by M. V. Kasi
Her heart thudded in anger, outrage and fear as she slowly took in the bedroom.
Just like the huge living room, two of the bedroom walls were made of glass and overlooked the city. Thick, heavy curtains were drawn to the sides. Despite the huge living spaces in the penthouse, there weren’t many places to hide or escape.
She heard the click of the bedroom door shutting and swung towards him. He was watching her with an unreadable look.
She didn’t let her fear show, only allowed her hate and anger to show on her face.
“If you touch me, I’ll kill you,” she warned.
She quickly took a few steps away from him. And then, with trembling hands, she took out the small pen-knife she had hidden inside the folds of her wedding dress and pointed it at him. She always carried it with her for her safety. Never did she think she might have to use it one day against the man she married.
The odds were against her. Shiv Jaipal was nearly a foot taller than her, broader and way stronger. The only thing she had as an advantage was her determination.
He didn’t show surprise or anger or even alertness of having a knife pointed at him. He watched her with hooded eyes before beginning to take off his cufflinks.
Her hands trembled as she watched his smooth, unhurried moments. He placed the cufflinks on the nearest surface under a large mirror. And in an equally unhurried manner, he began unbuttoning his suit jacket. But this time, he slowly began to stalk towards her.
Naina’s heart almost beat out of her chest. She backed away a few more steps while keeping her knife pointed at him with trembling hands.
“Stop!” she said desperately. “Don’t come near me. Or I will kill you!”
He finished unbuttoning his jacket and shrugged it off, throwing it on a nearby chair. He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt. A flash of tanned skin and hard, ripped muscles came on display.
Her breaths splintered as she recalled touching and feeling those well-defined hard muscles a long time ago when he had kissed her. His hard, aroused body and his passionate kiss had constantly haunted her dreams.
“Come here,” he ordered.
At his soft command, she was yanked back to reality. She looked at him disbelievingly. “I’m not joking! I’m serious! I’ll kill you if you come near me or touch me!”
He smiled slowly and darkly. “Will you?”
“Yes!” she said in desperation and panic. “I will stab you and kill you!”
Continuing to smile darkly, he slowly stalked towards her. She continued to take a few steps back. But soon, her back met with the cold, glass wall of the bedroom.
She was cornered.
With her breaths coming out noisily and her heart thudding, she stared at him, at his stunningly handsome face which was now intent on claiming her as his wife.
A lot of time had passed since the last time they met as strangers. So much had happened in her life since then. And yet, she clearly remembered each and every moment she spent with the handsome stranger over a year ago.
She regretted it all now. She wished she had never gone to the club. Never seen him. Never met him. Never kissed him. She wished she had never allowed him to make her feel the strong, undeniable pull of desire between them.
“I hate you,” she whispered before raising the knife higher and aiming it towards his chest.
PAST
One and a half years ago…
CHAPTER 1
“Mr. Jaipal,” the heavily accented voice of a man spoke in an agitated tone. “This is the best offer we have made to any of our customers around the world.”
Shiv was seated in a boardroom of a high-rise building overlooking the city through a large glass wall. If anyone were to look inside, they would think it was a normal business meeting. Dressed in expensive suits, all the men resembled high-powered corporate executives.
But in reality, they were the biggest and most dangerous criminals from around the world.
Shiv looked at the man in front of him and shrugged. “I’m sure you must have done enough homework to know that I don’t care what offers were made to others. We agreed on a deal, and you will deliver it to me.”
The man’s jaw clenched. “The price and conditions you are placing on the shipments are outrageous. The risk we will take, especially with your government passing new rules on illegal weapons, it is too much.”
Shiv smiled darkly. “It may be too much for you. But if you want to begin your operations in India, you have no choice other than to go through me.”
The man looked smug. “You are not the only arms dealer in your country, Mr. Jaipal. You have a competitor. We spoke to him last week after we spoke to you. If you don’t agree—”
Shiv cut the man off. “Had. I had a competitor last week. Mr. Choksy is no longer alive. And the fact that you tried to bypass me is the reason why the price is non-negotiable.” He pointed his chin at the printed documents in front of the man. “Sign it.”
The man’s jaw clenched again. “I am the most powerful arms dealer in the European region. All the wars and attacks that happen across Europe use my weapons. I have influential customers. I can destroy you. I will—” He broke off mid-tirade when Shiv flashed his cell phone screen towards him.
The man’s face paled as he helplessly watched a ship exploding in the middle of the ocean.
Shiv smiled. “That’s the first one, and if we prolong this meeting, there will be more to go. I don’t think those influential customers like losing a shit ton of money.”
Fury exploded on the man’s face, turning it red. “You might be powerful than me, but have no right to dictate the terms this way! I will teach you a lesson.” The man turned around and looked at his men.
There were sounds of guns being loaded. But before any of the armed guards could raise their automatic rifles, there were soft yet unmistakable sounds of rapid firing from guns with silencers.
Shiv didn’t look away from the man’s face or try to hide from the line of fire. Soon, there were groans of pain around the room from the injured men. They were the lucky ones because they were left alive.
Shiv smiled at the man in front of him. “Any more questions? Maybe I should connect you to my Asia-Pacific contact. They make one of the best guns too. Silent and efficient.”
The man gritted his teeth before he picked up the pen and signed it.
A few minutes later, Shiv stood near the helipad on top of the building while a deafening sound filled the air. “Nice doing business with you, Petrov,” he said while injured bodies of the man’s guards were loaded to the back of the chopper.
Rage dominated the man’s face, but he managed to nod in acknowledgement before getting into the chopper.
Not waiting for the chopper to take off, Shiv turned to leave. He supposed showing his back to a pissed-off criminal was a bad idea. But the other man was already warned that the chopper would blow up mid-air if anything untoward happened.
Smiling and feeling invigorated of having closed yet another deal that drew him closer to his goal, Shiv went inside and towards the private elevator. Just before he stepped in, he gave instructions to his head of security. “Vasu, have the boardroom cleaned up and sanitized. I’ll be back much later tonight to check.”
“Sure, Shiv. Do you need me to have a car readied?”
“No. I’ll be driving on my own.”
He got into the private elevator and pressed the button to his penthouse. When the doors opened, he stepped into a foyer and entered his fingerprints and code on the keypad.
As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw the old man with gray hair dusting the already well-maintained living room. The sun was setting, and the golden shadow reflected into the huge living room through the glass wall on one side of the penthouse overlooking the city.
“Good evening, Sitaram.”
The old man barely blinked when he saw the blood and gun residue on Shiv’s white shirt. Sitaram had worked with the Jaipals for over forty years and was used to suc
h sights.
Shiv shed his shirt and handed it to Sitaram, who was finicky enough to want to wash the blood right away. Although Shiv won’t be using the shirt again, he knew Sitaram would feel satisfied by having it cleaned.
“Will you stay for dinner?” Sitaram asked.
“No. I’m going out.” He had a date. The critical yet dangerous deal he just closed made him want to celebrate in the most primal way.
Going into his bedroom, he took a quick shower and changed into fresh clothes. He was buttoning up his shirt when his phone rang. He knew who was calling—Anirudh and Vijay. They were his two longtime friends who were also his business partners.
“How did it go?” Anirudh asked.
Finishing buttoning his shirt and placing the Bluetooth speaker in his ear, Shiv stepped out of the bedroom and then out of the penthouse. “As expected. Petrov needed a bit more convincing.”
He pressed the button on the elevator to take him to the underground parking. He was running late to the date, but he didn’t bother sending a message.
“News is spreading fast, Shiv,” Vijay remarked. “Tejas is like a bloodhound. He is gearing up to obtaining permission to search your building.”
Tejas was part of law enforcement who had been trying to catch the devils in the act. And Tejas especially had his sights on Shiv.
“He can search as much as he wants. I’ve asked my men to clean up and not leave any traces.”
Shiv knew there was nothing to worry about as they had been through similar scenarios multiple times for almost a decade.
“What you did is absolutely right. The bastard Petrov deserved it after what he pulled off in the recent attack in France,” said Vijay.
“Yup. By the way, Petrov was also outraged about the new government-imposed restrictions. They are going to make things harder to move the shipments around. We’ll have to push for the newer sanctions earlier than we discussed.”
“You are right. But we need to do it smartly, so the big fish don’t swim away.”
Shiv knew Anirudh was right about being careful not to scare away the big players. “As long as we can control who is put at which critical posts, we should be okay.” He unlocked and slid into the sleek car. The engine started with a soft purr before it made loud accelerating noises as he backed up the car fast and raced it out of the garage.
“I agree,” said Vijay. “I heard the list will soon go out to Bhasin for his approval.”
Bhasin was the Home Minister. For now, the power-hungry politician was under their control. The man had ambitions to become the Chief Minister, and he wanted to achieve that goal by getting his daughter married to Anirudh.
“What about controlling the shipping line?” Anirudh asked. “There is a greater need to acquire complete control of that. And Somraj is getting desperate.”
Shiv felt a twinge of annoyance even though he knew his friend was right. Having complete control of all modes of shipping would make their goal much easier to achieve. But to do that, Shiv would have to give his final decision on whether or not he would agree to marry the daughter of the man who owned one of the biggest shipping companies in the country.
There was a deep chuckle. “I guess you both have to marry soon,” said Vijay. “Bhasin and Somraj are not going to stop hounding you both until you marry their daughters.”
There was a brief silence on the line. Shiv knew Anirudh hated the fact as much as him that they would have to marry for the sake of their common goals.
Shiv supposed he had the better choice. Based on the investigative files, Somraj’s daughter was supposedly sweet, beautiful and meek enough to make a perfect wife. Anirudh would be getting the sore end of the deal because Bhasin’s daughter, although beautiful, was supposedly a stubborn brat. She hated her father and gave him a lot of trouble. She was a wild card who might risk everything. At nineteen, she was too young and too reckless, and it would be more or less equivalent to marrying a tantrum-throwing child.
But despite having the better choice in the bride, everything inside him rebelled at the thought of marriage. He enjoyed his freedom too much and hated the thought of tying himself to one woman. Despite his wild and adventurous dating life, he had very old-fashioned beliefs when it came to fidelity in marriage.
And there was also the matter of his other goal—something entirely personal.
He let out a frustrated sigh, knowing he can’t continue to push out the decision any further. Too much was at stake.
“Are you coming to the club tomorrow?” Anirudh asked.
The three of them co-owned a chain of popular nightclubs. And on most Friday nights, if they were not travelling, they met at one of their clubs to discuss business and also to unwind.
“Yup. We’ll discuss the next plan of action there. See you both tomorrow.”
Ending the call, Shiv pulled the car in front of an exclusive restaurant and handed the keys to the valet. He was received by the hostess of the restaurant and led to a private area where he had reservations. Two beautiful women were seated there waiting for him.
“You are late,” one of the beautiful women complained.
He let out a slow smile, flashing his dimples, knowing the effect it had on the opposite sex. “Sorry, ladies. I’ll make it up to you both tonight.” He sat opposite to them before winking wickedly. “Or if you promise to behave and be quiet, I’ll make it up to you in a while.”
The other beautiful woman giggled. “God, Shiv. You really are such a devil.”
CHAPTER 2
“Narcissist, emotionally abusive, humorless and selfish in bed.”
As soon as Naina finished her analysis, there was drunken feminine laughter from her group.
“Naina! Stop being so negative. You always find some fault or other in all men. And that guy seems good-looking and the decent kind.”
Naina smiled, not saying anything in her defense. She didn’t have to.
“Oh God, Naina. I wish we could prove your character analysis wrong at least once. But you’ve always been right.”
“Sorry, gals. I wish I weren’t.” Naina’s voice was slightly slurred too.
She and her group of friends were seated at the VIP area of an exclusive club called The Dungeon. They were university students who were letting down their hair in between preparing for their exams.
“Your stepmother is awesome, Naina. She not only gave us VIP passes to this club, but she’s even footing the entire bill!”
Naina let out a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah, right. She’s awesome.”
Naina firmly stuck to her resolution not to think of her situation at home. She had to return home for the holidays since the university housing was shut down for the preparation of exams. It was barely a week, and she desperately wanted to get out of the suffocating atmosphere at the house, and so she had taken up her stepmother’s offer to go out with friends to a popular club which was apparently owned by one of her good friends.
“More shots?” Naina asked, distracting herself.
With a chorus of agreement, a few more rounds of shots followed.
“Oh my God. That guy! Do that guy, Naina!”
Naina turned and squinted at the guy her friend was pointing. As soon as her eyes focused on the tall man, her eyes widened. She slow blinked. He wasn’t standing there before, or one of her friends would have definitely noticed him.
“Whoa. Naina definitely should do that guy.” There were drunken giggles.
Naina didn’t respond. She was busy staring.
The man was tall, broad and strikingly handsome. He was standing at a distance talking to the hostess of the club. He appeared to be in his late twenties or maybe at most early thirties. And based on his body language, he seemed to be giving instructions to the hostess. Was he the manager of the club?
He wasn’t dressed in a suit like most managers. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and light-colored jeans that showed off his tall, broad and muscular form. Even from a distance, she could make out it was ex
pensive designer wear.
And despite his casual clothing and a small smile on his face, there was something about him that screamed dangerous. It wasn’t danger in a creepy way, though. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was danger in a way that attracted a moth to a flame. Despite knowing he was dangerous, women were attracted to him.
With great effort, she tore her eyes away from him and noticed that other women sitting in the VIP booths were also looking at him. The ones seated with their backs facing him like her, were also turning to look at him. He was the kind of man who always drew attention.
“Well? What do you think, Naina?” one of her friends asked.
Naina continued to stare, trying to figure him out.
Some sort of authoritative figure for sure.
A strange aura of danger lurked around him.
And he drew women like a magnet.
But was he a good guy or a bad one?
“He’s… he’s…” She didn’t know what to say as she couldn’t figure out any of his flaws.
Usually, all of her analyses were on the negative side, thanks to her life experiences. But this particular man neither seemed like a narcissist nor like a humble guy. He knew he held power, but he didn’t necessarily seek constant validation for it. He knew most women’s eyes were directed at him, but he didn’t necessarily seek that attention. His dimpled smile made him seem approachable even while his eyes and body language threw out danger signals.
He was an anomaly, and that fact thoroughly fascinated her.
“Oh my God. That man must have some magical powers if he has Naina watching him for this long and not doing his character assassination.”
There were giggles.
“Go get him, Naina. Don’t let that hunky god slip away!”
The man did have the face of a god, but the vibes emitting from him screamed he was the devil.
Her mind screamed at her to solve the anomaly. She stood up and shook her head, trying to get rid of the buzz that was probably making her think of doing stupid things. But despite a part of the brain shouting a warning, telling her not to do anything stupid, her legs slowly carried her towards the man.
