Hello everyone! I am back from my vacation and here I am with a new chapter that I hope you will enjoy reading.

A little note:

I made a little change in my casting list. I made Anna as Lucy hale because the first actress I chose doesn't have a lot of videos and pictures which I need in making a trailer.

*******************

Anna was humming softly to herself while sliding her wooden hairbrush through her silk black locks. She can't stop her mind from drifting back to her date with Hunter. The time she spent with him today would be memorable in her memory.

His charming smile and gentle words were contradictions to his rough exterior. It was a long time since someone showed his interest in her. She felt happy at the attention she was receiving from him. It warmed her heart to no end but at the same time, she can't allow herself the luxury of feeling comfortable in a new relationship. She can't let her guards down in a sudden commitment. Her logical side was sending her red flags and trying to warn her. But unfortunately, she didn't know what exactly.

"Someone is on cloud nine." Lillian's teasing voice brought Anna from her racing thoughts.

Anna put the hairbrush down and turned her attention to her friend who was plopped stomach down on the queen-sized bed and reading a new novel.

"I am not on a cloud nine Lillian. I am just distracted with this camp, it is harder than I thought."

Lillian closed her book and sat with her back reclined against the headboard of her bed.

"I know you are avoiding the topic of your relationship with Hunter," Lillian waved away her friends' unvoiced protests and continued "It is alright. I know it is hard to be my cousin's girlfriend, and it will take you time to come with terms with his antics and actions. So don't worry, I won't force you to speak about him."

Anna looked at her friend gratefully. She wasn't prepared to discuss the recent events with anyone. She was content with the bubble she was living in currently. And she felt like if she spoke about anything happened between them, the bubble would burst and dissolve in the air.

"As for the camp, I can assure you, it will get harder and harder but I am sure they won't break us. It is not their intention."

"Your words are assuring Lillian, but I can't shake away the fear of failing. I really want to succeed and prove myself."

Lillian's response to her friend's fears was interrupted with a knock on their door. Anna who was nearer stood up and opened the door. She found herself looking at a tall boy with shaggy blond hair and intense blue eyes. His lips were set in a straight line and his eyes looking at her seriously.

"hey." Anna greeted awkwardly.

Without a single word, the boy thrust a phone in her hand and entered the room not waiting for an invitation. Anna heard as he spoke with Lillian but couldn't make out the words. Seconds later, she watched as her friend left the room and decided to question her later about her conversation with the mystery guy. Anna looked dumbly at the phone in her grasp and lifted it to her ear.

"Hello," Anna spoke awkwardly for the second time that day.

Anna can't help but smile widely as Karen's cheerful voice came through the phone.

"Hello my dear, I missed you so much. How are you? How are they treating you? I wanted to call you yesterday but my inconsiderate husband didn't agree and filled me with his bullshit talk about giving you space and other things I don't care to recall. Anyway, how are you dear?" Karen ranted without even attempting to take a breath.

Anna felt heat building behind her closed eyelids. The amount of care she heard in the woman's voice nearly brought her to tears. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tried to sound as normal as possible.

"I am okay Karen. Everything is good here. I am doing my best to excel in every challenge. How about you, are you fine?"

"I am fine honey. I went on vacation with Jacob and we are having the fun of our life. Back to you dear, did you meet my boys?"

Anna looked in the direction of the boy who gave her the phone and suddenly, she noticed the similarities between him and Karen the same blond hair and blue eyes even if the emotions dancing in them were far away from the ones usually in Karen's blue orbs. And he was definitely Jacob's son with the same scowl and tense jaw. As if sensing her eyes on him, he looked at her. Something in his eyes compelled Anna to lie and hide the truth from Karen.

"Yes, I did. They treated me very kindly and were very helpful." Anna hoped her voice came out smoothly and didn't reveal her lie.

"Really! They did!" Anna could picture Karen looking at her with a raised eyebrow and unbelieving eyes.

"Yes, I assure you."

"Good, they had better help you and be there for you." Anna knew the woman was unconvinced with her words but decided to drop the topic. "I will leave you to have a good night's sleep. I promise I will call you again soon."

"good night Karen, your call and concern mean a lot to me. Have a good time with Jacob," Anna said and heard as the line went dead. Then she gave the boy in her room his phone with a smile.

"Thank you." the boy spoke sincerely.

"Huh!" Anna stared at him dumbly. Why was he thanking her? She was the one grateful to him. Without him, she wouldn't have been able to talk with Karen.

"You told mom you met us and we were helpful with you. If you had told her the truth, she would have killed us." The unknown boy grimaced.

"It is okay. Remember, I owe you one." Anna spoke jokingly.

"of course I will remember I owe you one. Hell, I will owe you two, you saved me from Karen's Black fury." He smiled at her charmingly, "by the way my name is Aiden. My twin is Matt. We have the same face but his hair is black so you won't find any difficulty in identifying us."

"So, are we good now?" Anna asked hesitantly finding herself suddenly feeling shy from the handsome boy standing before her.

"Yep, we are good. Welcome to the family sister."

This time, Anna smiled genuinely and nodded at him.

"I will take my leave. Good night and I will see you tomorrow."

"Good night for you also Aiden, have good dreams."

With those words, her new brother left the room. When Lillian told her that the twins might take a long time to acknowledge her, she didn't think her encounter with one of them will be that simple. She thought the meeting will be tense and awkward and they will be cold with her. But Aiden proved her wrong with his acceptance and easy-going attitude. Again Anna felt happiness engulf her. Maybe she found the family that she yearned for a long time.

************************

On the other side of the camp, a different conversation was taking place between Hunter and Lillian.

"The Don called me earlier. He is satisfied with our progress so far." Hunter informed her while resting his elbows against the railing of the roof where he was standing now.

"I am glad to hear that. Did he say something else?" Lillian questioned knowing very well her uncle would never call to praise them without farther orders.

"He wants me to participate in the annual race this year."

"But the race is this weekend and you know you are not allowed to participate until you are eighteen."

At her cousin's silence, Lillian's eyes enlarged in shock.

"He wants you to sneak out from here and go."

Hunter sighed and spoke warily.

"I don't know why but the Don loves it when I break dad's rules. He wants me to sneak out with you, Anna, and Aiden."

"What?" Lillian exclaimed.

"His orders, not mine." Hunter shrugged.

"I can understand why he wants Aiden with us, but Anna can't handle what Jasper will do when he catches us."

"Well, you will be surprised to know all this is for her to appear like a rebel girl who lands in trouble from time to time." Lillian noticed the disproval in her cousin's voice, and knew right away Hunter wasn't one hundred percent into the plan.

"You know it won't end well Hunter, don't you?" Lillian spoke softly.

"It won't be that bad Lillian. We need to be thankful dad won't be here this weekend. He is flying to Berlin for a business meeting."

"I am not talking about the race Hunter. I am talking about you playing with fire."

"what do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid with me Hunter. It doesn't suit you. You are playing with feelings. Why did you claim Anna your girl? It wasn't a part of the plan."

"It is the right thing to do. I can assure she will stay under my radar all the time. With me, she will be protected and ready when the time comes for the mission."

"You will hurt her beyond repair Hunter. I see it in her eyes, she will fall for you hard." Lillian said defensively.

"And you Lillian, don't you think that her heart will be broken when she finds out her best friend was just pretending. How will she react? We are both guilty cousin, so let's just move on and complete this mission. We have orders, and we have to follow them. There is no place for feelings and emotions in our world. Our purpose is clear and it doesn't matter which means we choose to reach it." Hunter responded to his cousin's accusation with his cold calculating voice.

"When the Don wanted me to be involved in this mission, I felt honored he trusted me. And I was happier knowing my role will be befriending some intelligent girl who thinks she is the best and no one can compete with her. But when I spoke with Anna, I knew my situation got complicated. Staying with her two days made me realize I committed my biggest mistake in accepting the Don's offer."

Lillian stepped closer to her cousin and laid her head on his shoulder. Hunter patted her hair gently.

"It will be okay, Lillian. I promise Anna will be safe as long as I am in this game."

Lillian knew her cousin would never break a promise so she nodded against his shoulder and hoped for the best. She can't imagine hurting Anna on purpose and yet she was hurting her knowingly.

*******************************

The annoying blare echoing through her room made sleep impossible for Anna. She tried to cover her ears with her pillows and reach blindly for the alarm clock but every time she came closer to stop it the damned thing would move out of her grasp. Suddenly, the sound stopped and she sighed contentedly, but her relief was short-lived as her covers were snatched away from her.

She lifted her head and growled at her friend who was holding her blanket in one hand while putting the other on her hip.

"Wake up sleepy head. If you don't move your lazy butt right now, we will be late to breakfast." Lillian said impatiently.

"I will be up in five." Anna nuzzled her face in the fluffy pillow.

"Since I was nice to you before, I think I will try another method."

Anna heard her friend's retreating steps and made herself comfortable in her warm bed.

"ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Anna jumped from her bed in a speed unknown to her when the cold water made contact with her skin.

"Yay! You are up." Lillian clapped her hands in mock merriment.

Anna glared at her and flung one of the pillows at Lillian who caught it easily. Anna huffed in annoyance and stomped her way to the bathroom. She knew her actions were a bit childish, well maybe a lot childish but at the moment, she doesn't care. Waking up to cold water pouring at her face isn't her ideal wake-up call.

********************

"Stop pouting." Lillian jabbed her friend playfully in the ribs while they were making their way to eat breakfast.

Anna's smile was too cute for Lillian's liking.

"I will get my revenge, Lillian. And I will make it memorable." Anna stated hoping her voice came intimidating considering she was trying very hard not to laugh at the panicked look that crossed her friend's face.

"Hey! You are not saying that from your heart. Deep down you want to forgive me. Come on Anna you can't hold grudges against your little sweet friend."

Lillian nearly collided with Anna's back when the latter stopped abruptly at the entrance of the cafeteria.

"What's wrong?" Lillian asked worriedly.

When her friend proved to be too shocked to speak, Lillian stepped from behind Anna and took in the view in front of her. Two big tables were joined together with Hunter, Diana, Matt, Aiden, Carl, and Nicholas as their sole occupants. Lillian took Anna's arm and start dragging her to bring their foods. As usual, Lillian greeted Nacho brightly while Anna offered him a little smile. When they finished loading their trays, they headed to the table.

"What is the reason for this beautiful reunion?" Lillian asked cheerfully while taking the chair beside Diana.

Anna took the last empty seat that was fortunately next to Hunter as she doesn't feel comfortable in the company of the others. She didn't make any eye contact and started digging right away in her food. When the rest of the table just stared at her and she didn't hear any utensils clinking, Anna looked at them quizzically.

"We decided that from now on we will eat our meals together and today's breakfast is to welcome you to our family, Sister."

Realizing the boy speaking to her was none other than Matt, Aiden's brother and technically hers also. Anna returned his big smile and spoke with gratitude while looking around her.

"Thank you so much, guys. I am really honored to be a member of your family."

"Hey! Hey! Hold on." Lillian interrupted the moment and then continued when all the attention was on her. "Why didn't you acknowledge her as your sister the first time she got here?"

"Well, you know.....at first we didn't know her, and we tried to ......"Matt tried to explain but failed miserably.

"It is okay. I am happy they are considering me one of them now." Anna smiled and hoped her words eased Matt's nervousness but they seemed to go into deaf ears as Lillian started to protest but before she could speak Aiden cut her.

"It was a surprise to us having a sister out of the blue. But it's not an acceptable excuse for ignoring her. It took us time to come around, but what's important now that we are her brothers and we will be here for her no matter what."

His words did the desired effect and Lillian nodded in satisfaction but not before throwing her last warning.

"Hurt her and you will deal with me."

After that strange show, the rest of the breakfast went quickly and without any more disruptions. Anna enjoyed her time immensely and found herself laughing at the silly jokes Matt would crack occasionally, and Aiden smacking him on his head and mock chiding him to stop his stupid antics. They were pretty close to each other even if their personalities were far from similar. Matt was a carefree guy smiling and living without bounds, while Aiden was a broody one with a bad boy persona.

During their breakfast, Hunter didn't speak to Anna at all. It was as if he was giving her time to process everything and get used to people surrounding her. But that didn't mean he doesn't show her support as he would squeeze her hand reassuringly every now and then.

"We better get moving Anna or we will be late to practice. It is our turn to wash dishes today." Lillian rose from her chair with her tray balanced in one hand.

"Yes, you are right" when Anna was about to follow her friend, Hunter leaned closer and kissed her cheek gently.

Anna felt the heat rising in her face and was pretty sure her cheeks were bright red. She hurriedly ran in the same direction Lillian took moments ago.

***************************

The first time Damien announced the camp, Hunter didn't like the idea at all. He didn't want to spend his time doing things he already knew and even mastered.

Oddly, now he found himself enjoying every moment, especially his time with Anna. He knew his grand-dad wanted her for her intelligence and memorizing but the girl surprised him with her perspicacity and fast learning.

ARE YOU SURE IT'S ALL? His annoying voice of reason asked.

Well, maybe her smile and her beautiful blue eyes were other things that captured his attention. Her beauty was fascinating and what made her all the better was her nonchalant attitude about it. Hell, whenever she entered the room all the heads would turn in her direction and yet, she wasn't aware of it.

WHAT ELSE? The same voice asked again.

Her determination was unlimited. In a short time she improved a lot. He noticed she had less trouble in keeping up with Jasper strenuous activities. Even the man was impressed with her which spoke volumes. He can't say she is a professional now in fighting skills, but at least, she succeeded in defeating one of Jackson's robots and landed a good punch facing Tatiana. He smiled fondly at the memory and more specifically Tatiana's shocked face when Anna's fist collided with her eye.

"A piece of your mind cousin?" Lillian spoke coming to sit next to him.

"Nothing, I am just thinking about today's coming events," Hunter answered her flatly.

"Are you afraid of losing? I heard Lucca Ignacio will be there tonight, and he is playing to win." Lillian informed.

"I thought you know me better than this cousin. I am not afraid of losing because I will be the only winner." Hunter spoke confidently.

"Always the humble one." Anna rolled her eyes.

Hunter smirked at her, then sobered and spoke seriously.

"Did you inform Anna of our plan?"

"Yes, at first the poor girl was terrified. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her face, but after some coaxing and convincing she relaxed a bit."

"good, she needs to understand the importance of this event," Hunter paused then spoke with gratitude, "thank you, Lillian, without you, I am sure I would have been obliged to force her to go with me."

"Don't thank me, Hunter. I am just doing my part in the mission. By the way, what car are you driving today?"

"Aiden and I spoke with Carlos and he will bring our cars at 20:00 tonight. I will drive my new silver Mercedes, while Aiden will drive his black Porsche."

"Why didn't you ask him to bring my pink Audi?" Lillian pouted.

Hunter laughed amusedly at his friend's words.

"You don't want us to be the joke of the race Lillian, do you?"

"You are mocking me Hunter, and it won't end well for you." she pointed a threatening finger in his face.

"Like it didn't end well for me the last time you punched me in Jackson's class?" Hunter raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Lillian asked innocently.

"I know you did it on purpose, the punch was deliberate and to teach a lesson."

"I am glad we understand each other Hunter. She will end up with her heartbroken so at least, don't hurt her now. You are acting as her boyfriend, so please do it properly. The look in her eyes when you ignored her was devastating. And rest assured if I see it cross her face while we are here once more, my lesson will be harsher."

"You are throwing a lot of threats these days Lillian."

"And you know I will carry them thoroughly."

Hunter leaned closer to her and kissed her forehead lovingly.

"I am so happy you are here Lillian. I am sure I would have been lost if it wasn't for you."