The line crackled as the call connected.
Noor's hand trembled only slightly—only enough to remind her she was still human, still terrified.
A deep voice answered after the second ring.
"This number was never meant to be used again."
She took a breath. "I'm using it for your son."
Silence.
Then:
"Leonardo is dead to me."
"No. He's not. He's you. You're just too proud to look into a mirror and admit it."
A slow exhale on the other end.
"Who are you?"
"Noor Fatima," she said. "The girl who made your son kneel in prayer. The one who stood beside him when no one else dared. And now, the only person who can bring him back—if you help me."
Twenty Hours Earlier
Leonardo had offered himself up to save Matteo and the agents tailing Gianni.
The decoy Noor had been taken—confused, terrified, but unharmed. The real Noor watched helplessly from a rooftop, her heart stilling when Leonardo vanished into the back of an unmarked black van.
Matteo tried to stop her from following.
She didn't listen.
By dusk, she had traced Gianni's men to the old Tuzla docks—abandoned, rusted, crawling with remnants of old syndicate ghosts.
But there were too many guards. Too much uncertainty. Too much risk.
So she called the one man who knew the monster's mind.
Leonardo's father.
The Meet
He arrived by midnight.
Tall. Gray-suited. Cane in hand. Eyes as sharp as razors, colder than steel.
Giovanni Moretti.
His presence was heavier than the air around him—carrying the weight of decades of blood and control. The former king of the underworld, now a ghost wandering foreign lands.
"I swore I would never interfere again," he said, voice cutting.
"And yet you came," Noor said.
He studied her. "Because I needed to see the woman my son ruined himself for."
Noor raised her chin. "He didn't ruin anything. He rebuilt himself. You just never taught him how."
A flicker of surprise passed over Giovanni's face—then something else.
Admiration? Discomfort? Regret?
She couldn't tell.
"I want him back," Noor said plainly.
"And what will you give in return?"
She didn't flinch. "My silence. My word. And your son's freedom from you, forever."
He smiled slowly. "You speak like a queen."
"No," she said. "I speak like someone who knows what it's like to lose someone before God is ready to take them."
The Plan
With Giovanni's connections and Noor's intel, they devised a simple but suicidal plan.
She would walk into the lion's den—alone.
Unarmed. Veiled. Silent.
While Giovanni's old allies redirected the guards through a staged distraction, Noor would locate Leonardo in the hidden basement chambers.
"You're walking into a cage," Matteo warned her. "He wouldn't want this."
"Then he shouldn't have gone first," she whispered.
The Rescue
The docks were soaked in the blackness of 3 a.m.—moonlight drowned beneath clouds.
Noor wore her abaya like armor, her scarf pinned tightly, her footsteps echoing in the quiet.
The main warehouse smelled of rust and gasoline. She passed through its rotting gates, her only weapon tucked inside her sleeve—faith.
No one stopped her.
Giovanni had cleared the way.
She moved quickly—down the hallway, through a mechanical lift, into a cold underground hall where old meat lockers once lined the walls.
A faint moan broke the silence.
Then another.
"Noor…"
She ran.
He was tied to a chair, shirt torn, lip bloodied, breath shallow. But his eyes—his eyes sparked the moment they saw her.
"You shouldn't be here—" he choked.
She dropped to her knees and began cutting the zip ties with the blade she'd stolen from one of the guards.
"I told you not to get caught," she snapped.
He gave a broken laugh. "You're mad."
"No," she whispered. "Just tired of watching men throw themselves into death without asking if someone needs them alive."
The door groaned open behind them.
Gianni.
Gun in hand.
"Well, well," he smirked. "The hijabi queen herself."
Noor rose slowly.
She raised her hands.
"Take me instead. Let him go."
Leonardo shouted, "No!"
Gianni tilted his head. "Touching. But unnecessary. You see—"
A gunshot rang out.
Gianni dropped.
Behind him—
Giovanni Moretti, cane smoking, gun in hand, eyes like thunder.
"Never threaten my blood again," the old man said coldly.
Aftermath
They fled Istanbul by dawn.
Leonardo's wounds were deep, but clean.
They reached Sarajevo by sunrise, checked into a hidden clinic under new names.
Noor sat at his bedside again—this time without tears.
Leonardo opened his eyes and saw her.
"Am I dead?"
"No," she smiled faintly. "But you owe me your life. Again."
His fingers reached for hers.
But she didn't take them.
Instead, she said, "We need to talk."
The Truth Noor Had Hidden
"I called your father."
Silence.
"I made a deal with him. For you."
Leonardo sat up slowly, breathing unevenly.
"I didn't want to ever owe him again," he said bitterly.
"You don't," Noor replied. "I do."
That stopped him cold.
"Noor…"
She looked away. "I said I wouldn't fall. That I'd keep my distance. But I broke that promise."
His voice was low. "To who?"
"To myself. To Allah."
He was quiet for a long time.
Then he said, "Do you think… I'm pulling you away from Him?"
She met his eyes. "No. I think… you're pulling me toward something I'm afraid to want."
A Silent Pact
They prayed together that evening.
No words.
No vows.
Just a shared breath in sujood, two hearts bowed to something greater.
When they rose, Leonardo turned to her.
"If the only way I can love you is from afar, then I'll do it."
Noor shook her head.
"I don't want distance. I want clarity. I want to finish this war first—with your name clean, my family safe, and no more blood on our hands."
Leonardo's jaw tightened.
"Then we start tomorrow."
Final Scene: A Whisper in the Dark
That night, Noor opened a hidden envelope Giovanni had given her before leaving Istanbul.
Inside—
An old photo.
A boy—young Leonardo—kneeling beside his mother, both in white clothes, smiling.
On the back, scribbled in faded ink:
"He was always meant to find peace. I just never knew you'd be the one to lead him."
Her hands shook.
Tears fell.
She placed the photo in her Qur'an and whispered a quiet prayer:
"O Allah, if this is love, make it holy. And if it is not, make me strong enough to walk away."
To be continued in Chapter 15…