On the second day of our getaway, our doors had been banged on violently as early as six in the morning, with an authoritative voice demanding we wake up and head downstairs for breakfast before all the good stuff run out. And taking my rumbling stomach as my cue, I had jumped out of bed before my eyes had even fully opened. I had freshened up and changed into a pair of white shorts and a loose tanktop faster than I could say "breakfast".

As I stepped into the small kitchen, the smell of crispy bacon and sweet maple syrup accompanied by pancakes wafted through the air. My footsteps came to an abrupt halt when I recognized Seth standing behind a counter, a pink floral apron wrapped around his torso, and a bright yellow spatula in his hand.

He raised his head and his eyes immediately brightened at my arrival.

"Finally!" He rushed to grab a plate and violently slammed it on the counter, making me jump. "Someone is here. I did not wake up an hour early to cook these huge batches just for my personal amusement." Seth frowned.

Still at loss of words for the unusual image in front of my eyes, I stood quiet with my mouth agape.

"Sit your ass down and eat the breakfast I made," Seth demanded, a dangerous look behind his eyes. For a second, he appeared as a perfect replica of my strict mother.

"Yes, Chef." I saluted him, marching towards a stool. "Did you really make all of these on your own?" My mouth watered at the sight of the breakfast buffet. He had made all types of sweet and savory goods.

"Someone had to feed you rascals. But I had some help." And on cue, the cheerful owner of the inn, Mrs. Patterson, came trotting into the kitchen wearing a pink apron identical to Seth's. When her eyes met mine, they squinted happily as she offered me a wide smile.

"Good morning, dear!"

My heart nearly melted at her adorableness. "Good morning! Hey, thank you for all of this, everything looks so great," I motioned towards the several plates on the counter.

She waved her hand, "oh, it's nothing. Enjoy your meal, darling." She reached the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice, which she then took outside. When I craned my neck to sneak a glance at the dining room, I found that a couple men were occupying the table, having their breakfast as well.

"Have a go at it." Seth's comment brought me back to where we were as he gestured towards the plates, and I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed a warm, crispy bacon and took a big bite out of it, then reached for two chocolate chip pancakes, setting them on my plate and pouring a generous amount of maple syrup on top.

"Hallelujah!" Noah's exclamation sounded by the kitchen door, followed by Ariel's groan.

"Could you tone it down a bit?" She frowned, reaching for a stool. She was never a morning person.

Seth grabbed a mug and slammed it in front of her, pouring steaming-hot coffee in it. "This should help."

Ariel reached out for the creamer and poured a whole lot into the coffee. She raised the white mug to her lips and took a big sip, sighing in content as the steaming drink soothed her morning nerves.

"Where's Elliot and Bella?" Noah asked Seth.

"Probably doing what couples do," Seth shrugged carelessly, and Noah wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I scrunched up my nose, stuffing my mouth with more pancakes.

"Good morning," a husky voice boomed through the kitchen, and we turned to find its source. Vincent stood by the doorway with a lazy smile on his lips, his dark hair disheveled. He wore a black shirt and plain white shorts. A second later, Xavier and Levi walked up behind him and also muttered quick good-morning's.

"Mind if we join in? I'm starving," Levi questioned, already reaching out for a pancake.

"Go ahead," Seth nodded towards the big batches of food in the middle of the counter, as he began munching on a slice of bacon.

I glanced sideways at Ariel to see her hands stuck in the middle of the air, holding onto the mug that was mere inches away from her lips. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and I wasn't surprised to see her eyes set on Vincent as he ever so smoothly took the stool beside her and grabbed a plate. When he noticed her staring, he gave a subtle wink and I could swear I heard Ariel gasp.

"Morning." A deep voice whispered right beside my hair, the slight gush of breath warming my ear. I jumped slightly as I felt the goosebumps trailing down my arm.

"H-hi," I greeted Xavier back, grinning like a fool.

He gave me a charming smile before extending his arm from right beside me and grabbing a pancake; the short sleeve of his navy-blue shirt rose a centimeter, revealing a swirl of ink trailing from his neck to his shoulder.

I had always been a sucker for tattooes.

My hypnotised gaze was suddenly averted to the doorway when I heard a loud bang, which made everyone in the room either gasp or slightly swear under their breath. Elliot stood in the doorway, his frown so deep I gulped at the sight of the anger raging behind his eyes.

"Nora," his voice boomed, and my heart fell to my stomach, "come with me." But I remained frozen in my seat, entirely confused.

"Everything good?" Vincent asked him.

Elliot's eyes snapped to him, and they glazed with fire. Through clenched teeth, he hissed, "you can stay out of our business."

My mouth fell open, "hey, what's wrong?" I asked Elliot, completely taken aback by his rude behavior when just the night before he so kindly welcomed the group of strangers.

"Nora, with me, now." He was practically fuming.

"How about you calm down, first." Xavier's voice was loud and commanding, but it only caused Elliot to take a dangerous step forward.

"I told you to stay out of it."

"Okay, okay!" I jumped down from my seat on the stool, noticing the rising tension, and knowing that if Elliot was this mad it must be something very serious, because he never uses his authoritative voice on anyone unless it's absolutely called for.

I rushed up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards the lobby. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I seethed. "What got you all cranky so early in the morning?"

"Do you know who those men are?" He demanded, his voice loud and echoing through the lobby.

I shushed him, looking around to make sure no one was there to witness his new aggressive personality surfacing. "We met them last night! They're good-"

"No they're not! We're in deep shit." He cut me off.

My mouth closed and opened like a fish straight out of water. "What are you talking about?"

Elliot sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the roots frustratingly. That's when I fully noticed his bloodshot eyes.

"Did you even sleep last night?" I asked.

His head snapped to me, and the emotions souring behind his eyes were so jumbled up I couldn't understand whether his frown was of annoyance, anger, or simply frustration. "No, Nora. I did not sleep last night because I knew something was wrong."

His puzzled sentences were only pushing me more to the edge of insanity, my insides were churning with curiosity. "Tell me everything."

Elliot's eyes glanced behind me at the kitchen before reaching out for my arm and all but dragging me towards the front doors that led to the lake.

"I knew I recognized that man - Vincent - from somewhere. I kept trying to recall where I'd seen his photo, but my mind kept coming up empty. Then it hit me; they said that this is a private property, the coincidence of their luck being as high as ours to be invited in when its not their land was extremely slight. So I called in a friend last night, and he came up with the answers this morning-" he explained, his eyes wide in what I could only assume was uneasiness.

I interrupted his rambling. "Wait. But, there are already so many people here. How could they all be here if this was truly a private property?"

He scoffed, shifting to glance at the couple people standing just a few feet away from us. "Have you taken a proper look at these people, Nora?"

I frowned at his answer, looking over at the two men that stood tall by the lake. They were the same ones that were in the dining area just a few minutes ago. Had they followed us out here?

I studied their postures. They looked like they were trying too hard to play busy, pretending like they were engaged with one another, but their eyes kept glancing over at us every few seconds.

"They're guards," Elliot interrupted my observation. My head snapped to him, eyes wide in surprise.

"W-what?" I had so many questions. Why were there so many guards? What were they guarding? And why were they watching our every move? I gulped. "Who is Vincent?"

Elliot took a step forward. "He's the right hand of the biggest mob boss in North America."

My eyes glazed over as a sudden fear washed over me. "You're kidding me right?" I chuckled humorlessly.

Elliot bit the inside of his cheek, shaking his head. "We need to leave this place. Right now."