Alianna curled up under the cabana as she lounged by the hotel's Oceanview pool. The wind rustled the lace frills of her shorts and the sun kissed her legs. Naveen hung around the bar, chatting with the bartender while keeping an eye on her.

Ever since the cocktail function, Jax had eased up her security and she was now more comfortable exploring the hotel. Naveen was her constant companion but Emilio and Patrick were always lurking in the hotel.

Alianna turned the page of her newest book; she, Jax and Naveen had a laugh at how quickly she fell back into her habits. There were children playing in the pool but the noise reminded her of a job Marino assigned her to, it was near the ocean so she did not mind. Other women were relaxing under umbrellas and tanning, nothing out of the usual.

Alianna smiled at Naveen as he approached her with a cool glass of Sprite. "Thank you," she replied quietly. "Any updates?" Jax's presence was required at the warehouse this morning and from the hushed tones and the grim expression he had left with; it was something serious.

"None as yet," Naveen replied. It unsettled him whenever Alianna was worried, granted she only ever worried about Jax. He trusted Alianna's instinct more than his, he was trained for this life; she was born and bred into it. "I'm going to call Scott on the hour."

Alianna nodded and sipped her drink as she glanced around the pool distractedly. Her eyes stopped on two burly men decked in suits and shades. To everyone else, they seemed to be new guests who were just checking out the hotel but, even behind their dark sunglasses, Alianna found that they glanced in her direction a little too often.

"Naveen, is there another way back to the room?" she asked quietly and calmly.

"There's a gate that the maintenance crew uses that would take us around the outskirts of the hotel, we can use the service entrance," Naveen replied tersely. "Let's get out of here then I'll notify the others."

"On my signal," Aliana replied as she saw a group girls enter the pool area. As they passed in front their chairs, she tapped Naveen's knee and they moved with the crowd. Thankfully, they were heading towards the bar so the pair was able to exit through the gate easily.

"Where are Emilio and the others?" Alianna asked as she slipped her knife out from its sheath.

"Surveillance room," Naveen huffed as he balanced his phone on one shoulder and loaded a gun with a silencer with his hands. "Take this." Alianna didn't hesitate, welcoming the familiar weight in her hands. Naveen cursed as he dialled another number while loading his gun, "This is not the best time for a lunch break."

Alianna's heart started to race and her fingers searched for her phone and she pressed the first number she kept on speed dial.

"HEY YOU TWO!"

The phone dropped out of Alianna's left hand as she slipped the knife out of her firing hand. She pulled the trigger, landing the bullet in the man's shoulder. He wasn't alone as no less than a dozen of his colleagues ran over his body as if he were dirt. Old instincts came back to her as all her bullets landed right between her unfortunate victims' eyes. Naveen was cursing as he shot, hitting his targets in the knees and stomach.

"Move move move!" Naveen grabbed Alianna's shoulder and they ran, reloading their guns as what sounded like an army pursued them.

"L'iiblis," Alianna breathed as memories came back to her, ones where she was the predator, not the prey. Naveen grit his teeth, he would never forgive himself if they got their hands on Alianna.

Alianna grunted in pain as a bullet grazed her arm. She looked to the left and saw three shooters on the verandas. She raised her left arm and fired three times, each bullet landing in their target's chest. If the circumstances were different, Naveen would have stopped and gawked at her skills but he could not.

Alianna cursed loudly as they reached the service entrance and banged her hand against the closed metal door. She exchanged looks with Naveen, they both were down to their last round of ammunition. This fight was about to get ugly.

As their pursuers rounded the corner, they fired. Naveen was an excellent marksman once he was stationary as his bullets hit his opponents straight in the heart. Alianna aimed in between their eyes, a modus operandi she was known for during her time with Marino.

She exhaled sharply as her last bullet left the barrel. Thuds on the grass warned of more men on the way. She wondered incredulously how many of L'iiblis' men were able to slip under their noses. She tossed her gun to the side before looking at Naveen.

"Ready?" he asked. His hands were balled into fists, ready to fight tooth and nail before anyone could lay a finger on her.

Alianna slipped her knife into the palm of her right hand. The blade glinted murderously as it protruded from her knuckles. "Ready."

Alianna's brain went on autopilot as she tackled the first man to round the corner. She plunged her fist into his throat before pulling her arm back, elbowing another behind her in his nose. She spared a quick glance at Naveen who was pummelling a man to death before she sunk her knife into an assailant's stomach.

Bodies became a blur as her arms and legs moved in harmony, relying on muscle memory to keep her alive. Once it was not a dark blue dress shirt, the only colour, thankfully, Naveen seem to wear, she attacked with her full strength. Alianna grunted as a man grabbed her neck from behind. She choked and gasped for breath as the man turned her around. She scratched at his eyes before plunging her knife into his groin. He yelled out in pain but released her.

"Naveen!" Alianna shouted as two shots rang out from nowhere. Time seemed to slow down as she watched in horror as he collapsed on his back.

In those milliseconds she was distracted, her opponent used the opportunity to land a punch, square in her face. Alianna stumbled backward, the guy had cut her lips and the insides of her cheeks were bleeding from her teeth gnashing together. The taste of her blood did not faze her as her eyes drifted to Naveen, unconscious from the shock to his system.

Her head was wrenched back. "We've got you now child," the man growled.

Before Alianna could respond, gunshots rang out. She automatically crouched as much as she could. She gasped as she heard her captor gurgle followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. She crawled, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, to Naveen's body.

"Naveen," she whimpered as she ripped open his shirt. The bullets had landed around his ribs, she immediately used her hands to apply pressure to his wounds. His blood covered her fingers and her knees, he had lost a lot of blood. His pulse was slow, the only thing Alianna could hear was the hammering of her heart and gunfire.

"STOP!" roared Jax as the last L'iiblis man fell. He jumped over the wall he and his men were stationed and ran to Alianna. "Alianna," he knelt beside her but his woman's attention was focused on her best friend.

"He needs a hospital, now!" Her voice was low and dangerous. "Don't you worry about me," she spat blood to the grass beside her. "WHERE'S THE DAMN CAR!" she shouted, annoyed by their lack of speed and shocking everyone.

Emilio and Scott were beside Naveen in an instant and Jax grit his teeth. No one had ever seen this side of Alianna and everyone was worried that their next words could get them killed. Alianna watched the men like a hawk as they ripped Naveen's shirt, slowly replacing her hands as a bandage. Two other men, presumably from the warehouse, lifted Naveen and loaded him into a van. Alianna stood, her eyes never leaving the vehicle as it raced away.

"Alianna," Jax said cautiously. She had no idea how dangerous she looked now, her lips, hands and legs were covered in blood. Her eyes were filled with anger and hatred, he could feel the bloodlust thrumming in her veins right now, wanting revenge. Jax was promptly reminded who Alianna was and what she was meant to do.

"To the warehouse?" she muttered as the pain from the punch and the adrenaline from the fight began to wear off. Jax nodded before reaching out for her hand. Alianna hesitated, surely he was disgusted with her, she was disgusted at herself. She searched Jax's eyes, they were welcoming and gentle, as they always were when he looked at her. Her respect for him grew, it takes a lot of control to shackle the rage she could feel radiating off of him; she placed her hand in his.

Jax pulled Alianna to him gently, halting when she grunted in pain. "Sorry sweetheart," he muttered upon seeing the graze on her arm. It was long and deep enough to warrant stitches. He used his tie a bandage, "I'm going to call my personal doctor for you."

"I can do it myself," Alianna muttered, spitting out blood again.

"Alianna," Jax said lowly. Alianna rolled her eyes but did not argue because knowing Jax, he would do so anyways. She cried out in surprise as Jax swept her off her feet and held her bridal style as he marched to the car.

"Evan, smooth things over with management and the police," Jax ordered as he approached. "Rex," he addressed the man as he opened the car door for Alianna, "see if you can get anything off the bodies then dispose of them."

"Alianna?" Alianna asked jokingly to reassure a bug-eyed Evan and Rex that she was alright.

"Alianna is going to see a doctor and not leave my side," Jax said seriously as he closed the door and got in the driver's seat. "And I'll keep you updated on Naveen," he said as he started the car. Alianna closed her mouth as Jax sped off.

~

Alianna's head rest against the cool metal of an examination table as the doctor stitched the graze on her arm. She felt as if she had taken down an army, which essentially, she did. The doctor had taped her lip and the bruising inside her cheek wasn't serious enough. An ice pack pressed to her face as Jax stood in the corner, doing damage control while watching the doctor's movements.

"Alright," the doctor straightened up and Alianna sat up, "keep that as dry as possible and I will see you in a week for a check-up. Mr Boveri, she needs to be monitored for any signs of a concussion."

"Is she alright doctor?" Jax asked, giving them his full attention. "She suffered a lot of injuries some time ago."

"I have seen that," the doctor said grimly, "it doesn't look like any old injuries have been affected. What she went through today was much more minor than before."

Alianna rolled her eyes. Usually she would have said something about them talking as if she was not in the room but every fibre in her body called out for a rest. Her shoulders slumped as the conversation between Jax and the doctor faded away.

She was jolted out of her dreamland as Jax picked her up. Her head rest against his shoulder as he carried her into his office. He easily opened a second door that revealed an attached bedroom and bathroom.

"Do you need me to help you?" Jax asked as he placed her on the toilet which had the lid down.

"I can manage," Alianna replied tiredly. "What about Naveen?"

"He's in surgery," Jax replied rifling through the small cupboard. "Bath towel," he placed it on the rack, "I have an extra shirt in here. It should be long enough." Alianna watched as he pulled it out. Jax looked down at her, his chest tightening at the sight of her battered body, "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

"I can do it," Alianna stood slowly before kissing his neck, usually she would have kissed his cheek but she could not tiptoe to reach.

Jax exhaled slowly, "Okay. I'll be right outside. Just yell." Alianna nodded slowly as he closed the door behind him.

She turned on the shower as she slowly stripped out of her bloody clothes. She sighed as she stepped under the warm cascade of water. Her mind was whirring with unanswered questions, worries and haunting memories. She was quiet as she watched the water, tinted with Naveen's blood swirl down the drain. She breathe in deeply, erasing her mind of any thoughts and shutting off her emotions.

Jax looked up as Alianna stepped out. The sight of her in his shirt was enough to make his crotch become uncomfortably tight but right now, his bloodlust outweighed his lust.

"What's that?" Alianna asked quietly. Jax had a syringe in his hand. It was filled with a colourless liquid and the needle glinted in the light of the beside lamps.

"Morphine," Jax answered. "I know how you feel about painkillers," he said softly, seeing her immediate distaste. "The doctor says that you should take it, it will allow you to rest enough and heal."

If it was one thing Alianna hated in this world, it was needles but she knew this was the only way; pills won't shield her from the rawness of her pain. "Let me," she held out her hand. She sighed and held the needle to her neck.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jax roared as he pulled her hand back and took the syringe from her.

"I was taught and always got injected there," Alianna said quietly. Jax breathed deeply, Marino and L'iiblis were twisted people and it was sad to know that Alianna thought this was the norm.

"Come," he sighed, pulling back the sheets so she could lie down. Alianna audibly sighed in relief. "Are you okay with it here?" his fingers stroked the skin on her outer thigh. She nodded, not trusting her voice. She whimpered slightly as memories wracked her brain as the needle pierced her skin. Jax was good, not making her suffer more than she needed too.

"I wish you would tell me why you are afraid of anything medical," Jax murmured as he wrapped his arm around her as they lay back-to-chest.

"One day I will," Alianna replied sleepily. She knew she had to, it was a dark day that would haunt her forever. Jax smiled and kissed the top of her head as she drifted off.

~

Alianna frowned and groaned slightly as her brain brought her back to reality. She was in and out of consciousness for the past couple of hours. Jax continuously checked in on her, making sure she was alright with her concussion and replacing the ice pack on her jaw. She opened her eyes, mentally cursing as the first thing she saw was Joel.

Jax had moved her from the bedroom to the couch in his office as he had work to do. Her head was in his lap and a blanket was draped over her. She sighed purposefully, letting Jax know she was awake and with Joel in the room, she wasn't going back to sleep either.

"I just want to know how thirty men manage to slip past our security," Jax said gravely as he stroked her cool cheek. "The hijacked truck was definitely a distraction. But who knew that Alianna wasn't with me or at the warehouse? How did they know Alianna was there? I ran background checks on everyone at that cocktail function before approving their invites."

"Boss, with all due respect, I think we need to consider the fact that there's a rat in our ranks," Joel said gravely. "We have never had breaches in our security like this and we haven't recruited new members except Patrick...this only began wh-"

Joel didn't get to finish his sentence as Alianna pinned him against the wall with Jax's gun pointed at his throat.

"Alianna," Jax said sharply as he stood but did not make a move to stop her. Alianna paid him no attention what-so-ever as she stared the burly man straight in his eyes which darted between the gun and her face.

"For most of my life I have killed men like you in ways you could never imagine. I was bred to be a killer by the same man who is trying to kill me. I spent years watching the life leave my victims' eyes and hearing their last breaths. To this day, the sounds of men being tortured or killed because they could never be me, echo through my head. Today, my hands were covered in my best friend's blood because these bastards." she said lowly. "Don't you ever question my loyalty to Jax and this family because I'll make sure you won't be able to question me again."

She loaded the gun and a satisfied sadistic smile spread across her face when Joel flinched.

"Alianna," Jax said evenly. Alianna kept her eyes on Joel as she released him. "Leave us," Jax commanded.

"That wasn't necessary," he said as he approached her.

"Everyone is going to doubt me," Alianna said truthfully. "That," she pointed to the door with the gun, "was one way of declaring my loyalty."

Jax rolled his eyes as he held his hand out for his gun. "You move faster than a pickpocket," he commented as he returned his gun to its holster.

Alianna grinned mischievously, "I take that as a compliment." She smiled as Jax pulled her closer. "I'm fine," she said as he kissed her temple. "I could use another ice pack though."

Three knocks on the door made Jax laugh, "Right on time." He scooped Alianna up and settled her in his lap as he sat on the couch. "Come in."

"Naveen is out of surgery and recovering, he's completely out according to Scott," Evan said as he and Rex entered. Evan tossed the ice pack and Alianna snatched it before Jax could. She grinned as she pressed it to her cheek. "Give me a complete rundown of today," she asked.

"This morning," Jax began, "a truck carrying goods to New York was hijacked. The men were just knocked unconscious, the goods were gone but the thieves left a cell phone behind which is how we were notified. When Rex called me, I left the hotel and went to the warehouse."

Alianna nodded, "Right, shortly after, Naveen and I decided we wanted fresh air so we decided to go to the pool that over looked the ocean, in order to switch things up. Scott and Emilio headed into the surveillance room to relieve Jacob and Neil."

"Approximately a half an hour before the attack," Evan continued, recounting what the two crestfallen guards had said, "all the security camera went down. Emilio and Scott waited a couple of moments, thinking it was a power outage but when they didn't come online, they went out to investigate."

"Which was when L'iiblis' men entered the hotel," Alianna nodded deep in thought. "I noticed them and Naveen and I decided to use the service entrance to get back in. Naveen couldn't contact anybody."

Jax was looked at Rex, "I was thinking it was jammer too because no one leaves their phone behind but that wouldn't explain how Alianna's call got through."

"My call?" Alianna frowned, her memory fuzzy as her brain tried to digest the day's events

"You dialed me," Jax said, holding her closer. "That's when I knew something was wrong because you never call me directly. That's when the shooting started and I got some men together as fast as I could and headed to the hotel."

The group was silent as the events of today sunk in. Jax sighed and stroked the skin of Alianna's thigh. "Alianna and I will stay here," he decided. "Everyone is free to go where they please, just keep a low profile. I want Emilio and Scott with us at all times, no one else. Did we get anything off the bodies?" Rex shook his head. Jax cursed, "Well at least now we know L'iiblis is here, I want half of our surveillance team searching for any sign of him. If there's a new mafia in town, they would need supplies. And you," he tilted Alianna's head up, "I'm afraid you can't go outside for a while."

Alianna nodded, "Not the first time I've had to do it. I think I'm better use in the warehouse."

"Why do you say that?" Evan asked.

"As much as I want to gut him like a fish, Joel is right." Alianna sighed. "There is a rat, there are too many holes that can be only be filled by a member of the Boveri family and I intend to find out who he is. By the time I'm through with him, he'll will wish that he was in hell."

Evan, Rex and Jax exchanged looks. "Joel insinuated that it was her," Jax explained.

Evan hissed, "Big mistake."

"She threatened him with my gun," Jax chuckled, now finding the scene amusing.

Rex stood up abruptly and fished something out of his pocket. Alianna raised an eyebrow in confusion as he laid a cloth in her hands. She opened it, revealing her knife, clean and in better condition that she kept it. She looked up at Rex as he waited for critique of his work.

"You did a great job," she brought the knife to her nose, "3-in-1 Oil?" Rex grinned and nodded before returning to his seat.

Jax, Evan and Rex discussed more matters and measures. After listening in, Alianna got bored. She pulled the blanket around her before going to the window that overlooked the main area of the warehouse. She watched how Jax's men moved like clockwork, each man knew his role and fulfilled it well. It reminded her of Marino's family except, these men were smiling. They joked around and worked without the fear of a bloodthirsty foreman looming over their heads.

Jax looked over at Alianna who was lost in her thoughts. At times, it scared him when she did this as he knew the horrors that resided in there. Evan and Rex took his distraction as a cue to leave.

"What are you thinking?" Alianna jumped slightly as Jax's arms wound around her waist. She surrendered some of her body weight to him, letting him support her, both physically and mentally.

"I was just comparing my life to this," Alianna said softly. "I know I killed Marino but I feel like a prisoner and I'm scared that I'll never be truly free."