As Jamaal descended the last few steps out of the building he felt his heart beating fast. He hadn't known Jenna had a sister. That looked exactly like her. He had almost lost his composure upon seeing the two of them next to each other. They were identical.

He knew it was dangerous for him to make the delivery himself, he could have been recognized. But the only ones who had met him in person were Hudayfah and Rami, and he had watched Hudayfah leave from where he had parked his car across the street. They had bribed the delivery man who was supposed to deliver the flowers by twelve, so he had watched their building carefully, mapping out which ways to get into the building.

He didn't know why he wanted to deliver them himself. Part of him wanted to see her again, and part of him wanted to see how easy it would be to take her. There had been no bodyguards present when she had opened the door. He was surprised she opened the door. He could have grabbed her in a heartbeat.

As he got into his car, he took off the stupid delivery hat, flattened his hair, put on his sunglasses, and pulled out his phone.

"Hello? Are you in the house? Okay well I was just there. Yes I was and no one recognized me. Hudayfah isn't even there. Anyways she was completely unprotected I could have grabbed her and run off. Why didn't you tell me she has a sister? Two sisters?! Does the other one look like her too? Okay why do I even have you are pretty much worthless!?"

He hung up the phone, threw it on the seat, and stared at the building thoughtfully. Hudayfah would protect Jenna with his life. That was fine, if he couldn't have Jenna.

Maybe he'd have someone who looked just like her.

***

Jenna set the vase down on the table, unable to keep the giant grin from her face.

"Look she's blushing!" Emma crowed, and as the other girls started to laugh, Jenna turned her face away with an eye roll, reaching for the card. As she opened it, her smile faded as she began to read,

Aw a month already?

How incredibly sweet!

I'm brimming over with sweetness!

But while you are celebrating, don't think I've forgotten about you.

Because I haven't.

I'm still coming.

"Jenna? Jenna what's wrong?" Rana asked in concern as Jenna was just standing paralyzed staring at the paper. Eventually she looked up, and it did not escape Rana the fear in her sister in law's eyes.

"Rana, where's Rami?" she asked hoarsely, and Rana's eyes flickered towards the card and up to Jenna's face before widening a fraction.

"He's doing laundry." She said with a subtle arch of her eyebrow, and Jenna nodded.

"Um, I'll be right back." She said clearing her throat, and dashing up the stairs carrying the large bouquet, which was no easy feat since there were so many. As she approached Omar's room, she kicked the door.

"Rami! Rami please come out!" she exclaimed, and when the door opened a fraction, Rami peeked outside, and after concluding she was alone he opened it all the way.

"Hey Jen!" he glanced at the flowers. "Aw you shouldn't have!" he joked, but she ignored him, shoving the card into his hand and placing the flowers down on the floor.

"Look at this."

"What is it?" he asked taking it from her.

"It was in the flowers Hud sent me for our anniversary." She motioned towards the bouquet, and Rami glanced down before pulling open the paper, scowling as he began to read, and within seconds he had his phone up to his ear, and moved to the laundry room, talking in a soft voice.

"Hey Jenna. What's up?" Muhsin called from the room, and as Jenna stepped inside, she found Omar and Muhsin playing on the PlayStation.

"Nothing."

"Everything okay?" Omar asked, and she had to stop herself from wincing as she looked at his face. His cuts and bruises were healing which meant parts of his face were yellowish purple and places were scabbing over.

"Uh yeah." She said quietly and when she felt Rami come up behind her she turned around, and he beckoned her to come out into the hallway.

"Hud's on his way back home right now. We have to get rid of the flowers."

"Aw but they're so pretty." She said sadly, and he nodded.

"I know Jen, but we don't know what he could have done to them."

"How do I explain to my sisters where the flowers disappeared to then?"

He shrugged.

"Just say you put them in your room. They won't go looking for them."

"You don't know Emma."

Rami laughed.

"Say you put them in my room."

She shook her head.

"You don't know Emma."

He shook his head in amusement.

"Well I'll tell Hudayfah to bring some more flowers on his way and replace them when you girls are out shopping."

Jenna's eyes widened.

"You think I'm going to go out now?! No way! Not after that note!"

"Jenna, you can't let him run your life. You can't hide out from him."

She waved her hand towards Omar's room.

"All of us are hiding from him. Whether you want to admit it or not he is running our lives. Rami you are getting married in our home because you don't want to risk going anywhere else." She sighed and put a hand to her head, tears springing in her eyes. "This is not the life any of us should be living. It's not fair."

"Jen," he said softly, and she put her hand up.

"No Rami, it's not fair." She whispered before she rushed down the hallway to her room.

***

Jenna lay on the bed, clutching Hudayfah's pillow to her chest. She had long ago stopped crying, but her cheeks were still stained with tears, and once in a while, a sob would escape her. It had been an hour since she had left Rami, and she had turned away all three of her sisters, just wanting to be alone.

Since when had her life become so complicated!? A little while ago the only bad things she saw were on the news. She never would have imagined that she would be in the middle of one of those horror stories. She remembered the first time she saw Hudayfah. She had been in her bedroom on the window seat reading Sense and Sensibility, when she heard the roar of a motorcycle, and she watched as the rider came to a halt at the edge of their driveway. She had always complained that motorcycles were dangerous, but secretly she had found the riders attractive. She had placed a bookmark into her book, and watched as he took off his helmet and shook out his hair. It had been longer then it was now, almost down to his shoulders and even from where she sat quite a distance from him, she could see he was handsome. He had turned off the engine, straddling the bike, and pulled out a cell phone, no doubt calling Muhsin. He happened to glance up at that moment, and while she knew he couldn't see her as there was a giant tree in front of her window, she had ducked down, a small smile on her face.

The first time she actually met him, started out much the same, though this time he had parked a Mercedes at the edge of the driveway, and was leaning against it. But this time Jenna had just arrived home from the library and almost collided right into him as she was too engrossed in the book she was reading.

Oh I'm sorry! I didn't see you...she trailed off as she glanced up into his face, and he gave a curt nod.

No worries. He cleared his throat. You must be one of Muhsin's sisters.

She had nodded.

Yes, I am the eldest of the three. My name is Jenna.

Hudayfah.

Nice to meet you.

The pleasure was mine. He had said before pushing on the horn again, and as Muhsin came stumbling out of the house, he gave Jenna an annoyed glance.

Go away Jenna. He ordered.

It was nice to meet you. Hudayfah said before he turned back to Muhsin and Jenna walked to the house. After that she only saw Hudayfah every once in a while talking politely until Muhsin would appear and they would leave. She honestly never gave him thought when he wasn't there, and to think now she was married to him!

As she clung tighter to his pillow, inhaling his scent, her heart skipped a beat and she felt this need to be near him. Luckily for her she heard the door open and close and she shifted slightly, holding back her tears again as she felt him climb into the bed behind her, and wrap his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." He said softly into her ear, and she swallowed hard.

"For what?" she asked, the tears escaping down her cheeks and he sighed.

"For everything."

"It's not fair Hudayfah." She choked out and he held her tighter.

"Oh darling." He whispered before kissing her cheek, and leaning his head against hers, and she turned to bury her face into his chest, sobbing hysterically. He just held her tightly as she cried, occasionally murmuring a comforting word, or stroking a hand down her hair. Eventually her tears calmed down, and she looked up into his face, and he bent to kiss her.

"You taste salty." He said with a smile, and she gave a half laugh, shaking her head.

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard." She said, and he laughed as well, pulling her back towards him.

"It can't be the weirdest thing you've ever heard."

"One of the weirdest." She looked up at him, pushing back a lock of his hair. "Hudayfah, we can't live like this anymore."

He sighed, and propped himself up on his elbow, keeping one hand on her hip.

"I don't know what to do. The only thing I can think to do right now is call the police and report the car being wrecked and them destroying the party."

She pushed herself up, wiping her cheeks.

"Will they arrest him?"

"They would."

"Then do it!" she exclaimed grabbing onto his shirt, and he pulled her hands away, kissing her palms gently.

"And he would be able to produce at least ten men who will say that he was with them and had no inclusion in those dealings, and he would be out within the hour." He shook his head. "That's not the way to beat this."

"Then what is?"

He sighed again.

"I wish I knew darling. I wish I knew. Are we still going out tonight?"

"I'm scared." She whispered, and he nodded.

"I know. But we made it a month. A whole month. And I know that it might not seem a big deal to others, but compared to where we were before, it's a huge deal. And I want to take you out to celebrate. I don't want you to be scared. Ever. I want to be able to give you the life you want and deserve. A life without fear, and the only way we can do that is by not letting him terrorize us." He sat up, crossing his legs and looking down at her. "Okay?"

She nodded, before sitting up as well, and pulling her hair back into a ponytail before smiling at him.

"So what are we doing tonight?"

"That's my girl." He said softly before kissing her forehead, and as he started to pull away, she held onto his arms.

"Don't leave me yet." She said urgently, and he pulled her back into his arms.

"Okay. I won't go anywhere."

"Thank you." She said hugging him tightly, "so tell me what we are doing."

"Well, I made reservations for dinner at the Plaza, then I arranged for a ferry ride to go see the Statue of Liberty, then to close the night off, a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park."

"Wow that sounds beautiful. Are we going to be safe?"

"I arranged for Rana and Rami to do the same things."

She looked up into his face curiously.

"They aren't married yet."

"Which is why Sami is chaperoning them. I had to let him in on everything and he was more than happy to help out."

"Sami is still in New York!?" she asked in surprise and he nodded.

"Yeah I was surprised too." He grinned. "But imagine how funny it will be to see Sami in between the two of them on a horse drawn carriage."

She laughed and laced their fingers together, before kissing the back of his hand, and his eyes darkened a fraction.

For some reason she was needing the closeness and the intimacy with him. Jamaal's note had scared her to her very core, and Hudayfah had served as a balm for her. Starting with her nightmares, all through her battle with her feelings, and now with the horror of Jamaal terrorizing them. But what was most surprising to her, was that she not only needed him near her, she wanted him there. She adored it when she was able hear the deep timbre of his voice, the melody of his laugh, when he looked at her with those warm blue eyes like she was the most precious thing in the entire universe. She even was starting to look forward to when she got to kiss him, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and made her feel safe and happy.

He made her feel safe and happy.

"So what do you say you get dressed, and go join our sisters for shopping?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Okay."

"Good." He kissed her nose before reaching into his coat pocket. "I have something for you to wear for tonight." He said pulling out a velvet box from his pocket.

"Aw Hudayfah," she said taking it from him and fingering the box. "What is it?"

He smiled.

"Open it."

She hesitated for a second, running a hand over the box again before she leaned over to kiss him.

"Thank you."

"You haven't even opened it yet!" he exclaimed, and she laughed before opening it and gasping as she pulled out a double strand of pearls.

"Oh habibi. They're beautiful." She breathed as she pulled them out, and he beamed at the endearment.

"Do you like them? If you don't we can get something else."

"No, they are perfect." She went to put them on, but he put out a hand to stop her.

"Please let me." He said taking them from her before placing them over her head, and pulling her hair out. "Rana told me you were wearing a black dress tonight, and I was told that pearls go with black."

She laughed and fingered them admiringly.

"I've never owned a set of pearls. But I've always loved them. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me darling." He whispered and when she looked up she caught such a look of tenderness in his eyes that it momentarily took her breath away. She leaned forward, placing her arms around his neck, and they stayed like that until Emma banged on the door, ordering her to get ready.