ROYAL-TEA [ON HOLD]

14.

Aaliyah's POV
The storage room looked okay. Once we had descended through the stairs at the end of the tunnel, we knew we were safe.

Physically, I was, but emotionally... I was stuck with my past. Stuck in a place that was slowly becoming claustrophobic as I avoided looking at him.

"How does this family have an underground safe place thing... again?" He asked as he looked up at the ceiling and the gas pipes along the corridor. There were lights along the walkway that would direct us to a bigger room. I had been here before-Nina hid me here once when I didn't go home for the holidays because His Royal Highness was visiting Arabia. Instead of spending an entire month dealing with the half-wit, I spent time at Nina's and she taught me the basics of chi-blocking.

Right now, we were in a room that looked like a sitting room. Anthony was staring at me as if transfixed by the very look of me. It somehow irked me how his perfect eyes still made me feel the way they used to. Oh God, would I ever get over the past we had?

"Aaliyah," Anthony said quietly, "we have to talk about you and I. I can't hide what I feel for you and I know you can't pretend what we had is..."

"Shut up Anthony," I whispered, walking towards a dashboard that was right below a big screen that had surveillance clips playing. I stood there watching as Nina and her husband spoke to, and co-operated with the police.

"Is that... what I think it is...?!" Andrew asked, coming up to and standing next to me.

"Yes..." I trailed off as I caught a whiff of his cologne. I felt so much longing that I got dizzy and Anthony jumped at the chance to help. His hands swept me off my feet as I stared up at him unguardedly.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he took me to the sofa. I was glad to finally gather my wits about me. Anthony didn't seem to notice anything weird because his eyes alternated between the screen and I. Never had I seen Anthony this concerned about someone else in his life.

"Yeah, I am. Was a bit dizzy for a while there. Must be because I didn't eat breakfast too well..." I lied, avoiding his eyes when he looked my way. I wished for everything to end so that we could go back to Nina's.

He stood there for a while before coming back to my side. "The police have just about finished searching the compound. Do you need anything?" He asked politely, his voice too sweet to ignore. I gulped as he sat next to me and his eyes never left mine alone. His right hand was doodling something on my arm as the other crept up to my cheek. His eyes looked a little sad and I instantly knew he was sorry for all the things he did in the past.

We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, but was actually seconds before I looked down and away. Anthony sighed, clearly feeling the awkwardness too. He excused himself to go watch surveillance as I tried to compose myself. It was one thing to like Anthony, but it was another to be stuck in one room with him. I had too many feelings for the idiot to pretend there was nothing there. We both knew and we saw it in each other's eyes.

I looked up just as Anthony's panicked voice summoned me. "Aaliyah, I need you to see this," he called, and I rushed over, feeling worried too. "Nina's trying to say something to us but I can't tell what she's saying..." he trailed off.

"You want me to lip-read?" I asked as I watched the surveillance footage. The rest of the family was cornered and Nina was in another room, moving her lips as she stared up at the camera.

'Run away,' was her wording. 'They are from your father,' she mouthed repeatedly. I stared at her as she kept mouthing. 'Grab some supplies and go. There's money in the green bag by the door, with clothes in the other bag. Hurry up and go. Don't worry, they won't hurt me. They're old friends. All they really want is the reward money.'

The door behind her opened and she only had one more thing to say before she got caught. 'Hurry!'

Then she was dragged away and placed in the other room. I turned to Anthony. "She got us some supplies in bags. Please fetch them. They're both by the door." As he went ahead to grab the bags, I apologized to Nina and her family. This truly wasn't fair. I couldn't do anything without getting caught... or could I?