Taimoor

𝕬 line of dishes was set on the table, bearing platters heaped with food. Bread, rice, fruits, bread, and greens. Baskets stuffed with brown dinner rolls that nearly tumbled onto the cloth. I had to leave my self-imposed exile at some point, but I'd yet to decide if this dinner was the way to do it.

Daania sat towards my right, in conversation with Riaan, her plate untouched, her attention on whatever the fuck he had been saying for the past ten minutes. Affandi and my mother sat in front of me, late additions to the dinner party, chatting with Fariha and the younger Mansoor sibling. On my left, sat Zeenia, conversing with Daania's and Fariha's mother, her smooth voice rising above the others. And at the head of the table, sat Mansoor Khan, ignoring me and my presence his gaze firmly fixed on his longtime friend, Fariha's father.

Once my mentor.

A stand-in father figure.

And now, my reluctant father-in-law.

"Taimoor, I've heard you're company is working on incorporating AI technology in the environment sector."

I turned to face him.

"Amongst other things," I replied, knowing full well it would end this conversation. Daania frowned but said nothing, simply cutting into her steak.

"Yes, we're trying to digitalize things," Zeenia answered, glaring at me as she drank her water. In front of her, Asfand served himself food, deliberately ignoring his wife's irritation with me.

"Riaan is great in that department," Fariha talked up her husband, grimacing at me.

"Of course, he is," I stared at my wife."You'll be amazed by the things that have been happening around the world, I'm in awe of the things people can think of. The world is advancing at a rapid pace."

Crisis averted, annoyingly, Riaan simply turned back to my wife. My vision dimmed, and I forced one semi-normal breath into my lungs. I was not going to stroke out over this.

"So how was your time in Italy? I've heard it's a beautiful place."

I set my fork down, staring at my mother, shocked that she'd bothered to ask. It was the last thing I expected her to say, and it was written all over my face.

"It was," I answered and that was that.

Mercifully, dinner ended not a long while after that. We were then forced to sit in the small den, sipping on coffee. Fariha's father, a prominent businessman, decided that he wanted to keep me company.

"I'm sure you're tired of all the questions regarding the company, but we've never seen such growth in recent years."

I picked up the cup on the table and took a sip before looking over my shoulder and replying. "All credit to the company."

"And to you too, I'm sure it will be an inspirational story to tell the kids," turning back to him, I caught the end of his sentence and the unfazed expression on his face. "Are you-" he got cut off as his phone rang and he excused himself.

I sat for several minutes once he left to answer his call.

I sat with the thoughts in my head. The seeds of my new future spread in front of me. I was sure he had said those words in an off-hand way. Except now I was suddenly wondering what our children would look like, and I'd never wanted children, never. But I could picture Daania swollen and tight with my child, picture her sitting in a glider in some quiet room, nursing our baby while I sat by her feet and stared up at her.

Happiness.

Placing the cup in my hand on the low table, I rose. A small commotion beyond me drew my attention and, instead of walking back out the door I came, my feet carried me to the main room.

There, the exposed stone of the walls wrapped around the front section of the living room. A massive fireplace crackled with careful heat, but it was the people that truly warmed the space. I could never miss those velvety bright eyes framed by golden skin and midnight waves, and not feel my entire body tremble at her beauty. Daania sat in the center of the crowd, smiling and laughing as she Facetimed Azaan, introducing everyone, handing the phone to my mother who talked to her son, sitting next to Daania's mother who watched this whole thing with a warm look on her face. Daania's sister sat on the carpet, Zohra in her lap, cooing over her as both Fariha and Riaan played with my niece.

I watched them for a moment like the stone gargoyles would watch over the crowds. But I wasn't stone and the room wasn't shadowed and, when the first glance of my sister sitting with her husband, my mother finally laughing with the women, without any pretense fell on me, I did a double-take.

An ache throbbed deep inside my chest.

I didn't recognize the thump of my own heart-stirring back to life, beating for something again. That was the feeling unfurling in my chest, fragile and easily blown apart, and the sensation of it was so strange that I was rendered still, staring at Daania as if she was the only thing in the world.

Watching them, I paused in the doorway, waiting for the feeling to subside when Daania turned and directed her gaze toward me. For one brief moment, a zap of embarrassment jolted my body, and I turned away. Her beautiful wide smile faded and I instantly regretted making it disappear, letting my darkness take over her light. I didn't realize my gaze had dropped or that my hands were on the verge of reaching for her when I felt her hand on my arm. My body jerked and then relaxed.

"You should join us."

"I didn't want to intrude," I told her, folding my arms over my chest. My jaw clenched as she stared at me, the notion that she could read my thoughts making me shift on my feet.

"Azaan is doing well," I let out a long breath, not realizing just how long and how badly I'd been desperate to hear those words, to hear them from her. "You should have said hi, I'm sure he would have liked that," he would have. And I would, just on my own time, without the crowd.

"We'll see."

I reeled in the darkness that had been flirted with enough for the day and caught Daania's eyes watching me. The air thickened, her gaze growing darker the longer she examined my face, her eyes flicking to my lips I was currently licking. I swallowed hard, suppressing the strong urges tearing at the edges of my sanity, willing my mask to remain intact.

And just when I thought she may never relent, one side of her supple lips drew up.

"He's got an internship with one of the top firms in Boston. Your Uncle pulled some strings but Azaan managed to talk to his Professors and will now re-do some of his courses from the previous term."

My tongue felt thick and my lip twitched. I tried to focus on the relief I felt knowing that my Uncle had managed to fulfill his promise to me. He hadn't just saved Azaan's life, he laid before him the foundation of a new one. One where he could do anything. Become anything, beyond his name, anyone he wanted. Azaan would have a second shot, a better chance to succeed. A future.

"That's good."

"I wonder how that happened," she mumbled, her dark eyes now trailing down my jaw. Her voice was still low, but the allure was replaced by something softer. More delicate. Her eyes flashed to me as if she could hear me reading her.

"He decided to step up. We all need a push sometimes, he got his," she said, shivering at the instant change in temperature. It was the end of February and yet it felt like November tonight.

"You're right."

"Shall we head home?"

"Sure, let me say goodbye to Baba."

Half an hour later, they both came down the steps, her arm linked with his. At the bottom of the steps, they paused, and whatever her father said she nodded, her head on his shoulder, both father and daughter conversing in a low tone. Jealousy and guilt cinched my stomach in a vise.

"Goodbye Baba," she said softly, kissing his hand as his eyes closed. "Let's go."

Aziz nodded to her and opened the door for us. Daania stepped in first, followed by me. The moment the doors closed, Daania rested her head on the side. A curtain of restrained anger fell over her face, the kind of anger that only women seemed to have.

"You've got to let it go Taimoor."

"I have."

"Yes, you're very convincing about that," her eyes narrowed because she knew what I meant. "We've been over this, he's my father."

"And I'm your husband," I reminded her, an unreasonable bite in my tone.

"Are you jealous of my father?" she asked, not bothering to look at me, her eyes straight ahead."You're really going to say that when you know I'm pissed off at you?"

I smiled."I know what I'm doing. Get over it, babe."

"Answer the question," her brown eyes focused on me, eyebrow raised. We'd been married for so long I could tell what she was thinking.

"Yes," her head snapped to me like she wasn't expecting me to admit it. Without hesitation, the beast inside me longed to be set free to remind her that she'd also been the one to fight for her presence in my life and in my arms. Reaching up, I brushed her hair behind her ear, leaning in closer to whisper. "I will always be jealous of anyone who takes your attention away from me."

"No one is taking my attention away from you and you need to rethink this whole caveman attitude."

Doubtful.

"You like my caveman attitude. I mean you didn't marry me for my money," it took all my strength not to grin and from the corner of my eye, I could see Daania fighting her smile.

"No, I married you despite your money."

I kissed her cheek and she shook her head, eyes slipping over my cheek and down to my hands. Her big, brown eyes came back up to mine and my heart stopped. She'd looked at me like this before. In the library. She'd sealed our fates in Italy, the vow she'd made that outweighed and mocked things such as engagements and weddings. She'd pledged herself to me, mind, body, and soul, and there was no turning back.

༻✺༺

"Mrs. Khan informed me that your wife has now chosen to redecorate your bedroom," even though I shouldn't have asked Akbar, I checked on Daania every day. Just long enough to get my fill, to let just the image of her soothe the raw, open wound that existed now that I was away from her. And each day that passed, my agitation grew.

"I know, she asked," I snapped, stepping out of the car and heading into the office. "And it's her room now."

"My apologies sir."

"How long till we head back?" Akbar tried and failed to hide his amusement. The brutal London air whipped the coat to the side and I snarled. Running a hand through my hair, I gripped the folder once more and headed into the building.

"Just three more hours sir."

"Wonder how she's doing."

"The company sir?" he muttered when got on the elevator. In truth, I wasn't worried about the company. It was in Daania's hands and I had zero cause to be concerned. None of the employees were complaining and she was a good leader.

"Gentlemen," I strode toward the two older men who were waiting for me in the chairs in front of my desk. Both decked in black suits, they reminded me of old Italian mafia dons, though their role in the great scheme of things was far less important.

"Taimoor, it's good to see you," Nabi was in his sixties now, and practically grew up with my father. Unfortunately for him, I'd always liked him but never trusted him. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. How's your mother doing?"

"Just fine."

He shifted his attention slightly to my left, where Akbar stood behind me. "And Akbar? How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you."

The other guy, Khan, who didn't answer to a first name, was mostly just there for moral support, as he rarely ever said much of anything in these meetings. Together, the two were a harmless irritation, but one that represented some of the most powerful individuals in the country, so while the idea of meeting with them wasn't remotely exciting, it was worth the effort of being polite.

"You know why you're here. What are we dealing with?" I tossed a quick glance back to Akbar, whose face remained stoic as if he was not even listening.

"Taimoor, you need to understand that things are not as they seem."

"Then help me understand."

"Board members have been contacted. There have been meetings. Planning."

I felt the tide shifting like the sky before a storm. I could see the darkening, the flashes of lightning in the far-off distance.

"About?"

"A possible takeover."

"Names gentlemen. I need names."

"We've only got four, I'm sure there are others."

"Tell me the names."

༻✺༺

The ride to Mughal House was short.

Daylight waned, the crepuscular sky darkening by the minute. Cold air brushed over my skin, scarcely felt beneath my impassive exterior. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but only seconds later the car came to a stop and we were at the gates of Mughal House. The two men already standing at the entrance did not say a word, only opening the doors for me. I didn't give a shit about how nice the house looked or how everything was in place.

No one dared to block my path.

The moment I saw her, dressed in a sinfully tight, long cream gown that hugged each one of her curves and hung off of her shoulders, exposing the top of her back, nothing else mattered. She stood near the windows, staring out at the garden. Before I even realized it, I was behind her, brushing her hair over to the side with one hand and gripping her waist with the other, kissing the nape of her neck.

"Careful," she said. "My husband will be here soon."

Kissing up her neck, I bit the top of her ear and whispered. "Don't push me, little dragon."

"Ahh..." she moaned when I grabbed her breasts, both of us frustrated over the amount of fabric between my palm and her skin. I was already hard for her and the way she pressed into me, I was sure she knew."Taimoor, you just came back."

"And I want my wife," my voice dipped, the natural roughness somehow becoming more gravelly.

"If you want her, take her."

Fire shone in her eyes, a fire I knew she saw mirrored in my own, and then I captured her mouth, her thighs rising, hands seeking. A surge of blood rushed through me, and I yanked her bottom lip between my teeth. The air became thick, her fingers falling limp in my hand as she leaned forward. Her mouth was an inch away from me, her exhale becoming my next breath. Her rose scent consumed me, and soon I was high off her smell. She took me in her hand and I moaned incoherently, words I wasn't even sure were legible. She ran her hand along my length, I shivered, could barely even think straight.

"Fuck Daania," my hands went to her hair. She was ready, her need for me so strong I could feel it upon the stifling air. Daania gasped, and I covered her mouth with mine, my eyes falling into hers as I groaned softly and cursed.

"Seems like you missed me," she uttered before tightening her grip almost making me come on the spot. My head went back, and I tried to hide how blissful this felt. I caught her by the wrist, letting my heated gaze rove the exposed glowing skin.

I cursed, torn between wanting to devour her divine mouth and never wanting her to stop everything she was doing. The picture of her leaning back, neck tipped, bare breasts visible, and nipples puckered, seared in my mind. She was my greatest fantasy, shimmering with life and pumping blood through me. I craved her every breath and thought. Whether or not I deserved her, I was going to claim all of her tonight. Her eyes flicked up to mine, riddled with lust. They flared, luminous liquid cocoa. A desire so potent, it matched what I could sense building like an inferno between her thighs.

Right now.

I carried her to the bedroom, overcome with excitement and longing. I felt it in the friction of our lips, the heat of our kiss, and the tremors in my legs. Daania's fingers trailed down my back as I kissed her once, twice, twenty times, growing more obsessed with the taste of her each day. Everything shook as I laid her on the bed muscle, breath, and heart.

Maybe I did have a shot at redemption.

She was my enlightenment, my everything. Without her, my world would never move again.

I touched my mouth to hers, basking in the feel of her pouty lips. They pushed out, begging to be sucked and licked and bitten. I ran my nose alongside hers and skimmed my hands down her shoulders. Simply touching her like this put me in such a state of warm, peaceful happiness. It didn't feel real.

None of this felt real. Apart from the supple scoops of her breasts in my hands with their pointy, irresistible peaks. The heat of her that molded to me like a wet glove, made for me. The shape of her body that fit snugly in the bend of mine, flexible and pliable.

Her eyes never left mine, staring so fucking deep into my soul I felt stripped, exposed, and vulnerable in a way I could never let myself be with anyone else.

Within seconds, I stripped off our clothes.

Our kisses turned messy, incapable of parting for air. We rolled across the mattress, moaning, hips grinding, wanting to fuck badly. I was a starved animal, freed from my cage, and she was the desire racing through my veins. Bending down, I kissed her left breast, then the right; then her neck, warm and soft than her face, soft and blushing as she giggled. Her laughter made me growl, it ignited an immediate desire to pin her down and play with her until her giggles turned to screams of pleasure.

The image of her underneath me spun my breathing out of sync. She was stunning, beautiful, so goddamn perfect I wanted to spend the rest of my life at her feet in devotion. This woman had me in the palm of her hands. As I kissed and caressed her beauty, I was all instinct and emotion, desperate to have her. Not just her body. I was desperate for her love and long-term happiness.

I forced myself to slow and take my time. With my lips and hands on her delectable body, I memorized her. Mouths inches apart, we shared eye contact, heartbeats, and air.

"You're so beautiful."

Our bond charged through us like an electric pull, our lips unable to bide the distance. We kissed, hot and deep, each touch of our tongues producing a burst of sensation always too much and never enough. I gave her sharp flicks of mine, opening my jaw wider, clasping her head, turning her at will, and controlling how deeply I fucked her with my tongue.

Eventually, I ceased the torture and notched the head of my erection against her drenched core.

We gasped together.

My heart stuttered as I fisted her hair, angling her to look deep into my eyes, and gave her a few teasing swipes, desperate to have her eyes on me; to know I was affecting her the same way she was me.

Because she wrecked me. Destroyed me from the inside out. Then I thrust, encasing the full length in her heat.

Time halted.

Neither of us breathed. Impaled completely, I held myself still, savoring the delicious feel of her before expelling a harsh noise, withdrawing, and pounding deep, over and over, establishing a rhythm.

"Oh, fuck," my face found her neck, my lips licking and kissing the path to the column of her throat. She was my addiction, my obsession, and as my hips rolled, so did hers, meeting me thrust for thrust. Every thrust brought us closer and closer. She was my everything. I rammed into her, letting every doubt and jealousy, and fear possess me. I would fuck her until she felt like she was mine. I would fuck her until I couldn't walk away.

I would fuck her until she couldn't walk away. Setting my lips on her throat, I bit down. She arched, crying out.

I surrendered to her, letting my hips go in a feral unleashing, hammering, pounding, taking it all.

Taking everything.

Dawn leaked through the windows of our rooms, her scent a stain I never wanted to be cleaned, when sleep finally took me. I woke up in bed, naked, exhausted, serene. Daania was sprawled facedown across my chest, asleep, her cheek on my heart and her face angled toward mine. Her face relaxed, her breathing coming in slow intervals, the cloud of her hair surrounding her like a dark crown. I liked her like this- tired from an orgasm I gave her, exhausted and now relaxed.

I wasn't supposed to feel anything for her. But here I was, willing to risk everything to see her smile. I knew what that feeling was when she'd slept against me, limp and exhausted, the ache in my chest, the pain of it so bitterly sweet as I held her. I couldn't say many things that terrified me, but that did. I looked down at where Daania's head rested against my chest, and I felt at peace. I reached for the tendrils of her hair and played with them. Still drowsy from sleep, I kissed her arm, her shoulder, nuzzled her neck, and moved her hair atop her head to grant me better access.

My little dragon woke moaning, the sweetest sound I'd ever heard, and clasped the hand I had at her waist, moving it around her body, moving it lower and parting her thighs. A rapid succession of 'ow' accompanied her attempt to sit up in bed, the sheet pooling at her waist. Fuck. Her skin was covered with my marks. Red and purple tattoos of my mouth and teeth left a map over her body that led right to the treasure that was all mine.

Fuck, she was magic. Everything about her was made just for me.

I grabbed a packet, rolled it on, and slid back inside her with no assistance.

She was ready, dripping ready for me. This time, there was no muted scream traveling down my throat, but a garbled cry, choked and silenced by her own shock as I planted myself deep and let her feel me.

Let her feel everything.

I was certain nothing in the entire world would feel like her. To be inside her, to move with her, to kiss her, was to have her sink beneath the marrow of my bones, enabling her to haunt me forevermore.

My teeth scraped over that soft, sweet-scented skin, nipping, dragging. I was damned near out of control with the urge to make sure I lived inside her the way she would me.

Soft sounds soon grew rasped, her satin thighs slipping over my own and my hips, my hands fisted in her hair, and my lips climbing the column of her throat. I kissed her pulse, then I gave in to the impulse that was thrumming through me too hard to ignore any longer, and my teeth sunk in her flesh.

Daania stilled, her climbing hands at my back trembling over my wet skin. I couldn't stop, kept my teeth there, my hips pinning themselves to hers, then rotating. A gasp, and then her hands flew into my hair. I felt my eyes widen, thinking she'd pull me away, but no, she pushed, cradling my head with those tiny hands.

She wanted more.

My blood roared, a growl of approval leaving me, and I sucked and kissed where I'd marked her and kept circling my hips, pressing into her as she moaned and squirmed beneath me. Her heat tightened around me, and I tore away from her neck, whispering so she knew. "You've got hickeys now."

We stared at each other for the span of a timeless moment. Her brown eyes became glossed, lids heavy, and she panted between the slow curl of her perfect bow-shaped lips."I know."

Her leg moved, nudging at my side, and I read the intention in her eyes, placing a kiss on her ankle as I rose higher and tucked her leg over my shoulder. I sank a little deeper, my eyes threatening to roll skyward.

"Fuck," I breathed. "Babe," I forced myself to check her, my attention getting snagged at her chest. Her breasts heaved, sweat collecting between them, dusky nipples begging for my tongue. I gave it to them, her breathing sharpened, and I murmured."Fuck yes."

"You've become so vocal," she admitted, voice quaking when I stilled. Her nose was scrunched up, and I could not help but playfully tap it. She just gazed at me as though she could see right through me for melting seconds.

"You're worth the words," my mouth ravaged hers, and we rolled, hands threaded into hair, hearts thrashing in tandem, lost to ourselves once more, reaching those dizzying heights of pleasure.

"You are a mystifying enigma, Taimoor."

My curiosity heightened, and as she lifted her hand to push me away, I snatched up her wrist and held her pinned, reveling in her. My gaze swung back to her, devouring her in one sweep.

"And you are a frustrating addiction, Daania," pulling her mouth to mine, I kissed her hard and said. "Go to sleep, little dragon."

The fight in her fizzled, and she melted against me, her fingers curling into my chest. When I pulled away from her, the look in her eyes, a cross between trepidation and wonder, held me captivated a moment longer.

Gold.

This girl was pure gold in a world full of fake stones. Her eyes were the kind that you could get lost in for days, and you wouldn't care. Daania was the light and shadow in my dreams, in my life. She was what returned dimension to my existence that had become flat and nondescript. Sleep eluded me, and I watched her dream. This unexplainable feeling inside my chest burned and cooled, terrified and thrilled. It was instinctual, not of this world, a compulsion within me, to make sure she, this wife of mine never went too far from me.

I wondered if this was what marriage was, and what a bond forged between two people was like. I just never knew it could tether souls or enrich an attraction that already existed.

I'd never heard about this.

When I got out of my shower, she was already fast asleep. I walked around to where she had curled herself up on my side of the bed and kissed her forehead. Before I left the room, I looked at Daania once more, and a slight grin formed, then I walked out to my office where Akbar was ready with the report I had asked of him.

Jibran was already in my office, shuffling full files from side to side. I strode right in, carrying my coffee.

"You've got a visitor today sir."

I dumped my stuff on the desk and powered up my laptop."This early? Why wasn't it on my schedule?"

"Sir?" he wheezed. Jibran's face was so red, for a moment I worried he might explode. I decided to go easy on him since I was going to have to be a little more tolerable for Daania's sake.

"Send him in."

After a quiet knock, he stepped inside my office, hair disheveled, shirt cocked to the side. The red rims of his eyes spoke of little sleep and something else. Cold spread through my spine like a frozen web when he looked at me, his face hardly appearing changed since the last time I'd seen him. Pristine on the outside, while his sins continued to decay away everything.

"You. How dare you step into my office?" he snorted and slumped into the chair across from me, running his hand through the hair sticking up at ridiculous angles from his head. Clearly nervous. I watched him, emotionless. What a fucking mess.

"Look I know we haven't had the best of starts-"

"You mean where you assaulted my wife, kidnapped her, and tried to burn her alive?"

"Yeah about that, see she's-"

"Be careful with how you speak about my wife," I quietly ground my teeth together, wanting nothing more than to knock the smug look right off his face.

Doing my best to reel in the anger, I pushed up from my desk. Ghazanfar chuckled nervously, as I rounded the desk, dragging my knuckles over the surface of it. I came to a stop alongside his chair and leaned back against the desk.

"Yeah I know, she'd got a face that could bring a man to his knees and a body-" before he could finish, I shot forward and grabbed him by the throat. He coughed and gasped, as I lifted him from the chair and into the air, holding him above me by his neck. His feet dangled, fingers clawing at mine.

"You have thirty seconds to give me a reason to not end your pathetic life," I growled, squeezing hard enough that the color of his face turned from white to an unhealthy shade of red.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I never meant that, I just wanted to goad you."

"Why?"

"Because," I tightened my grip and he huffed. "Because he wants you to be distracted."

"Explain."

Rounding back to my chair, I adjusted my cuffs, as he wheezed for breath, struggling to climb back onto his own chair. The way he shifted uncomfortably in his chair sent up a red flag. He stilled and frowned back at me, only solidifying my suspicions.

I knew something had changed and I was waiting for the hammer to fall. I just didn't know it would be this soon.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but you have to know this. I didn't kidnap Daania on my own. He encouraged me to do it. He told me that you'd go after her."

"Who is this he?" I seethed.

"I don't know."

"You don't know. And you decided to come to me because your conscious suddenly appeared?" the bitter bite in my tone wasn't nearly as acidic as the rage pulsing through me. My fingers tapped against my thigh, my leg stiffening while my other finger traced the outline of my jaw. I continued to assure him, baiting him to reveal whatever it was his fucked-up mind believed. The false air of cordiality disappeared from his expression as eyes as sharp as nails pinned me with their stare.

"No, he threatened my mother," he snorted another laugh and ran his trembling hands over the fabric of the armchair. Was he high on drugs?

"So you came to me for protection?" I growled with a deadly voice, one that finally caused a small fracture in the confidence in his eyes. Every muscle in my body burned with the urge to throttle him to death.

"No. Yes?" I fought not to snarl at him."Evil defeats evil right? Or something like that? The bigger fish in the sea?"

"Get out," I said tightly, approaching him with slow and determined steps.

"You don't know what he's going to do. He has plans. He'll start targeting people. People who would not support him."

I didn't know what to expect after all this time. A pit opened up in my stomach, bubbling and spitting with the hottest lava of uncertainty.

I'd missed something.

And I was going to pay for it.

"Get out before I have someone throw you out," I reacted with hoarseness that made the words sharp. If it were possible, his face turned whiter than before, and he shifted yet again, clearing his throat.

Ghazanfar swallowed and stood up."He could hurt my mother, he could hurt Daania. He could hurt your family. I'll leave but you have to understand, he has a lot of hatred for you and he's not going to stop."

Certainly, the rage that burned through my veins was as bright, if not brighter, than it had been all those years ago. His eyes flicked behind me to the two burly men who slunk into the room like shadows, waiting for the signal to come out and swallow him whole. And now, instead of the fires of rage pumping through my blood, it felt as though the arctic ocean chased away the flames with its chilling fear.

My anger and my fear for Daania made it difficult to process his words. Every single night, I contemplated saying fuck it to everything, taking Daania, and running. But as easy and safe as it might be, I couldn't do it. Not yet.

As soon as he exited, Akbar entered the room.

"Sir, I hate to interrupt but...it's about Mansoor Khan."

༻✺༺

It felt like hours after we got the news that we were able to get to the hospital. Mansoor Khan was in one of the rooms in the private part of the building. The nurse behind the counter rushed out to meet us, her frightened eyes roaming over me, hands shaking as she answered Daania's questions. The doors leading into the wing swung open on a gust of hospital air and two men come out at high speed. One of them wore a surgical gown decorated with blood.

"Mansoor Khan. He was shot."

She started rattling off the stats. No exit wound, collapsed lung and blood transfusions.

I absorbed all this impassively. "Is he going to live?"

"The prognosis is good."

The tension went out of my spine and Daania sagged against me, guided by the nurse towards the ICU room. The moment we got to him, Daania went to sit beside her father. Mansoor Khan looked like a shadow of the man he once was, breathing only through tubes and machines, his chest moving in a painful and stilted motion. The nurse put an IV in his hand, and the door swung open, but it wasn't medical staff that came in, it was Daania's mother and sister.

Leaving them to console one another, I searched for my phone and hit the button to dial Akbar. I was enraged someone had taken matters into their own hands. When Akbar told me, a blinding fury overwhelmed me, but it was also mixed with a new emotion.

Fear.

There was only one thing I'd longed for in this world, and it was at my fingertips, the company so close I could almost reach it.

But now there was her.

And everything else paled in comparison.

Her dark hair and warm eyes.

Her generous and giving heart.

There was nothing I wouldn't do to keep her by my side. Who had shot Mansoor? And why him? Was this all related to Gahzanfar's warning? But why him, he wasn't even part of the company? Or had they done this to get to my wife? To harm her? They couldn't reach her, so they decided to target her family?

All questions with no answers.

It was a day later when Daania finally fell asleep, her body curled on the empty hospital bed. She'd refused to leave her father and had sent her mother and sister home. I'd refused to leave her. I didn't know if I'd slept. I could not. She was my everything. And if she was hurting, I was going to torture the people who caused it until they begged me to let them die. I just wanted to protect her. From the world. From people. From every fucking bad thing including the bad pieces of myself.

"Is that all, sir?" Aziz questioned softly, placing the tray of food and the files I requested on the top of the plastic table. He knew just as well as anyone that if he woke my wife, I would snap his neck. I didn't miss her soft groan behind the flimsy curtain as she turned over in the bed.

"Make sure the board members are aware of the danger they are in."

"Of course sir."

The moment the door closed I turned to Daania, only to find her sitting up and staring back at me. I walked in front of her, my thumb drawn to that lips that parted under my touch. I kissed the tip of her nose. A tear trickled down the length of her face, and she reached to wipe it away, but I gripped her hand tight, and then moved to grab the other, placing them on her lap and tangling our fingers. I leaned in, my lips moving from the base of her jaw to the corner of her mouth, my tongue swiping against her skin as I kissed the evidence of her pain away.

"I asked them to bring your tea, exactly the way you liked it," she blinked and turned to the small stand where I'd set her mug just a few minutes ago.

"And then you decided to stand there and watch me sleep?" she grumbled even as she eagerly reached for the mug.

"How are you?"

"I don't know. Everything's a mess. How am I supposed to go out there? They want me to be strong, to comfort them, provide some directions...I just don't know what to do. How am I supposed to be the strong one when my father, when he's-"

Agitation pressed against my skin mixed with rage that was trying to burst through and spread through the entire city, obliterating everything in its path.

"Tell me what you need," her chin quivered and she turned her head to the side, not wanting to let me see her be vulnerable. My hand cupped her jaw, turning her face back to mine. "Tell me what you need, Daania. And I will give it to you."

"I want you to find who did this," her voice cracked. "And I want them to pay."

Her eyes flashed and I leaned down, pressing my forehead against hers, our lips so close we were breathing the same air. "Done."

Daania closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wrapped her hands around my waist, and curled into me, her arms coming around me for a hug, her body finally choosing to relax. I was burning in the deepest pits of hell while standing on perfectly solid ground when her hands closed over mine, and those doe eyes stared up at me, hopeful, trusting, relieved. I hesitated, pulling back and gazing into her eyes.

"Whatever happens, know that I am here for you no matter what."

I heard her swallow, and she leaned back into me slightly with a tremulous sigh. I slid her fingers through mine, lowering them between us. Erasing any emotion from my features, I ignored the guilt gnawing at my chest.

Hours later, the waiting room was crowded with black-suited men, keeping guard.

"If anything happens to my wife, I swear to God I will make your life a living hell before slowly, and carefully, destroying you. Do you understand me? Not a fucking hair on her head is to be missing. Understood?"

Scorpio nodded and exited the room, his gaze sharp, body alert. Squeezing my phone in my hand, I leaned against the wall and tried to count to ten. My pulse pounded inside of me, my head spinning. That feeling was coming back. The one I couldn't ignore that made me feel too much at once. Like my skin was crawling, and I was about to explode.

"You need to rest Taimoor, you can't snap at everyone who's around you. That's not healthy."

"I'm not in the mood today Affandi."

"I don't care, you have to hear this. Your lawyers came to my office asking for your financials. Apparently, someone has been systemically funneling money out of your bank," he cleared his throat as we turned to walk to the end of the room.

"You can't be serious..."

His eyebrows rose. "It gets worse. They also have a list of companies you've acquired in the past two years."

"How is that relevant to us right now?"

"They know that you own Mansoor Khan's company. That the bank you own never had any debts owed to them and that it could now work as a shadow company."

"The fuck?"

"They could also possibly guess who owns the patent now and that they've been played."

"Is that why board members are being targeted?"

"We don't know why. Zeenia is working on it. She's started to reach out in preparation for the meeting."

"What?"

Anger flared and her chin shot up defiantly. Affandi spun around, his eyes searching Daania's guiltily, his whole body lurching at the movement. She was fire and brimstone. Hell and fury. I looked down at those eyes that were an open book, that told me she'd been eradicated by me. But mostly, I didn't miss the look on her face. And I saw how her breath, heavy and burdened with anger, met in the middle of the space between us.

Eyes locked, I watched it happen.

It was the way her arms held herself that drove the knife in deeper. The tidal wave of silent shivering, the way her eyelids lowered and sight blurred. My fingers were about to break the way they flexed so hard. Every muscle tensed and then relaxed again like a piece of wood getting ready to snap.

"It's not what you think it is..." I said hoarsely. I wanted to explain. My world started and ended with her, but even I could see what she saw.

"Affandi, please leave."

"But-"

"Leave," Affandi's eyes pitied me, but it was held back by the hard cage of his expression-of responsibility, duty, and betrayal as he complied with Daania's wishes. I nodded to him and the look of caution and pity in his eyes and the brief touch of his hand on my shoulder wasn't missed by Daania.

The door had barely clicked shut when the words spewed from her. "There was no debt owed? What does that mean?"

"Your father's company wasn't in a financial crisis."

"And you own the bank? The one that gave him those loans?"

"Yes," I growled, seeing the storm that was coming in the back of my mind even though I refused to acknowledge it.

"So you deliberately forged and faked our... economic issues?" I watched the color drain from her face. She looked so hurt and lost. And I kept doing all the wrong things. She looked like she hated herself for wanting the person who kept hurting her. "And Affandi knew about this?"

"Not until a month ago."

"Who else-?"

"Just me."

"So logically the whole I'm giving you your company, your debts have been repaid all of the stuff you said to me was because you wanted to use me, against my father?" she asked firmly even though her lower lip that had disappeared, now quivered so painfully.

"That was before. All of this was-"

"Yes or no Taimoor. The papers you gave me, our decision in Italy was after. It was after we decided to pursue a real relationship... Is that why you accepted my offer? It didn't matter to you?"

"It mattered to me Daania, you matter to me," once again, she jerked back like my words were a physical assault.

"I can't do this, not right now Taimoor, I have a family-" I am your family Daania. Look at me."I can't think. I'm not like you, I'm just a mere pathetic mortal. I don't have the intelligence and the IQ level of a genius."

Our raw, heavy breaths echoed through the room. Everything else was in dead silence, waiting for the battle to start.

"You've got it all wrong-"

"Okay. Tell me what's right. Explain it to me."

"It's-"

"Tell me you didn't exploit me after I opened up to you, shared my feelings, stood by your side. Tell me!" her uncertainty and anger quaked and broke with her hurt. She shook her head like she could shake away the tears I heard in her voice.

"It's not what you think it is."

"Don't patronize me. Don't you dare try to patronize me!" she was like a volcano. Brewing and bubbling with molten melancholy beneath the surface.

"Fine. This wasn't easy Daania. Do you think everything's black and white? Things had been in motion since before you came into my life! Did you think I expected this to happen? To have you in my life?" to have you seep into my blood? Burrow yourself deep into my soul? Engrave yourself into my heart?

"Neither one of us expected this to happen but a little communication would have been nice! It would have been nice to know that my husband was quite literally pulling the rug from under my feet."

I spun her to face me. I wanted to see it in her gaze. I wanted to fucking feel the truth radiating off of her.

"You said you'd trust me."

"But you didn't trust me. You didn't trust me enough to tell me. To let me know your plans. That you lied to me, manipulated me, and didn't bother to tell me the truth about the company I supposedly owned. What would I have done Taimoor? Helped you? Stood by your side? What's the worst I could have done?" she asked with her eyes that were filled with anger and hurt, but refused to back down. "Why didn't you tell me?" her voice was so damn hard for being so soft.

Because you would leave me.

"There you go. You have no answer."

"It was set in motion."

"And it's going to go as planned. Because you wouldn't want the company to suffer, for your legacy to fail," her eyes squared off with mine. My jaw hardened with each breath she took and finally cracked when she spoke."Do you know what the worse part is? The worse part is that I get it. I get what you're trying to do. I get your motivation. It just hurts knowing that you could have done all of this without hiding it from me."

"I did what I did to save the company."

"And I did what I did to save you."

"I had to do it."

"So did I."

The silver sheen in her eyes matched the heated wobble in her voice. She was slipping through my fingers like a leaf in the wind. One I craved to chase until the end of my days.

"Don't try to leave Daania, or I swear to God, I'll keep you locked up and guarded. You'll stay under lock and key if it came to that," I admitted with a voice that felt like it was dragged over gravel to get here.

Parry for parry.

Fear for fear.

"You're not going to do anything of that sort."

A laugh fought its way out of me."Try me."

"You're psychotic. You cannot keep me against my will!"

Another laugh that felt like it was on its way to becoming something else. Something soul-rending."Yes. I am. Make no mistake, I am both unreasonable and non-negotiable."

"You're not making any sense."

"I thought I made it clear before. I would go to any lengths to protect you, Daania. Even if it means holding you against your will," but the words didn't seem enough. How I felt was too much for those words. I licked my lips and leaned in to kiss her and her body trembled."Do you honestly think I could stand by and risk losing you?" I put both hands on her face and made her look at me. "I did what I had to do. That's what I'm doing now. I'm keeping you alive," every word was an effort. A slog through torture. "There's no other way to keep you safe."

"Your impudence doesn't work with me, Taimoor," Daania's voice broke into a ragged whisper. She pushed back with everything she had, pushing me away so she could breathe. And the thought that it was because of me, almost crippled me.

All the words I'd already said and wanted to repeat lodged in my throat as her careless composure slowly but surely covered up any last little bit of hope, cutting her off from me. I held my breath. Daania dropped her gaze away from my face and backed up half a step, then another, and then the air in the hospital was an icy wind. Like a knife straight through my chest, I stood frozen as she walked to the door.

I would follow her to wherever she wanted right now if she asked me.

I took three steps towards her and stopped. She looked back once when she pulled the door open and the look she gave me was one that I would never forget.

The look of someone who realized they had everything... and now had everything to lose.

And then she was gone.

My heart was still pounding. Screaming angrily at having been locked up for so long. I didn't know how I was going to do it. My body felt like a wound opened up to the bone, to the deepest, rawest part of my pain, as I was sure hers did, too. But even though it hurt like all hell, I knew this was the moment when the healing would start. Because the world could end and it still wouldn't be enough to end us. I refused to let it end. I didn't know what the future would hold...but someone would have to pry Daania from my dead grasp to keep me away from her.

She was mine. There was nothing that could keep me from her.

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I know I say this all the time but this was the hardest chapter for me to write. For several reasons. I don't know if it's good or not, I'll leave that up to you.

Thoughts, comments, feedback ✨
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