CHAPTER 24 #2
“The man who hadn’t touched a gun for two and a half years…
” she says in disbelief now. “We all watched him turn into that same brutal Dark Prince again. Shooting people, threatening the underworld, and starting a mafia war in the middle of a wedding. Do you have any idea what we all felt watching that? Do you even understand what the family is going through right now because of you?”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“Family?” I cut her off sharply. “What do you mean?”
For a moment, Trisha goes silent, and then she exhales heavily. “While you were busy waging war at Vardhaan Mansion, I was on a call with Ayaan.”
F*ck!
“And the second Ayaan found out you were in Cape Town yourself,” she continues, “I had to show them everything live because even I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Every muscle in my body goes still.
“Ayaan, Meher, Krish, Kailash Uncle… we all saw it, Raghav. We saw how you and your army entered Vardhaan Mansion, how you shot Parag, threatened Samarjeet, and forcefully married Siya. Seeing you like that was nothing less than a nightmare for all of us.”
For one long second, all I can see is Baba’s face in my mind. I realise what he, Ayaan, and Meher must have gone through while watching me become that version of myself again. The version I buried thirty months ago. The version I promised them would never return.
But I don’t regret any of it. None of this would have happened if Ayaan hadn’t gone behind my back in the first place.
He knew exactly what he was doing when he changed the drop-off location.
He knew I would never allow Siya to disappear across the other side of the world from me. And yet he did it anyway.
Big mistake. A big f*cking mistake.
I drag a hand across my face as Trisha lets out a tired breath.
“I promised Siya that I would give her the freedom she wanted. But I failed to keep that promise because of you. You’ve complicated everything for all of us, Raghav,” she accuses.
“And now be prepared for the family to come to the RK Estate. You know they will. And they’re not going to be easy on you. ”
Of course they won’t. Especially Ayaan.
Good. Because even I can’t wait to ask my brother how the hell he thought he could make decisions about Siya behind my back.
“Let them come,” I say coldly. “And stop blaming yourself for what happened. The only person responsible for all this is Ayaan. I’ll deal with him when he gets here. What I did was simply the consequence of his actions.”
“Really?” she fires back. “You want to blame Ayaan for this too? Don’t even try that, Raghav.
What you did to Siya is entirely on you.
You forced her into that marriage. You used her mother against her.
You cornered her until she had no way out.
” She shakes her head in disbelief. “Neither Ayaan nor any of us had anything to do with that decision. You crossed that line on your own. God knows what Siya must be going through right now after what you did to her.”
“She’s fine,” I mutter angrily. “If anything, she’s safer now than she’s ever been. And she’ll have the best life possible here.”
“You can’t decide that for her.”
“I already did, Trisha,” I snap, my tone sharper this time. “And everyone, including Siya, will see that in time.”
“I hope so,” she exhales, still not convinced. “But this is still far from over. Right now, not just the family, but the entire underworld is at your back. You’d better be prepared.”
Saying that, she disconnects the call, and the hallway falls silent once more. She is right about one thing. My marrying Siya has changed everything. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.
Eventually, I slide the phone back into my pocket and turn towards the room downstairs where I left Siya and her mother.
The door is still open, and Siya is alone inside.
Her mother is probably in the washroom. Siya has opened one of her suitcases and is shoving her clothes into the wardrobe, as if she has already decided this is where she will be staying.
As if she has a choice. The moment her eyes lift and land on me, she deliberately looks away again.
F*ck.
Even after everything that happened at the Vardhaan Mansion, the blood, the gunshots, the marriage, this woman still looks at me like she’s ready to go to war again.
She knows exactly what I did to bring her here.
She has seen what I’m capable of when it comes to getting what I want.
And yet, the fire inside her hasn’t dimmed.
She still has that same stubbornness, that same defiance.
Perfect. I was never built for a woman who surrenders easily anyway. And if Siya thinks she can walk away from me after everything, then she clearly doesn’t understand what I’m willing to do to keep her here.
I walk further into the room, keeping my gaze fixed on her as she drags another suitcase across the floor. Before she can lift it and put it on the bed, I pull it away from her.
“This room is only for your mother,” I say flatly. “You’re not staying here.”
“The hell I’m not.” Her eyes blaze furiously. “I already agreed to stay in your villa. That doesn’t mean I’m sharing a room with you, RK. I’ll stay with Mom.”
My jaw ticks. I knew she wouldn’t take this marriage seriously overnight.
“You are my wife now.” I step closer, ignoring her stubborn glare. “And my wife will not sleep in another room while I’m under the same roof.”
“In your dreams,” she retorts instantly.
Wrong answer.
Before she can react, I wrap my hands around her waist, lift her off the ground, and throw her over my shoulder. Her world flips in an instant. Her hair spills forward, her balance is gone, but her pride is still intact.
“Raghav!” She starts struggling, her fists slamming against my shoulder and back as I walk out of the room, carrying her effortlessly.
“Put me down!”
“No.”
“Are you insane?”
“Completely.”
She twists harder in my hold, trying to push away from me while I carry her upstairs towards my bedroom.
The moment I push open the door, I walk straight in and throw her down onto the bed.
She immediately gets up again. Before she can move far, I catch hold of her ankle and pull.
Her body slides across the mattress towards me, and a furious gasp leaves her lips.
“Stop fighting me, Siya.”
“Go to hell.” She shoves at my chest and tries to move away.
That’s it. Pushing her back onto the mattress, I climb onto the bed before she can escape again and pin her beneath me. One arm traps both of her wrists above her head while the other braces beside her face, my elbow sinking into the mattress as I support my weight over her.
For a second, I just stare at her. Siya’s hair is spread wildly across the pillow beneath her. She’s breathing hard, her eyes blazing with fury, her chest rising and falling unevenly beneath the top she changed into earlier after removing every sign of our marriage from her body.
Yeah. I noticed everything during our flight. The missing mangalsutra. The wiped sindoor. Every single act of rebellion. And it pissed me off far more than it should have.
“You done?” I ask dangerously.
“No.” She struggles beneath me again. “And I’m not sleeping with you. So keep your damn husband rights and your d*ck to yourself.”
What the…
Before I can complete the sentence, the little menace suddenly drives her knee straight between my legs.
“F*ck—”
Pain shoots through me, making me jerk back. I glare down at her in disbelief while she breathes heavily beneath me, with absolutely zero regret on her face.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I growl. “Is this how a wife treats her husband on their first night?”
“No?” she mocks viciously. “How would I know? It’s my first time being forced into a marriage. But if you are asking me… this is nothing. You deserve a lot worse.”
And then, the little menace tries the same thing again. But this time, I’m faster. My free hand catches her knee mid-air before it can hit me. In one swift movement, I trap her leg beneath mine, while my other hand still pins both her wrists above her head again.
Her breath catches instantly. Mine darkens. Then slowly, I lean closer. Close enough to feel her breath hitch.
“Yes, you are right,” I say hoarsely, my gaze dropping briefly to her lips before meeting her eyes again. “I definitely deserve a lot more from my wife tonight.”
She understands exactly what I mean. The tension between us turns dangerously intense in one second flat.
Suddenly, all I can think about is how she tasted when I kissed her that night, how perfectly she surrendered and melted in my arms before reality ruined everything between us again. I want to kiss her so badly.
Right here. Right now. On my bed.
My fingers tighten around her wrists as the temptation grows stronger with every passing second. But then her voice cuts through my thoughts sharply.
“If you think forcing me into this marriage gives you any rights over me… then f*ck you, RK. You threatened me into becoming your wife, but you will never get anything real from me. Not my loyalty. Not my body. Not even the smallest piece of who I am.”
My jaw clenches hard enough to hurt. If she thinks this marriage was only about power play in the name of protecting her from the underworld, she’s too na?ve.
“I know I was your first kiss, Siya,” I say.
“In our world, a mafia princess’s first kiss, her first surrender, always belongs to her husband.
So tell me, how could I let you become someone else’s wife?
The night we kissed… you became mine. Our marriage in Cape Town was nothing more than a formality for the world to know whom you belong to.
So keep fighting me all you want. Keep hating me.
But we both know that one day, you’ll come to me willingly. ”