Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
HARSH
“I don’t think we should leave her with him.” Priyanka’s worried voice trailed after him as he stormed out. Their guards brought up the rear, confused by the turn of events but efficient as always.
Whispers erupted in their wake as heads turned and phones lifted, subtly but visibly, nevertheless. Harsh ignored them all, finding it hard to summon the smile he always had at the ready for his fans. He kept his gaze steady and focused on the large double doors that led to the road beyond.
“Harsh.” His sister was the most stubborn woman in the existence of mankind. “We can’t leave Raashi with that horrible man.”
Harsh slammed his hands into the doors, shoving them open and stepping out in the cold, crisp night air. Polluted as fuck but still better than the air with the stench of asshole in it.
“Harsh.”
“Enough!” He spun on his heel, glaring at his sister who held his gaze, glaring back equally ferociously. “Back the fuck up.”
“It is not enough.” Priyanka hissed the words, ever mindful of listening ears. “That’s your fiancée in there. And you’re leaving her with-“
“With the man she chose to meet the night before our wedding,” he bit out, finally silencing his sister who didn’t seem to know what to say to that.
“It’s not what you think.” Raashi’s cool voice sounded from the doorway behind them.
Harsh didn’t turn to look at her. The way he was feeling, he didn’t want to look at her ever again. A harsh laugh escaped him. Quite a turnabout that was. Hours earlier, he’d been grappling with some extremely strong emotions for this woman. Hours later, the emotions were just as strong, just a little different.
“I can explain, Harsh.” She came to stand in front of him, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“I asked you to explain!” The roar startled them all, even the guards tensing around them. He took a step forward, bringing them toe to toe. This time, he didn’t look away from her. “I asked you to explain and you didn’t. Now?” He smiled, cold and feral. “Now I don’t want to hear it.”
“Harsh!” Priyanka interjected, clearly bothered by his tone.
“Stay out of it, Akka,” he said, the words cold and inflexible. “This is between my bride and me.”
“It’s not what you think, Harsh.”
Rage like he’d never known it swam through his veins. “And what do I think, Raashi?” he asked, his voice dangerously low and soft. “Go ahead,” he urged when she felt silent. “Tell me what I think.”
Raashi swallowed hard, her eyes dropping from his.
“Shall I tell you what I think?”
She blinked rapidly, shaking her head. “Maybe we should-“
“Oh no. No. No. No. Don’t chicken out on me now, Viper.”
“Harsh, don’t do this.” Priyanka’s quiet voice held a noticeable plea in it.
“Have you been banging the old man, Viper?”
The words hung in the air between them. He leaned in closer, his lips an inch from her ear. “Don’t get me wrong, darling. I don’t care if you have. But starting tomorrow, once my thaali is around your neck…It stops. As long as we’re married, fake though it is, no other man will touch you.”
Raashi shivered, her arms going around her waist to hug herself tight.
“Harsh, you have to let me explain.”
“Nope.” He shook his head, making a tsking sound. “I don’t have to do anything. I don’t owe you anything, Viper.”
“Neither do I,” she fired back. “I don’t owe you a fucking explanation either, but I still want to give you one.”
“Why?”
Raashi hesitated, her eyes going wide with an emotion he didn’t recognise. “Because I want to,” she repeated.
“You didn’t want to when I was asking for one.”
Harsh was feeling irrationally rejected by this. His brain acknowledged the sheer absurdity of his feelings, but his heart just didn’t want to listen.
“So, what’s changed, Rash?”
She raised tragic, devastated eyes to his. Too bad he didn’t give a fuck anymore. He didn’t, he insisted to his rebellious heart.
“What’s changed?” he continued to push, rubbing salt into clearly raw wounds.
“Harsh, people are watching.” Priyanka’s worried voice cut through their hushed argument. “Let’s go somewhere private.”
“No need,” he told her, a sardonic smile gracing his lips. “I’m done here, and my darling bride has dinner plans.”
Raashi flinched, stepping away and turning to Priyanka. “Akka, I think it’s better we talk when emotions aren’t as heated as they are right now.”
“Except that you’re getting married in the morning,” Priyanka pointed out. “You guys need to talk now. Tonight is all you have.”
“She’s busy tonight, Akka. Don’t you get it?” Harsh shook his head mockingly. He looked over to where his guards were trying to act like they weren’t listening to every nasty comment going back and forth. “How long for the fucking car to reach us?” he snapped.
“Sir, it’s been waiting for the last ten minutes.” One of the guards pointed behind him. Harsh glared at the car he hadn’t noticed until now. Feeling a little foolish and not enjoying that in addition to everything else, he caught Priyanka’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Priyanka pulled her arm out of his grasp, shaking him off like a badly behaved puppy trying to gnaw on her shoe. “Raashi, do you have a ride home? Is it safe for us to leave you here? Are you comfortable being with that man?”
All questions Harsh should have been asking. All questions he desperately wanted to know the answer to but wouldn’t allow himself to voice.
“I’m okay, Akka. Thank you for asking.”
Clearly still troubled by the whole evening, Priyanka squeezed Raashi’s hands in comfort before stalking over to the car to get in. She threw one last, furious glare at Harsh. He forced a mocking grin to his face. Priyanka slammed the car door shut, leaving Raashi and him standing on the pavement. His guards continued to studiously ignore them, pretending they couldn’t hear every furious word.
“Well then,” he said after a beat of silence. “Have a good dinner. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Do you still want me there?” Her voice was carefully unemotional, but the words had his heart stilling in his chest.
“I don’t give a shit what you get up to tonight, Raashi,” he said, his own voice flat and toneless. It was hard because he did give a shit. He gave a fucking truckload full of shit. “But you’ll be at the mandap tomorrow, on time and with a big, fat, fucking smile on your face. You will marry me, Raashi Gadde. We had a deal and you won’t renege. I won’t allow it. You’ll come to the mandap willingly or I’ll drag you there, kicking and screaming.”
“No.” Her pale, set face didn’t waver. “You won’t.”
Her confidence in him would have been heartwarming if it hadn’t been so farcical.
“Don’t be so sure,” he warned, a dark fury overtaking his common sense.
“You don’t need to worry, Harsh. I’ll be there. I don’t renege. Not on anything.”
They stared at each other, rage, hurt, guilt, confusion, a toxic mess of emotions swirling in the air around them.
Until finally, Harsh broke eye contact and stepped towards the car. His bodyguard held the car door open.
“Harsh,” she called out. “You asked me what had changed.”
He looked to the side, his face in profile, listening but unwilling to look back. He had a strange feeling that if he did, he wouldn’t find it in him to leave.
“Everything, Harsh,” she said softly. “Everything has changed. Every single thing.”
The truth of her declaration sliced through the armour around his heart, shattering it into unfixable shards. Harsh got into the car, slamming the door behind him with trembling fingers. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t. There was only so much a man had the strength for. And he’d hit his limit for the night.