"Trust me when I say that you're not alone."

Anisa looked straight into his eyes while trying to maintain her heart from going crazy. Their close proximity made her have the usual reaction, only this time, she was the one that made the first move.

Eventually, she took her hands off of his and walked towards the bed to start placing some blankets on the ground.

Tahir wasn't able to utter a word. But he felt touched that she had comforted him. No one ever made the attempt to do so, given that he had a cold, aggressive aura.

The air grew silent again but this time, it was peaceful. No one was forcing any words. They both were making their beds on opposite sides.

"I appreciate it," Tahir was finally able to say.

Anisa smiled as she finished making her bed, "You're good."

Just then, Tahir's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID to see that it was Saif. He walked over to the nightstand and excused himself to step out of the room before answering.

"Saif? I thought you'd only call if it was an emergency,"

"I've got some Intel but I wanted to go through you before discussing this with Mr. Latif," he said.

Tahir started taking a walk around the hallway as he listened to what Saif had to say.

"Something seems odd about the queen. Earlier today, Yasin met up with her and hasn't returned ever since. Turns out, he decided to leave to his apartment," he explained.

Tahir raised a brow and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, the queen confirmed it. But she seemed to be hiding something. She even stated not having an appetite. I'm not sure if anything adds up to you though."

Saif's observation seemed to connect to the phone call that she had with Yasin just yesterday, upon their arrival. But Yasin had told her that everything was fine.

"Yeah, things add up but I'll explain once I get back. What else did you gather?"

"The guest that you alerted us about never came and Humeyra even told the maids to prepare something simple before your announcement,"

Saif's tone sounded puzzled and already, after two days of their absence, the palace had become a toxic place, filled with possible evidence.

As Tahir kept talking on the phone with Saif, Anisa was getting curious as to what was taking him so long. She lifted her head up and right as she was about to fully stand up on her feet, loud bangs were heard.

Anisa quickly ducked down and heard the window shatter. Multiple bullets went through it as if it was nothing and continued for a good minute.

Her heart raced as though she'd never see tomorrow. She silently prayed as she covered her ears and cried out of fear. Her breathing became uneasy and she felt the loneliest she's ever felt in years.

Stuck in this situation, she couldn't do anything but pray and be grateful that she was on the ground. Had she stood up to walk towards the door, she wouldn't have made it out alive.

Once the bullets stopped, she paused and tried to focus and analyze the silence. She couldn't decipher whether the gunshots actually paused or whether they'd start again so she stayed on the ground, hopeless.

She wept tears and continued to pray. But, she even prepared for death at this moment. The event not only caused her fear but also brought back trauma from her childhood.

As she stood down, she heard the door open and Tahir grew alert upon seeing the shattered window.

Quickly, he turned to look for Anisa. He walked a couple of steps into the room and found her on the ground, kneeling.

She was trembling and shaking so he went down and picked her up as she hid her face in his chest. She was sobbing and his blood coiled from anger for himself. Had he not left the room, she wouldn't have lived through this situation alone.

"Sssh, it's ok. It's ok. I'm here, no one can hurt you," he comforted her.

She continued to sob silently into his shirt and Tahir slowly patted her back to ease the pain and discomfort she was feeling from this incident.

He couldn't help but feel a certain way. A way in which he hated seeing her like this. A part of him was filled with rage towards himself and whoever inflicted this event on Anisa. And a part of him felt grateful that she wasn't physically hurt.

"What happened?" He finally asked

"I...I almost stood up and

...suddenly...there were bullets going through the window..." She wasn't able to speak properly from the tears that threatened their way, once again.

Tahir understood and brought her closer, engulfing her in his arms.

"Let's get out of here," he looked into her teary eyes which caused him to feel as though he was in pain.

His heart wouldn't let him rest from the discomfort of seeing her this way.

Anisa nodded. Both of them slowly stood up with the help of each other and walked out the door.

He gave a stern look towards the security guards outside the entrance of the door as they avoided his gaze.

"Tahir," Anisa called in a weak voice.

"Hmm?"

"I don't want to be here any longer," she pleaded.

Yasin's alarm clock kept ringing and he got annoyed and turned it off on his phone with his eyes half-open.

He had a headache that bothered him the whole night and waking up from sleep didn't make it any better.

Then, he heard noises coming from outside his room so he slowly got up and made sure not to make a sound.

He peeked through the crack of the door and saw no one in the hallway. He got out of his room and tiptoed towards the main area and noises got louder.

Once he turned, he saw Reem in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

He eased up and sighed, "How'd you get in here?"

Reem turned around to face him with a smile to say, "Good morning to you too."

"Good morning," Yasin chuckled, "I'll be back after I wash up"

After seeing her nod, he walked back to his room for a quick shower which only took ten minutes. He changed into new clothes and fixed his hair before going back to the kitchen.

"I thought you'd be having a gloomy day so the least I could do was prepare your breakfast," Reem told him

"You're the best," he said

Leaving the kitchen, they both walked into the dining room to be greeted to a full table, set up with breakfast essentials.

Yasin pulled out a chair for Reem to sit before he did.

"Thank you," she said

Yasin nodded with a smile and took his seat just across from her.

"So, how was the meet up with your mother?" Reem asked while placing some food on his plate.

"I had hope that it couldn't be her, that it could've been a mistake. But, yesterday she proved me wrong and that it was her doing," he shook his head, still in disappointment.

"Do you realize how serious this situation is? If the king finds out, he won't stay still. Especially if the one she hurt was Anisa," she replied.

"I know. I still haven't told Anisa," he slowly ate his food and broke a piece of bread. He hadn't eaten probably for a few days because of this incident.

Suddenly, both their attention turned towards the TV where the announcer stated, "Princess Anisa Hassan of Saudi Arabia was threatened during her business trip to Singapore last night as gunshots fired through her hotel room. Luckily, she was in a safe position to save herself from any injury and has now relocated to a safer spot."

Yasin dropped his fork as Reem gasped from shock. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and immediately called her.

It ringed a couple of times and he waited, but there was no response.

"Sources say that the shooting lasted about a minute and her security team quickly helped her out of her room. The chairman of the hotel she stayed in has even made a statement regarding the incident."

The screen changed to a live recording of an old man, dressed formally in a suit as it was the chairman.

"It's unfortunate that such an event has struck the hotel, especially upon the princess who was guarded heavily and treated with the utmost hospitality," he spoke into the microphone, "I can only ensure that something like this doesn't occur again and my first step is to install bulletproof glass in every corner of the hotel."

"Come on, pick up Anisa," Yasin muttered under his breath while continuing to call her.

"No, I want you to stop all media outlets from reporting this issue now! I don't want to see an article or even a post on the internet about this incident!" Tahir furiously spoke into the phone.

Her secretary realized how serious the situation was and didn't bother asking. He didn't know what was going on but he replied, "Yes, I can assure you that I'll prevent this incident out of the public eye."

Tahir lowered the phone away from his ear and hung up, placing it on the table in front of him.

He was stressed out but he didn't show it. All the other security guards were lined up in front of him and it was time to give them new protocols.

"I hope we all were able to get a lesson out of this incident. Even I have a fault in this so our only choice is to learn from today," he said, "I want every one of you to carry handguns at all times and even store backup weapons. Just make sure they're not visible so you don't worry the public."

"Yes sir!" Each and every guard responded.

"I want a third of you at the airport and a third of you here with me. The rest need to stay outside, regardless of which building we're in," he ordered

Each team nodded and quickly dispersed to where they were commanded.

As Tahir watched them all leave and made sure they were gone, he walked towards the door of the room Anisa was resting in.

He knocked twice before twisting the handle of the door and seeing that Anisa had awoken.

"Did you get some rest?"

In response, she only nodded once. She was deep in thought and didn't bother looking at him either.

"Whenever you're ready, we can leave," he told her.

"I want you to do one last thing before we leave this place," she said, "Take me back to the scene of the incident."

"You know I'm not going to do that," he quickly replied.

This time, she turned her head and looked him in the eye, "I have to do this. I can't let the authorities get any evidence."

Tahir sighed in annoyance. Ever since Mr. Amin's passing, she took too much of the initiative to fulfill his deeds.

"By now they probably already have it and you can't —"

"I am capable of getting evidence," she cut him off.

"Why are you doing this?" He finally asked, "Why are you doing something that threatens your well-being? I don't understand. After all, Mr. Amin was just your bodyguard wasn't he."

His words struck her like lighting and a spark of anger slowly started within her, causing her to snap back at him.

"Do you realize what you're saying!? You know who he was to me. You know that he was more than just a bodyguard!"

"I'm well aware of what's coming out my mouth," he growled.

"I don't think so because you're not taking this as seriously as I thought you would. When I explained everything to you, I trusted you to comply with me!"

"I never complied with threatening your health! Especially over someone who's already left this world!" Tahir said.

"Why does he bother you so much?" Anisa questioned out of true curiosity.

It took a few seconds for him to gather his strength and answer that. But, eventually, he said,

"Because he's my father..."

A/N:

It's been a while since I gave you guys a cliffhanger, don't you think?🙃😅

In regards to the mafia story, the first chapter has been published :) and I am going to tell you guys that it's not an Islamic story as I tried to do something different this time around. So, go check it out if you'd like!

Here's the cover:

But don't forget to show this book some love and hit that star button or even comment wherever you'd like ☺️

Thank you~