Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
DIYA
T he only reason I got past Dheer’s security guards was the element of surprise. And the fact that the car had black tinted windows. Not to mention that I knew for a fact that the only person who drove this monster of a car was His Highness. It had rusted in the palace garage for years before Dheer’s father got it restored as a twenty-first birthday present for him. He had even taken it on a ceremonial circuit around the city after his Rajya-Abhishek as the new Maharaja of Trikhera. And I also happened to know that he called it Dhanno.
It was a vintage custom-built Rolls Royce, made for a Maharaja who liked to live big. Like literally. This was the biggest car I had ever seen. And it was gold plated. Like eww! Dheer’s ancestors might have had tons of money, but they had no taste. I didn’t know why he hadn’t had this monstrosity melted and scrapped for parts.
In less than five minutes, I made it to the dusty road that joined the national highway, and that’s when my plan started to fall apart.
When I tried to change the gear, the car began to drift sideways and it took all my skill to stop it from ploughing into the divider. I ignored the honking from the trucks behind me and tried to stay in my lane. Of all the cars I could have stolen, why did I have to pick this one?
Although, strictly speaking, I didn’t pick the car. The car picked me!
All I had done was sneak one hand into the drawer where the valets kept the car keys and pulled out the first one I found. It was the best I could do considering that I had climbed out of yet another window in less than twenty-four hours and slid down yet another tree to make my escape.
Isha was still asleep and barely stirred when I stubbed my toe against the bed as I dressed in the dark. I knew there were guards posted around the house because I had seen them walking past Isha’s window as they did their rounds last night. I had tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw that poor woman’s terrified face as Ayush shoved her off the terrace. My hands twitched with the memory of how it felt to run a knife across a man’s neck and sever his artery.
While Isha slept beside me, I cried silently until I had no tears left. I still couldn’t understand how my life had turned into a nightmare overnight. But that was no excuse for acting like a damsel in distress. I couldn’t sit around and wait for Dheer to solve my problems. Where did he even get off ordering me to stay put like I was a dog in need of training?
The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I was sick of men who told me what to do, whether it was Ayush-fucking-Goel who told me to forget all about the woman he had killed in front of me, or Dheer who told me I couldn’t go back home without his permission.
I got out of bed and dressed quickly because I had a short window of time before the guards walked past Isha’s window again. I was taking charge of my life again, and any man who had a problem with it could go suck eggs, I decided as I climbed down the tree outside the window. Isha would understand. She chafed against the patriarchal rules that bound us as much as I did.
I knew I only had a few minutes before someone spotted me, so I snuck around the back of the house to the massive garage that housed Dheer’s car collection and decided to steal a car. Because, no matter what he said, I was going home right now, and there was nothing he could do to stop me.
The element of surprise worked and the sleepy security guard at the gate raised the barrier for me to drive past without realising that it wasn’t Dheer at the wheel. My luck held until I hit the main road, and that’s when I realised that a car of this vintage was safe only for ceremonial rides. Meaning it was too old and clunky to drive on the main road where I couldn’t plod along at the speed of twenty in a forty zone. Especially when heavy trucks buzzed past me in their hurry to get out of the city before their seven am deadline.
“Come on, Dhanno! Just get me home safely,” I begged, but the car refused to go any faster.
Just as I was about to make the turn to get onto the highway, something struck my side mirror and it splintered. I thought it was a stone, but the volley of bullets aimed at the car soon told me otherwise. Someone was shooting at me!
I ducked behind the wheel and the car swerved wildly as a bullet entered through the rear windshield and went out through the front. It narrowly missed me and I started to shake as I realised that I was in real danger. Two jeeps cut past me and flew ahead to block my way. There were two men in each vehicle, staring me down with guns aimed right at me.
I could have been walking for Schiaparelli at Milan Fashion Week right now. Instead, I was stuck in an ugly, gold boat of a car while strange men shot at me with big, scary guns. The fates really hated me, I thought miserably.
I knew that if I stopped, I was done for. They’d riddle me with bullets as soon as I got out of the car. So I did the only thing I could do. I kept going. In fact, I picked up speed because now I was pissed. I was so done with random men trying to kill me!
“Hold on, Dhanno! This is going to hurt,” I muttered, as I slammed the car first into one jeep and then the other.
The jeeps spun around like tops and crashed into the divider. The smart thing to do would have been to ditch the car and run for my life before the gunmen got out of their mangled vehicles and came at me again, but it felt like my fingers were glued to the steering wheel. I was frozen in place, unable to move.
I could hear vehicles honking behind me, and I just hoped someone called the cops. But I knew that was an empty hope. Who was going to get involved when faced with guns? And Ayush Goel had enough pull that even the cops would look the other way while his men hunted me down in the street like a dog.
I slammed my head on the steering wheel, hoping the pain would snap me out of this freeze and get me moving. It worked and my fingers finally unclenched, and I peered through the cracked windshield as I dealt with the seat belt.
Ayush’s men were getting out of their vehicles slowly. Damn it! I had to get out of there before they reached for their weapons. And then, it was too late. They started walking towards the Rolls with their weapons out.
I whimpered as I realised that this was it. I was going to die. All the vehicles around me had stopped to watch the spectacle that was unfolding, but not one driver stepped forward to help. Well, I wasn’t going down so easily, I decided fiercely. I’d take my killers down with me.
I turned the key in the ignition, but the car didn’t start.
“Don’t give up on me already, Dhanno,” I muttered. “Our lives are at stake.”
But the lazy cow refused to start.
“I promise I’ll buy you a Cartier hood ornament if you just help me out this time,” I begged, but she still didn’t start.
Ayush’s men were advancing on me rapidly, but they suddenly froze in their tracks. As I stared in surprise, they lowered their weapons and began to back away from my car. A sudden movement in my cracked side mirror caught my eye, and I cranked down the window to poke my head out and find out what was happening.
It was Dheer!
He had some kind of huge weapon on his shoulder. Was that… a rocket launcher ? I could not believe my eyes! Where did he even find such a thing? And what the hell was he doing acting like he knew his way around it? It could take his head off if it went off by mistake.
Maybe it wasn’t loaded. For the sake of his stupid head, I hoped it wasn’t. But Ayush’s men seemed to think it was loaded because they turned tail and ran as he strode up to stand in front of Dhanno. They left their mangled Jeeps in the middle of the road and just ran away.
I let out a slow breath and felt as if I had aged twenty years in the past twenty minutes. After the men vanished into one of the little bylanes of Trikhera, Dheer turned around and glared at me. He marched up to the driver’s side and pulled the door open.
“Get out,” he bit out angrily.
“Is that thing loaded?” I asked warily.
He went red in the face and I wondered if he was about to have a stroke. Really, he needed to work on his anger issues before they killed him.
“Of course, it’s loaded,” he snapped.
“Are you mad? You can’t wave that thing around in public. What if it goes off by accident?”
“Get out of my car,” he roared in reply, and I jumped in my seat.
“Fine,” I replied icily, giving the steering wheel a little pat before I stepped out of the car with as much dignity as I could muster. She might have been useless in a fight, but Dhanno had got me out of the palace, and for that, I’d always be grateful.
“Thank you for your help, Dheer. I’ll just call a cab to take me home,” I said because I could hardly expect him to drop me all the way to Jadhwal.
Dheer set the rocket launcher down with a thump and bent to stare me in the eye.
“Did you hurt your head when you crashed my car?” he asked politely.
“No. I just want to get home as soon as I can. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not safe in your city,” I explained coldly.
“I have noticed, but I was wondering if that little detail had slipped your tiny little mind!”
“Stop roaring at me,” I said firmly. “And also, stop insulting me or I’ll punch you in the throat.”
“You can try,” he snorted. “Wake up and smell the coffee, sweetheart. You’re not going anywhere. Ayush isn’t going to give up so easily. I might have chased these guys away for now, but he will send more men after you, and he won’t rest until you’re dead, too.”
“He can’t touch me once I’m home safely,” I argued.
“His men will break into your palace and kill your whole family, and make it look like a suicide pact. Don’t underestimate him,” warned Dheer. “Now, get into the other car quietly and let’s get out of here.”
He nodded to a big black armoured SUV parked behind Dhanno. I wanted to argue with him and find a way to get home, but if he was right about Ayush, I didn’t want to put my family in danger. At the same time, I didn’t want to put Dheer’s family at risk, either.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Dheer. Maybe I can hole up in a hotel or something? If he can come after my family, what’s to stop Ayush from coming after yours? I don’t want you guys to get hurt because of me,” I explained.
“Trust me, Diya. Ayush won’t dare to make a move against me,” he replied.
“But why?”
“Because he knows I’ll wipe him off the face of the earth if he even thinks about it,” he said grimly as he set the rocket launcher back on his shoulder.
In that moment, I knew that this man was not the Dheer who had broken my heart nine years ago. This Dheer was dangerous . And he’d do whatever it took to protect what was his.