3. Two Birds

"Let's start with what we know." Jace says.

"We know that Silvio is involved." I state.

"We know that Silvio is getting help from someone else. Most likely Lucas Sheffield, as we believe Kevin Westshire to be MIA." Jace explains.

"We know that Silvio, the Reaper, Ash, and Sienna have suddenly come back to the States after going missing for nearly a week." I explain, still not sure what this could mean.

"We know Silvio's motive." Jakob explains, catching our attention.

"We do?" Both Jace and I reply in unison.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jakob asks, standing up as well to walk across his office to a small liquor cabinet. He pours himself a glass and offers one to both Jace and I. We both decline the offer, eager to hear his explanation.

"Well, from what you're telling me. My grandson is a part of and quite possibly spearheading this endeavour. Which could only mean one thing." He states, trailing his thumb over the rim of his glass.

"What?" I ask, encouraging him to continue.

"Silvio is out for revenge." Jakob states matter-of-factly.

"What? Revenge? For what? None of us has ever done anything to him." I reply, attempting to hide my anguish.

"Are you sure about that?" Jakob remarks with a curious brow. Making an idea flash to mind. Jace seemed oblivious, so I decided to see whether or not I was on the same track.

"Silvio is out to get me because of what happened with his father." I state.

"What? But that's absurd. You didn't do anything wrong!" Jace retorts.

"But Silvio doesn't know that. Rather, he knows what the media knows, which is that I killed him. He wouldn't know anything about Chase going after Haley or trying to kill us on multiple occasions. He's just going off of what everyone else believes. To the media, Chase was nothing more than a casualty in a burglary gone wrong." I state as I see recollection visible in Jace's eyes. When this happened nearly twenty years ago, I chose not to disclose a lot of information to the media in hopes of allowing the news to change over quickly. Had I allowed many of the important details to be leaked, we would've been hounded by the media for the rest of our lives. I didn't want that for my family. Especially after Sienna had been born. I wanted to shelter them as much as possible. I didn't want my children to be part of the dark side of fame. I wanted them to be known for their own virtues. Not from the drama that took place before they were even alive.

"Not to mention my own involvement in all of this." Jakob states, catching Jace's attention. Both Jace and I look over to listen to what Jakob has to say, as neither of us can fathom how he would be involved in any of this. Though, from just sharing a look with Jakob, I have a feeling I know what he's referring to.

"I blacklisted my own grandson. While I don't regret my choices, I know I could've handled it better. Silvio, if that's his name..." Jakob says, looking between the two of us, searching for answers. I nod my head while crossing my arms over my chest as I continue listening to Jakob. When Jakob understands my head nod, he turns back to Jace to continue.

"...Then I'm sure I'm also a target of Silvio's vendetta. The more I think about it, I begin to question the suddenness of this business deal we are currently working on." Jakob says, sitting back down in his chair.

I turn my head to the side, wondering what he's getting at.

"What do you mean? Are you no longer interested in partnering with us?" I ask, wondering what he's getting at.

"No, that's not it at all. But rather, the timing of this partnership just seems to be..." Jakob says as the realization hits me.

"...Convenient?" I suggest wondering if we're on the same page.

"Exactly. Not that I'm not grateful for your offer. But rather, I find the partnership to be too convenient for my liking. Almost as if..." Jakob begins as I finish his thought once more.

"Someone is pulling the strings. Forcing us to align." I supply as Jakob nods his head. I admit I also found Jakob's interest in our business to be rather sudden. Jakob has had over twenty years to propose a partnership. But until now, he's never shown any interest. So my question is, why now, all of a sudden?

"Why did you want to partner with us?" I ask.

"What? I was under the impression that you wanted to partner with us." Jakob comments. Directly after Jakob finishes his statement, all three of us come to the same conclusion.

"Silvio is behind this; I can just feel it. I don't know why. But if he's wanting a collaboration from us, then it can't be in our best interests to do so." Jakob comments. Making me pause to reflect. I can't help but agree. However, something is telling me this is the opportunity we've been waiting for.

"Actually, I disagree." I state, confusing them both.

"What? Why?" Jace asks.

"Purely for the reason why we're here in the first place. Silvio wants something from our collaboration. So until we know what, I think we should continue as though nothing's changed. This could be our one and only opportunity. For the first time since all of this started, we're actually one step ahead." I explain.

"But are we, though?" Jace counters. I look over at him and spare a glance in Jakob's direction as well.

"Yes, we are." I state.

"How so? Just because we figured out that Silvio wants the two of you to align doesn't make us one step ahead of him. We're still oblivious to what their plans are." Jace remarks, standing as his eyes shift between both Jakob and me in annoyance.

"You can't possibly think this is a good idea?" Jace asks, his question pointed directly at Jakob. However, instead of replying, Jakob merely shrugs while turning his gaze to me instead.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Jakob asks. Earning a frustrated sigh from Jace.

"We need to think what Silvio and Lucas would want out of us collaborating. Why is it important for the two of us to join forces?" I comment.

"Well, if I were in their shoes, then I would be targeting our final meeting." Jakob replies. Making a lightbulb go off in my mind. From that question alone, everything started to make sense.

"What makes you say that?" Jace asks. 

"As you're aware, we will all be under the same roof at the same time. Before this meeting, we rarely conversed. But now, two of Silvio's biggest targets will be in the same room together." Jakob comments, making my eyes go wide. Frantic, I turn around to look at them both in fear.

"What is it?" Jace asks.

"We're not the only ones that will be in attendance." I state, growing more worried by the second.

"What do you mean?" Jace quips.

"One of the terms of the agreement was for all members to be in attendance during the meeting." I state.

"So if we're all there..." Jakob comments, seemingly understanding where I'm getting at.

"That leaves two possibilities. Either he wants us all together to give him the opportunity he wants to get what he's really after. Or..." I begin; however, Jakob interrupts me.

"Or we are sitting ducks waiting to be taken out." Jakob comments. I nod my head when suddenly it hits me.

"Two birds, one stone." I say, running over to Jakob's desk and switching on the computer for us all to see. I pulled up building schematics for Stone Enterprises, where the meeting will be held. In my mind, I compare the blueprints to the actual facility. For safety precautions, I made sure the true blueprints never became general knowledge. Being a top security and tech company meant that privacy was our biggest consideration. It would be too dangerous if anyone could get their hands on the true building schematics. The main difference is there are secured facilities within my building that I didn't want the general public to be aware of. Secret rooms, as well as safes that would be too dangerous if someone found out about them.

"What are you spewing about?" Jace asks, coming around to look at the computer in front of Jakob and me.

"The final meeting is happening later this afternoon. Which means everyone will be in the same place." I state.

"We already established that." Jace comments.

"No. You don't understand." I begin, panic starting to settle in.

 "Then explain it already." Jace remarks, losing patience.

"I think Silvio plans on bombing our building. But we won't know for sure until we get back to the office." I state as I go over the blueprints once more.

"What makes you think that?" Jakob asks.

"What other reason would he want us all together? Not only that, but suddenly, Sienna and Ash reappeared. It can't be a coincidence. He plans on acting today. The meeting is his target." I state.

"What should we do? Call off the meeting?" Jakob asks.

"No. This is Silvio and Lucas we're dealing with. Lucas' famous phrase is "contingency". So he always has a backup plan for anything and everything that could go wrong. Which means that even if we were to postpone the event or cancel it altogether, he would have some sort of plan in place that would be executed regardless of our interference." I reply.

"So, what's your plan?" Jakob asks, eyeing me.

I raise my brows at him, surprised that he knew I had come up with one.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I know an idea when I see one." Jakob retorts, making me smile.

"We need to let him blow up the building." I state, confusing the hell out of everyone.