Chapter 13
13
T ime always seemed to creep at a snail’s pace when one was in a hospital. Mihir looked through the ICU glass, studying the woman on the bed in front of him. Anna looked pale and wan, her body connected to a dozen tubes. But she was safe and alive, and that’s what mattered the most.
The knife had penetrated the side of her rib cage. Twenty mm higher, and it would have ruptured a major vessel. She could have died. His heart rate stuttered. She could have died because of him, because he hadn’t been able to protect her.
He was so busy fighting with her, getting angry at her, that he hadn’t put enough people around her to keep her safe.
Anna’s whole family was seated in the waiting room. He didn’t know how to look them in the eye. He didn’t know how to face them.
“Are you okay, brother?” Armaan said, coming to stand beside him.
“What do you think?” Mihir replied.
“It’s not your fault, you know,” Vedant said, flanking his other side.
“Isn’t it?”
“None of us expected Ivan to be so bold as to order an attack on Ananya, that too in broad daylight,” Vedant said.
“The question is why her…” Armaan said. “I mean, does Ivan know about your history with her?”
“It’s not that hard to find, if one were to go digging into my past. Too many people at LBS knew we were dating back then,” Mihir sighed. “I’d hoped he’d never learn about her. Obviously, I was wrong.”
“She’s going to be fine, Mihir,” Armaan assured him. “They’ve put her in the ICU only for observation. She’ll be discharged tomorrow, if all goes well. We already sent Ananya’s parents and Sheena home.”
Mihir nodded.
“The team found Paul. He’s at the warehouse,” Vedant said. “We will get some answers from him and the guy who stabbed Ananya.”
Mihir faced his brothers. “Not you. I—I’m going to get those answers. I want you both to stay here and look after her.”
“Absolutely not,” Armaan protested. “Rajiv and the girls are going to stay here with her overnight. We are coming with you.”
Vedant touched Mihir’s shoulder. “This is our fight too. You know that.”
“Alright then. Let’s go.”
“We’ll just go and tell the girls what’s happening,” Armaan said. “Wait here a moment.”
Mihir turned to look at Anna again. Her eyes opened, and she blinked, looking around her. He saw her take in her surroundings. Her eyes finally found him looking at her through the glass, and she gave him a soft smile. It hit him straight in the center of his chest, cracking it wide open.
He tipped his chin at her. Getting what he meant, she touched her injured side and gave a thumbs-down, scrunching her nose.
He chuckled. Fuck, she was still sassy despite being in a hospital bed, seriously injured. Even at a time like this, she hadn’t lost her spirit.
When a nurse came to speak to her, Mihir backed away from the window. The tumult in his heart settled a bit. She was alive, and she was going to be fine. She would live a long life. He’d ensure it. But those who hurt her would pay with their lives. That was a promise.
* * *
Mihir entered the warehouse, his brothers right behind him, each of their bodyguards flanking them. Three of their men surrounded the two men who were seated in the center of the room, both bruised and battered.
“Hello, Paul,” Mihir said calmly, coming to stand in front of him. “Do you remember us?”
“Bastards,” Paul attempted to charge at them, but he was held back by the guards.
“Careful, Paul,” Mihir said. “Do you really want to upset the men who hold your life in their hands?”
The other man whimpered from next to Paul. Mihir didn’t even look at him. He’d signed his own death sentence the second he had agreed to hurt Anna.
“We need answers,” Armaan said. “Where is Ivan?”
Paul laughed. “I’m not telling you anything.”
Vedant clucked his tongue. “Still so arrogant?”
“You should know,” Paul said. “After all, I did manage to shoot you twice, didn’t I?”
“And still I stand here hale, hearty, and free,” Vedant replied. “What’s your status? Care to elaborate?”
Paul pursed his lips.
“Where is Ivan?” Mihir repeated.
At Paul’s continued silence, Mihir slammed a fist on his face.
Paul spat out blood. “You guys think you’re really cool when you are fighting one lone man in your territory, don’t you? But you’re just a bunch of cowards. Fight me fair, and let’s see who wins.”
“And you hurting a lone woman is not cowardly?” Mihir slammed his fist into Paul’s face again. “She was innocent.”
Paul grinned, his face looking gruesome from all the blood. “Ivan will be happy to know that she means something to you.”
“To us ,” Armaan corrected. “She means something to all of us.”
Paul gave a mirthless laugh.
“Unfortunately for you, you won’t be alive to tell him that,” Vedant said. “Now, tell us about Ivan.”
At Paul’s silence, Mihir looked at the guard in front of him. He pointed to the man who had attacked Anna. “Take him away and kill him. Make it hurt.”
The guards took the howling man away. Mihir watched Paul carefully. His facade finally broke and he now flinched with every scream he heard coming from the other man.
“Do you know what they are doing to him?” Mihir asked. “Shall I tell you?”
“Aw, let me,” Armaan said.
“No, why do you both get to have all the fun?” Vedant asked.
Mihir crossed his arms on his chest. “Let’s all take turns in telling him how his man is going to die, and how, in exactly the same way, we will kill him too.”
“They’re going to break his legs first,” Armaan said.
“Then every finger on his hands,” Vedant continued, as the screams behind them turned to agonized cries.
“Then they will cut his tongue out,” Mihir said. “And only when he is a begging, blithering mess will they shoot him.”
Paul looked at each of them, horror now etched on his face. Gone was the fake bravado he was throwing in the brothers’ faces.
“See, he’s finally realizing who he’s up against,” Armaan said.
“Our bodyguards at least show some mercy,” Mihir said. “We have none. We will make all this so much more painful for you, and then when you faint from all the agony and trauma, we will wait till you regain consciousness, and then we will it repeat it all over again.”
A gunshot sounded behind them, ceasing the endless cries.
“Ah, that was too soon,” Armaan said coldly.
Vedant looked at Paul. “Shall we start again? Where is Ivan?”
“I don’t know,” Paul said. “I swear I don’t know.”
Mihir swung his fist out. Something cracked. Blood oozed out of Paul’s nose.
“That’s one bone broken,” Armaan said. “Again, where is Ivan?”
“I swear; check my phone. I saw him last in Warsaw. After that, he only sends instructions via voice messages. He doesn’t even call.”
Mihir looked at the guard behind Paul. “His phone?”
The guard handed it to him. Mihir placed it in front of Paul’s face for facial recognition to unlock it. Once done, he checked the messages. Molten anger rolled through him as he saw that Ivan had sent Paul Anna’s picture with instructions to hurt her.
“Why her?” Mihir asked. “Why did Ivan target her?”
“Because of you,” Paul said. “He’s been looking for ways to get to you. It came as a surprise to him that you once dated this woman. He said…”
Paul shut his mouth.
“What did he say?” Mihir asked.
“He’ll kill me if I reveal more.”
Armaan angled his head. “The thing is, you’re going to die either way. You only get to decide if we give you a clean, quick death or a painful one. That choice is entirely yours.”
Paul gulped. “Ivan said that he’d used her to hurt you in the past as well. I don’t know what he meant.”
Mihir felt a rock fall into his stomach. His brothers had gone still. Only the stiffness in their shoulders gave away their shock. So many questions rushed through his mind, but now wasn’t the time for them. He focused on the man staring at him.
“What is Ivan’s plan here?” Armaan asked.
Paul looked at Mihir. “He wants you out. He’s put a bounty on your head for five million dollars. He knows how tight the three of you are. Getting rid of you will be a great loss to your brothers. As the MD of O-Corp, if you’re gone, everything falls apart. He thinks being Alexander’s only legitimate relative will give him clout over the board to replace you.”
Mihir exchanged a glance with his brothers.
“What does he know about our sister?” Vedant asked.
Paul blinked in surprise.
“Yes, we are one step ahead, always,” Armaan said. “Now, answer the fucking question.”
“Ivan knows that she is important to you all, and that you’re searching for her. He intends to find her first and use her against you all too.”
“And?” Mihir asked.
“Ivan’s been trying to get in touch with JD, hoping he will help him in the search. But so far, JD doesn’t seem to be interested at all. He’s refused all of Ivan’s endeavors to get in touch with him. That’s why Ivan is focused on you again.”
“He will never get to us,” Armaan said. “He will fail each time he tries.”
Mihir looked at the guard in front of him. “We’ve got what we wanted from him. You know what to do. Make him suffer.”
“Please, I’ve told you everything,” Paul begged. “Just… just kill me quickly.”
Mihir looked at Chekov. “Tell Andres his debt is paid.”
Paul’s eyes widened in realization.
“Your family didn’t hesitate to rat on you,” Mihir said. “Even they know what a useless piece of shit you are.”
With that last statement, Mihir walked out of the warehouse, his brothers following him. They stopped by Mihir’s car.
“Losing him will be a big loss to Ivan,” Armaan said. “I doubt he has any more supporters.”
“He certainly does not have the money to pay for hiring more henchmen,” Vedant added. “I wonder what his next move will be.”
Armaan studied Mihir. “What did you think Paul meant when he said that Ivan had used Ananya in the past to hurt you?”
Mihir’s heart stumbled. “What do you think he meant?”
Armaan exchanged a glance with Vedant. “I think you need to clear the air with her, brother. You need to know exactly what happened that day in London. You need closure. We all do.”
Mihir took deep breaths in and out. After the attack on him in London, Alexander had tried hard to find who had hurt him. He had got all his potential enemies investigated, but nothing had come forward. No one had any answers. And Mihir had refused to ask the one person who had been vital in ensuring he was there that day, in that house in Kent, at that particular time when he had been so brutally attacked. He had refused to tell anyone about Anna’s involvement. Alexander would have hunted her and ended her life. Despite his own anger at her betrayal, he hadn’t been able to tell Alexander about her role in the events of that day.
It was only much later, after Alexander had passed away, and post the yacht incident, that he had confessed to his brothers about her role in that disaster.
But now, to learn that Ivan had orchestrated that attack, and that he had used her, was a shocking revelation. Which begged the question—if Anna had helped Ivan in the past, then why would he have hurt her now? Not that Mihir could put anything past Ivan. He was a legit psychopath.
Sensing his brothers watching him, he said, “Let’s talk about Karina. Assuming Paul is right, and JD is not looking for her, what if we go public with her search?”
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps we start talking about her. We tell the world we have a sister and we miss her. That way, maybe she finds the courage to come find us herself.”
“It could work…” Armaan said. “We are running out of options as it is. The photo searches on her are taking too long.”
Vedant sighed. “I’m good to do whatever it takes to ensure her safety. It will be one less thing for Ivan to use against us.”
“Alright, I’ll think on this and come up with a plan,” Mihir said. “I have another suggestion. I think we need to tell the board about Ivan and how he’s been trying to hurt us. How he’s targeted Navya, Reina, and now… Anna.”
Armaan scratched his jaw. “We all know that Ivan still has a few supporters amongst the board. They’re not going to believe us easily.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tell them,” Vedant said. “The majority of the board favors us. We’ve kept quiet about Ivan for far too long. None of them know that Armaan and I were hurt. They assumed it was business as usual because Mihir kept it as such.”
“Alright,” Armaan said. “Let’s start telling them slowly, one on one via phone calls first.”
Mihir nodded. “We have the annual board meeting coming up next month. With the three of us in attendance, we’ll push it through completely at that time and present them with everything we have so far on Ivan.”
“One more thing,” Mihir added, his tone hard. “I need every crook and criminal in every corner of the world to know that I’m willing to pay them double of whatever Ivan’s promised them if they reject his offer to hurt us or anyone we care for.”
“Agreed,” Armaan said. “I’ll get on this right away.”
Mihir tapped a button on his car key. His car beeped. “Are you guys going home?”
“No, we are headed to the hospital,” Armaan replied. “Do you want to join us?”
Mihir shook his head. His brothers’ faces fell. He sat in the car and drove away, his mind back on her—Anna. She was hurt today because of him. And right now, despite hearing that Ivan had used her in his attack on him long ago, he couldn’t summon enough anger at her. His anger was all directed at Ivan. No one got to hurt Anna while he was alive.
After seeing her in that damn hospital bed, he could finally admit to himself that Anna was embedded in his skin. She made him feel too damn much. And each time he was in her proximity, he felt a little more than before. She felt a little more his again, and he felt a little more whole again.
And this was where the real problem lay. Anna was his . She’d always been only his .
Yes, she’d hurt him in the past. And yes, he definitely didn’t want to be a victim to her sassy, sexy lure again. He needed to get away from her to get his head straight. He had to get out of Dubai, because if he stayed, he’d be tempted to visit her, to check on how she was doing.
Ananya Mehra had long been a temptation to him. Years ago, he’d gotten addicted to her, and now, years later, he was getting fixated on her again, so much so that it was bordering on obsession now. Her scent, her voice, her skin, her touch—she was constantly on his mind.
This obsession had to stop. He would make it stop.