DON'T DOUBT LOVE) loving you no matter what

MAYA'S POV

Tahir's gun gleamed under the chandelier light, pointed at Ryder's chest. My breath hitched. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Let them go," I demanded, stepping between them.

His eyes—those damn eyes—flickered with something raw. "You'd really choose him over me?"

I wanted to scream. To shake him until the man I thought I knew fell out from behind this cold facade.

"You lied. About everything." My voice cracked. "Even Victor."

A muscle jumped in his jaw. "Victor's dead, Maya."

Liar. Liar. Liar.

But when his finger twitched on the trigger, I lunged—not at Ryder, but at him. My palms slammed against his chest.

"Look at me," I hissed. "Really look. And tell me you don't feel this too."

For one heartbeat, his grip faltered.

Then the window shattered.

AISHA'S POV

Gunfire. Glass. Chaos.

Ryder yanked me behind the overturned table as bullets tore through the room. Victor's men. They'd found us.

Maya was still out there—with Tahir.

"We have to help her!" I clawed at Ryder's arm.

"She made her choice," he growled, dragging me toward the secret passage.

No. I twisted free. "Maya!"

Tahir's voice cut through the smoke: "Aisha, RUN!"

For the first time, I heard fear in it.

Then Maya was there, blood streaking her temple, shoving me into Ryder's arms. "Go! I'll hold them off!"

The sister who'd protected me all my life was staying? With him?

"You love him," I whispered.

Her eyes answered before she spun away, gun raised.

TAHIR'S POV

Victor's men poured through the windows like cockroaches. Bastard wasn't dead after all.

Maya fought beside me, her back to mine, as bullets whizzed past. "Why?" she shouted over the gunfire.

Why save them? Why risk everything?

The answer was simple: Her.

I'd spent years believing love was leverage. But the way Maya moved—fierce, flawed, alive—it undid me.

I grabbed her waist and hurled us both behind the marble pillar as a grenade rocked the room.

"Still think I'm the villain?" I rasped, my lips brushing her ear.

She gripped my collar, her breath ragged. "I think you're a fool."

And for the first time, I surrendered.

RYDER'S Pov

The tunnel reeked of damp earth and blood. Aisha sobbed against my shoulder, but all I could see was Maya's silhouette in the doorway—standing with Tahir.

"She'll die with him," I spat.

Aisha's nails dug into my arm. "She'll live with him. Because he loves her."

The explosion above us shook the walls.

I wanted to hate Tahir. But as I carried Aisha to safety, I realized: destiny is what we can't deny no matter what "

And some wars weren't meant to be won.