Anna made her way to her room and she was not surprised at all to see her sisters sitting on her bed.

"She's finally here!" Jasmine squealed when she saw Anna standing by the door.

"Okay sisters, get ready. The party starts in an hour." Sarah said glancing at her wristwatch.

"Anna, Sarah and I went shopping today. We bought you a dress. Wear that, it's beautifully placed in your closet." Jasmine squealed and informed.

"That dress better be full of coverings." She strolled towards her closet to have a look at it. She gazed at the beautiful evening party gown, a grey sleeveless sexy evening gown and fancy and feathered one-sided masquerade mask which is grey in colour as well, placed wonderfully at her closet.

"Seriously, am I going to be the woman in grey?" She pulled out the dress from the closet and said out loud, gawking at the dress. "And this dress is really sexy. It won't make any difference in being naked. It will be like wearing nothing." She added.

"It will look great on you, Anna. Get ready. We're going to get ready too." Fiona said and the three of them strolled out of her room to get dress-up.

Anna took a quick wash-up and strolled into her closet again to change. She wore the dress that jasmine had bought for her today and walked out from the closet.

"Wow!" Fiona, who just got inside her room, gasped in surprised in seeing her.

"When did you get in here?" Anna asked.

"Just now. You look stunning, little sister!" She squealed, eyes glimmering at her.

"You too. You're looking gorgeous." Anna complimented and gazed at her from head to toe. She was looking outstanding in her newly bought black sleeveless fitting gown that was slid at one side exposing her beautiful legs.

"Thank you, sister dear." She smiled brightly. "C' mon now let me do your makeup and hair." She gestured her to sit in front of the dressing table mirror. She did her hair into a bun. Fiona knows that Anna hates make-ups so she only did some light touch up over her face.

Soon Sarah and Jasmine came in Anna's room and they gasped in surprised looking at each other. Sarah was wearing a gold lace mermaid evening gown and Jasmine was wearing long-sleeved soutache brown evening gown. Both of them were looking so beautiful and gorgeous.

"Bloody hell!"

"Holy gorgeous mother!

Both of them gasped in wide eyes opened at Anna.

"Anna, you're looking awesome."

"Gorgeous!"

"Both of you are looking so beautiful and stunning." Anna complimented them back.

"Tonight, the party is going to be all hot and dirty." Sarah wiggled her eyebrows at Anna.

"Someone is going to steal the spotlight tonight." Jasmine teased. "And all the boys will be drooling over you."

"Yuck!" Anna made a disgusted face.

"Okay now, let's get going," Fiona said.

After thirty minutes of the drive, they reached the Mayor's estate. The four of them put on their masks and walked towards the entrance. The hall inside was so huge and grand just like the Royal Palace. There was a large golden chandelier hung in the middle of the hall. All the people were on masquerade mask and in their filthy rich designer gowns and suits. The four of them went into the crowd and stand together between the crowd.

"12 o'clock sisters!" Sarah whispered at her sisters. "Marcus De Luca, the Don." She told them.

"This is my first time seeing the Don in person." Jasmine prodded.

Marcus De Luca was wearing a dark blue well-tailored suit with a mask on his face. He was with a walking stick to support him. There were four guards around him in total black suits but they were not wearing masks.

"There comes the Mayor and his wife." Sarah cooed, her eyes fixed at them. The four of them watched the Mayor and his wife exchanging hugs with the Don. "And here comes the Sylvester's Don, Rafael Sylvester on your 3."

Rafael Sylvester wore an expensive black suit. He was with a mask too. He made his way towards the Mayor and Marcus. He too he was fully packed with security around him. They exchange XOXO among them like they were some kind of good college friends.

"Okay, this is a surprise or are my eyes blinding me. Did both the Dons just share warm hugs to each other like they were good buddies?" Fiona asked wide eyes opened and furrowed her eyebrows.

"There's an old saying from one of the legends of the mafia, 'Be close to friends and be very closer to your enemy.'"

"Oh yes! Heard about that once." Jasmine nodded slowly. "Dang, she's so flawless." Gazing to her right, she gasped wide eyes open.

"That's Antonio and Severina De Luca," Sarah said. Both husband and wife were approaching towards the Dons and the Mayor.

"She looks like the mother of all demons." Anna deadpanned and drifted her attention elsewhere. She looked around and started to observe people. Anna has a very good sense of observing each individual. She first observed a middle-aged man who was standing some distance away from her, talking in a group.

"Money!" She started playing her game.

Her second prey was a lady in her early thirties. The lady was wearing a sexy v neck long black evening dress. The dress was beautiful but it was bare till at the back which seems completely naked to Anna.

"Sex."

"Anna, can you tell me what those men are about?" Jasmine asked Anna to observe the men for her who was standing right opposite to them, distances away. They were four of them. Anna watched at the four of them carefully and started her prey. She saw some young ladies marching towards them but they were soon chased away by their glares and Anna couldn't help but bit back a smile looking at them.

Poor ladies. She thought.

"Hates Women who are very touchy—"

"All four of them!"

"Yup."

"Ladies and gentleman," The Mayor addressed and distracted Anna from her game. The Mayor and his wife were standing at the top front where everyone could see them. "Thank you all for coming, I am very lucky to have been able to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary with you all, my people and my sexy and gorgeous wife." The mayor smirked playfully staring at his wife while the people amusedly smile at them. The Mayor gave a good and loving speech of how their married life has been. After some good minutes of speech, the Mayor and his wife joined the stage for the first opening ball dance. The hall lights became dimmer and were filled with a soft musical piece. The crowd made way for the Mayor and his wife followed by the spotlight upon them.

"Wow! Such a lovely couple!" Jasmine squealed as she watched the couple dancing beautifully. Fiona and Jasmine were busy watching the couple affectionately while Sarah and Anna's attention were elsewhere. Both their eyes were at other four gentlemen in fully black suits.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking right now?" Sarah asked glancing at Anna. "Why do I have a feeling that they are up to something?"

Anna scanned them from head to toe. Though the hall was dim, Anna didn't miss to notice the guns they were carrying on their waistband.

"I see guns."

"What!" Fiona and Jasmine exclaimed in unison when Anna said that.

"Look at those gentlemen, they seem odd." Sarah gestured.

"Both of you stopped with your theatrics. I told you not to watch too much of gangsters movies." Fiona chided amusedly. "I guess they are the Mayor's bodyguards watching over the party." She added.

"But if they're the—" Sarah was interrupted by the numerous and loud sound of applaud. "—forget it." she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

The Mayor and his wife were retrieving back to their former position. On their way, the people congratulated them and gave them well wishes for life.

"C' mon, let's go and congratulate them," Jasmine said and walked towards them and her sisters followed behind.

"Congratulation on your twenty-fifth wedding anniversaries, Mr. and Mrs. Burlington." Jasmine congratulated them.

"I know this voice." Mr. Burlington said jested. "Jasmine!" He guessed and Jasmine smiled at him.

"Thank you so much, Jasmine dear. You're looking really beautiful today." Mrs. Burlington smiled at them. "I see the four of you."

"Oh yes, ma'am. These are my sisters."

"I hope you all are having a good time!" Mrs. Burlington said like a teacher asking for concern to her students.

"Yes, Mrs. Burlington. The masquerade party is really beautiful. We are really having a good time." Fiona smiled and said courtly.

"Good to hear that." She said in a motherly way. "Nice meeting you all, the night is young, girls. Enjoy!" She smiled beautifully at them before walking away.

"You know her!" Sarah questioned.

"She's one of my lecturers," Jasmine answered. "And I'm one of her favourite students." She added in a smirked. But Sarah's attention was flipped to the other side the second she asked Jasmine. Her eyes were at the four gentlemen from earlier who had guns with them.

"Okay—I admit that I watch too much of gangster movies but seriously I find them weird. If they are the bodyguards, then why the hell are they standing together in the middle of the crowd instead of guarding at each and every corner? Are they like a package?" Sarah said. "I need to get closer to them so that I can find out what they're up to." She strolled towards them quickly without even looking back.

"Sarah! Come back!" Fiona chided from behind. Anna followed her sister and tried to reach for her wrist to pull her back but soon the music-filled inside the hall and the people started to move towards the ball dance. Anna was shoved between people and she was led into the ballroom. She quickly glanced around and saw her sisters. They too were inside the ball. Sarah was two people away from her to the right while Fiona and Jasmine were together, side by side, three people away from her to the left. And in front of her was a stranger standing tall and mighty. He was wearing a navy blue custom groom tuxedo and a black masquerade mask. He was one of the four gentlemen that she played her game over them earlier, the one who hates women.

The ladies bowed in accord to which Anna followed suit. At first, she thought of turning away quickly but decided not to since all her sisters are there too. The man curved down a little and extended his hand in accord as well. Anna kept her hand on his and began to dance rhythmically. She was not paying attention to whoever her partner was, her attention was at her sisters who were now lost in their partners' eyes and was enjoying the ball dance.

These sisters of mine. She rolled her eyes inwardly

"Anna!" The stranger, who was her partner, grabbed her attention. Anna creased her brows and looked up to see him who was already looking down at her. His voice seems very familiar to her but she can't quite recall the face.

"Who are you?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You're looking really beautiful, Anna." He ignored her questioned and smiled at her. He then spun her around and beautifully led her to the dance. Both of them were perfectly good at doing the waltz. The people around dropped their attention towards them and slowly by slowly emptied the ballroom for them and watched them dancing. Soon the ballroom was empty with only the two of them and the spotlight was on them. With every step they move around, the spotlight followed them like a shadow. The people watched them in admiration of these two beautiful couple dancing on the waltz. Even the Mayor and his wife attention were at the ballroom and the mafias as well. Severina couldn't help but smile widely staring at the dancing couple.

"Who are you?" Anna reiterated and whispered, furrowing her eyebrows at him. His smile widened but he didn't say anything. He simply spun her around and continued doing the ball dance. After some seconds, the waltz finally came to an end, and they finished dancing. The people applaud loudly at them and some even whistled and cooed at them. The spotlight was still over them. "I'm asking you for the last time, who are you? Do I know you?" Anna was curious to know the man behind but she didn't let it show, not even in her voice. She waited for some seconds for him to answer but he simply stood there and stared down at her, never reply. And when she didn't receive any answer from him, she attempted to remove his mask but the man gently caught her wrist midway and pulled her closer to him and without wasting a second he crashed his lips onto hers. Right after his lips pressed onto her, Anna knew who the man was. She quickly tried to pull away but Leo didn't allow her to. His one arm came around her waist and the other arm at the back of her head and held her firmly but gently. Anna knew that it was impossible to pull away and finally gave in to him. She kissed him back. And when she did, Leo chuckled softly under the kiss. He pulled away after some seconds and smiled down at her.

"You talked too much." He smirked.

"You did it again. I hate you." Anna glared at him. Leo ignored her glare and simply took her hand on his and walked away from the ballroom. The spotlight soon disappeared and the hall was back in its former brightness.

"Leave my hand!" Anna snapped her hand away from him. They stopped at one of the corners. "If you ever do that again, I swear I won't think twice to kill you." She warned him. And as she was about to walk away from him, she noticed a man from behind him. Anna saw the man pulling out the gun from some distance and was pointing right at the back of Leo's forehead. And without wasting a second, he pulled the trigger.

"Watch out!" She shouted and shoved Leo to the other side. Leo saw the hole in the wall made by the bullet and became well aware of the situation. The people started screaming and scattering around at the sudden sound of gunfire. He took Anna by her hand and hid behind the wall while the man was struggling between the crowd to reach them. Leo pulled out his gun from his waistband and glanced at Anna.

"I knew something like this would happen. The Sylvester can never be trusted." Leo mumbled angrily to himself. "Did you see the one who shot at us?" He asked firmly and Anna nodded at him. Then she peeked through the wall and saw the man searching here and there for them between the crowed.

"The tall figure with all-black attire and black mask, the blonde curly hair." She described.

Leo peeked through and saw the man. "Got it!" he was ready to fire at him but Anna interrupted him.

"No don't!" She yelled and Leo creased his eyebrows at her. "What if you miss it and shoot the other people. There are many people moving around, you can't take the risk." She reasoned. But then suddenly she remembers about her sisters, she almost forgot that her sisters were here too.

"Stay here!" He ignored her. "You don't need to see this." He turned from the wall and point directly at the man. The man took notice of him and immediately pointed his gun at him but he was too late, the bullet went right through his forehead. Anna was really worried about her sisters; she didn't say a word to Leo and dashed away from the place to look for her sisters. When Leo returned, he found Anna missing. He looked around but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Leo!" Roberto came running to him. "They are too many; we have to get out of here. Alesso's been shot."

Anna was so worried sick of her sisters. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw Fiona and Jasmine along with Severina fighting together against the men. Then she turned to her left and saw Sarah walking towards something. Anna's eyes were wide open when she saw the Don lying on the floor and Sarah was making her way towards him. She quickly dashed towards him and joined her sister.

"He's been shot," Sarah said when she noticed Anna kneeling down by her side. "Guess we were right, Anna! I bet those gentlemen were the ones behind these gunfire's." She added.

"Sylvester's men," Anna said. Anna scanned through his body and checked his pulse. The Don was shot right at his left abdomen. "I need to take out the bullet, he's losing too much of blood." She said calmly.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked creasing her brows at Sarah who was now searching on Don's pockets.

"This!" Sarah said pulling out a switchblade from his pocket. "They carry this thing always with them." She added and extended the blade towards Anna. "Anna, do it, you can save him." Anna glanced towards her sisters and Severina to which Severina glanced back at her. Both her sisters and Severina were fighting furiously against the men never letting the men come near the Don.

"Don't worry. She's my sister. She will save him." Fiona shouted. Her words were meant for Severina as she noticed that Severina was suspiciously looking at her sisters. Severina knew that they were of no harm so she turned away and continued to fight back.

"Sarah, call 911." Anna said and sighed deeply before processing to pull out the bullet. Right after she put the knife into his wound, the Don groaned and winced in pain, gaining conscious but it was faint. The Don was panting and groaning shortly and she tried her best not to let him feel much pain. She gently twisted the blade inside and search for the bullet. And when she finally felt the bullet in the blade, without wasting a second, she shoved out the bullet out of the wound. The Don groaned for the last time and looked at Anna with the most tired eyes and also smiled at her before falling unconscious. Anna was confused at the smile he just gave to her. Soon Severina and her sisters joined them and at the same time, the sounds of the sirens were heard around. After some minutes, the Don was escorted to the hospital and Severina followed immediately.

The hall inside now was like a warzone. There were some dead bodies but it was not of the innocents. They were of the Sylvester's and De Luca's men. Some of the civilians were injured but not severe and the nurses on duty checked on them.

"We need to leave now," Fiona said firmly.

Anna suddenly remembered about Leo and started looking around. She didn't know why but she was worried about him.

"Anna! What are you looking for?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing"

"Come on, let's go."

They made their way out without anyone noticing and drive off from the other way around. The ride way back home was silent. After reaching home, they quickly went up into their respective room and dived into a warm shower. After the cleanups, they all gathered at the common hall and waited for their mother's return.

"The Mayor should have never invited the mafias in the party. See now what he has to go through. People will blame all on him now." Jasmine said.

"Don't worry. This is nothing. People will just let it slide as a minor incident. And moreover, none of the civilians is badly injured. But the police will surely put their nose on it and will try to go against the mafias—" Sarah smirked at the thought. "—they never miss any opportunity, not even the slightest opportunity to put the Dons behind the bars but again at the end of the day, they never accomplish on doing so."

"How did you guys end up fighting together with Severina?" Anna asked.

"You missed the opportunity, dear little sister. You should've seen her shooting the gun at each and every man who was trying to attack the Don. But sadly her gun was out of bullet and one man was about to shoot at her, we didn't have any choice but to intervene and help her." Jasmine explained dramatically.

"We can't just see her die," Fiona added.

"Oh, I see! But again, where was her husband at that moment?"

"We don't know either. By the time we notice her, she was alone and the Don was already been shot." Fiona answered.

"Wow!" Sofia had returned home and was shocked to see her daughters together in one room late at night.

"Mom!" They all said in unison.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?" She strolled towards them and joined them on the couch. They couldn't help but tell everything that happens some hours ago. They have never kept anything from their mother, not even a little thing and also between them as well. Sofia was silently listening to them as they explained her about the incident.

"Anna, what do you think about the Don? Will he make it out alive?"

"I see that you're concern about the Don's well being!" Fiona pointed out.

"Just curious! After all, Anna did for him, I hope her hard works don't go in vain." Sofia defended. "And also I'm relieved that all of you are okay. My girls are all grown up now. I see that my pieces of training didn't go in vain." She smiled at them.

"I'm happy that you trained us though we always complain about it. We are very thankful to you, Mom." Sarah crawled towards her and embraced her into a tight hug.

"And don't worry about the Don, he'll live," Anna said.

"That's good then." Sofia stood up from the couch. "Why don't you all go and take rest now?"

"Mom, you go and take rest. We'll stay here for some time." Sarah said.

"Don't stay up too late. Goodnight, girls."

"Goodnight Mom." They wished her in unison. Right after their mom disappeared from the room; three pairs of chestnut eyes drifted its attention towards Anna and stared at her.

"What! Why are you all looking at me like that?" Anna furrowed her eyebrows and asked.

"Okay, too much of socialism. Now let's talk about you." Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest and said.

"What do you mean?" Anna knew what her sisters were talking about but she pretended not to know.

"Who is he?"

"Do you know him?"

"Who was that guy? Are you dating secretly?"

"He kissed you and you kissed him back!"

Her sisters ignored her questioned and started to query one by one.

"No!" Anna shouted in frustration. "I'm not dating anyone secretly." Her sisters didn't look convince and expected her to explain further. Anna couldn't help but rolled her eyes over. She knows that they will not leave her alone until she tells them everything. "It's Leo, my dance partner. At first, I didn't know that it was him."

"Then how did you find out that it was him?" Jasmine asked excitedly.

"He told me." She lied to them. There's not a chance that she's going to tell them the truth. If she tells them, they will never stop teasing her.

"Really!" Jasmine narrowed her eyes at her for some seconds trying to see any lies behind and also they all know that Anna is a bad liar. "I know you're lying, sister. But I'll spare you for that. Now tell me, do you like him?"

"No!"

"Liar! Then why did you kissed him back? Why didn't you try to push him away?"

"I did! But he was too strong; he didn't even budge a little." Anna answered honestly.

"So there is finally someone who she finds stronger." Sarah teased.

"The fact you kissed him back proves that you like him. Aw—you two really make a cute couple. And their heights are just so perfect that every couple needs. Lovely!" Fiona smiled beautifully at her little sister.

"Don't start with your theatrics again." Anna rolled her eyes over. And soon there was someone ringing on the doorbell.

"It's really late at night. Who could it be?" Fiona wondered glancing at the watch on the wall.

"Let me go and see. It might be Daniel." Jasmine stood from her couch and went to receive the door.

"Be careful, what if it was a ghost?" Sarah teased but Jasmine didn't look back and move forward.

After some minutes, Jasmine came back to the common hall and smiled widely looking at Anna. Her sisters furrowed confusedly at her reactions.

"Jasmine, you look like you're being possessed." Sarah raised a questionable eyebrow at her.

"Anna, someone wants to see you," Jasmine informed ignoring Sarah's word.

"Who is it?"

"See it for yourself."

Anna stood up from her position and strolled towards the door. She turned back and expected her sisters to be behind her but none of them followed her. She sighed deeply and turned on her heels. She saw the door wide open and through it was a man standing. His back facing her and she knew exactly who he was. She walked out of the house and stood a step away from the door.

"What are you doing here, Leo?"

Always Smile,

Happy Virus