Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles ~

10:47 AM

At the safe house owned by the White family…

Emma is sitting on the chair and looking at Bruno, who is tied up to the bed. His face is swollen and bruised up. JoAnna cleaned up the blood and stitched up larger lacerations, but his appearance is horrid.

Emma and Bruno are the only people in the room.

"Hi, Bruno…", Emma greeted him when his sight landed on her. "Can you talk?"

"Yes.", he responded.

Emma observed him for some time in silence. "I came here to talk to you, and I had so many questions, but right now, I can't remember most of them. Those few that I remember don't seem to be important."

Bruno was observing Emma as well, trying to figure out what is on her mind. Emma does not seem to have questions for him, but since he woke up, Bruno was thinking where did he mess up to find himself in this predicament. Maybe Emma can answer some of his questions… "Did you know who I am from the beginning? Or was my acting so bad that you saw through me? Or is it your fiancé who knew of my identity, and that is why he showed up in the clothing store?"

"At that time, I thought that you are a tourist whose shirt I messed up. And Charlie came to remind me not to get close to strangers."

Bruno looked at Emma derisively. "You trust people easily, like Angelo. He does not need much to let people in, and that is what makes him vulnerable. And you as well."

Emma was not sure how to respond to this. Should she be happy that he compared her to a man she does not know?

"When did you find out about who I am?" Bruno's question interrupted Emma's thoughts.

Emma doesn't see the need to lie to Bruno. "My friends called me for lunch and informed me about your identity."

"Your friends? Is Anna one of your friends?" Bruno guessed.

Emma confirmed. "Yes."

Yesterday a lot of things happened, and Bruno was confused. Now that he had the time to think, he remembers that in Emma's files was the information about people Emma is associated with, and JoAnna and Jeffrey White were in there. Bruno recalled that they are someone powerful, a big company, connections… and he wishes that he paid more attention to that information. But he is not in a position to think about those details now.

"What are you going to do with me?", Bruno asked.

"Uhm… I don't know.", Emma honestly answered.

Considering that Bruno's intentions were horrible, she should do the same things to him, right? But she can't see herself killing a person. The only time she was violent was when Dylan attacked Charlie with a knife, and that was in a spur of the moment, more like a reflex than a voluntary action. Emma's instinct is to protect and heal, and she never reached the point of thinking about how to punish the attacker.

Would she torture him? Bruno is so savagely beaten up that if not for Anna's treatment and medicines, he would be in agony already. Is there a need to inflict him with more pain? Is there such a thing as too much pain for someone who targets your life and the lives of your loved ones?

Emma wondered if this is a wall she needs to jump over if she wants to be Charlie's wife. Considering who Smiths are, if her nature is to be kind, no amount of training will be enough to protect herself, and she can forget about protecting Charlie because she will only be a burden, someone who needs protection… just how Charlie came to her rescue in that boutique.

If she toughens up mentally, Charlie will have the confidence in her abilities and not rush to her rescue; and he can focus on his meetings or whatever he has planned instead of worrying about her.

Emma exhaled in defeat. She thought that she is making progress, but that is not true because she is still someone who needs to be protected.

Slowly, Emma got out of her thoughts and focused on the man lying on the bed in front of her. "What would you do to a person who tried using you to achieve his goals and discard you when done? And kill the rest of your family as well."

Bruno looked at Emma with a troubled expression. What would he do? He would show no mercy. Is he supposed to say that?

At this point, Bruno noticed that his mental state is different from the previous night. Now he is able not to say things, and it seems that he is back to normal. Last night was strange. He would say whatever is on his mind, without care that he is digging a hole for himself and going deeper with every word that comes out of his mouth. But even if he can keep his mouth shut, what is the point? He already incriminated himself beyond belief. Can he even dare to think that they will allow him to leave this place?

"I hope for a quick ending.", Bruno voiced his thoughts and at the same time answered her question: he would kill. And he would torture the person who crossed him as well.

…

In the room next door…

Charlie is facing Jeff and JoAnna.

"You want to let him go?", Charlie asked with a frown.

"Not let him go.", Jeff responded. "Deliver him to Angelo, who wants to deal with him personally. Bruno will not have a good ending."

"Why? What is in it for us?", Charlie asked suspiciously. 

"We got the information from him, and he has no value to us. If we kill Bruno, we are risking to provoke Nero armi. With our forces combined, they can't win, but we will lose resources and time in that battle. It is not worth it.", Jeff explained.

Charlie analyzed Jeff's words and things that happened on the previous day, and some things were missing. "You are telling me that we went to the length to capture him, interrogate him, just to let him go? Last night you didn't seem to care if he will live or not until we finished the interrogation, and then you asked me for twenty-four hours. And now you want me to forget about him. Can you fill in the gaps for me?"

Jeff knew that it would not be easy to sell this story to Charlie, and he decided on almost-truth: "Aiden and Sarah are negotiating with Angelo."

Charlie was still not satisfied. "Aiden and Sarah are the ones behind the request to return Bruno to Sicily? In exchange for what?"

"I'm not sure.", Jeff honestly responded. "You know that Aiden is in charge of manpower in the White family. He has the autonomy to decide how to make us stronger. When the deal is made, he will let me know. Maybe."

Charlie nodded knowingly. "The White family gets a deal with Nero armi. What do I get?"

Jeff narrowed his eyes at Charlie. "You got the information related to Emma's father, and Bruno will be out of the way without you bloodying your hands. Don't be greedy."

Charlie shrugged innocently. "Don't blame me for trying."

Jeff looked at Charlie in outrage: "Did you try to bluff your way into getting something from me? How dare you?"

Charlie chuckled. "Are you saying that I almost succeeded?"

JoAnna listened to their bickering and smiled happily. Jeff and Charlie are good friends. And she is pleased with the fact that Jeff pacified Charlie without the need to mention the army of Chaos.

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