno.", Emma said. "These are from this morning."

JoAnna confirmed. "We didn't pay attention, it was crowded. And at that time, we didn't know who he is."

"Why do you have these?", Charlie asked while looking at the photos from the coffee shop and from the boutique, curious to find out how Jeff knows that Bruno stuck to Emma that morning. "Are you following Emma?"

"No. My men are keeping their eyes on Anna when they saw Bruno not removing his sight from their table.", Jeff responded while pointing at the photos from the coffee shop. "They were trailing him for the morning, and that is how I found out about this…", Jeff gestured to the photos from the boutique.

Charlie nodded in understanding. Makes sense: Emma and JoAnna met at the coffee shop and if Jeff has photos from the boutique, then he knows that Charlie was there as well.

Charlie exhaled in relief. For a moment, he thought that Jeff is following Emma, and that means that he is probably following Charlie as well. Charlie treats Jeff as a friend, and if he finds out that Jeff is secretly following him around… that can't be good. Luckily, everything is explained because Jeff was watching JoAnna, and that is normal because even Charlie has his bodyguards going after Emma.

Charlie is still waiting for reports related to Bruno, but it seems that Jeff knows something because Jeff would not call Charlie and Emma here to tell them that he knows about a regular guy or a stalker.

"There must be a reason why you are showing us these.", Charlie voiced his thoughts.

Jeff confirmed. "I am sharing this with you because we suspect that Bruno is after Emma." Jeff placed a USB memory stick on the table. "Here is the surveillance video which shows that Bruno got in that coffee shop shortly after the girls. At first, I assumed that he is after Anna, but the video shows that his goal was Emma and the coffee spill was intentional…"

"Why would he be after me?", Emma asked while her eyes full of anxiety darted from Jeff to JoAnna.

"Bruno is the right hand man to Angelo De Luca, who is the head of the organization called Nero armi.", Jeff responded.

Charlie looked blankly at Jeff and in the next second he frowned.

Jeff saw the change in Charlie's expression. "I assume you know about them."

Charlie nodded and balled his hands into fists. How come he does not know about them? They didn't clash so far, but they are in the same line of business, operating in different territories. If they are targeting Emma, does that mean they want to expand? Whatever their goal is, Charlie will make sure they regret approaching Emma.

"I will take care of him.", Charlie's voice was icy.

JoAnna and Jeff exchanged glances. They spoke with Sarah and they have a plan, but they need to get Charlie and Emma to cooperate.

"Actually, we have an idea.", JoAnna said. "I have ways to make him talk, and we believe that it will benefit everyone to know exactly why he is here."

Charlie's expression showed that he is not happy about this.

JoAnna continued persuading him: "We should find out if Bruno is alone and what Nero armi are planning. Just getting rid of him will not do any good if tomorrow another Bruno shows up. At least we know who this guy is. When we are done, you can have him."

Charlie took a deep breath to adjust his mood. As much as he wants to make a call and get rid of Bruno, he can't deny that Jeff just gave him important information, and what JoAnna said makes sense... and he should cooperate. "I'm listening…"

…

At the same time, in another restaurant…

Bruno is having lunch while reading Emma's file which contains information about her habits, what she eats usually, etc. He wants to memorize as much as possible so that when he meets her next time he is prepared with topics which will make her believe that the two of them have things in common.

What Bruno does not know is that from three tables on his right, Allen, Julius, Ryan, and Sean are watching him.

Allen is manipulating a drone which is silently hovering above Bruno and recording everything he does. The drone is the same type as ones used by the Army of Chaos and it's invisible to the naked eye.

Ryan and Sean are impressed by the drone, but they are already used to Allen and Julius being awesome and having access to all kinds of gadgets. They can see video which drone is capturing on their phones and they can zoom in and use different types of vision. X-ray showed them that Bruno does not have a gun on him.

No matter how interesting the drone is, Ryan and Sean are focused on the phones in front of them which are showing what Bruno is reading and they are doing their best to control their rage. That is information on their sister!

"Are you sure we are tasked only to watch him?", Ryan squeezed through his teeth.

Allen confirmed. "Our goal is to see what he is up to, and to make sure he does not get close to Emma. At this point we are assuming that his intentions are not good."

"We already know that his intentions are related to Emma.", Sean grumbled. "Look… the file says that she is engaged to Charlie, yet he is still reading it. He circled that her favorite coffee is white chocolate mocha, and that she usually eats banana bread for a snack. He made a note on the side that she loves spicy food. He is obviously preparing for a date…"

"Guys... try to calm down.", Allen told the Ronin twins.

"Would you be able to calm down if he is reading file on Julius?", Ryan asked Allen.

Allen sighed. He sees their point, but the mission is just to keep an eye on the man.

All four of them perked up when Bruno stood up and walked toward the back of the restaurant.

"He went to the restroom. I will go after him.", Sean said while standing up.

"Don't go alone…", Ryan was right after Sean.

Allen and Julius exchanged glances and shared an understanding that those two are out of patience.

"I will go and make sure no one sees them…", Julius told Allen and went after Ryan and Sean.

In the restroom…

Bruno used the urinal and was zipping his pants up when Ryan's vicious kick slammed into him from the back.

Bruno didn't recover his footing when Sean's kick from the side made him fall on the floor.

Ryan wanted to punch Bruno, but Sean blocked him. "Don't use hands. You will get them dirty."

Ryan nodded in agreement and kicked Bruno in the stomach.

Bruno groaned and cursed in Italian before remembering that he is in the United States. "Why are you attacking me? Do you want my money?" He assumed they are some random muggers.

"Scum like you does not deserve to know why you are getting a beating.", Sean sneered and kicked Bruno in the back.

Julius put the 'closed for cleaning' sign in front of the restroom and listened to the muffled sounds from the other side of the door. He gave the Ronin twins one minute to vent their anger before he got inside and told them how that's enough.

"Did he see your faces?", Julius asked Sean and Ryan after confirming that Bruno is alive.

Sean and Ryan shrugged. They don't know if he saw them or not.

Julius rolled his eyes. "Get out."

Julius got his phone and called Michael while following after the Ronin twins. They need to get instructions on what to do next because their target is unconscious in the men's restroom of the restaurant.

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