Trust

When Sara woke up the next morning she felt refreshed. She had curled up next to Sean, who always seemed to cover her like a protective blanket, and Luna had laid on her feet keeping them warm. When she walked out of the bedroom she heard a knock on the door. Raising her eyebrow she peeked out the window to see John standing at the door. She opened the door before exclaiming, "John what are you doing at this ungodly hour." John just shook his head, "your husband is a devil boss" before he headed to the study. After John walked into the study, Sara went to make some coffee and sit on the porch with the dog.

Inside the study Sean looked up at John before sighing, "if you came all the way down here then something major has happened. What is it?" John looked at the young man leaning back in the chair, "well sir here is madams complete file you asked for. We know who her mother was, but finding the father has been near impossible. We know for a fact the Morgans don't hold enough power to have held the prying eyes of the Carmichaels at bay." Sean nodded before responding looking out the window to see Luna running in the woods. Sean questioned, "do we have any leads?" John nodded before responding, "The late Ms. Carmichael disappeared a little over 24 years ago. Less that a month later she got married to Mr. Morgan and almost 8 months later they had a child. We now know that it wasn't his. DNA doesn't match from his recent hospitalization, to that of when madam was hospitalized. So they only people that could have protected someone to that extent and kept her hidden away...." John sighed before continuing, "well sir we believe he is of royal blood. No one else could've done that except one of the royal families." Sean nodded before standing up, "investigate what you can. Her mother wouldn't have fallen for someone too much older so that should narrow it down. I understand the difficulty of this task, as it's been two and a half decades, but I can't reveal anything unless we are absolutely positive. Also it's not my place to reveal that her father is not her father. What have we found out about the kidnapping incident?"

"Well sir, the man who matches the fingerprints is part of the Wyoff mercenary group. Claire and Berkowski reached out to them to question why they accepted a job to steal a protected mans car. We should receive news this week." Sean nodded as he listened to John speak. "They tend to be tight lipped. Bring a coin to them from the wilderness. They know how rare it is to receive one but it will also buy their loyalty. They will spill the beans then. I'm sure Berkoswki could extract the information but I feel that it is my move on this chess board with Mr. Carmichael. We must maintain business as usual at least to the outside. It has been two years since we've given a coin out so let's show them all I'm still around watching them like the little ants they are." John nodded as Sean's voice had turned cold. After receiving some instructions on the legal front John left quickly.

After John left Sean let out a huge sigh before walking out to the porch where Sara was sitting. Sara looked up at him before making space for him on the swing. As she leaned back on his chest she smiled at the moment of peace that the two had. Somewhere deep down she knew this was the calm before the storm. She could see the growing fatigue on Sean's face, the sleepless nights and the stress weighing on him. After a while she sighed, "Hubby, can we change roles? You seem more suited to the Underworld and I don't want you to be too stressed about trying to teach me how to run it while still running a global company." Sean froze as he listened to her sweet and soft voice. He finally spoke after a pause, "what did you call me?" Sara turned to get a better view of his face before responding, "hubby."

The moment the words left her mouth she realized she had said them out loud. Blushing she lowered her head and turned to avoid Sean's eyes. She felt Sean's arm pull her tighter to him as he kissed the top of her head. Sean thought for a while before he spoke, "there is a chess game happening in the Underworld. The two competitors are Mr. Carmichael and myself. This could get ugly quickly, you must prepare for that. No matter what happens, no matter who comes for me, you cannot let them know who I really am, understand?" Sara eyes turned icy blue as she heard Sean's serious words. She nodded before making the decision to increase her training time with Rob, however this plan was soon shot down with Sean's next statement. "You will begin training with Claire, as a woman she can perfect your regiment to maximize your output while minimizing exertion. Rob may be a fantastic teacher but most men will fall back on brute strength in a situation. Most women can't do that against men, but Claire will help you over come that. Also Frank will coach you on threat assessment and evasive driving. Berkowski will begin teaching you counter interrogation tactics."

"What exactly is Berkowki's role. Every talks about him with fear but no one says what he does." Sean sighed as he responded, "Berkowski is former Austrian special forces. He's a master at counter intelligence and interrogation techniques. He made his name in the Underworld as a ruthless mercenary who would even torture the person who hired him if he didn't get paid. He also was a man of rules. He would never kill children, do business in a church or a hospital. When he started for me he said the first rule was I had to make hospitals safe places. So I did that, anyone who conducts a killing or official business in a hospital is free game, even me. Also he doesn't speak English so that's why he's not very talkative to you."

"Sean don't you feel you over share?" Sara thought aloud after listening to the man. Sean chuckled, "my dear wife, if I don't share then I can only share with Luna here." He stated pointing at the dog laying under the swing before continuing, "also I believe as husband and wife we should have trust in each other to tell our deepest darkest secrets. If you cannot accept my dark past and that part of my life then why should you get the bright and shiny part of me. Everyone has a dark side, it's choosing to accept that persons dark side that makes trust grow. You trust me knowing that part of me, so I'm not afraid to tell you. As I know it'll only make you stronger when obstacles come in our way." Sara smiled at his explanation before saying, "didn't we come to visit your parents? Why ara we sitting here chatting instead of visiting?" Sean chuckled as she got up and went inside to change. After she walked away, Sean looked at the dog that had sat up staring at him before saying, "don't look at me like that. We both know your tired of hearing my rants anyways."