by M. V. Kasi
Feeling guilty and angry at himself, he shut the folder and got up from the couch and joined Anirudh in front of the camera feeds. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
Did his friend mean he wanted to marry the Home Minister’s daughter even before she finished her studies? Shiv didn’t know how he would feel having to see Sunaina Bhasin as his best friend’s wife so soon.
Anirudh slowly turned to look at him. “Somraj’s daughter. I want her.”
Shocked, Shiv stared at Anirudh. “What do you mean by you want her?” he slowly asked.
“Exactly how it sounded.”
There was silence as Shiv tried to assess the situation and see how things would change with what Anirudh was saying. While his mind threw in the various implications, a strange excitement grew inside him, the kind he always felt when he risked his life while closing dangerous deals.
Vijay’s calm voice cut through the new developments as he spoke to Anirudh. “You do realize that you spent the last ten years systematically destroying and bringing down Somraj’s business. Somraj sent her as bait for Shiv to try and save his neck from you.”
“Yes, I know that,” Anirudh replied. “Nothing is going to change the course of what I began ten years ago. The only change is I’ll be bringing in a new player into my game, and I want to switch baits.”
“Switch baits, how?” Vijay asked.
Shiv remained quiet because he already knew and understood what Anirudh was saying.
Anirudh nevertheless spelled it out. “I will marry Aditi Somraj… and Shiv will claim Sunaina Bhasin.”
CHAPTER 4
“Naina darling. Pass on the honey, will you?”
Jarred out of her relatively peaceful breakfast, Naina passed the small bowl of honey to her stepmother. Her head throbbed lightly, and it wasn’t necessarily from the multiple drinks and shots she had the previous night. It was also because of the current company.
Naina hated the holidays. Because holidays meant she was forced to return home.
Not that she considered the Home Minister’s mansion as her home. But since student housing at her university shut down during the holidays, it was the only place she could go.
Her stepmother’s fake smile widened. “How was last night? Did you have a good time?”
“Yes.”
“Did you meet anyone special? Has anything exciting happened?”
Naina frowned. She wasn’t willing to discuss anything with her stepmother, even though Monica was only ten years older than her.
“I was at a nightclub with my friends, Monica.”
“So? People meet and fall in love at the strangest of places and circumstances. Your father and I—”
Naina interrupted her. “No. I didn’t meet anyone special. I went there only to enjoy being with my friends.”
Naina didn’t want to listen to her stepmother retelling the nauseating story of how a middle-aged man fell in ‘love’ while his wife was slowly dying. And barely a month after divorcing his sick wife, he married his latest mistress who was young enough to be his daughter.
“So… you didn’t meet Anirudh Shaurya?”
Naina frowned. “Why would I meet him there?”
There was a cat-like smile on her stepmother’s face. “Because he was at The Dungeon. He knew you were there last night too.”
A bolt of shock passed through her. No, she hadn’t come across Anirudh Shaurya. She vaguely recalled seeing the picture of the man when her father showed it to her. The man didn’t look like a monster, but her father had told her enough about his brutality and cruelty.
“The devil will beat you into submission, driving out your rebellion.”
Naina had no reason not to believe her father. She knew evil came in all forms, and sometimes, evil also came in pleasing forms. Just because Anirudh Shaurya was good-looking, it didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of hurting a woman. A shudder of revulsion passed through her at the thought of having to marry a man who was her father’s choice.
“I didn’t meet him. And I’m not interested in meeting him, either.”
At her response, her stepmother smiled. “Oh, sweetie. It’s cute how you think you have a choice in the matter. Your father and Anirudh Shaurya are both powerful men. And marrying the devil will make your father even more powerful. Your father will become the next Chief Minister.”
“I don’t care about my father’s ambitions. And if you’ll excuse me, I have to study.” Naina pushed her chair back before getting up to leave.
Thankfully, her father wasn’t at the breakfast table that day. Or he would have stopped her and threatened her for opposing the marriage he had fixed without her permission when she was barely seventeen.
She vaguely wondered if her father was with his new mistress whom he had brought home a few days ago. It was sick how he introduced that other woman to not only his wife but also to his daughter.
Naina’s stomach churned recalling how the woman had cozened up to her father and spent the night in his room while Monica had occupied the guest room—just like she did whenever her husband bought his mistresses home.
Naina would have pitied her stepmother, had she not witnessed her stepmother’s various affairs too, most of which happened with her husband’s blessing to gain political leverage.
Her father’s second marriage was an open marriage.
It was enough to make Naina hate the concept of marriage or a relationship. And even if that didn’t factor into her aversion, she had seen what her mother had gone through. Loving an abusive, unfaithful man had slowly killed her.
Naina was thirteen, and she could hear the sounds of an argument. Her parents always argued.
“Stop hiding money in your bedroom. It’s pathetic.”
Her mother was crying. “How can you do this to me? I won’t tolerate your cheating anymore.”
“What will you do?” her father’s sneering voice asked. “Divorce me? Do that. In fact, why don’t you do us both a favor by killing yourself?”
“You told me you loved me,” her mother’s voice broke. “How can you be with other women if you love me?”
There was cruel laughter. “Have you looked at yourself lately? How can anyone love you? You are pathetic. The sight of you disgusts me. Get out of my way.”
Naina could hear her mother crying, and the door to the bedroom opened while her father strode out. He saw her waiting outside.
He sneered at her. “Spying on me, are you? You are just like your mother. Pathetic.”
Although Naina was scared, she straightened her spine. “I’m not pathetic. I don’t need your attention or love. Mamma’s love is enough for me. You can show your attention to your whores.”
Her father looked furious. “Why, you rude brat. I’ll beat the insolence out of you.” He raised his hand, but stopped when a woman’s voice called to him.
“Narayan, we are going to be late,” the woman whined. Naina looked at the woman who had come along with her father. The woman was the same age as her mother. But her mother had stopped eating and looked thin and gaunt making her appear much older.
“Did you get the money?” the woman asked.
“Yes. Let’s get out of this place. I have enough money to take you wherever you want.”
There was coy laughter from the woman as she and her father left the house.
Naina’s mother’s thin, emancipated face crumpled with hurt as she sobbed softly.
“Never fall in love, Naina. Love always leads to heartbreak.”
Naina had learned the lesson early in her childhood that life wasn’t perfect. Bad things happened to good people. That life lesson only made her more determined. She always fought back and refused to willingly allow her life to be ruined by either her father or anyone else for their personal gains.
Letting out a sigh, she shut the door of her bedroom before locking it from inside and settling in for the rest of the day to study. But as soon as she opened her textbooks, suddenly the face of a stunningl
y handsome man from the previous night flashed in her mind.
Her heart pounded foolishly with excitement even as her cheeks burned in embarrassment.
But her embarrassment wasn’t just because the handsome stranger had thoroughly rejected all of her advances. She was embarrassed because of her previous night’s dream that featured him.
In her dream, the stunningly handsome stranger responded to her flirting. But instead of dancing, he had taken her to a private dark corner of the club where he had kissed her.
Even now, she could feel how her lips had tingled with the sweet kiss. She could also feel the burn of the warm, calloused fingers where they had rubbed the sensitive skin under her elbow.
“Stop it,” she whispered out loud, shivering with a strange craving.
Even though she loathed the concept of marriage or a relationship, her body and hormones had betrayed her the previous night when she became terribly attracted to the handsome stranger.
She knew she shouldn’t allow such foolish thoughts to enter her mind again, especially when she knew the consequences of falling in love with someone. All she needed to focus on was finishing her studies and use it as a ticket to escape her suffocating life.
CHAPTER 5
“Shiv, my boy. Welcome.”
Shiv was amused by the look on Mohan Somraj’s face. The older man gritted out the words of welcome with a wide, fake smile pasted on his face. It was obvious he was trying very hard not to show his reaction towards Anirudh who was standing next to him along with Vijay.
“How are you, Mr. Somraj?” Shiv asked.
“We’ll be family soon when you and Aditi marry. Please call me Mohan or something less formal.”
Shiv smiled. “Ah. About that. There’s been a slight change in plan, Mohan.”
The older man frowned. “What change in plan?”
Shiv knew he shouldn’t draw enjoyment out of someone’s misery, but this particular man’s misery was going to be a pleasure to watch. “Well, instead of me marrying your daughter, it will be Anirudh who will be signing the marriage contract. Tonight.”
Mohan Somraj’s face paled completely in shock. “What?”
“If it helps, our lawyers will arrive soon to go over the details.”
The older man looked furious and terrified. “No! You can’t do that! There is no way I’ll allow him to marry my daughter. I want you to marry Aditi. I will hand over the rights of my shipping line only to you!”
Shiv shrugged. “It’s been decided already, Mohan.”
Anirudh, who normally hated showing any outward emotion, had a dark glint of satisfaction. “You have no choice but to agree, Somraj.”
“How dare you!” the older man erupted at Anirudh. “You can’t force me like this. You already did everything to make me a hunted man.”
Mohan Somraj was about to say something when a soft feminine voice interrupted them.
“Papa…” It was Aditi Somraj. She wanted to introduce her friends to her father, one of the friends being her boyfriend.
Shiv pitied Somraj’s daughter. He was no knight in shining armor, but he did feel somewhat responsible for the damsel who will soon be in distress through no fault of hers. He watched her as she spoke.
She was looking quite beautiful that night, but strangely he didn’t feel even a spark of attraction towards her. Maybe because he had always felt the pressure of knowing he would have to marry her. He now wondered how he would have managed if he did end up marrying her. It would have been awkward as hell.
Another woman’s image flashed in his mind, intruding his thoughts all of a sudden—the other woman who was slightly younger, bolder and fiery.
With a slight shake of his head, Shiv tried to get rid of the thoughts of Sunaina Bhasin from his mind. He had barely spent five minutes with her, and yet thoughts of the damn woman had been haunting him all week while he was in Russia, especially during the cold nights.
Before his body reacted to the thoughts of Sunaina Bhasin, Mohan Somraj’s shaky voice cut in.
“Gentlemen, why don’t we continue the discussion inside?”
Shiv felt slightly relieved, even though he knew he was going to be spending a long, drawn-out and dramatic night at the Somraj’s residence.
Five long hours later, Aditi Somraj was now legally bound by a contract to Anirudh. Shiv, Anirudh and Vijay finally stepped out of Somraj’s residence to return to their homes.
“That was quite… surprising,” said Shiv. “I didn’t think Somraj’s daughter would have it in her to rebel.” He had been pleasantly surprised, but he supposed it was a good thing because to survive in her soon-to-be new world, Aditi Somraj needed a bit of a rebellion.
“I wasn’t expecting it either,” Vijay echoed Shiv’s observations.
Anirudh had his usual unreadable look. “I wasn’t surprised.”
“So, you are going ahead with this?” Vijay asked.
“Yes.”
“The timing of this sucks, though,” Vijay added. “I heard that the list went out to the Home Minister this morning. I don’t know how Bhasin will react to any input from us at this point.
Shiv agreed. “I’m sure the news of the new alliance between Shaurya and Somraj would have reached him by now.”
“Bhasin has to do as we command,” Anirudh replied. “He knows what he’ll face if he doesn’t.”
“Still, the guy will be too pissed that you broke off the alliance. He might want to take reckless chances.”
Shiv knew the Home Minister with his massive ego might react to what he thought was a public snubbing. Slowly an idea began to form in Shiv’s mind. “What if we have access to that list before any critical promotions or transfers take place, then there will be nothing Bhasin can do.”
Anirudh frowned. “But how do we do that? We don’t have much time. Even if we bribe Bhasin’s guards, they won’t know which papers to bring to us.”
Shiv smiled.
Vijay saw the smile and let out a short laugh in understanding while shaking his head.
Anirudh shook his head too. “You can’t just break into the Home Minister’s mansion tonight, Shiv. Barely three hours left before sunrise. You will be caught. And besides we have another meeting in three hours, remember?”
Shiv nodded. “You and Vijay can manage it. I’ll have a follow-up later in the day. And maybe my absence might even help after what happened last week.”
“We can’t take chances,” Shiv added. “Bhasin’s massive ego is going to be hurt by tonight’s events. If he decides to go rogue, everything will be derailed. The sabotage we are planning next month is critical.”
Anirudh and Shiv frowned as they thought through what he was saying. They knew he was right.
“All right,” said Anirudh. “But be very careful. Not all armed guards can be bribed.”
Shiv’s smile grew along with his anticipation. “Don’t worry. I’ll try not getting myself killed tonight.”
CHAPTER 6
Something woke Naina up.
She realized it was hot, sultry and completely dark inside her bedroom due to the loss of electricity. And strangely, the power back up hadn’t kicked in.
She tried to close her eyes, but she couldn’t go back to sleep. She tossed and turned feeling hot and restless. It was too sultry that night. Even the thin nightgown she wore made her overly warm.
Letting out a sound of frustration, she got up from the bed, deciding to open the bedroom balcony door until the air conditioning came back on.
Just as she opened the balcony doors, her heart jerked in sudden fright. She thought she saw a shadow move. Before she could call out or scream, the shadow moved again quickly, and a tall, dark form was behind her. A rough hand fell across her mouth, cutting off her scream before it even began. She was pulled against a hard body and dragged inside the bedroom.
She tried to resist by digging in her feet, but the person was too strong. She tried to scream, but the rough, calloused hand remained on her mouth and only m
uffled sounds were able to escape.
She continued to struggle hard while digging her nails into the arms covered by thin fabric. She even kicked at the person’s ankles. She succeeded in kicking the shin and also biting into the rough hand on her mouth. The person who held her was definitely a man because she heard a softly-uttered vicious masculine curse.
But despite the hurt she caused, the grip on her didn’t loosen as she was dragged inside. Suddenly, she found herself airborne as she was lifted and thrown on top of her bed.
Her breath was knocked out of her lungs when she landed. She barely drew in a deep breath, before she began to roll away to the other side of the bed. But the dark shadow dragged her back and fell on top of her, stealing her breath further.
She gasped and tried to draw in breaths to scream, but rough hands fell on her mouth again.
She clawed at the hand cutting off her air supply, but her hands were caught and locked together on top of her head. She panicked when she was unable to draw breaths.
“Breathe using your nose,” the man ordered softly.
Immediately, she did as she was told and sucked in long breaths into her lungs, but her panic didn’t subside. Much to her horror, the struggle had made her nightgown rip on top, exposing a part of her breasts. Her nightgown had even ridden up, baring most of her legs.
She struggled harder with muffled screams.
“Dammit. Be still!” the man’s voice ordered in a gruff voice. “You are making it worse.”
She fell still, not because she was following her attacker’s order, but because she recognized that voice.
Oh my God. It is him. The man from the club!
“Are you going to scream?” he asked softly, his warm breath falling on her.
She shook her head ‘no’ even as she decided to scream as soon as her mouth was freed.
His palm moved away from her mouth. She inhaled a deep breath and let out a scream, but it was cut off midway when his calloused, rough palm landed back on her lips.