Khalid'sPOV
I could see the confusion in her eyes, the way her fork paused midair when I told her to pack her things.
I know it must have startled her. She's still adjusting to life with me — the good, the bad, and the parts of me I try to keep locked away. But I don't have the luxury of explaining right now.
My company needs me.
Not the headquarters in City A — that I could manage from here. No, this was worse. A branch office abroad. A mistake by one of my employees, the kind that could unravel years of careful work, the kind where the wrong people might use it as leverage to tear everything down.
And in my world, leverage can be more dangerous than bullets.
I need to take Sofia back to City A where she'll be safe. I can't leave her on this island, not in a villa that's beautiful but far too quiet, far too isolated. If anyone wanted to reach her, there'd be nothing standing in their way but glass walls and a locked door.
---
We didn't speak much as we drove to the airstrip. I caught her watching me a few times, her eyes cautious, like she was trying to read the part of me she hadn't seen before.
The jet waited for us, gleaming under the sun. Normally, Sofia's curiosity would have been all over it — the design, the comfort, the novelty. But she stayed quiet, settling into her seat without a word.
I could feel her pulling back. Not physically, but in the subtle way her gaze kept slipping to the window instead of me.
Was she afraid of this side of me? The side that makes decisions without discussion, the side that moves fast and doesn't always explain why?
I wanted to tell her this wasn't about her. That this was business, and I was doing everything to keep her out of its reach. But I didn't. The truth would only drag her closer to the mess.
---
From the airport, I drove her straight to the mansion. The familiar gates swung open, the kind of place where she'd be safe and comfortable — or as comfortable as someone can be when their husband is about to disappear for three weeks.
Inside, she set her bag down and turned to me.
"Why?" she asked. No accusation in her voice, just quiet curiosity.
I almost told her. Almost. But I could already imagine the questions that would follow, the ones I couldn't answer without putting her in the middle of things.
"I'll explain everything once I get back," I said instead.
Her brows drew together, but she didn't push. Maybe she knew I wouldn't bend. Maybe she didn't want to hear an answer she wasn't ready for.
---
When I finally left, I stepped into the backseat of the waiting car and took out my phone.
"Hajara," I said when she answered. "Stay close to Sofia while I'm gone. She'll need your presence."
There was a pause on the other end. "Is she in danger?"
I hesitated. "Not if we're careful."
---
Now I'm on my way to Country X, the ocean below a blur from the jet window. My thoughts keep circling back to her — her soft "Why?" still in my ears, the way she tried to hide her worry behind composure.
I hate leaving her.
But I can't take her with me.
Where I'm going, the air itself is dangerous. Deals break with a word, alliances shatter with a glance. And one wrong move doesn't just cost money — it costs lives.
And my princess?
She's the one thing I can't afford to risk.
---
Sofia'sPOV
The front gates closed behind him with a soft metallic clang, but the sound echoed in my chest like a warning.
Khalid didn't even look back. Not once. He just stepped into the car, the tinted glass swallowed his face, and then he was gone.
The silence that followed was too loud.
I sank into the couch, my suitcase still by the door. Part of me wanted to unpack, but another part… didn't want to pretend this was normal.
"Madam?"
I turned to see Hajara standing there, her kind eyes steady as always. She must have arrived right after Khalid called her. She crossed the room and sat beside me.
"You're worried," she said softly.
I laughed, but it sounded thin, brittle. "Is it that obvious?"
Her lips curved in a small smile. "To someone who knows what worry looks like? Yes."
I hesitated, fingers twisting in my lap. "Hajara… do you think Khalid could be… in the mafia?"
She didn't answer right away, which somehow made my heart pound harder.
"It's not my place to say what he is," she finally replied. "But I can say this — he will do anything to protect you."
Her words should have comforted me. They didn't.
Because if Khalid was in the kind of world I was imagining, the kind where danger wore suits and smiled across a table… "anything" might mean he wouldn't come back at all.
I looked toward the window, where the city lights flickered in the distance, and whispered the question I didn't dare say to his face:
"What if protecting me means I lose him?"