Is this destiny?

~ Salina ~

JoAnna did girl-shopping in the past with Sophia and Sarah, and they would share dressing room and tease each other. But they are sisters who grew up together. Now that Isabella is that close, JoAnna remembered that they just met the same day, and Isabella is acting too familiar.

JoAnna took a step back, increasing the distance between Isabella and her. \'I should not think too much about it. She is probably so friendly with everyone.\'

"Jeff told me that if you are not confident in yourself, you need to work on it and improve yourself until you are confident enough." JoAnna advised her. "Only that is a permanent solution."

Isabella was in thoughts for few seconds, and then turned back to the stack of clothes that she still wants to try on.

Seeing that Isabella went back to trying out clothes, confirmed to JoAnna that she is overthinking it. JoAnna relaxed and continued checking out clothes.

~ Seattle, Cabin ~

In the cabin, close to Seattle, Aiden was facing Stella, ready for afternoon training. Sarah was nearby doing a routine on her own.

"In order to give you the right guidance, I want to see what you got." Stella told Aiden. "Come at me."

Aiden hesitated. He is not comfortable attacking Sarah\'s mom.

"It\'s a training... come." Stella persisted. "Or do you want me to start?"

Aiden shivered at the thought of Stella attacking him. He rushed toward her and launched few attacks. None reached Stella, she didn\'t even block. Just by slightly adjusting her position, she avoided them all.

"Again! I\'m sure you can do better than that." Aiden was not sure if Stella taunted him or encouraged him.

Aiden attacked again, and again. Each time his attacks got more aggressive. But none touched Stella.

Aiden was amazed that so far Stella didn\'t even block any of his attacks. It was a long time since he faced someone so formidable. That feeling excited him. Aiden understood that he can go all out without fear that he will hurt her. As his attacks became more vicious, he started executing series of precise attacks fluidly.

At some point, Stella\'s expression of indifference changed into a surprised one. She caught his leg mid-air and he used his other one to try to get himself free. Stella blocked that one as well, and he ended up flat on the ground while letting out a muffled groan.

As soon as he got up, Stella commanded: "Do that again."

Aiden repeated the same sequence, this time Stella didn\'t catch his leg, but avoided it. Every next attack Stella was avoiding so precisely, Aiden was certain that she can predict his movements.

"Where did you learn that?", Stella asked with urgency, as soon as he paused.

"I\'m not sure."

"How can you not be sure?", Stella was suspicious.

"As a kid I went to a camp where I learned basics. After that I had a number of tutors coming to our home." Aiden honestly responded.

Stella gave small nod of understanding. She remembers that Sarah told her how Aiden went to camps as a child, and especially mentioned one in Eastern Europe.

"My turn." She approached him with speed he didn\'t expect and started attacking with minimal movements. If close to the vital point, the attack would stop less than one inch from his body, but others landed heavily. Few minutes later he was on the ground, not sure which part of him was aching more. He was embarrassed to acknowledge that she attacked him with only one hand.

Sarah rushed over to Aiden. "Mom! It\'s his first time! You are overdoing it!"

"For first time, he did good. He blocked eight.", Stella said indifferently.

Aiden was not sure if that was a praise or mockery. But one thing was certain, he has a lot to learn, and this woman in front of him can teach him.

"Fifteen minutes rest." Stella told Aiden and looked at Sarah.

Sarah understood, she stood up and took few steps away from Aiden and braced herself.

Aiden watched in awe how Sarah blocked Stella\'s attacks. Stella\'s arms moved fast as lightning, Sarah avoided or blocked almost all of her attacks... almost.

~ Salina ~

In the hotel in Salina, two bodyguards are in the hallway, in front of the suite door, standing in silence. If you observe carefully, you could see that one of the bodyguards appears nervous, he is clenching his fist every few seconds, and he has beads of sweat on his forehead. That is the same bodyguard who accompanied Isabella at the WV Steakhouse*.

JoAnna and Isabella are inside the suite. In the middle of the living room there is a small mountain of shopping bags full of clothes.

JoAnna and Isabella are on the sofa, observing the result of their afternoon shopping spree and sipping light blue cocktails.

"Thank you for today, Isi." JoAnna said between sips of her drink. "I really had fun. Lately so many things happened, and it was crazy. This was a nice change of pace."

Isabella was happy, "I\'m glad you had fun. What was your favorite part?"

"Hmmm... I\'m not sure I can pick one as a favorite... How about you?"

Isabella tilted her head slightly and smiled. "The part of the day that left the most impression on me was your kiss before we went shopping."

"Oh..." JoAnna was embarrassed. "Sorry, we are usually not like that in front of people. We got carried away."

"Don\'t get me wrong, it was very... stimulating." Isabella kept her drink on the side table. "I was thinking about that whole day."

"You did?", JoAnna was surprised.

"Yes, I did." Isabella inched toward JoAnna. "I saw Jeff\'s reaction when you kissed... and it made me wonder just what kind of a kiss can make someone so stiff turn into a passionate lover." Isabella was very close to JoAnna, she could feel her breath on her face.

JoAnna was stunned, \'Why is she getting this close?\' JoAnna leaned backward to increase distance between two of them. "I\'m sure it\'s not just the kiss...", JoAnna awkwardly smiled.

However, Isabella continued advancing. She was almost leaning over JoAnna, with Isabella\'s gaze focused on JoAnna\'s lips. "Thinking about that kiss... I really want a taste of that!", Isabella licked her lips.

JoAnna was not sure how she ended up in such a situation. \'Everything was fine... normal... Why is Isi climbing on top of me? What does she want to taste?!!\'

~ Seattle, Cabin ~

That afternoon, Stella was watching Sarah and Aiden leave training area. She has number of questions that she needs answers to.

Stella got her phone and made a call. "I need you to look into something... White family, with focus on younger son... Yes, that one, but include whole family as well... I need to know their relationship with Voronin clan... No, I\'m not kidding... Oleg, he knows Aurora and Astul patterns... I don\'t know how, that is why I\'m asking you to look into it... In your search include training camps in Eastern Europe, from about ten years ago, and any tutors that came to his home... Yes... Be detailed... and be careful."

Stella\'s gaze was still focused on the gap in the bushes where Sarah and Aiden left from. \'The patterns that boy knows are part of martial arts taught by the Voronin clan. How does he know them? Is he a spy planted by Voronins?\'

Stella knows that Sarah is in love with Aiden, and she herself likes the boy, so she does not want to do anything rash. Background search on Aiden came back clean at the time when Stella found out that he has interest in Sarah. \'Did we miss something? I don\'t think we did... But how does he know things that are only for Voronins?\'

Stella is from Lebedev family. Lebedev and Voronin families are rivals. For generations, two families are fighting each other openly and covertly, sometimes it involves planting spies. If she finds out that Aiden is a spy, she can\'t show mercy.

Stella sighed, \'If it turns out that he is a spy, I\'m going to blame myself for not finding out about it in time, before Sarah fell in love with him.\'