Eternal Temptation

❥ 27| contemplations and crime

Hopefully, it would be a little more normal after finally getting home, where I could put everything that was happening past me.

"You look like you have the world's largest problem on your shoulders, janam. What's troubling you?" A warm voice broke past my reverie, her hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

I turned in my seat to glance at her. "Nothing. Nothing's troubling me. I'm fine."

My grandmother shot me one of her infamous disapproving frowns. "Now, what have I told you about lying to your family? You used to tell me everything when you were younger, too. What happened now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't know where to start. My head feels like this puzzle that even I don't have the strength to sort through right now."

"Why don't you start from the obvious then?" She shot me a probing look. "Why were you in Bulgaria? I didn't ask on the phone because you sounded far too panicked to give a reasonable explanation then, but all we have is time for the next hour or so. Why did you call us over here, Faithe?"

I contemplated what to say to her, but just ended up blurting out the entire truth. The woman always managed to pull the truth out of me somehow. "Because we got into a plane crash on the way to Tehran and got stuck in Sofia. We couldn't get past the Bulgarian border to Turkey without passports and we were stuck at a dead end. I had no choice but to call for help."

She sat still for a few seconds, processing everything I told her. All she did after was give me a sympathetic smile and pull me into a hug.

"That's why I argued with your father about not getting you married into the Haidar family."

I peered up at her, pulling away from her hug slightly. "What? You didn't want me to marry Zayaan?"

"Of course not," she scoffed out a bitter laugh. "The Haidars are a good friend of ours; they have been for years — a good two generations or so. But I didn't want our families to get any further involved than that. Your father and mother, however, went on and on about gratitude and keeping a promise and made sure to get the two of you married."

"A promise?"

She waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Don't worry about that. Worry about the poor choices your parents make. I told them over and over again to not involve our families through marriage; their family is involved in too many things in their country, Faithe. They have too much power for it to be normal and I'm sure that half of what they're involved in is shady. They might not be bad people, Faithe, but danger literally waits on their doorstep."

I shivered at the warning tone in her voice before she continued.

"Now they've managed to drag you into it too. You don't look harmed, thankfully, but who knows what's next." She shook her head. "I'm glad you called me before you all got into another mess. Stay until your husband finishes up what he needs to do, and then get home and do not look back. Stay friendly with your in-laws but make sure to keep a distance."

"You're making them sound like villains, babanne. They're good people," I argued, thinking of Nafasat. She was the sweetest mother-in-law anyone could ask for, and she didn't look like she carried a single malicious bone in her body. "You didn't even come to my wedding; you probably haven't even talked to them in years. They would never do anything to harm anyone."

"Oh, janam, they might be good people, but good people like them have enemies at every corner. Whoever gets connected even slightly to the Haidar name also gets put in immediate danger. I'm just warning you to be careful."

The door to the room opened and I startled, thinking it might be Zayaan or one of his siblings and worried that they might have overheard something my grandmother said. However, the person and his slightly hunched frame came into view, making me sag back against my chair in relief, glad that it was just my dede.