Addiction (Fatal Attraction #2)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Four years ago

Dubai

Beating up your brother is going to be so much fun…

Don’t you want to come and watch?

N avya Mehra gasped, her heart beating wildly. She reread the messages sent from the unknown number. There was only one person who was cocky enough to text her as such. Only one person powerful enough to easily get her number.

Armaan Oshnov—the worst of the Oshnov trio of brothers. Rich, arrogant, wild, and unpredictable, he was all that and more.

She’d heard enough about him and his brothers that she ought to have stayed far away and never entered their sphere. His sphere. But she hadn’t. Like a little lamb, she’d walked into the lion’s den of her own free will. That one mistake was now going to haunt her for the rest of her life because Armaan Oshnov had a reputation for always getting what he wanted. Unfortunately for her, he’d set his sights on her. It was her own fault that she’d caught the eye of one of the most notorious men on the planet.

Acquiring her cell number was Armaan’s first move. Informing her about his fight with her brother was his way of slowly luring her into his trap. God. She hated him. Yet, that hadn’t stopped her mind from conjuring up an image of his stupidly handsome face, thus making her heart feel like it was bursting out of her chest. She shook her head, clearing her mind of his image. Armaan Oshnov did not affect her in the least. Navya repeated that to herself like a mantra until her heart beat steadily again.

Thanks to him, she already had a bodyguard dogging her footsteps. Her brother had insisted on it. Rajiv knew of Armaan’s interest in her, and thus, this fight now was most definitely her brother’s way of protecting her and keeping her safe. Rajiv thought of fighting with Armaan to ensure he never bothered Navya again. Her fists curled. How dare Armaan challenge her brother as such? Rage, unlike any other, claimed her mind.

Rajiv had deliberately not told her or their other two sisters about facing Armaan in the fighting ring. It was only thanks to a frantic call from Rajiv’s girlfriend, Sheena, that Navya was on her way to her brother’s sports club to stop the damn fight. She had to stop it.

Everything she’d heard about Armaan confirmed that he was bloody unhinged and a savage in the fighting ring. He knew how to fight, and he won… every single time. But this time, if he won, it meant… She gulped. He couldn’t win. No. That was unacceptable.

Do you know that I have never lost a fight till date…

His next message confirmed her fear. Panic spread through her. She had no clue as to how good—or bad—a fighter her own brother was. She only knew that Rajiv practised fighting techniques with a trainer at his club. Could he even take on Armaan? She nibbled on her lower lip, worrying. Her brother was not brutal like Armaan. Rajiv was one of the kindest people she knew. And she would do anything to not let him get hurt. After years, she could see that Rajiv was happy. He’d found Sheena and was in love with her. It reflected in his eyes every time he looked at her.

She rubbed her temples. She wouldn’t allow Armaan to hurt Rajiv. Both Sheena and Rajiv didn’t deserve that. None of this was their fault. It was hers. If she hadn’t told her elder sister, Ananya, about the party happening on Armaan’s yacht… If Ananya and she hadn’t encouraged Sheena to join them on their mad mission to sneak onto said yacht… If they hadn’t been caught trespassing that night… None of this would have happened then. They wouldn’t have been caught by the Oshnovs and held hostage by them. Her brother wouldn’t have been forced to come there and bargain on her behalf.

Her phone beeped again.

You can put a stop to it, moya tigritsa…

Her anger further flared as she read his nickname for her. God, she wanted to hit him.

Moya tigritsa . Armaan had whispered those words in her ear when he’d caught her in his arms that night to stop her from escaping his yacht. She’d turned around and slapped him hard, but instead of getting upset, he’d been amused by her.

That had been her first encounter with the dangerous man he was. She’d tried and failed to escape his hold on her. She’d even helplessly shivered when he’d traced his nose down the side of her throat, as if he was breathing her in, learning her scent. Even now, a tremor ran down her body at the memory. He’d released her slowly, reluctantly, as if he hadn’t wanted to stop touching her.

Moya tigritsa. Russian for my tigress.

She’d googled the meaning of those words later, much later when she’d been safe in her bed after her brother had rescued her. Her phone pinged again.

Either you give me what I want, or your brother dies tonight…

What do you want?

Her fingers were shaking even after she’d typed him that response. Her blood boiled. Her recklessness had put Rajiv in danger. She wasn’t going to allow it.

She knew what he wanted. Sheena had already informed her what Armaan would claim as his prize once he won the fight. Yet, she’d hit send. Her phone pinged in seconds.

I want one night with you. Agree, and I will lose the fight with minimum damage to your brother.

I’m not a fucking object for you to barter, Oshnov.

Yes or No. That’s the only reply I want to hear, my tigress.

Waiting for you at the sports club.

Gotta go, my fight is about to begin.

You know how to stop it ;)

Bloody fucking bastard, she yelled aloud. She told her bodyguard to hurry. He pressed the accelerator, and yet it took her a good fifteen minutes to reach the sports club.

She opened the door of her car and tumbled out even before it had fully halted and ran inside. She froze as she took in the scene inside the fighting ring. Her brother already looked bruised and battered.

Armaan punched Rajiv on the nose, and blood rushed down his face. Oh God. He lifted his arm to strike her brother again and she yelled aloud, “Stop!”

Armaan’s hand froze mid-air. He turned to look at her. His eyes focused beyond her on her bodyguard, and a sinister look crossed his face. She noticed the cut on his lip and the bruise oozing blood on the right side of his forehead. His chest was a crisscross of purplish wounds. But what made her breath hitch was the sheer perfection of his body. His broad shoulders, that muscular chest and those ripped abs that looked rock-hard. Fuck. The devil was too bloody good looking.

Armaan gave her a smile—that devastating smile that caused all her thoughts to scatter. She collected herself quickly. As a rule, she stayed away from men who were too handsome for their own good. She knew firsthand that the more handsome the man, the greater the evil that resided within him. She and her younger sister, Reina, had been victims of such a man once. And Armaan Oshnov exactly fell into that category—one she ought to stay the fuck away from.

She glared at him.

His smile widened.

Seeing her attention on him, he started raining blows on Rajiv, suddenly thirsty for violence. When Rajiv staggered back against his blows, Armaan arched his brow. Yes or no, he mouthed.

Without waiting for her reply, he lunged at Rajiv. She watched, transfixed, as her brother managed to evade several of Armaan’s blows and landed many of his own on him. God, her brother actually knew how to fight. They both were equally matched in size and strength, and neither looked willing to back off.

When one of Armaan’s kicks hit Rajiv in the chest, Sheena screamed from beside her. Navya went to her, squeezing her arm. She noticed that both of Armaan’s brothers, Mihir and Vedant, had come to support him.

Armaan managed to land several hits on Rajiv, and Navya’s heart tripped. From her side, Sheena quietly wiped a tear. Fuck this. It was enough and had gone on for too long. She was the only one who could end this. And even though she’d hate herself for this, she had to do it. There was no other option.

When Armaan faced her next, she looked at him straight in his eyes, and gave him a nod. A corner of his lips tipped in acknowledgement.

In the next moment, she saw him backing off. His punches became slower and less harsh. His kicks became lighter. He allowed Rajiv to get in several hits on him before he punched Rajiv, but with less ferocity than earlier. Still, neither of them was completely backing off.

“I cannot bear this anymore,” Sheena said. “If neither of them is backing down, then we have to make them.”

She and Sheena spoke quietly, quickly discussing their options, when suddenly, both their eyes fell on something in the distance. They looked at one another, and the same idea clicked in their brain. Sheena urged her to hurry. Navya left her for barely a few moments before she returned and handed Sheena one of the pipes. They shared a look and then turned on the water from the fire extinguisher hoses at the same time. A strong gush of water fell on the men in the ring, shocking them apart. They both fell on their backsides as water continued to rain on them.

The look Armaan levelled on her was of pure disbelief. She continued to drench him with water until he raised his hands, conceding defeat.

She turned the hose off, not looking away from him.

His lips quirked, and his eyes shone with appreciation and… and desire, before he started laughing. God help her! She was in so much trouble. Her heart sped. Her hands shook. Reality hit her in the chest.

She had just agreed to a deal with the devil incarnate, and she had no clue how the hell she was going to get out of it.

Fuck. Her. Life.