Is this destiny?

~ Chicago ~

October 4, 9:37 AM

Ellie is sitting at a corner table of a busy coffee shop.

She is upset that she ended up coming here considering her super-busy schedule. She has a show in the evening, and there were some issues with the fabric, and new batch arrived only last night, so even at this time two dresses are not ready.

Ellie has so much work that she had to cancel on Jasper last night. And he was not happy when she told him that tonight she will be busy until late as well. He calmed down only after she promised to spend her day tomorrow with him. She has a breather until the next show, so she can afford a day off.

Ellie glanced at the time nervously. He is late!

"Hi Ellie, you look prettier every time I see you.", man in his mid-forties greeted her with a big smile.

Ellie looked at the man and her sight fell on the big scar across his left cheek. That scar is a new addition to his image since they saw each other last time. It makes him look... mysterious. "What do you want? I am busy."

"Is that how you greet your father?", the man pouted, and that expression didn't match his face at all.

He has a pale complexion and sharp hazel eyes which are dancing in amusement. He is wearing a white crisp shirt which is not hiding his fit physique, and if not for the scar on his cheek and a tattoo on his neck which disappears under the collar, you could mistake him for a handsome respectable day-job holder who likes to frequent the gym.

His pout morphed back into a smile while he pulled a chair and made himself comfortable across the table from Ellie. "You can't be that unfriendly toward me. After all, you agreed to come and meet with me."

"I agreed to come here so that you don't show up at my office."

Ellie's father pretended not to notice her hostile attitude.

He glanced around before speaking: "A busy coffee shop. Not a bad location. However, you choose a corner table. It's easy to get cornered."

Ellie looked at her father and rolled her eyes. Even after all this time, Matthew Young is pretending to be a father who is teaching her survival skills.

"Do you think this is Belfast? This is not your territory, and here I am not a daughter of a gangster. I am a respectable citizen, and no one will come and corner me."

Matthew clutched his chest and looked at Ellie with an exaggerated outrage. "Gangster? Is that how you describe me to your friends?"

Ellie sneered. "I don't talk about you to my friends. Or to anyone else… If possible, I do my best to pretend you don't exist. Now, are you going to tell me why we are here? There must be a reason why you tracked me down and came here personally all the way from Northern Ireland."

"I wanted to see you. And I miss you."

Ellie looked at him while trying to control her sudden burst of anger. "Miss me? I don't think that is true... you were never the lonely type. Don't you have Amanda to give you company? Or is it Stacey? Oh, maybe it's Cheryl this time?"

Matthew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Will you ever forgive me?"

"You should ask my mother for forgiveness, not me."

Matthew nodded solemnly. This is not the first time he heard Ellie say that she will not forgive him. And every time his heart hurts.

After a long silence, he spoke: "I'm here to tell you that someone is following you."

Ellie snorted. "Someone other than you?"

"Ellie, you know that I have enemies. My men are only making sure you are safe and they are not interfering in what you do. I will not do anything to that blonde boy who is pursuing you."

Ellie glared at her father. "If you touch Jasper I will NEVER speak to you again."

"Oh, it seem it is true. You fancy him…", Matthew mused.

Ellie does not like where this conversation is going. She does NOT want to talk with her father about Jasper. "You said that someone is following me."

"Yes. Yes.", Matthew waved, and a man approached their table, handed him an envelope and went back to blend in with the crowd of the coffee shop few tables away.

"Here." Matthew pushed the envelope to Ellie.

Ellie opened it and saw that it has photos inside. Photos showing her in different locations in Chicago and in each photo there is another man present facing her way. He is sometimes far away, and sometimes few steps away from her. Few photos include Jasper as well, from their dinner-dates. She can tell that these are taken in last five days.

"Who is this?" Ellie frowned while pointing at the man on the photo who is sitting in a coffee shop across the street of a building where her design studio is.

Matthew is happy that he got Ellie's attention. "Private investigator. You will find his information inside… and also who hired him."

Ellie looked in the envelope and found few papers with printed information. She sighed when she read the name aloud: "Lilian Cavadini."

"You know her?"

Ellie responded with a faint nod.

Malicious smile spread across Matthew's face. Suddenly that scar which gave him a mysterious vibe turned into something sinister. "Do you want your daddy to take care of her?"

Ellie looked at her father's expression and sighed inwardly at his inability to hide his bloodlust. "No. I want you to stay away from my life."

He ignored her harsh words. "Ellie, when will you come and visit me? I added a garden and a pool, just how you always wanted."

Ellie snorted. "I was ten years old."

"I still remember."

"I remember many things as well. Now, if there is nothing else… I am busy."

Matthew looked at Ellie's departing figure and smiled brightly when he noticed that she took the printouts with the information on the private investigator and who hired him. She accepted his offerings. That is a first. Now he felt that slowly she might allow him to be part of her life… someday. He wanted to talk more with her and ask her how she is doing and many other things, but he does not want to push it. This is the longest talk they had in years. Next time they will talk more.

Matthew raised his hand and the man from the crowd was next to him.

"Take care of the private investigator. I want his company shut down by end of day. Make sure to delete all the photos he took of Ellie. Check his phone, camera, office… the usual places. And have few people assigned to follow this… Lilian Cavadini. If she tries anything against Ellie, take care of her." Matthew waved his hand and the man left after a small nod of acknowledgement.

Ellie told him to stay out of her life, but he can't stand aside and watch others plot against her. She is his only child, and many of his subordinates vowed to follow her after he retires. Even if she does not want to continue in his footsteps, they will protect her from the shadows. Just how he is doing now. Only he knows how many kidnapping and assassination attempts his men prevented in last few years. After all, Ellie is his daughter, and his enemies don't care if she wants to stay out of it or not.

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