Tahir shook his head, "Anisa, you don't want to do this. Everything I've done to this point has all been for you and because of you. You think I'm doing all this because I'm your bodyguard? No. It's because I see you as a woman. A woman who will soon become a part of me."

Anisa paused to look at him closely, trying to get a read of his sincerity. She had trouble trusting people. At one point, she was soft and kind-hearted to a great extent towards people. But, time only showed her that at some time, one needed to harden their shell.

"Tahir," She shook her head slowly, "I...I don't know if I can see myself become a part of someone who won't even open up to me."

Tahir sighed. He was disappointed.

"You have every right to feel this way. I don't blame you," he said, "But, you can't give up on me. Not when you're the only reason I've come to enjoy life."

"Tahir, please. Can we not talk about this right now," Anisa suddenly turned the other direction and took a step.

Tahir turned his head, but this time, his expression wasn't so easy.

"Fine. You can choose to avoid your problems. But, I am not going to sit and watch you destroy yourself while bringing the rest of the people down with you," he told her.

Anisa gave him a look of disbelief, "I'm not bringing myself or anyone down. I'm trying to fix this chaos."

With that, she called for every guard inside the house. After Reem carried out the news, all the guards appeared in the living room, forming a single line. There were a total of 25 of them. Tahir watched them all lineup, facing the princess.

"I need all of you to divide each other and form groups. What you're about to do isn't something easy," She instructed them, "Ten of you will arrive at the International airport undercover. Don't make it obvious that you're royal guards. Ten of you will be standing outside the airport. The rest of you are coming with me. We're going to get my mother from Abbas. I don't expect a peaceful transfer. So, we are to expect anything."

Tahir tilted his head down and placed his hand on his forehead, "You're risking so much by doing that, especially at an airport."

Anisa didn't care what Tahir said anymore, "This transfer is happening before he steps foot into the airport. It'll happen right outside, in a more private space. So, before you know full details, I suggest you not to defy my orders."

Tahir was in disbelief. It was also the reason why he scoffed at Anisa.

He watched her give thorough instructions and listened with such disappointment. Not only in himself, but in what the situation has come to. He didn't feel confident in going through with this operation.

Saif kept looking towards Tahir to see any sign of acceptance in any of this. But, it was obvious that he didn't want to do this. He could, but he knew it was not a good idea. For now, they were to do what the princess was instructing them to do. But, who knows what's going to happen once they reached the airport.

Once Anisa finished with the details of the operations, she walked off to get prepared before leaving in ten minutes. She gave Tahir one last look to see such emotion in his eyes. She felt bad for doing this. But, it was the only way Abbas was going to stop and give her what she needed. She wanted to take the chances of finding her real mother because the world had become quite lonely for her these past few weeks.

As soon as Tahir and the rest of the guards saw her disappear upstairs, all of them turned and faced Tahir, looking for a sign of his approval. He took the hint from their expressions and sighed, "I know that we're all entitled to follow the princess's orders and that's exactly what we're going to do. We should be giving this man up to the authorities but there's an asset of ours that he has and he's not willing to give unless we give in to his conditions."

Saif shook his head. Everyone else agreed as they had no other choice.

The ride to the airport was awfully and awkwardly silent. Anisa sat in the back seat. Normally, she'd sit right beside Tahir as he drove. But, not this time. Eventually, she herself got sick of the silence and suddenly said, "Are you not going to say anything? At least yell at me, tell me I'm an idiot and we can go our way."

Tahir looked at her through the rear-view mirror and looked back at the road.

Anisa scoffed when he didn't respond.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," she shook her head.

"What difference am I going to make? I said what needed to be said. But, the moment you put your mind to something, there's no going back. So, don't expect me to be the reason you got yourself into something you're second-guessing," Tahir finally said.

He tried not to be cold towards her. But, the tone of his voice didn't cooperate. Anisa felt hurt. She had only wanted a sense of family her whole life. The moment she found out she was adopted, she was filled with betrayal. Her father left so much of the details of her life and brought it to his grave without telling her personally.

While Anisa stayed silent, in her thoughts, she felt the car slow down and take a turn to be greeted to the private area, just a few kilometers away from the airport. There was already a car there and no guessing had to be done. Abbas was already here.

Some of his men stood outside the car, watching every move that Anisa's guards made as they got out of the cars. Tahir stopped the car and got out. Just as he was about to open Anisa's door for her, she had already gotten out, using the step to assist her in touching the ground with her two feet.

She held a poker face as she watched the car door open, revealing Abbas and her possible mother. He held a smirk on his face but Anisa only grew angered as she saw the grip he held on her arm, dragging her to stand just a few feet across from Anisa.

Tahir stood just beside her, with his hand ready to grab the gun in his back pocket. The other guards were doing the same. They were prepared for any measures, even if it meant reaching for the gun in their back and shooting someone in front of the princess.

"Oh Anisa, look at the situation we're in," Abbas smirked motioning at all the men around them.

"This is all your fault," Anisa growled in response.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Abbas shook his head, "If you had only married me, this would not have been so complicated."

Anisa frowned and Abbas looked at the woman in his grip. She was blindfolded and all that was seen were her tears that continuously streamed down her cheeks from her fear. Anisa felt pain in her heart at the sight of her and wanted this to end so she could finally save her.

"We had a deal. I clear your name from the wanted lists in exchange for her," Anisa reminded him.

"How do I know I can leave this country without being prevented on my way?" Abbas questioned

"You can leave this country all you want! No one can stop you. But, give her to me!" Anisa grew impatient.

Tahir was able to sense her trauma returning. As much as he wanted to comfort her and end this by shooting every one of his men, including Abbas, that would only place him in a situation where he would never see her again. So, he stood still and prayed silently while keeping the end of the gun in his hands.

"You seem rather eager to get her back?" Abbas raised his brow

"Abbas, I need you to follow the deal!" Anisa urged.

Fear overtook her veins slowly. Not only that, but she was angered by the time he was wasting. She felt the beads of sweat start to come down her forehead. There was no resting until the woman was in her hands, away from Abbas.

Suddenly, Abbas pushed her forward. Anisa quickly reacted by reaching her arms and holding her. The guards all moved in response, thinking he was going to do something vile. So far, no sign.

"It's alright, you're safe now," Anisa whispered to the woman. She slowly helped take off the blindfold and the woman slowly fluttered her eyes open, adjusting to the light and the scene before her.

But, as soon as Anisa gave her over to one of her guards towards her back, Abbas quickly reacted and pulled out a gun to pull the trigger on Anisa. Tahir reacted by rushing to get in front of her,

"NO!" He yelled

He wrapped Anisa in his arms, caging her into his chest but Anisa's eyes widened and she slowly trembled in fear after hearing the loud sound of the gun. Abbas had pulled the trigger and Anisa saw Tahir's eyes dilate and widen a little.

She slowly looked down to feel a warm, wet substance. It was blood. His blood.

"No...no...no...NO!" Anisa cried, holding his waist with both her hands and all her strength to help him balance.

The guards already knew what to do. They began firing at Abbas and his men. An attempt of murdering the princess was already treason and execution. So, they didn't think twice about using their guns.

Saif cursed under his breath after experiencing what happened and made sure he got the woman into the other car.

But, none of that mattered to Anisa. Not anymore. The man she loved had just gotten shot in front of her, trying to save her.

"TAHIR!" Anisa yelled at him, all out of being frustrated with herself. "Why! Why?"

Her tears filled her eyes and she held onto his wounded area. It was his lower abdomen and she needed the bleeding to stop before he lost more blood.

"I don't regret it," Tahir barely replied.

"Stop talking! Don't say anything. You're hurting yourself even more," Anisa cried.

With the help of other guards, she assisted Tahir to the back of the car. She got in first and then they played Tahir just on her lap and he lay down. Anisa ripped some of the fabric from her dress and covered his wound with it.

Using her other hand she cupped his face and sobbed.

"Tahir, stay with me. Don't give up on me," She pleaded.

Tahir's eyes slowly felt heavy. He couldn't begin to describe the pain in his own mind and tried to endure as much and as long as his strength could take him.

"You're so beautiful," Tahir slowly muttered, "How am I so lucky?"

"Tahir..."

She got cut off by him, "I told you, I care about you. Not as your bodyguard. But, as a man."

"I care about you as well," She sobbed, "I can't lose you!"

"As much as it hurts, it would hurt more if you weren't the reason I -"

"No, don't finish that sentence, please!" Anisa cut him off, knowing exactly what words were going to come out of his mouth.

"Anisa, I've done my part," His voice sounded like a whisper, "I've experienced everything. The only thing I couldn't leave without was experiencing love with the woman who...taught me my purpose."

"Don't say that Tahir. If I lose you, I lose my own purpose!" She cried

Tahir scoffed lightly and shook his head as it lay on Anisa's lap.

"You're not the type to let a man prevent you from being yourself."

"You're not just a man Tahir. You're the man I love!"

A/N:

Hi everyone!

Here's the long-awaited update. I apologize if nothing makes sense here. I wrote this all while I was half asleep and half awake in the middle of the night so I apologize in advance. But, I'm really curious to see your reactions to this part.

Don't forget to show this book some love by hitting that star button and commenting anywhere you'd like.

Also, go check out the cast and preview of a new series that will soon be starting on my profile! It's called, "Affiliation - Book I"

Thank you ~