“So, when can we visit the Singham Estate?” Myra asked Abhay during lunch.
“Anytime. Let me know a few days before, so we can prepare for your arrival.”
Anika helped herself to more food. She was suddenly ravenous. All of her nausea seemed to have disappeared that day. “The three of us will try and fly to San Francisco as often as we can.”
“Three? You mean with Dev?” Abhay scrunched his nose.
Everyone seemingly froze around the table. All the eyes were on Anika who was slowly turning red. “Uh… Abhay. Can we speak privately for a minute?” she asked.
Abhay frowned when he saw the strange yet tensed faces around the table. He noticed there wasn't a negative tension—it appeared to be more of an anticipation.
Anika pushed her chair back and got up. She held his hand and took him inside to her bedroom. The bed badly tested his patience, but he held himself back when he saw the anxious face of his wife.
“What's the matter, Anika?” he asked.
Looking into his eyes, she took a deep breath and held his hands. “I'm pregnant.”
He was stunned. He stared at her unable to work out any words.
Anika looked amused. “Say something, Abhay.”
“How?” he asked, still in shock.
She let out a giggle. “Umm… the usual way, Mr. Singham. If I recall, you are incredibly good at it.” Her face softened. "It probably was at the lakehouse."
"But you used protection… "
She giggled once again. "They are not hundred percent foolproof. And you must have really good swimmers to be able to get past the various protection we used."
Abhay shook his head, and finally a savage, possessive smile broke on his face causing Anika's heart to thud in excitement.
“You are completely mine now!” he growled and swept her off her feet to kiss her passionately. Later, when they pulled away to gasp in some much needed air, he continued watching her with the possessive look. “No force on earth can keep you away from me. Not even you!”
“Settle down, Mr. Caveman,” she groaned out a laugh squirming within her husband's arms.
“I can't,” he said as he placed her gently on her bed. “I mean what I just said. You and our little one are my life from now on.” He rained slow kisses on her face and then moved down her body until he held her still flat stomach. He kissed her belly gently before moving up with a vulnerable look in his eyes.
“I know you and our child can easily live without me. But please, choose me, and my life, even though your world might be a more suitable place to bring up children,” he said.
Anika sat on up her bed running her fingers through Abhay's hair as he lay his head on her lap. “I was planning on chasing you to Singham Estate, demanding you accept me whether you wanted me or not.”
His head snapped up, and he looked at her in disbelief.
She smiled. “I resigned from my job. Yesterday was mylast day. I told everyone I would be taking some distant courses in hospital management because I will be running a hospital in India.” She leaned forward to kiss him on his lips. “My friends and family are here to say goodbye. I was planning on flying out in two more days. I even packed up whatever I needed.” She pointed with her chin towards the suitcases standing against the wall.
A smile broke on his face. He moved up and pushed her back to bed, before climbing on top of her and kissing her deeply.
She felt his arousal and groaned into his mouth as her body responded violently due to their long separation.
“If I can’t be inside you soon, I'm going to go mad,” he growled.
“I know. But my parents…”
He exhaled noisily and dragged himself away from her. He lay on the bed next to her bringing his body under control.
She wrapped her arms around her body and shuddered feeling the need running through her. “Let's go out now. We are almost done with lunch, and they'll leave soon.”
She dragged herself up and went towards the bedroom door and opened it. Giving him a hot sweeping look that flared his eyes, she strode out.
“Everything okay?” her mom asked.
“Yes.”
“Where's Abhay?”
“He… uh… is still too overwhelmed with the news. He's going to join us shortly.”
Ten minutes later, Abhay joined everyone looking calm and collected.
Everyone congratulated him.
“Thank you,” he replied.
Soon, Nathan left and then Anika's parents.
“Hmm… you know what?” said Myra with a thoughtful look. “I think Justin and I are going to hang out for a bit longer. It's so much fun hanging out with you guys.” Then she stared at Anika's frozen look and Abhay's impassive expression and burst out laughing.
“What? Not even a polite, sure, please stay longer, lil sis?” Myra giggled. Justin shook his head and dragged Myra out of the house.
As soon as Anika closed the door, Abhay swept her into his arms, and in record time had her deposited on her bed and stripped them out of their clothes.
“Did you miss me, Mr. Singham?” she asked breathlessly staring at him in eager anticipation.
He dragged her up on the bed and covered her body balancing his weight on his arms and stared down at her with a desperate hungry look. “You have no bloody idea how much, Dr. Singham.”
Those were the only sentences they spoke for a very long time.
CHAPTER 39
“Sir, can you please raise your chin a little? I'd like to capture that powerful jaw.”
Abhay scowled at the portrait artist.
“Sir, although your scowl is pretty sexy, I think your wife will want you to appear happy in this family portrait.”
Anika let out a muffled giggle. Abhay turned to frown at her, but seeing his wife's beautiful face with amusement dancing in her eyes, his scowl softened to a sheepish smile.
“I know you are dying to get the hell out of here,” she said.
“Of course, I am. If it's really a portrait you need, then you should know that I could commission a portrait from one of the world's best artists. They will come to the Singham Estate and stay with us and work on the portrait based on our schedule.” He was still outraged that they had to wait for another couple to finish up before them.
She smiled. “I know, but this one will always remain special to me,” she said softly.
Abhay felt the familiar tug in his heart. He knew how much the day meant to her. They were exploring San Francisco as carefree tourists. The next day, he would be taking her back to Singham Estate where reality would catch up with them.
“Sir, please look straight ahead.”
The portrait artist's voice intruded his thoughts, and he went back to scowling at the lady. His eyes wandered to the tourists walking on the opposite side of the road—some of them were laughing and clicking pictures.
His eyes fell on a man who was obviously from Indian origin. He looked familiar, especially with the way he grew out his beard and mustache and also the distinctive green and red colored tattoos on the neck. The man was facing his profile towards Abhay, so his tattoo couldn't be seen clearly. He was talking on the phone gesturing with his hands.
A couple of minutes later, he ended the call and looked straight ahead, raising his arm as though to flag a taxi. Their eyes met, and Abhay couldn't tear his eyes off the puckered flesh that covered the man's right cheek.
Everything froze as Abhay tried to process what he was seeing. Even the man's eyes widened, and he looked terrified.
Abhay got up from the bench slowly and watched as the man's lips kept uttering the same words over and over again.
Vijay Singham.
“Abhay?” Anika called out to him.
“Don't move. Stay right here. I'll be right back,” he said and moved towards the man with purpose.
The man saw him coming towards him and began to walk away quickly.
Abhay didn't care for the oncoming traffic or the pedestrian ru
les and began to cross the road.
The man kept turning back looking frantically as he walked away. Soon he reached a taxi and wrenched opened the door.
Abhay ran faster. “Stop!”
The man stuck his head out of the taxi and frantically spoke with the driver. When Abhay was barely ten feet away from the car, it slid into the traffic and drove away.
He stood there, frozen and watching the taxi as it disappeared.
“Abhay? What happened? Who was that?”
He turned slowly and stared at his wife's worried look. “I think that was Narasimha Raidu, my father's bodyguard.”
Anika frowned. “He moved to the States after the incident at the temple happened?”
Abhay simply stared at his wife as she stood with their cheap-framed portrait.
“Abhay, you are scaring me. Tell me what’s wrong?” she demanded.
He took a deep breath, trying to sort out his thoughts. “Narasimha Raidu was supposed to have died in that fire along with our fathers. He was supposed to have died protecting my mother and father.”
Anika looked stunned. “What?”
He tried to recall the sequence of the events that had apparently transpired on that fateful day, but each version based on who was narrating it, ended up being different.
“How are you so sure he was Narasimha Raidu?” Anika's calm voice tore through his musings.
“He looked at me in fear. And he called me Vijay Singham. He also had the Senani tattoo that belonged to his father's side of the family.”
She was quiet as she took in the details. “So he faked his death for some reason. He was scared of your father?”
Abhay shook his head. “No, they grew up together. He even had a family. Malini is his daughter.”
Anika was shocked. “Malini told me her father died in the fire as well. So he hasn't told anyone in his family, too.”
They were silent, lost in their own thoughts.
“Maybe he was ashamed of not being able to protect the people he was hired to and also for being the only survivor. So he escaped.” Even as Anika spoke those words, something didn't ring true.
Abhay took a deep breath. He held Anika's shoulders gently. “We'll have to postpone our tickets. I can't go back without finding that man,” he said.
Anika nodded. “I'm fine, Abhay. I want to know what happened, too.”
Abhay pulled out his phone and dialed. The phone began ringing, and it was answered after several rings. “Hello,” a gruff deep voice answered.
“Dev, I'll be staying here with Anika for a few more days. I don't know for how long. I want you to handle things at the Estate.”
“What happened?” Dev asked, sensing something.
“I think I saw Narasimha Raidu.”
“What the fuck? Dad's bodyguard?” Dev almost shouted.
“Yes.”
“I want to be there as well to hunt for that bastard and find out what happened.”
“People need you there, Dev. Stay and handle everything while I look for him here.”
There was silence. Abhay knew his brother well. Dev was mentally trying to check who could handle things while he flew in to join the hunt.
“Dev, stay. There are too many things happening at the Estate. Things are slowly falling into place with the canal and the units. We can't afford to mess up anything at this point.”
There was another long stretch of silence, and then, “Fine,” came out a grudging reply.
Ending the call, he looked at his wife. She had a determined look on her face as she began typing on her phone. “Let's start listing down contacts that can help us find that person.”
End of Bound by Revenge
Preview of BOUND BY HATRED
(Book 2 of The Singham Bloodlines Series)
Coming Soon in Fall 2017
The moment Sabitha heard the deep familiar voice, she groped for the switch and turned on the lights. Then without a pause, she spun around with her fist flying, aiming towards the man's head. But her fist met with his palm.
She glared into the face.
The man towering over her was not the man she had come to seduce. Instead of the harsh, rugged features of Abhay Singham, this man looked completely different from his older brother.
Everything on this man's face was nauseatingly movie-star perfect. The high cheekbones, the strong sharp nose, the soft pink upturned lips—that were now stretched to a smirk—made him look dazzlingly perfect. The only thing that made him appear ruthless was the hooded eyes of a predator.
Unlike Abhay Singham's impassive face, this man had an expressive one. At the moment, his face displayed a primitive satisfaction along with lust and hatred.
Slowly, he braced his free hand on the wall above her head, leaning down towards her, enveloping her in his expensive cologne.
Until then, even though she had come for the sole purpose of seduction, she couldn't force her body to feel anything apart from cold determination when she was kissed in the dark. But looking at the man in front of her, she felt something that she hadn't felt in a very long time, maybe even ever. Something she had promised herself at eighteen, she would never feel.
Her lips, that were kissed by him moments ago, began to tingle, and her nipples peaked in arousal. The fact that Dev Singham brought out those obvious reactions, pissed her off.
The bastard grinned in satisfaction as his eyes lowered to her chest. Before he could speak again, she pulled her head back and smashed it against his nose. His head went back and his grip on her loosened. She brought her knees back just far enough to kick in him in the crotch, causing him to release her completely.
“You bitch—” he began, but she didn’t let him finish speaking. She kicked his legs out from under him.
As soon as he fell down, she dug the sole of her foot hard into his neck, glaring down at him. "Do not ever put your lips, or your hands, or even your fucking air that you breathe out—on me."
The next instant her foot was twisted, bringing her down to the ground. She was pinned there with the weight of his body, while he wrapped his hands around her throat. Fury burned in his eyes as he breathed noisily through his bleeding nose. “I was taught to never hit a woman, but you are fucking pushing it!"
“I was taught the same thing. Would you like me to apologize, little bitch?” she snarled, pushing her thumbs to his eyes, forcing his hands to let go of her throat.
They fought and struggled on the ground like animals before he picked her up and threw her into the nearest furniture. The edge of a heavy dresser banged into her hips.
Ignoring the pain, she stood up and grabbed a heavy chair in front of the dresser, and brought it smashing against his side.
He had been checking the bleeding bite mark on his arm at that time. He howled in fury as the chair splintered around him before coming at her again.
They went on and on, each of them trying their best to hurt the other, without actually killing the other person.
They both knew they couldn't risk one of their deaths, as that would stop the crucial Singham-Prajapati wedding from taking place the next day.
End of Preview
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you for reading Bound by Revenge. Hope you loved Abhay and Anika's story. There is more romance and action coming up with the Singham family! Also, watch out for the mystery regarding what had happened before the tragic deaths of the Singham and Prajapati families in the temple massacre.
As most of you might have observed, our book is a nod to the various strong women characters that we watched in movies as we grew up. Hope, that helped visualize the characters better. :)
Thank You
Authors P.G.Van and MV Kasi
Email: [email protected]
Please Rate and Review:
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/bbrev
Goodreads Link:
BOOKS BY MV KASI and P.G.VAN
MV KASI
That Same Old Love (Match Made In Hell Series #1
)
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/thatsameoldlove
Those Same Old Desires (Match Made In Hell Series #2)
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/thosesameolddesires
The Holiday Affair (Match Made In Hell Series Book#3) (STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/theholidayaffair
Soulless (Revenge or Love?) (The Revenge Games#1)
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/soulless
Ruthless (Revenge or Love?) (The Revenge Games#2)
Amazon Link: smarturl.it/ruthlessrevengegames
P.G.VAN
Destiny Decides.. (Pure Destiny Series #1)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/DestinyDecides
Destiny Embraces..(Pure Destiny Series #2)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/DestinyEmbraces
The Evil Twin?(STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/TheEvilTwin
A Reckless Night(STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/ARecklessNight
Hold Me Captive… Forever(STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/HoldMeCaptive
The Marriage Contract(STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: http://hyperurl.co/TheMarriageContract
The Royal Roommate(STANDALONE)
Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/TheRoyalRoommate
SAMPLE CHAPTER of The Marriage Contract by P.G.Van
DESCRIPTION
Kari had no plans for a marriage of convenience when she walked into a meeting with the President of the Kennedy Group of Companies, but it was the only option she was left with after a business deal her father had with the Kennedy Group.
Blake was only looking to expand his empire and wasn't interested in marriage or a fake wife, but what she had to offer was promising enough for him to give in to her demands.
Bound by Revenge (The Singham Bloodlines) Page 19