Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
RANVIJAY
T his time, I was sure Shivina was going to swing at me. And at some level, I knew I deserved it. But when she calmed down, I knew she’d recognise it as a brilliant idea.
She was desperate for money. Desperate enough to agree to a vicious deception. And I was desperate for an heir. Desperate enough to agree to marry a harpy like Kavya. Why not help each other out?
I stood still as she marched up to me angrily and swung her arm back. Just before her fist connected with my face, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. That’s when she began to struggle like a demon.
“Let go of me, you monster,” she panted as she tried to punch me with the other hand. I grabbed both her hands and trapped them behind her back. Her back arched as I held her hands tighter, and I tried to ignore the feeling of her full breasts rubbing against my chest with every sobbing breath she took.
“You’re mighty mouthy for a woman who might end up in jail before the night is out,” I said softly.
“I’ll give you mouthy,” she growled, bringing her knee up between us.
She was a menace, I decided as I dodged her knee just in time.
“Stop it, woman. I’m trying to have a business discussion here,” I bit out, dragging her closer, leaving absolutely no space between our bodies. “Just calm down and listen to me.”
She stared at me in disbelief.
“A business discussion? When I’m plastered against your body like a band-aid? Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby, Hukum? It would explain a lot,” she said snarkily.
Her beautiful brown eyes shot sparks at me. Sparks of hatred. But as I stared into them mesmerised, I also saw the hatred hiding sparks of desire that I was sure were reflected in my eyes. Something about this woman really set me off. And I had a feeling her sass had as much to do with it as her dangerously curvy body.
“Your sister’s in danger, Rani Sa. Are you sure you want to waste time wrestling with me?”
Her face hardened at the reminder, and Shivina tried to put a bit of distance between us.
When I was sure she wasn’t planning to attack me again, I let go of her hands, and she glared at me as she rubbed her wrists.
“I’m listening,” she said grudgingly.
“It’s a purely business proposition. I need an heir. And you need… money?”
She nodded.
“I’ll do one better. In exchange for an heir, I will provide you with… well, with all this ,” I said, waving a hand around us.
“I don’t want all this ,” she said stubbornly, mimicking my gesture. “All I want is enough money to give my sister a good education and a secure roof over her head.”
“Are you prejudiced against wealth?” I asked carefully.
She shook her head in reply.
“Then maybe you’re the one who was dropped on the head as a baby,” I said dryly. “Who says no to this kind of life?”
“Not everyone aspires to be a Maharani, Your Highness. Especially if we need to trade our bodies for it. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to look elsewhere for a wife.”
“I don’t want a wife,” I snapped.
She looked confused, and I didn’t blame her. I was making a mess of explaining things.
“I mean… I’m not looking for a wife in the traditional, happy-ever-after kind of way. I’m looking for something more… well… temporary.”
“Then you’re looking in the wrong place,” she said bluntly. “You need a womb for hire. A surrogate.”
I sighed heavily. I wish we lived in a world where I could get away with having a baby by surrogacy, but I couldn’t. I had to do it the old-fashioned way.
“What I need is a temporary marriage. Once I have my heir, you’re free to live your life on your terms. Of course, you’ll have to raise the child right here, but I won’t interfere in your life. I can promise you that right now. I can even build you another house on the palace grounds to give you full freedom.”
“So basically, you’re asking me to sign away the next eighteen years of my life just because you want an heir?”
“Not at all. Like I said, you’ll have your freedom back as soon as you give me an heir. A neat, clean divorce with a generous financial settlement.”
“But I’m supposed to raise the child in your palace?”
“In the palace… or near it… whatever you’re comfortable doing,” I said.
I was proud of how accommodating and reasonable I sounded right now. It boded well for our relationship.
“And what if I marry again? Would you expect my new husband to move into your palace, as well?” she asked caustically, and all reason flew out of the window.
Over my dead body would she live with another man! And I couldn’t believe she had the cheek to suggest bringing him into my house! I’d rip his head off and stuff it into his mouth if he so much as looked at Shivina.
Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed her by the shoulders again and shook her hard.
“ Who is he? ” I roared.
“Who is who?” she asked, looking at me as if I’d lost my head.
“The man you want to shack up with under my very roof,” I snarled.
Shivina shrugged out of my grip and rubbed her temples as if she had a headache.
“There is no man, Hukum. It was a hypothetical question. And I have to point out that your neat and clean divorce doesn’t look so neat and clean from where I’m standing. Can you imagine how dirty it will get if we actually go through with this ridiculous idea?”
“It’s not as ridiculous as you standing in for my bride,” I felt forced to point out.
Shivina flushed brightly and scowled at me.
“One time! I did a mad, impossible thing only once in my life. So why am I being made to relive Alice in Wonderland’s six impossible things in a day?” she asked.
“Because it’s not something impossible. I’m suggesting a marriage of convenience, something that’s very common in our culture. Look at all my ancestors hanging up in the picture gallery. How many of them do you think married for love? Marrying to beget heirs was kind of their modus operandi,” I pointed out.
“But this marriage comes with an expiry date,” she argued. “That’s hardly traditional.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Shivina. I don’t believe in love because I’ve learnt the hard way that while romantic love sounds wonderful in books and movies, the reality is very painful. I married for love once, and I’m never making that mistake again. But while I cannot promise you love, I can offer you something far better. Friendship and security. What do you say?”
My phone rang before she could reply. I was relieved to see Raksha’s name flash across the screen.
“Hukum, I have news,” she said hesitantly.
“How bad is it?”
“Very. I’d like to explain what I found in person because I don’t think we should discuss it over the phone.”
Raksha was a woman of few words, so if she wanted to discuss it in person, it must be very bad. I asked her to come upstairs and ended the call before I turned to Shivina.
“Raksha has some news for us. I’ll need an answer soon, Shivina. But we’re going to rescue your sister first.”
“Even if my answer is a resounding no?”
“Of course,” I replied, surprised that she’d think I’d ever leave a child to suffer the consequences of my actions.
Her face softened, and Shivina gave me a tiny, reluctant smile. There was a knock at the door, and the butler led Raksha in.
“Your household is in an uproar,” she said with a grin. “Rani Ma and Sannata wanted me to make sure your new bride is still alive and in one piece. That’s quite a lot of sympathy for an impostor. Well played, Rani Sa.”
“Don’t call me that,” said Shivina with a shudder. “I just want to rescue my sister and get back to my old life.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. There’s not much left of your old life, from what I hear,” she said briskly. “You’re persona non grata in Sajjangarh Palace. Rajiv has managed to hold off the cops, but there’s a lot of pressure—and money being offered—from the palace, and they won’t hold out against it for much longer.”
Shivina turned a frightened face to me.
“We’ll never make it there in time if we drive there. Can you arrange for someone to pick her up from the palace? And maybe a lawyer to deal with the police?”
“I can do better than that, Shivina. We’ll fly down to Sajjangarh in my chopper,” I replied immediately.
She looked taken aback at the suggestion, but it was the quickest way to get there.
“I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” she said doubtfully.
“It’s no trouble at all. It’s time the Dodiyas faced the full fury of the Mirpur royal family,” I declared. “What do you have for me, Raksha?”
“Evidence and a battalion,” she replied.
“Excuse me?”
“I have the evidence right here, Hukum,” she said, handing me a thick folder. “The Dodiyas are too cheap to have full-time security. They hired a team from an agency for the wedding, and everyone knows those guys have no loyalty to anyone. I found at least three guys willing to give evidence in court just in case you want to take the matter that far. It’ll cost us, but the information is worth the price. As for the battalion, your friends are waiting downstairs. As is your team. It might be better if the Maharaja and Maharani are backed by the Maharaja and Maharani of Trikhera, as well as the Yuvaraj and Yuvarani of Jadhwal. It’ll make a stronger impression.”
“Oh lord! Don’t tell me Dheer dragged poor Diya all the way to Mirpur in her condition,” I said, aghast at the thought of the heavily pregnant Maharani of Trikhera coming all the way.
“The only way he could keep her away was to tie her to the bed,” explained Raksha. “He might have done it too if his sister had allowed it.”
“Well, she’s not going with us. And neither is Isha,” I declared.
“Maybe borrow her Basanti?” murmured Shivina.
“I have my own guns, thank you very much,” I snapped. “Next, you’ll ask to borrow her hyenas!”
“How on earth is she allowed to keep hyenas?” she demanded.
“They are not her pets,” explained Raksha. “We’ve always had hyenas on the outskirts of the villages here. Nature’s garbage disposal, I call them.”
“I hope we don’t need them for this trip. Now, can we focus on the problem at hand? What on earth was Kavya up to yesterday?”
“According to the security guys, two of her friends took her on a hush-hush desert safari for her bachelorette party in the desert. And this is where it gets weird, Hukum. They refused to take the hired guns with them because one of them had her own security team.”
“That’s strange,” I murmured. “You’d think the Dodiyas would want to protect their princess.”
“It looks as if the princess didn’t want them reporting her activities to her parents,” said Raksha.
“She does drugs,” said Shivina suddenly. “That’s what she was hiding.”
“You’re partly right, Rani Sa,” replied Raksha, shaking her head. “When she didn’t return home in the morning as promised, her father sent a team to collect her. And they found her passed out in her tent. Ketamine overdose. It took them ages to revive her. They had to chopper in a doctor who specialises in emergency medicine. Even then, it was hours before she was fit to appear at the wedding mandap.”
“That’s why they forced Shivina to take her place,” I said triumphantly. “Can you get that doctor’s statement?”
“I’m working on it,” said Raksha. “But it’ll take time.”
“That’s the problem. We don’t have too much time,” I replied, running a hand through my hair agitatedly. “And while the statements from the security guards are certainly damning, they aren’t enough. We can’t threaten the Dodiyas with just that.”
“That’s exactly why I tried my luck with the operator who organised their desert safari. He’s an event manager who’s quite famous for that sort of thing. But I know him as the creep who used to film couples having sex in the honeymoon suite of a luxury palace hotel. I busted his racket a few years ago and threatened to reopen the case if he didn’t cooperate with me in this case. Turns out he hasn’t quit his old hobbies completely. He sent me screen grabs of the video he recorded last night.”
Raksha opened the folder and pulled out a sheaf of photographs, each one more incriminating than the other. Shivina tilted her head to see the pictures and flushed brightly when she realised what was happening in them.
“Is that Baisa?”
“Yep,” said Raksha, sounding pleased with herself. “Princess Kavya and her seven strippers. She had quite the orgy last night. I’m surprised she could even walk this morning.”
“Eww,” cried Shivina, pushing the photos away. “I don’t want to see that. And you can’t possibly show these pictures to her parents. Raja Sa doesn’t deserve the humiliation, even if his wife and daughter do.”
“Too bad! They invited the humiliation when they chose to deceive me,” I said angrily. “And I can’t wait to deliver it in person. Call for the chopper, Raksha. And tell the battalion to stand down. There’s no place for them in the chopper.”