Epilogue
RAM
For the umpteenth time that night, he clinked his glass of finest scotch against someone else’s in a toast. The mood in the room was jubilant. He didn’t blame them. They’d pulled off a win tonight. And yet, it was still only the beginning.
By the time he was done with him, Anant Madhavan would never see the light of day again. Vengeance burned in his gut as he stood at the large bay window in the Kodela drawing room and stared out into the night.
The man had preyed on his younger sister, groomed her, abused her and then turned her on her own family. And the whole time, Ram had been busy at law school, fighting his own demons and chasing his rabid ambitions. His hand fisted against the window frame. He hadn’t been there for his sister when she’d needed him the most. And when he had come home, he’d been too late.
But he wasn’t now. He took another sip of his scotch, stoking the fire that burned inside him. This time, he wouldn’t be too late. He would bury Anant with the trail of evidence they’d found on him. Anant’s confession to Raashi earlier tonight was the icing on a deeply layered cake. And Ram was going to have his cake and eat it too.
This time he wouldn’t be late.
A tinkling laugh drew his attention from the inky dark of the night and toward the glittering lights of the hall.
Aadhya stood in the center of the room, her hands in furious motion as she told some story to her brother, Aarush, and his wife, Priyanka. The Reddys had arrived about an hour ago, the party just getting started. And no one got the party started quite like Aadhya Reddy.
Her wild curls exploded in every direction, raining down her back in a wild tangle. Every part of her face and body was lit up like a storm in motion. And all Ram wanted to do was be struck by her lightning.
He put his glass down on a nearby table, the click it made against the marble countertop sounding abnormally loud to his ears. He knew that nobody would have heard it with the chatter and laughter filling the room and still, Aadhya’s head snapped up, her gaze lasering in on him.
He held her gaze for an endless moment and then he looked away. There were some things that were not for him, that would never be for him. And Aadhya Reddy and her red lips and sultry gaze topped that list.
He strode out of the hall and down the long corridor that led to the front door. The crisp bite of a winter’s night had him inhaling deeply as he stepped out and onto the large verandah. He took the stairs two at a time, waving off the guards who looked like they’d want to follow him and headed toward the gazebo near the rear compound wall.
Large trees surrounded the marble structure, granting privacy while still allowing line of sight for security that might need it. Tonight, all he wanted was to be left alone. His failure to protect his sister was a stain on his soul, one that would never go away. Ram could spend the rest of his life scrubbing at it and he wouldn’t even manage to lighten it.
And here he was, thinking not about that but about lush, red lips closing around a wine glass.
He took another deep breath, dropping down on the marble bench and scrubbing his face with both hands. That’s when he heard it. The click of high heels on the paved stone walkway that led to the gazebo. He dropped his hands and looked up to watch her approach.
She shouldn’t have come and yet, even before he’d seen her, he’d known she would. She came to a stop a few feet away from him, a hallucination manifested from his fevered dreams. And there had been many. Aadhya had played a starring role in them all.
“Go back, Aadhya,” he murmured.
She took another step forward, coming closer.
“Please.” He closed his eyes in defeat, hanging his head. He didn’t have the energy to resist her, not tonight.
Her hand came to cup the back of his head, her fingernails scraping his scalp. He sighed. He should move, step away from her. He leaned into her touch, his forehead coming to rest on the soft curve of her stomach. They stayed like that for an eternity and a hairsbreadth of a second, all in one.
“You shouldn’t be here.” He brought his hands up to grip her waist, allowing himself to hold her for one precious moment.
She slid through his grasp, her lithe body flowing gracefully to her knees in front of him, her face tilted to look up at him in the moonlight.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, speaking for the first time that night. “About Anant.”
“Don’t be.” His thumb traced her lower lip, pressing gently into its plump softness. “By the time I’m done with him, sorry will be the last thing on anybody’s minds.”
“A bit feral, aren’t you?” Her smile was luminous in the dark.
“Not just a bit.” He lowered his head, pressing his forehead to hers. “Tell me to stop.”
“No.”
The single word was a lit match to the smouldering fire of his dammed desire. Their mouths clashed in an inferno of need, a haze of sensation dulling their thoughts. His hand fisted in the wild glory of her hair, tugging her head back to give him better access.
Desire slammed through him as he devoured her mouth, a guilty pleasure he rarely allowed himself to indulge. Aadhya whimpered, a breath of a sound but it sank like a needle through his brain.
Gasping for air and praying for sanity, Ram pulled back.
“We can’t,” he muttered, shoving to his feet and walking a few feet away. He kept his back to her so he could find the willpower to do what he had to do. “We said the last time would be…well, the last time. We can’t keep doing this.”
“I know.” He heard her getting to her feet and a rustle of noise told him she was straightening her dress. The dress he’d been rumpling with his hand.
“Ram?”
He glanced to the side, still not daring to glance at her. “Yes?”
“Anant Madhavan. You’ll get him?”
He turned now, his fury igniting like a match to tinder. “I’m going to bury him six feet under.”
She smiled, a feral baring of her teeth. “Good. When you do, I’ll dance on his grave.”
With a toss of her hair, she was gone, her dangerously high heels making a clicking noise that slowly receded. He watched her leave until she was out of sight.
She never looked back.