Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
ISHA
“ T hat should be my line,” I said furiously. “How dare the three of you do something so abysmally stupid? What were you thinking?”
“We knew exactly what we were doing,” Veer argued. “But why are you even here?”
“Guys, if you could defer your fight until we’re out, I don’t feel comfortable standing in a tunnel that’s rigged to blow up,” said Ranvijay, taking the gun from my hand before Veer could set it off by shaking me like a rag doll.
We took one look around us and ran to the exit. Veer gave me a shove to help me out of the tunnel and the others followed me out. When we were a safe distance away, Bhai Sa hit the remote detonator, and with a dull blast, the ground caved in over the Goels’ drug lab and Sapna’s corpse.
“This is going to come back to bite us in the ass,” I predicted. “The CCTV footage from inside the lab alone is enough to put us in jail for years.”
RV snorted loudly in derision.
“The footage will show Sapna threatening all of us. You killed her in self-defence, Isha. No one’s sending you to jail for that. Besides, what are the Goels even going to tell the police? That we took down their cocaine factory? This lab is on your brother’s lands. I suggest we allow the Goels time to collect Sapna’s remains, and then seal the lab for good. Let it be a warning to them to never try something so audacious ever again.”
“No! My men will deliver Sapna’s remains to them and warn them that I will slaughter every Goel that sneaks onto my lands ever again,” snarled Bhai Sa.
The horses neighed restlessly and he clicked his fingers at us.
“Let’s get out of here before the land caves in on itself due to the aftershocks of the blast,” he said, jumping on Pasha.
Veer threw me up on his horse and climbed up behind me.
He rode off with me, leaving the others behind and only stopped when we reached the palace.
“How did you find us, Isha?” he asked furiously after we dismounted. “Did you follow us here?”
“Of course, I did. I knew you were up to something when Diya called me to say that you guys were locked up in Bhai Sa’s study all evening. I came here to confront you after dinner, but I saw you sneaking off into the desert on horseback, and I just had to follow you. Which reminds me. I left my ATV on the other side of the dune.”
Veer grabbed me by the shoulders again and shook me hard.
“How could you risk your life like that?” he demanded.
“How could I not?” I asked softly. “My life had just walked into an ambush.”
“What happened to your marriage of convenience?” he asked drily.
“It turned out to be terribly inconvenient,” I replied with a shrug.
I stared at him with my heart in my eyes.
“Veer, are you sure you want to go ahead with this marriage? I will let you go if you want me to because I would never stand in the way of your dreams.”
“I know, Isha. But my most important dream is standing right here before me. You matter more to me than the CM’s post. It was never even a competition. You were always my first priority. And to be honest, I quite like this new way of solving my people’s problems. It’s much more satisfying than netagiri. Your brother was really onto something when he became the beast of Trikhera,” he teased.
I shuddered hard at the memory of how close I came to losing him tonight.
“Please don’t do this ever again, Veer. I can’t always be on hand to save your ass,” I scolded.
Instead of making me a promise I knew he couldn’t keep, he kissed me until I forgot everything but him. It didn’t take too long.
“I love you, Veer,” I said breathlessly, between kisses.
“I love you too. More than anything in the world.”
A voice in my head whispered that he was only saying this because there was no way he could ever become CM now. The Goels would not rest until they had hung us all out to dry. But the new Isha stomped on that voice and silenced it because I knew that Veer did really love me. Because I was worthy of being loved.
“Jeez! Get a room, guys,” said Ranvijay, as he dismounted from his horse.
Bhai Sa rolled his eyes at the lot of us.
“Are they back safely?” yelled Diya, from her window.
“They are, thanks to me,” I yelled back.
“Well, come up and tell me all about it!”
With a laugh, we all rushed to obey the Maharani of Trikhera.