Chapter 23
23
The past
T wo days after they finished their exams, Mihir reached the temple where the first of Asha’s wedding functions was to be held, his eyes searching for Anna. The temple was decorated with flowers and candles. This late in the evening, the candles were lit up, lending a surreal air to everything. It was beautiful.
He finally spotted Anna talking to a few older ladies in the distance up ahead. He was riveted. She was… She was… She was stunning. Dressed in a simple yellow and gold Indian outfit, with a matching stole draped around her neck, she looked perfect. She tilted her head and beamed at him. As he went closer to her, he saw her pointing at him and laughing with the ladies around her. Finally, she left them and came to him.
“Hi, handsome!” She skimmed her fingers down his chest. “You look nice.”
Like her, he, too, had worn Indian—a simple white kurta with matching cotton pants.
“You look beautiful, Anna,” he said.
She rewarded him with a wide grin.
“You’re late, though,” she complained. “For a moment, I thought you wouldn’t come. Almost everyone has already left.”
“I promised you I would. Unfortunately, I took some time to return after meeting with my family.”
He’d just landed in London two hours ago. His father had insisted on meeting all three of them together. He had wanted to gift them something precious. Mihir couldn’t wait to show it to her. He sighed. Unfortunately, Anna didn’t know that he had flown to Moscow. She continued to believe that his family lived somewhere around London, and he’d never corrected her. But his brothers would be in London next week, and he’d finally tell her everything.
“Are your father and brothers alright?” she asked.
“Yes.” He interlaced their hands. “I’ve been calling you. Why haven’t you answered?”
She grimaced. “In my hurry to get here, I left my phone at home.”
He clucked his tongue. “Anna. This is becoming a habit now.”
“I know, sorry.”
“There is another function after this, correct?”
“You’re coming to that, right?”
He smiled. “Yes, I’m all yours now.”
“Your mine forever, Mr. Oshnov.”
He blinked. “Is that right?”
“Absolutely. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“I won’t,” he said. The words agreed with his heart. He doubted he could ever belong to anyone else but her. She held his heart wholly and fully—although, he still had to tell her that.
“Hey guys,” Zeeshan’s happy voice reached his ears. “Hi, Mihir. Glad you could make it.”
At Mihir’s silence, Zeeshan continued, “Devina and I are dipping now. If you’re ready, we can come with you guys. Mihir, you have your car, right?”
Devina eyed Mihir. “So, can we come with you?”
He really disliked these two friends of Anna. He didn’t like the way Devina eyed him and the way Zeeshan followed Anna around.
“No,” Mihir said before Anna could reply. “Anna and I will leave later.”
“What happened?” Anna asked once her friends left.
“I wanted to be alone with you for a little bit more.” From the corner of his eye, he saw the ladies she’d been talking to staring at them.
He subtly tipped his head in the direction of the ladies. “What’s up with them? Who are they? Why are they staring at us?”
Anna laughed. “They’re Asha’s aunts. I’ve never met them before, but they approached me asking about my family, where I was from, what I was doing, if I was married, and if not, then would I be interested in meeting Asha’s cousin—basically, they were matchmaking.”
“What?” Mihir threw a glare in the direction of the ladies. They immediately looked away.
Anna laughed, wiping the frown from his face with her fingers. “Calm down. I pointed you out and told them that I was with you. They took one look at you and said that we make a beautiful couple. That we were both very lucky and that you should marry me ASAP before someone else steals me away.”
“Um… what?” His heart skipped several beats.
She laughed. “Yeah, they said that. Can you believe it? These aunties everywhere are just the same.”
Anna waved at someone in the distance, but he didn’t bother to check who had caught her attention. His sole focus remained on her words still echoing in his ears.
You should marry me ASAP, before someone else steals me away.
Although spoken in jest, her words struck him deeply. Anna tugged his arm. He couldn’t move. Everything in him screamed at him to make her his. When he still didn’t budge, she arched a brow.
“Marry me, Anna,” he said.
Her brown eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “What?”
She put both her hands up, shaking her head. “Wait. Wait. You know those aunties were only teasing me. It was all a joke. It wasn’t serious.”
“But I am serious. Marry me.”
She stared at him, shocked.
“Why?” she finally asked.
“I love you.”
She inhaled a heavy breath. Her eyes shut close, and when they opened again, she was smiling.
He took her hands in his. “This… us… we’re perfect. I’ve never been more certain of anything than I am about my love for you. I love you. You’re the other half of my soul. My heart is yours. I am yours, Anna. I will always only be yours. Marry me. I know it’s sudden. It’s too soon, but it just feels right. You and I feel right. This moment feels right. I want to live the rest of my life with you. I want to spend every waking moment hereon knowing you belong to me and that I belong to you.”
“You’re so intense.” A tear escaped her eyes. She chuckled, wiping it away. “I love you, Mihir Oshnov. That day in that café when our eyes met, I knew… I knew in that moment that you would change my world. And you have. I love you so much that every moment without you feels like a punishment.”
“So, will you marry me?” He looked around. “This temple is decorated so prettily. Marry me here, right now. Let me make you mine.”
“I want to…”
The temple bells began to ring loudly, as if giving them a sign.
She shut her eyes and opened them again. “Oh God. My parents. Rajiv… My sisters. How do I tell them? I…”
“Let’s not tell them then. Let’s not tell anyone. This is for us. A commitment to each other.”
She gulped.
He cocked his head to the side. “Answer me this—do you think your family will like me? Will they approve of me?”
“They will love you. I know it,” she replied confidently.
“Our siblings are arriving in five days,” he said. “Let’s tell them about us first. Then let’s go to Dubai the week after next as planned. I’ll ask my dad to meet us there. Let’s tell our families that we want to be together. Let them plan our marriage for us, and let’s get married again in front of them all. I want to grow old with you, Anna. I want to have kids with you.”
Her breath hitched. “You want kids?”
“You don’t?”
“I do, but we’ve never spoken about this before.”
“I want kids, but not so soon,” he said. “Maybe in seven or eight years. So, what do you say?”
When she continued to stare at him, he went down on one knee. He took off his ring from his pinkie finger and offered it to her.
Her mouth opened and closed. “You have a ring?”
“Actually, this ring was the reason I had to go home. My father gifted my brothers and me a similar ring each, and he wanted to give them to us at the same time. It’s a symbol of his love for us, something we can carry with us always.
“That’s beautiful, Mihir,” she said.
He arched a brow. At her nod, he put the ring on the ring finger of her left hand. As expected, it was huge on her.
She helped him up. “Oh God. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. But I want it. I want to marry you. It feels right. My heart is telling me to do it. To marry you and make you mine.”
Removing the ring, she put it back on his pinkie finger. “You wear it. It was your father’s gift to you. I’ll wait for you to give me my own ring.”
She studied the blood-red stone, her finger rubbing against it. “I’ve never seen something like this. What gemstone is this?”
“It’s a rare red diamond from a mine in Tanzania,” he replied. “It signifies power, passion, and love.”
“How lovely,” she mused. “You ought to wear it always.”
“I’m trying.” He wriggled his finger. “It’s hard getting used to it, though. I keep taking it on and off.”
“I want a matching red diamond, if you can afford it. Else anything will do.”
He laughed. “I can afford it.”
Little did she know that this ring had come from O-Corp’s mines in Tanzania. Yet another thing he had to tell her.
“Before we do this, I need to tell you something,” he said.
She frowned. “What?”
“You don’t know everything about me. There is so much I haven’t shared with you. Good and bad.”
“Have you killed someone?” she asked, her tone serious.
“What? No.”
“Do you pedal drugs, weapons, or people?”
“Oh God, of course not. All our businesses are legit.”
She clasped his cheek. “Then we’re good.”
“So, you’ll marry me knowing you don’t know everything about me?”
“I know enough, Mihir Oshnov. You are kind, gentle, and so intense. I love you so much. Nothing you say will ever change that. So yes, I will marry you.” She looked around. “We have to speak to the priest. So many arrangements have to be made.”
“I’ll take care of everything.”
She looked down at herself, chewing her lip.
“You look beautiful, Anna,” he said. “You’re perfect. Now, wait here till I go organize everything.”
Three hours later, he’d married her in a quiet, simple ceremony. Little had he known that a few days later, his world was going to crash.
The present
Mihir moved around the crowded ballroom of the UK Embassy in Moscow, smiling at the people around him. With their masks on, it was hard to recognize many. But thanks to his scar, despite his mask, everyone knew who he was. Fuck, he hated that damn scar. His phone beeped. He read the short text from Chekov. Anna was here.
Controlling his speeding pulse, he moved to the entrance. A masked woman in a floor-length faux mink coat waited, looking around. A server went up to her to collect her coat. Anna shrugged the long coat off her shoulders and handed it over to him.
Mihir stilled, taking her in. Something stirred in his chest. Dressed in a floor-length, crimson gown with a wide, deep neckline and a full skirt that shimmered as she moved, she was breathtaking. A beautiful black mask covered her face, long black gloves were fitted on her arms, and her hair was twisted into a top knot. So beautiful. When he’d chosen this gown for her, he’d known she’d look stunning in it. The reality, however, was ethereal, so much beyond what he’d imagined. She was a vision. Perfect. She was absolutely perfect.
She looked this way and that. Her eyes passed over him and, a second later, jumped back to him. He watched her approaching him, unable to stop his heart from running away. Unable to stop his body from heating up. Unable to take his gaze away from her.
He cursed himself. He was so royally fucked. Once again, she’d spun a web around him, and once again he was getting caught in it.
“Hello,” she said when she reached him.
“ Dobro pozhalovat! Welcome, Anna,” he said.
She studied him for a long moment, and then she touched the side of his mask, adjusting it over his nose. Her scent washed over him, causing his skin to come alive.
She touched the folds of her gown. “Thank you for the clothes and the accessories. Everything was perfect.”
He nodded.
“How did you know my size?”
He arched a brow. “I’ve already told you once before—I will always know everything about you.”
A blush crept up her cheeks. Shaking her head, she looked beyond him. Her eyes swept around, taking in everything. He tried to look at the ballroom through her eyes. Walls wallpapered in gold, large crystal chandeliers, plush brown carpets, fancily dressed masked men and women, a top-notch band playing at the side, and the best food and alcohol money could buy—it was all luxurious and opulent.
Her eyes returned to him. “This is very formal and very fancy.”
He shrugged. “The UK ambassador has outdone himself tonight. This deal with O-Corp is going to greatly benefit them. They wanted to show their appreciation.” He offered her his arm. “Come, let’s mingle a bit.”
With her hand on his arm, he led her into the crowd. People smiled and nodded as they passed.
“Who are all these people?” she whispered.
“Several of O-Corp’s board members are here. Also, a number of dignitaries—heads of state, important government officials, and ministers not only from Russia, but from other countries as well.”
She halted. “That is quite impressive.”
“O-Corp is a big organization, and we work with a lot of governments.”
They continued to move deeper into the crowd.
“Am I imagining things or is everyone staring at me?” Anna asked a few moments later.
He chuckled. “They are looking at you.”
A tiny frown formed on her brow. She touched her mask. “But they don’t know me.”
“They don’t know you,” he skimmed a hand down his face, “But they do recognize me.”
She caught that hand in hers, squeezing it. Her eyes swept across his face, and the appreciation in them told him that she liked what she saw. It warmed something in his chest.
He cleared his throat. “Since I’ve never brought a woman to any such events before, everyone is curious about the beautiful woman on my arm tonight.”
Her lips rounded in an oh. He saw her throat work. But she didn’t ask the question he knew she was dying to ask. Which was… why had he invited her? Why was she on his arm?
The truth was that he had no answers to those questions. None. He only knew that having her with him felt right. They had two days left before she had to return to Dubai. And in those two days, he was going to focus only on the things that felt good between them. And so much of it felt good when she was with him. He’d forgotten that feeling of being utterly happy until she had landed in Moscow and reminded him of what true happiness felt like.
Hence, for the next days, he’d forget that she had hurt him once, and simply enjoy being with her—the only woman he had never managed to forget. The only woman his heart had always ached for.