& Then They Loved (Ampersand Love #3)

& Then They Loved

Vihaan

Three Years Later

T he gentle breeze of the night air tickled his hair, the cooling wind a welcome relief from the heat that settled upon Mumbai during the month of May. Vihaan tipped his head to the side, trying to spot familiar faces amongst the guests that littered the lawn of his parent’s palatial home where they were once again hosting their annual May masquerade.

The gardens were filled with ballgowns, sarees, men in suits and the crowd favourite: demi-masks.

At one time, he used to lose himself in those crowds, finding some willing woman to while away his time with as he sought to escape seeing his father. He would relish the noise and attention in a bid to drown out the voices of his past. Now, he preferred his privacy, no longer seeking any distraction that would keep him away from the people he loved .

“It’s just you and me, bud.”

Baby Neil blinked up at him, his light brown eyes so much like his father. “Honestly, you’re a great listener. I know I’ve been complaining a lot, but you’ve really made me feel better about this whole situation, so thanks.”

Vihaan bumped his large fist against Neil’s, shifting the little babe till he was settled a bit more comfortably in the crook of his arms.

“I think we should be best friends. The ones I have right now are utterly useless. They left me alone, they left you alone, we should form our own little group. We’re definitely the coolest anyway.”

Neil graced him with a toothless grin, drool dribbling down his chin, screeching happily when Vihaan bounced him in the air once.

“Ok, bud,” he chuckled, wiping the wetness off Neil’s double chin with the edge of his sleeve, unbothered about getting baby spit on his newest Brioni suit. “I’ll take that as an agreement. I’ll be your favourite and you’ll be mine, capisce?”

“Are you really trying to turn my son against me?”

Vihaan rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath about being caught. He turned slowly to watch Arjun and Kaya approaching him, the latter clearly worried.

“I didn’t have to try hard. His parents left him in the crib and went off gallivanting around a masquerade party.”

“You demanded we bring the baby with us, V,” Kaya scolded, her frown immediately transforming into a smile at the sight of her son. She held her hand out and Neil all but leaped into her arms, drawing a betrayed look from his best uncle-friend. “He was sleeping when we left.”

“We’ve barely been gone an hour,” Arjun added, arm around his wife and son. “And the baby monitor’s been unplugged.”

All three Rathores stared at him with varying levels of scrutiny and Vihaan folded like a cheap house of soaked cards.

“Okay, so maybe I woke him up. I was lonely.”

“Vihaan!”

“Don’t you take that tone with me.” Vihaan wagged a finger up and down at Arjun. “Not when your shirt isn’t tucked in properly. Jeez guys, just some fucking control please. This is my parent’s house.”

Kaya’s eyes went wide, her face flushing furiously. In contrast, Arjun shrugged. “It wasn’t in the house. We were reliving our first meeting.”

“You told me you just kissed that night,” Vihaan frowned, pointing between the two. “You guys look like you did a hell of a lot more right now.”

Completely ignoring Kaya’s indignant squeak, Arjun answered, smirking, “We upgraded the experience tonight.”

“Arjun!” Kaya gasped, turning a brilliant shade of red.

“What? You know he’d be christening his parent’s massive grounds with Vera if she was here. He’s being a jealous hypocrite because he’s alone.”

“I thought Aditi was going to come find you? She was with Rian,” Kaya mumbled, patting Neil when he got a little fussy.

Vihaan shook his head, catching sight of the very couple they were talking about strolling past the open door, almost missing the entry because they were too busy whispering to each other. Rian reached for Aditi, laughing when she spun away with a giggle, both stumbling to a stop when they realised their friends were staring at them.

With a heartfelt sigh, Vihaan twisted his neck to look at Neil, tilting his chin up once. “Seriously, BFFs, ok? Mine are worthless.”

“What?” Rian asked curiously.

“Nothing,” Vihaan snarked. “Wipe your wife’s lipstick off your mouth, Shetty.”

Shamelessly grinning, Rian pulled Aditi into his side, while she reached up to clean the pink off his lips. He nodded at Arjun. “What’s got him in a snit? ”

Arjun smirked, lifting his son to help settle him against his shoulder. “Vera’s away and he’s lonely.”

“When will she be back?” Aditi asked, leaning over to tickle baby Neil’s tummy with a single finger, giggling along with him.

“Supposed to have been yesterday but the shoot went longer than expected.”

Vihaan checked his phone for the hundredth time that night, hoping for a call or a message. He knew she was working on something important but if she didn’t contact him soon, he’d end up driving out to the village she was in just to see her. He was going insane worrying about her while she’d been travelling. At least she had security with her. He’d made sure of that. But damnit, he missed his wife.

“I saw your mom looking for you, V,” Aditi cooed in a baby voice, too busy playing with Neil to spare a glance to the man she was talking to. “Something about a problem with the fountains in the northern gardens. She’s waiting for you there.”

Vihaan’s brows furrowed, taking his leave to go find his parents. The northern gardens were his mother’s favourite. As he made his way there, trying his best to avoid being dragged into conversation with the guests, he tried calling Vera again, going straight to voicemail. Grumbling about the injustice of being an ignored spouse, he stomped into the darkened garden, deserted by the guests in favour of the more decorated and lively areas of the masquerade grounds. He tapped the edge of his phone against the stone wall, the sound of water slapping against the edges louder now that he was here. He cast a glance around him, the lines in his forehead deepening when his mother was nowhere to be seen.

The sudden gush of the fountain gurgling behind him had him glancing back, his brows knitting when he noticed someone standing across, on the opposite side. The lights came on, one string at a time, just as the figure moved. Vihaan watched, his curiosity turning to surprise when Vera came into view, dressed in a simple kurta that had his heart rate doubling. The deep red he so loved on her was striking, the gold bangles on her wrists glinting as the dim lights caught it with every graceful sway. She looked like a village belle who’d come to entice a city boy away from the crowds.

“Princess?”

Vera grinned, sauntering straight into his open arms.

“Surprise! Came right from work so I messaged Aditi to send you out here. Even if I wasn’t dressed for it, I didn’t want to miss out on a masquerade dance with you.”

“You look stunning,” he said, causing Vera’s eyes to twinkle even as she rolled them, clearly pleased with his response.

“I’m a mess. I’m dusty, wearing day old clothes and look. . .”

“Perfect.” He kissed her, whispering against her mouth. “You look perfect.” Vera let out a happy giggle when he kissed her deeply, showing his appreciation for her surprise quite enthusiastically. Lifting her off the ground, Vihaan tilted his head up, smiling at his beautiful wife who was glowing with a joy that was hard to fake.

“Planning on carrying me around everywhere, Charming?”

“Not a bad idea,” he admitted, holding on as she kicked her shoes off. “It would stop you from going on these long work trips. I missed you. How did the shoot go?”

“Very well. This mini-series is going to be a bit controversial, but it’ll blow the lid off these illegal child-sex determination rings. Some villages have a disconcertingly low female birth ratio. Did you know that the doctors there say ‘Jai Mata Di’ at the end of an ultrasound if it is a girl, and ‘Ram Ram’ if it is a boy? The final reveal is going to ruffle feathers—”

“Is that going to stop you?”

Vera’s lips curved in that slow, confident smile that always had his blood heating with how sexy it made her look. Yep, he was going to have to hire more security for her.

“You’re going to bring home yet another award for this show, aren’t you?” he asked, settling her feet next to his upon the cool grass, their bodies slowly loosening and moving to the gentle strains of the music that permeated the air.

“Will you make space for it?”

“ All my space is yours, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.”

“So cheesy,” she teased him, playing with the hair beside his temple and smoothening it out in an excuse to keep touching him. “Hasn’t anyone told you it’s bad form to be so obviously in love with your own wife? The gossip rags rue the day you met me. All your old playboy articles make them look like liars now.”

She nudged his nose with hers, locking her arms behind his neck when he rubbed his palms up and down her sides, sliding down to settle possessively over the curve of her ass. “I blame you,” he murmured, bending down to draw her lips between his, filing away her little sigh of satisfaction. “You’re worth obsessing over.”

“Soon, you’ll have another little obsession that takes your attention away from me.”

“Hard to imagine loving anyone more than you, Princess.”

Vera tilted her head back, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind. Especially if it is your own little princess,” she said quietly, making him drop his gaze down to her belly.

“We could just as well have a prince.”

“We could. Except I had to step in as the subject for one of the doctors we were researching, and she checked me. . .”

At Vihaan’s thunderous look, she slapped a hand over his mouth, preventing him from scolding her. “Before you rupture, I’ll have you know that I was completely safe and had two ex-military men whom you handpicked, posing as my intimidating brothers.”

When his shoulders lowered, she continued. “So, anyway, at the end of my ultrasound, the doctor said it.”

“Said what?”

Vera drew both his palms over her still-small stomach, curving it over the gentle protrusion before she smiled up at him, whispering, “Jai Mata Di. ”

The air whooshed out of him in one go, his gasp mixing with a single laugh. He glanced down at the rounded belly he held and stroked it reverently. His wife was pregnant with his. . . daughter.

A sense of certainty took root in him, the seed sown by a dream he’d once had, now sprouting to life. He glanced into the pretty face of the woman he’d always felt bonded to, and he knew it in his bones that he’d have a mini-Vera in his life soon. Just the way he wanted.

“We’re going to have to think of names,” Vera softly murmured, possibly trying to get him to use his words instead of gaping at her like a lovestruck moron who had lost all sense of reality.

“I have one in mind.”

A shapely brow flicked up at his ready answer. He drew her closer, her belly pressing into him.

“With your permission, I’d like to name our daughter Amber.”

Vera’s fingers curled into his chest, digging hard. Wide eyes stared at him, glimmering with a strange sheen.

“Amber Oberoi,” he said, finally having a chance to admit what had been on his mind since the moment they’d found out about the pregnancy. “It seems like a fitting homage to her great grandfather and the man I owe for loving her mother so well, before her daddy got a chance.”

“Oh,” Vera cried softly, too overwhelmed to say anything else. Her grandfather’s absence was not something she’d ever fully recovered from, but Vihaan remembered his vow to Ambernath well, and he tried every single day to live up to the trust Nanu had placed in him. He swiped the thick pad of his thumb under her eye, flicking off the dampness.

“Is it that terrible an idea that I made you cry?” he teased, drawing an unwilling laugh out of her. She held his gaze, her clear adoration making him feel like he’d achieved so much more than he’d set out to.

“You make me so happy, I don’t know how to handle it sometimes,” she admitted .

“You’ll learn. I did say I want a happily-ever-after with you.” Vihaan affectionately bumped his nose against her, making her grin through her tears.

“Vihaan,” she hummed, a satisfied sound that heated his blood instantly. “Tell me you love me.”

He melted at the un-Vera-like request. That she share her needs and be vulnerable with him was everything Vihaan had once hoped for. This vibrant and feisty woman he adored, by some miracle, had chosen to show him the softness that lay beyond her hardened exterior. And he would never take that for granted. Chin held between his thumb and pointer, he tipped her face up, letting his eyes roam about her sweet features with a reverence more suited to a drowning man finally drawing a breath of fresh air.

“I love you, Vera. Always have, always will.”

Her lips curved up into a radiant smile that blinded him to everything else in the world.

“Always is a lifetime.”

“It is,” he agreed, tucking a thick strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her so soundly, that her knees weakened even as his heart soared. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”