CHAPTER 2 #3
A rush of heat flares inside me. My instinct had already warned me this could happen. Siya running away again. This time from RK Estate. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon, not within twenty-four hours of her check-in.
“Explain,” I say sharply, flicking the cigarette aside and crushing it under my heel as I head for the villa.
“She climbed down from the balcony of her cottage ten minutes ago,” Haider replies. “Stepped over the railing and disappeared into the shadows behind the cottage. That side isn’t covered by external cameras. Our men are already sweeping the area.”
“Seal the exits,” I snap, quickening my pace. “Lock every gate, every service road. Check the staff quarters and storage shed. Everything. Run the perimeter cameras again and find the blind spots. No one leaves or enters without my say. I don’t want her off this property, Haider.”
“Copy that,” he replies.
“If the Vardhaan men get a wind of this before we find her, we have a different war on our hands. They cannot know she’s missing until we get her back.”
“They won’t,” he assures me. “Since she didn’t leave through the cottage door, they think she’s still inside. But if we don’t find her by morning, there could be trouble.”
“Siya Vardhaan is trouble,” I mutter, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “Find her. She shouldn’t have gone far. Keep eyes on every vehicle within a twenty-kilometre radius if needed. I’m on my way.”
I hang up and move towards my Villa. Just as I’m about to step inside, a movement catches my eye.
To the side of the villa is my private car shed, a wide steel-shuttered garage where my vehicles are parked.
Tonight, the shutter is half open, though it’s completely dark inside.
I even hear a faint sound from inside the shed.
My instincts sharpen instantly, the old predator waking beneath my skin.
I reach behind my back, my fingers brushing against the handle of the hunting knife tucked into my waistband.
If someone is hiding in my garage at two in the morning, they’ve either made a very foolish mistake or a very dangerous one.
The moment I step inside, looking for the intruder, there’s a slight movement behind me…
too close for my liking. I turn quickly, my hand closing around a throat, my fingers locking tightly as my palm presses into a windpipe with enough pressure to make a man go limp.
I slam whoever it is against the concrete wall, my knife a heartbeat away from making a decision.
But the moonlight filtering through the half-open shutter illuminates the face I’m seconds away from harming. And suddenly, the world tilts beneath me.
It’s Siya Vardhaan. In my garage.
She doesn’t yelp, doesn’t curse, even when my fingers tighten around her throat.
She simply meets my eyes over my hand. Her pulse throbs wildly against my wrist. Her chest rises and falls fast against my forearm, which grazes the curve of her breast. She’s so close that her scent hits me harder than the adrenaline ever could.
What the hell is happening?
I’ve spent a lifetime in the underworld, surrounded by women whose beauty was crafted to seduce and kill, and yet no one ever got to me like this. But this… this fire in my veins every time I’m near her… it’s the only thing I haven’t been able to control yet. The only thing left to tame.
I don’t release my hold. I won’t. Not until I know what she’s doing here and why?
Although I’m shocked seeing her inside my garage, there’s also a sense of relief that she didn’t get away.
But I crush it just as quickly, because I’m furious.
She tried this stunt on her very first night here. First f*cking night in my estate!
And still, even when my thumb presses harder around her throat, she doesn’t flinch.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I loosen my grip just enough for her to speak.
The moment I do, she moves. Her hands clamp around my wrist as she twists, trying to shake off my hold on her neck while pushing herself away from the wall. The knife slips from my hand, and she almost gets free.
Almost.
But I catch her before she can take two steps. This time I grab both her arms, slam them back against the wall behind her, and pin her there leaving no space between us. My body cages hers completely. The wall at her back, my chest pressed against her front.
“Let me go,” she snaps.
It’s anger. Not fear. It’s an order, not a plea. And that only makes me hold on tighter. Her guards might jump at that tone, not me.
“You shouldn’t be here in the first place,” I say quietly. “At my private residence. A place where no guest is allowed.”
Her eyes burn into mine. She ignores every word of it.
“I said leave me, RK.”
I keep her there a second longer, just to make a point.
Big mistake.
Her body shifts suddenly, and I sense the movement before I see it.
Her knee jerks upward, aimed straight to my groin.
But I’m faster. I press forward instantly, my body locking her in before her leg can rise fully.
My thigh blocks the movement, my torso sealing the gap between us so completely that even air would struggle to pass.
Now she’s trapped again. This time, chest to chest. Breath to breath.
“Don’t even dare,” I growl.
Her eyes flash, but she’s still not backing down.