CHAPTER 22 #2
The answer is simple.
He hurt her back at RK Estate. And I came here to make sure he never forgets the price of that mistake again.
I should kill him for even dreaming of marrying my woman. But for now, I grab him and shove him hard enough to send him crashing back onto the floor with a groan.
My entire focus then shifts straight to Siya. For a second, the chaos around us fades into the background. All I see is Siya standing in front of me in that maroon bridal lehenga, looking like a vision dangerous enough to bring a man to his knees. F*ck!
My gaze drags over her slowly, almost hungrily, now that she is finally back within my reach.
The heavy bridal jewellery glittering against her skin and the deep red dupatta framing her face makes her look even more breathtaking.
Stunned disbelief burns in her eyes as she stares at me, like she still cannot process that I’m actually standing in front of here.
She’s too f*cking beautiful.
My fingers flex tightly around the gun again as the urge to pull her against me and kiss her right here crashes through me so hard it almost blurs my thinking.
I want her mouth again.
I want her breath breaking against mine again.
Then my gaze drops to the flower garland still clutched tightly in her hand, the one meant for Parag. Rage crawls up my spine instantly. Because Siya had already placed a garland around my neck once in Shivtara Valley.
That moment meant something to me. And now, she’s standing here dressed as another man’s bride, holding a varmala meant for another man, which further spikes my temper.
Before she can react, I grab the garland, crush the flowers in my grip, and rip it from her hands, flinging it across the lawn with brutal force.
Siya jolts at the sudden movement, but before she can utter a word, I grab her wrist tightly and turn towards the mansion exit.
Her pulse trembles beneath my grip. She’s still too shocked to even process what’s happening.
And honestly, I can’t blame her. Probably because nothing about this makes sense to her right now.
She thought Trisha was taking her away quietly.
Instead, I showed up with a full-blown army convoy, exposed my identity to the underworld, shot the groom, and marched into Vardhaan Mansion, nearly destroying half of it.
I don’t give a f*ck! Let them all watch. Let every syndicate present here tonight understand exactly one thing.
Siya is untouchable. She is under my protection now.
Behind us, my men continue locking every perimeter of the estate, while Vardhaan and Reddy’s guards are forced to their knees one after another.
Just as we take a step forward to leave, I hear Samarjeet’s booming voice.
“RAGHAV!”
I turn around, keeping my hold on Siya’s wrist. Samarjeet storms towards us, like a man seconds away from losing whatever little control he has left. Every single one of his guards is on their knees across the lawn, with my guns pressed against their skulls, powerless to help their boss anymore.
For a moment, he just stares at me like he still can’t believe what he’s seeing.
“How the f*ck are you alive?” he demands. “Have you been hiding all this time?”
A humourless smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth.
“Disappointed…” I ask, tilting my head slightly as I watch fear slowly creep into his face. “...or terrified?”
His expression darkens immediately.
“You storm my estate, shoot the groom in the middle of a wedding, and bring an army into my mansion?” he snarls. “What the f*ck do you think you’re doing in Vardhaan territory?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I reply, staring straight at him. Then, I deliberately pull Siya closer against my side, my arm locking around her possessively enough for every mafia man standing around us to understand exactly what this is.
A claim.
“I’m taking her with me.”
The words hit him exactly how I intended. Samarjeet completely loses it.
“You b*stard—” He lunges forward instantly, but before he can even get close to me, three of my men close in around him with rifles aimed directly at his skull.
Samarjeet freezes.
“Try that again,” I say calmly, “and I promise your own men won’t recognise your dead body.”
My grip tightens around Siya as I look him dead in the eye.
“The only reason you are still breathing right now is because you are her brother.”
The fury burning in his eyes turns murderous.
“You think you can walk into a Vardhaan wedding and take a Vardhaan woman out alive?” he spits. “Have you completely lost your f*cking mind?”
Before I can answer, Michael’s voice cuts through the tension. The same b*stard who never let Siya take one peaceful step without surveillance hanging over her. I was almost disappointed I hadn’t gotten the chance to deal with him personally yet. But that ends now.
“Boss!” he yells from across the lawn, still pinned down between two of my men. “He’s the owner of the vineyard at Shivtara Valley where Siya went. The entire RK Estate belongs to him.”
Siya’s fingers suddenly tighten around my hand, enough for me to feel the panic she’s trying to hide.
She knows how much RK Estate means to me.
She also knows it was never supposed to become public knowledge within the underworld.
I still took the risk the moment I decided to come here for her. And I don’t regret a single part of it.
I don’t bother looking at Michael. I simply tilt my head once towards the guards holding him, and they understand immediately.
One of my men slams the butt of his rifle hard into the side of Michael’s neck, and instantly, his body goes limp before collapsing unconscious onto the ground. That’s better!
Samarjeet looks genuinely shaken by that information. It takes him a few seconds to connect the dots, and then his head snaps towards Siya, who has gone noticeably still beside me.
“RK Estate?” he says darkly, coming out of his shock. “So that’s why you were so desperate to accompany Parag to India? This was never about getting to know your fiancé better, was it?”
The moment Parag hears this, he lets out a pained cry from the ground beside us. His one hand is still clamped tightly over his bleeding shoulder as he makes sense of the latest revelation.
“You…” Parag breathes out harshly, staring at Siya with disdain. “You went there for him?” His face twists into something ugly. “All this time, you were playing the innocent fiancée while warming another man’s bed behind my back? You shameless b*tch.”
The moment that word leaves his mouth, I shoot him again. The bullet tears straight through his other shoulder this time. Siya gasps in shock as Parag’s scream rips through the lawn. He crashes back onto the ground, clutching the fresh wound and choking on his own screams.
But all I can still hear is that filthy word he used for Siya.
“One more time you disrespect her… and your lifeline ends,” I growl, though he barely seems capable of hearing me through the pain.
Siya looks at me in horror, as if she no longer recognises the version of me standing before her tonight. Even Samarjeet seems momentarily stunned, his eyes flicking between Parag, bleeding on the ground, and Siya, standing beside me.
“I always knew you were up to something behind my back,” he yells at Siya, rage practically dripping from his voice. “But I never thought you would do this. You went running straight to the Dark Prince?”
Siya opens her mouth to respond, but Samarjeet is too furious now to stop.
“You ran straight into the arms of a rival syndicate to save yourself?” he snarls. “You didn’t just betray me; you crossed the one line Dad warned us never to cross. Tell me, Siya… who exactly disgraced Dad’s name tonight? Me or you?”
His chest rises and falls heavily as he gestures around the blood-soaked lawn.
“He gave you everything,” Samarjeet roars. “His name. His trust. His damn empire. And this is how you repay his syndicate?”
Samarjeet points furiously at the chaos surrounding us.
“Look around you!” he shouts. “Our men are dying because of you. Men who stayed loyal to Dad for years, loyal to this family, loyal to you, are bleeding out on this ground while you stand beside the enemy. Dad would’ve buried you alive for this betrayal.
” His voice turns deadlier. “Forget Dad… I’ll kill you myself, you traitorous wh*re. ”
Then the b*stard makes the biggest mistake of his life.
He shoves my guards off him with full force and raises his hand towards Siya.
But before he can even touch her, my hand clamps around his throat so brutally that the impact itself knocks the breath out of him.
A strangled sound escapes him as I slam him backwards against the nearest pillar, hard enough to shake it.
My fingers tighten mercilessly around his throat, cutting off his airway completely. Samarjeet chokes violently beneath my grip, both his hands clawing uselessly at my wrist as panic slowly floods his face.
Good.
After the filth that spewed from his mouth about Siya… after daring to raise a hand against her in front of me… this b*stard does not deserve a quick death.
A bullet would end it too fast. Mercy died the second he lifted his hand towards her. I want him to choke on fear. I want him to stare death in the face and understanding exactly what happens to men who dare to disrespect what belongs to me.
Tonight, Samarjeet Vardhaan dies by my hands.
Just then, Siya’s voice cuts through the fury consuming me. “RK, let him go.”
I feel the veins in my neck bulge violently with rage as her fingers wrap around my arm. Siya tries to pull me back before I completely lose control, but I still don’t let it go.
“RK, I said let him go,” Siya shouts again. “I’m not walking out of here over my brother’s dead body. Leave him.”