Is this destiny?

Sarah wanted to clarify one more thing with Jesse while he is still under the influence of the truth serum. "You said that you will be loyal to us. At the same time, you mentioned that you want to find your family and who set you up. What will you do if these collide?"

"I was betrayed, but I know how to be grateful. You already took me with you, and you gave me a chance to explain myself. If you take care of me, I will put your needs first. I will work on my issues when I have free time and when I'm confident that it's safe. I will not put you in danger on purpose. If by some chance they find me, I will surrender myself. I already gave up on my life more than one year ago, and this is the time I have thanks to you."

Sarah was pleased with Jesse's answer. If not for the truth serum she might be doubtful, but like this… she is confident that Jesse is not hiding his intentions and that he wants to be helpful as a gratitude for giving him another chance at life.

"Do you have any more questions for him?" Sarah asked Aiden. "If not, let's go back and join others on the beach. We will talk about this later, in private."

Seeing that Aiden shook his head, Sarah faced Jesse. "I am disappointed that you lied to us, but I can understand why you did it. We will let you know our decision tomorrow. Don't try to escape this property. We have ways of knowing where you are at any time, and perimeter is secured. No one comes in and no one goes out without our permission. You are already in the red with us, and the slightest misstep will make us send you back. Is that clear?"

Jesse stood up and nodded. "I will not try to escape. I'm going out first." He turned and left the study room.

Sarah looked at Aiden who was glaring at the closed door of the study and she scooted closer to him.

"Hey… you are getting wrinkles.", she pressed her index finger between his furrowed eyebrows. "This is the second time today that Jesse is making you look older."

Aiden relaxed his face and kissed the tip of her index finger. "What do you think?"

Sarah thought for a second before responding. "He can't stay here. And I see two options: we take him with us or ship him where he came from… but let's discuss this later. It's such a rare opportunity to spend the evening with the kids… and I want some more of that barbeque."

"Goes good with beer." Aiden suggested.

Sarah approved. "Let's grab two cold beers from the fridge on the way to the beach."

Kids were excited that Sarah and Aiden are with them, and everyone stayed on the beach until late. The atmosphere was festive, and kids were reluctant to head to sleep. Sarah had to remind them that next morning they will be subjected to physical tests so they should all get some rest.

Their original seven kids will have different activities measured in order to check for improvements, and new kids for establishing benchmark. At first they thought to postpone physical tests for newcomers, but seeing that they are so enthusiastic about it, Sarah and Aiden agreed to do it.

It was a long day for all of them. And there is much more to come.

…

Later that night, Sarah and Aiden are on the balcony of the master bedroom. They are relaxing on a lounging chair next to each other while enjoying the view of the moonlight over the ocean and each other's company.

Both of them noticed a silhouette of a person sitting down on the beach.

"Eve, who is on the beach?", Sarah asked.

"Person you call Jesse.", Eve responded.

Sarah sighed and hugged Aiden tighter.

"You want to bring him along?", Aiden asked Sarah, but it was more of a statement.

Sarah didn't deny it. "Jesse is not a newbie and he saw his share of action. Under the truth serum he said that he will be loyal. Do you have any reason to doubt him?"

Aiden thought for few seconds before responding. "You said that Anna can make sure there are no trackers on him… and I agree with what you said, but I can't get over two things. First is that he tried to deceive us from the start, and other is that he came here knowing that he might bring those assassins with him."

Sarah agreed with what Aiden said. "True. His actions show us that he puts himself first. But do we want someone who will recklessly jump into danger without thinking about his own safety? His character is consistent with someone who is used to rely on himself. If we want him to put us first, it will take time and we will need to show our sincerity as well."

Sarah saw that Aiden's attitude is softening. She turned her gaze back to the silhouette of the man who was now moving away from the beach, toward the building which is used as a dormitory for kids. "I say that we test him well tomorrow and check how he fares without a reason to conceal his abilities. I'm looking forward to see what he has."

Aiden looked at Sarah and saw that her eyes are sparkling from excitement. He held her chin and made her look his way.

Sarah was surprised to see that Aiden is glaring at her. It took her few breaths to realize reason behind his dark expression. "Are you jealous?"

"Two more seconds of you thinking about him and he is going back to where he came from, regardless of how he fares tomorrow… and regardless of what you say.", Aiden said in a dangerously low voice.

Sarah smiled. "It warms my heart to know how much you don't want to share me with anyone. But rest assured that there is no other man on my mind… ever. Because in my eyes, you are the only one."

Smug smile appeared on Aiden's face. He likes what Sarah said. But just in case…"If we keep Jesse, I will work with him… and you are not to be with him one-on-one without me present."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Don't be unreasonable. If he comes with us to our Cliffside home, I can't run away from him every time you are not around… but I can promise that there will be no physical contacts, and that includes sparing as well."

Aiden hesitated, and eventually agreed to that.

Sarah laughed while thinking how silly he is. At the same time, if Jesse is an attractive girl, Sarah is quite sure that she would be jealous as well.

"Eve, turn off the lights.", Sarah said and a second later whole master bedroom suite was in darkness.

She moved on top of Aiden and straddled him.

"I can think of only one way to show you that you are my only one.", Sarah said while removing her top. "And there is no other man on my mind or in my heart... I hope you recognize my sincerity." Sarah undid her bra clasps.

"I know that…", he whispered while watching her bra straps slip down her arms. "…but I still like it when you show me... your sincerity."

Aiden swallowed hard when he saw Sarah dressed up only in moonlight. "You are wonderful, my goddess. Tonight, I'm very insecure… and you will need to show you sincerity to me more than once."

Sarah smiled while thinking how even when he is this shameless, Aiden is absolutely breathtaking.

She let out a small moan when his lips landed on her body allowing his teeth to brush over her sensitive skin.

Her breath hitched as he touched places only he can touch. "I'm more than happy.... to show my sincerity… as many times as necessary…"