FBI Headquarters:

Chief Murthy and Aryaman were meeting with the rest of the FBI agents that had any say in the matter of Nandini's kidnapping. They were all high ranking officials who earned more than enough to have penthouses in New York along with a house in the Hamptons. Aryaman was the only one in the room who didn't have a receding hairline or high cholesterol levels.

The Chief was at his wit's end with the time these people were taking to make the decision concerning his daughter. He knew she was safe now, but he also knew that her current state of well-being was subjective. If he said 'no' to her earlier request, whoever was with her would no longer need her, and would most probably feel the need to dispose of her. And contrary to popular belief, he did care about his daughter. Alot, in fact. Ishita's death had taken a toll on the newly-elected Chief, and he thought that distancing himself from his daughter would save him from the pain of the inevitable removal of his daughter from his life. It wouldn't be as permanent a separation as her mother's death, but it would be horribly painful nonetheless.

"We need to know who the man is. What if it's someone even worse than Harshad?" one of the balding men asked.

"We can't risk it," Raman replied, annoyed by the man's callousness. "If the person who has her finds out she's of no use to him anymore, he might not feel the need to send her back."

"And the fact that he saved her from Harshad in the first place shows that he can't be that bad," Aryaman interjected, trying to further Raman's case. "But we can't take the risk that this person's charitable actions will continue. We have no idea where Nandu is, and we have no way of contacting her either since her line was untraceable."

"We have to consider that this might not be the best course of action," one of the guys said.

"But we also can't negate the fact that my daughter's life is in danger, damn it!" Raman shouted. "My little girl is God knows where, with God knows who. She should be the priority here!"

Aryaman put a hand on Raman's shoulder, trying to prevent any rash behaviour on his part. Everyone else could see that the Chief was adamant and eventually decided that they would go ahead with Nandu's requests but keep a contingency plan on hand. With only three hours left to the 72 hour deadline, Aryaman was put in charge of thinking out the plan along with two other guys from his team,Steve and Jack.

"We could always back out of the deal once we find out who he is," Steve suggested casually, taking a bite out of the apple in his hand. "Put him in the slammer as soon as we get to him."

Aryaman hit him upside the head. "That's not an option, you clown. We need something solid, and if this guy has a serious criminal record, which I think he does if he's willing to go against someone as powerful as Harshad, then he'd be prepared for something like that. We have to come up with something completely unexpected."

Jack rubbed his head thoughtfully while Steve had a shrewd expression on her face. "What if we give in to his demands, and if we find out how bad of a guy he is, one of us takes him out. Silently and without leaving behind any evidence. Not even dental records."

"I don't know. It does come in the morally gray area and it's not something unexpected," Aryaman said, not surprised that Steve had come up with something that wasn't a peaceful resolution. "But I don't think we have any other option, so keep it on the DL until we get it all sorted out."

Jack nodded and left for her lunch break, while Aryaman and Steve stayed behind, both of them wondering whether this girl was on the wrong side of the yellow tape.

At the Chateau in Switzerland:

Nandini POV:

"Nadu, pleaseeeeee! I promise I won't ask you for anything else ever again!" Alia moaned. She was giving me the infamous puppy-dog look, but I was holding my own against her for now.

"Alia, for the last time I will not!" I said, scowling at her. "It's not my place!"

"Nandu! Both of us know you're as much a part of this family as anyone! You have to be in the family portrait. You know how much this would mean to him, don't you?"

Before I could retort, a strong pair of arms circled my waist and whispered, "She's right, you know."

I twisted around to face the fiend, but was disarmed once again by the beautiful grin on his face. "Do you even know what she's talking about?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even and seem unaffected.

"She's talking about the family photography we're going to get done by Abhimanyu thakkar," he said, the mischievous twinkle clear in his eyes. "I'd heard you really like his work so I invited him over for the portrait and dinner."

I stood there with my mouth open, gaping like a fish. Abhimanyu Thakkar did not do family portraits, he did the best fashion photography in the industry. And I bet he didn't do dinner at Mafia leaders' chateaux either.

"I...how did you?" I stuttered.

Manik laughed huskily. "Let's just say he owed me a favour."

I frowned at him, but before I could reprimand him, he pointed to the clock. It was time to call my dad. I took a deep breath and took the phone from Manik's hands.

"Hey, dad," I said into the speaker.

"Hey Nandu. How are you?" he replied, his voice strained.

"I'm good. So it's been three days...do we have a deal?"

"Nandu, you don't need to be a part of this. If things get nasty, I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."

"I'm in this whether you like it or not dad. And there's a cease-fire going on right now. So what have you decided?"

He sighed loudly. "You have a deal. We'll give this person a chance. We'll clear his record if he can provide us with enough information to apprehend a few crime lords, and we'll keep him in the Witness Protection Program after it's all finished."

Manik nodded at me and I said, "Okay, we're going to meet you at the Met in five days dad, and the person I'm with is Manik Malhotra."

The line went silent for a split second and then the tirade began. "Nandini what the hell do you think you're doing with that son-of-a-bitch? Get out of there, NOW!"

I saw Manik's face turn cold as ice when he heard my father's words, and I tried to salvage the situation quickly. "He saved my life, even though at that time he didn't know who I was. He could have just killed me along with Harshad's men but he didn't. Everyone deserves a second chance."

I took Manik's hand in mine, trying to calm him down. "Dad, it's your choice. Either you give Manik another chance, or you can say goodbye to your daughter. I won't be coming back home then."

"Nandu," Raman choked out. "Don't do this. I love you, kiddo, and I can't bear to have you with someone who's responsible for pretty much the whole drug trade in New York."

"Dad, what was your decision before you heard his name?"

"We'd decided to agree to your demands, and if not going through with it means losing you to a gang-banger, then fine. We're willing to go ahead with the previous plan."

I ignored the gang-banger comment and said,"That's good. Thanks dad." I hung up and gave Manik a brilliant smile. "We did it!"

Manik's mood however, was quite the opposite of mine. The deep frown etched on his face made him seem about five years older than he really was. "You didn't have to do that, Nandu."

"Yes, I did. I have heard that people do crazy things when they're in love," I said absentmindedly, thinking about what the feds' next step would be in a situation like this.

I looked up at Manik to ask him what other hideouts he had across the globe, but was met by his shocked stare. His eyes were bugging out of their sockets and he was fumbling for words.

"What?" I asked. "What did I say?"

"You...you love me?" he choked out.

I rolled my eyes at him, but blushed all the same. "Well of course I do, you idiot," I said in a low voice. "I thought you would have realized that by now."

He was quiet for a long second and then took my face in his hands and kissed me like he never had before. "You just made me the happiest man alive."

I grinned at him. "Really?"

"Yes, and I love you." My heart just about burst in my chest when he said that, and I pulled him down to kiss him again.

We were interrupted by a loud cough. It was Navya, and she came to tell me that it was almost dinner time. I thanked her and went to my room to get dressed, giving Manik a wink on my way out. The grin that seemed a permanent fixture on his face was a testament to the fact that he really was happy right now. My heart swelled with joy at the thought that I was the one to make him smile.

Back at FBI HQ:

Aryaman was in a furious rage. He couldn't believe that Nandu could be so stupid as to trust someone like Manik Malhotra. He needed to show her the crime-scene pictures he had just so she could see what that man was capable of. The fact that Raman had agreed to her demands was even more infuriating. Looks like the old man's gone soft, Aryaman thought.

He flopped down in his chair and sighed. He knew he wasn't being fair, that he would have done the same if he was in the Chief's shoes, but the fact that Nandu was in the hands of a world-renowned killer wasn't something that would help him sleep at night. The rage was slowly ebbing away, leaving hopelessness behind. Jack came up to him hesitantly, aware of his boss's foul mood.

"Uh, Sir, Chief's calling you in his office," he said, and walked back to his cubicle as fast as his legs could carry him.

Aryaman went to the Raman's office, and was shocked to see the even-tempered man close to breaking point.

"You called, sir?" he asked, unsure whether he should stay or just leave the man to his misery.

"Yes, Aryaman. Come on in. I need to talk to you about the predicament we're in. I'm sure I can trust you with what I'm about to say. Close the door and have a seat," he said seriously.

Aryaman did as he said and waited for the chief to speak up. After a good few minutes, Raman looked Aryaman straight in the eye. "Nandu life is in danger every second she spends with that man, and I can't let that happen. Risking her life like this is inexcusable, and I will not stand for this any longer. Frankly speaking Arya, I need your help. I need you to find out where that poor excuse of a man is, and get rid of him. Make sure he is not in any position to hurt my baby-girl. Of course, this needs to be bit more of a private stake-out than one carried out by the Bureau. I'm sure you understand."

Aryaman smiled. "Of course, boss. I've been handling his case for quite some time, and it won't be hard to come across his credit card records. I'm sure I'll be able to find him within the week. You have nothing to worry about."

Excellent," Raman replied. "Secrecy is key, Aryaman, don't forget that. Even your team can't know about this."

Aryaman nodded and left the room, taking the gun and silencer that Raman had given him. It was one of those confiscated from a mafia low-life they had captured some months ago, and had his prints on them. The convict had been released a few days ago and was perfect as the scapegoat. Aryaman knew he needed to do this soon. Nandu wouldn't be in danger for much longer.

Back in Switzerland:

Nandini POV:

The dinner was wonderful, and so was our guest. The photoshoot was, admittedly, not that horrible so I just plastered on a smile and pinched Manik every chance I got. He was the one who emotionally blackmailed me into doing this, so he deserved to suffer a little. There was one shot that Abhimanyu took and I really loved. It was a surprise shot. When I thought that the photoshoot was over, Manik came up behind me and tickled me. The shot was of both of us laughing while he hugged me from behind. Both of us looked so happy and normal, it was hard to believe that we were in a very unique and potentially dangerous situation. Abhimanyu said he would bring the pictures with him to Navya's wedding, and he promised to have the one of me and Manik framed as a thank-you for the dinner invitation.

By the time he went home after a cup of coffee, everyone was exhausted. Navya and Cabir had already gone to bed, while Alia and Dhruv were slumped on one of the sofas with Manik and I on another.

My head was in Manik's lap and he was playing with my hair distractedly. I would tell his mind was miles away, probably quite a few miles away in New York. I could understand how much he had to lose, and how the thought of putting it all at risk unnerved him.

"Hey," I whispered. "It'll be okay."

He looked down at me and smiled. "Do you have any mindreading abilities that I was unaware of, darling?"

"No, dear," I laughed. "I just know you really well."

"Do you?" he asked, and I could sense the underlying meaning in his words.

"The past doesn't matter, Manik, only the present and future do. I've made some mistakes myself, but I don't dwell on them. Forget everything that happened Manik."

"Nandu, that's what you say now, but what if some time later, something from my past comes up and makes you doubt me? What if you don't want to be with me anymore?" The pain leaked into his voice at the end, and it made my own eyes tear up. "I wouldn't be able to bear that."

I took his face in both my hands and said with a conviction so strong that even Alia and Dhruv looked up to hear our whispered conversation. "Nothing, Manik, will ever make me doubt you, and nothing can ever make me leave you. I would rather die than spend another day without you in my life."

"Don't say that, Nandu," he reprimanded. "Never talk like that. If anything happens, I don't want you to think like that. Got it?"

"Well, if I can help it, it won't come to that. So let's just never be apart, okay?"

He smiled at me but i could still see the melancholy reflected in his eyes. "Okay. So what do you say we go to bed now. It's been a long night."

I grinned at the less-than-innocent look on his face and nodded. We left Dhruv and Alia sitting on the sofa, without even saying 'good night.' We were too lost in thoughts of eachother to even have room in our brains for anything else.

To be continued....