ZAYN
The next morning Zayn woke up feeling like the luckiest man alive. The woman he loved was tangled up in his arms and he never wanted to let her go. He slowly sat up, trying not to wake her up, but gasped when he saw who was standing in front of their bed, staring at them.
Amir stared down at him and a sickening feeling rose from the pit of his stomach. And then something happened and it made a cold shiver run but Zayn's spine.
It was a tiny smile at first, and then it grew a little more, and more, until Amir was looking at Zayn with such a self-satisfied smile that he wanted to wipe it off with his fist.
"Cousin." he said stepping forward. Zayn felt Jenny stir next to him
"What's going on?" Jenny woke up next to Zayn and he immediately put his arm across her in a protective manner.
"Amir!?" Jenny sounded shocked.
"Good morning." He looked at Jenny and smiled and Zayn wanted to rip his eyes out of his head with his bare hands. "I trust you slept well?"
"Leave her out of this." Zayn spat at Amir.
"Fine. But I've come to deliver a message. Your father... the king, wants to see you in his study." His words were so deliberate and calculating.
"And why are you here telling me that? Why isn't my father delivering the message himself?"
Amir shrugged casually. "I guess I wanted a front row seat to the show."
"Show?" Zayn asked.
"Or shall I say, act. All the world is a stage, isn't that right... Jenny?" Amir turned and looked at her again and Zayn felt the rage and anger bubble up inside him again.
Zayn got out of bed and walked over to his cousin. "Don't you dare speak to my fiancé like that."
Amir burst out laughing. "Fiance! I'll admit you two are convincing and I must say, it's been really entertaining to watch. But I'm afraid the final curtain is about to come crashing down on this little charade of yours."
"This is not an act, Amir. I've asked Jenny to marry me. I've-"
Amir cut his off by throwing a file onto the bed. It landed in front of Jenny and she stared down at it.
"Jenny, why don't you do the honors." Amir gestured with his hand.
"No! Leave her out of this." Zayn moved closer to Amir.
Amir smiled again. "You really should let her open it. It might change her feelings for you, cousin." his voice was sly and slid across the room like a snake in the grass.
Zayn turned and looked at Jenny. Her eyes had locked onto the file and he knew what was in there- some version of it anyway. But he didn't want to keep secrets from Jenny anymore, and he was leaving all of that behind.
"Open it." Zayn whispered over to Jenny.
She opened the file and Jenny gasped. Zayne looked at the photo in it and he felt sick to his stomach.
2 naked girls, 1 Zayn, 1 hot tub.
Zayne looked at Jenny's hands and they were shaking. "You will notice the date on that, Jenny. I believe that happened only the night before you two arrived here...you're father found that very interesting. And of course it all makes perfect sense, no wonder you decided to hire Jenny, who by the way, is an outstanding actress. I must give her that. She managed to fool so many people... unfortunately, just not the right ones."
"Fuck you!" Zayn moved across the room. He was going to do it. He was going to punch this guy. He should have punched him years ago. But as he raced across the room Rafiq stopped him.
"No. This is not the way to do it." Rafiq whispered in his ear. "You're better than this. Better than him. Go and talk to your father."
"I'll give you some time to slip into something more...." Amir looked Zayn up and down with disgust, "... something more appropriate." He gave the room one more smile before closing the door behind him and disappearing.
JENNY
As soon as Amir closed the door Zayn jumped into action. He rushed over to Jenny immediately and took the file from her hands.
"You know this meant nothing, right? You know me now. You know I don't want this anymore."
Jenny nodded, but inside she felt sick. She knew he had a past, and she was prepared to overlook it because she knew he loved her and she loved him, but it was still shocking to see it, and so graphically.
"It's going to be ok." Zayn leant down and grabbed Jenny by the shoulder "It's going to be ok." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself, more than trying to reassure her. It made her very nervous.
"I'm going to speak to my father and explain that this is real and... and..." He stumbled. She could see he was trying to figure out what the hell he was going to say, and she could see by the panic on his face and the way he was looking at her, that he wasn't as confident as he was trying to come across as.
"It's going to be ok." he said again and started reaching for his clothes that were strewn across the floor. It's going to be..." he put his shirt on and turned to Jenny. She looked up at him, "I love you. This is real. I love you." He said and then rushed out the door with a reassuring pat on the back from Rafiq.
Rafiq turned his attention to Jenny now and the look in his eyes froze her. "What?"
He shook his head. "I have such a bad feeling about this."
"What?" Jenny's blood ran cold.
"Pack your bag." He ran over to Jenny and started pulling her out of the bed.
"Why?"
"I just... just... pack your bag in case we need to get you out of here quickly." He started moving around the room in urgency.
"Why would you need to get me out of here quickly?" She asked watching him with a growing sense of panic.
"I just think that Amir is more dangerous than any of us...." he paused and looked at her as if he was deciding what to say. "I just think he's dangerous and won't stop at anything."
Jenny suddenly felt that this was the time to say it. "You mean the fire, and the plane crash?"
Rafiq's eyes widened in shock and met hers with intensity. "You... you.... how do you?"
"It's a feeling I got. He came up to me at the stables and told me about the fire and there was something in his tone that, it seemed insincere. Like he was acting. A bad act."
Rafiq looked sad. "I've always suspected he had something to do with it, but I couldn't prove it."
"Have you spoken to Zayn about it?" She asked.
Rafiq nodded. "I tried to tell him once, but he refused to believe that someone he'd grown up with, a family member would do that. He knows Amir is a snake, but from that to murder, it's a big leap for anyone to make."
"And the plane crash?" Jenny asked.
Rafiq nodded again. "It was very convenient. He stood to gain and it was a freak accident... too much of a freak accident maybe. I don't know, it's hard to imagine that anyone could resort to murder. But I have a feeling in my gut, there is something so dark in Amir's soul, I feel it every time I look at him."
Jenny agreed with him. She'd had that same feeling from the moment she'd seen him. "And what is your gut telling you now?" Jenny asked.
"My gut is telling me that we need to pack your bags and be prepared for anything."
And with that, Jenny began helping Rafiq. She didn't have much to pack, just a few items, most of the bag was packed already. She packed Zayn's as well and when she was done, she and Rafiq sat on one of the couches looking at each other.
"What do you think is going on now right now?" Jenny asked nervously.
"I don't know. All I know is it's not going to be good. The king is not going to take being lied to very well, even if it's no longer a lie. Is it still a lie?" Rafiq's eyes saught Jenny's out.
Jenny shook her head and felt the tears well up in her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying. "It's not a lie anymore. You have to believe us."
"I know." Rafiq smiled at her. "I've known Zayn since he was a boy and I've never seen him like this before. He's in love with you and trust me when I say that what you saw in that photo, that is really not him."
"Who is it then?" She asked feeling a little sick at the thought of it again.
"It's a man who's been lost and looking for something to make him feel better. But he's found it now, and it's you."
"I hope so." Jenny said quietly.
"Trust me." Rafiq said matter-of-factly.
And Jenny did trust him. She had since the moment she'd met him. But she didn't trust Amir, and Rafiq was right, he was dangerous. And she also had a bad feeling about this all. Very bad.