Sometimeter, Aiden was in the living room with hisptop. Jasper was next to Aiden, observing what he is doing.


    Since the beating of the gang leader, neither Ellie nor Jasper spoke.


    Suddenly, Aiden was the chatty one in the room.


    Ellie entered with icepacks for Jasper''s hands.


    Jasper hissed at the cold sensation. His knuckles hurt like crazy.


    "That is why I prefer to use my legs." Aiden threw a side nce at Jasper. "Hands get hurt easily unless you hit with the base of your palm. But even that can''tst as long as the legs."


    Few secondster, Aiden smiled. "Here we go. The other phone is a disposable one, and it was used only to text with this gang leader. I traced it to a purchase made with a credit card on name Lilian Cavadini."


    Aiden didn''t miss change in expression of Jasper and Ellie. "I assume you know who she is."


    "A shallow bimbo who thinks that she should be Jasper''s girlfriend.", Ellie squeezed through her teeth.


    "I don''t know about bimbo… but don''t call her shallow." Aiden saw that hisment earned him questioning gazes from both Ellie and Jasper.


    He exhaled while thinking how he is missing Sarah more than ever. She does not require these exnations, and if they need to be given to someone, she is the one who does the talking.


    "First, she hired someone else, unrted to her to do the job. Second, she paid in cash which is difficult to use as a proof against her. Third, she used a burner phone which is nearly impossible to connect to her. So, either she is smart to do all this in order to hurt Ellie and not to be implicated, or she took advice of someone who is… which again, makes her notpletely stupid."


    Jasper looked at Aiden. "You said that the phone is nearly impossible to connect to her. Howe you did it?"


    Aiden grinned. He wanted to say that these phonese without a contract so they are not tied to a person. If she didn''t pay with credit card, he would have to look into security footage of the store to see who purchased the phone... but that is too much information. He decided to keep it short: "Let''s just say that you are lucky to have me look into this."


    Jasper knows that Jeff does for him asional jobs of digging information which is not easy to find. And at the wedding''s dinner rehearsal, Jeff hinted that Sarah is working on those. Based on this, Jasper concluded that Aiden is into that as well… hacking. But he knows that this is not a topic that should be openly discussed.


    Aiden didn''t want to give them a chance to ask more about that, so he switched the topic. "What do you n to do next?"


    Jasper looked at Ellie whose gaze was fixed on his hands with ice packs on them. He looked at Aiden.


    "I believe that you have experience with these kinds of situations. I hope that you can give us some advice."


    Aiden nodded in understanding. "First thing is to deal with the current situation. You have a half-dead man in the garage. He does not know where he is now, because he arrived in the trunk. But he knows Ellie. He is a liability. If you let him walk and he talks to the police, there is no evidence. If he talks to the media, do you have a way to control the damage?"


    "I do.", Jasper confirmed.


    "Good.", Aiden approved. "Second is Lilian. She already hired someone to hurt Ellie. The fact that this group is out of the way, does not mean that the next one will note. And these tend to escte. She will not stop until you stop her. Do you understand?"


    Jasper looked at Ellie while guilt consumed him. "I''m sorry."


    Aiden rolled his eyes. He has zeropassion for these situations. "This is no time for feeling sorry. Both of you need to understand that Lilian is one of many. I am surprised that neither of you had any problems so far."


    "What do you mean?", Ellie asked.


    Aiden took a deep breath while his thoughts wondered toward Sarah again. He enjoys holding her hand while she does these exnations.


    "Let''s start with Tom. I heard that he left because of unrequited love. You need to ask yourself: why now? He had a crush on you for years. What made him lose hisposure now? What if he didn''t leave, but stayed close to you while allowing his resentment to grow over time?"


    Aiden nced at Jasper. "That applies to Lilian and to everyone else who wille in the future with an intention to break you two apart. While you were single, without a steady rtionship, they had ns. They had hope. But now that the two of you are openly together, that hope is crumbling, and it''s reced with desperation. People who so far had harmless crushes will start spiking your drinks anding up with schemes to break you apart. And there will be extremes who will say that if he (or she) can''t have you, no one can. You can''t be careless and keep your guard down even for a minute. It''s not just people who find you attractive and have a crush on you. There are others who want to be with you because of your money, status, family connections. There might be others you are not even aware they are interested in you, and some which you don''t even know personally because their parents are grooming them to be your partners."


    "You sound like you speak from experience.", Jasper noticed that Aiden is oddly specific.


    "Yes, I am.", Aiden admitted. "I was careless, both of us were… and we ended up hurting. Now we have no mercy left for anyone who tries to get in-between us."


    Aiden saw that both Ellie and Jasper have looks which scream that they don''t know what to do.


    "It''s understandable that you need time toe up with a n. I rmend that you two first increase your security. If you need an intelligent security system, you can talk to Felix. Cameras and drones used during Jeffrey''s wedding came from Felix''s workshop. Also, hire personal bodyguards. Security can give you a piece of mind at home and wherever else you install it, but bodyguards would prevent most of the trouble when you are out, like the unfortunate event from this evening. Jeff can help you hire the right people."


    After a question-answer session about security, Aiden and Jasper loaded the gang boss-man back in the trunk of Jasper''s car and dumped him in one of the parks North from downtown Chicago. Someone will find him in the morning, if he does not wake up earlier.


    On the way back, Aiden used the opportunity to ask Jasper: "I know that Ellie ising to Los Angeles on Friday. Will youe with her?"


    Jasper confirmed.


    "Jeff will be home. Talk to him about your situation.", Aiden advised him. "Until Friday, I will be with Ellie while you are at work. She should not be left alone. And you, take care. Make sure that by the time youe back from Los Angeles, you have a n in ce to handle that woman and any aplices she might have. She targeted Ellie, but there is no guarantee that you will not be next."


    "Thanks."


    "Don''t mention it."


    …


    While Aiden and Jasper were out, Ellie''s phone rang. She saw that it''s her father.


    "Yes?"


    "How are you doing?", Matthew asked.


    "Fine… you heard what happened?", Ellie guessed. She knows that her father''s men are watching her.


    "Yes. Do you want me to handle the cleanup?", Matthew offered.


    "No."


    "OK." Matthew was a disappointed to hear Ellie''s rejection. "Ellie?"


    "Yes?"


    Matthew struggled to find the right words. Finally, he spoke: "I''m d you found someone who will protect you."


    "Sure."


    Ellie ended the call and wondered if her father is talking about the incident in the dressing room after the fashion show, or when Jasper lost hisposure in the garage… She sighed. It''s probably both.


    Part of her wanted to call back and ask if he saw the trouble in the dressing room, why didn''t he help her? But then she remembered that about thousand times she told him to stay out of her life, and she gave up on the idea of calling him. Somehow, she is confident that Matthew would help her if Aiden didn''t show up.


    …


    Jasper and Aiden returned, and Aiden looked at Ellie. "I helped you with advices and with handling this mess. I believe I deserve a proper meal. Just the sandwich will not be enough."


    Ellie stifled augh while thinking that Aiden is a glutton, just how Sarah described him. "My staff is working on it. It should be done in few minutes."


    Aiden''s mood improved visibly. "Great! I''m going to wash my hands."


    In the bathroom, Aiden ced his phone on the sink and looked longingly at the dot on the screen while washing his hands. "I did well, I think…", he murmured to the phone. "I will tell you all about it in two days."


    ---


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