Chapter 31
31
N ever in his wildest dreams had Armaan ever imagined trusting a man other than his two brothers. Yet here they were, seated across Rajiv Mehra’s desk in his office, Mihir telling him everything, and Navya adding her inputs. Mihir also told him about Ivan and how they suspected him of being the mastermind behind the attacks.
Rajiv’s hard gaze kept returning to Armaan, his contempt clearly evident. The last time Armaan had met him, they had been beating each other up in a ring, and now he was sitting here, in love with the man’s sister, asking him to help them. Fuck, time had changed so much. However, at some point, he needed to talk to Rajiv and clear everything. Armaan was never letting Navya go, which meant that Rajiv would have to accept his presence in her life.
“To be safe and not raise any flags,” Navya began, “I’ve asked Lavina, my assistant, to help. She called Rehana’s assistant and told them Noir was doing an article on the love life of the top models in the Middle East and that if Rehana was interested, then I could get Ananya to feature her with her boyfriend. Rehana was so excited that she literally grabbed the phone from her assistant and promised to send the pictures across to Lavina. We are waiting on those now.”
“Also,” Mihir said, “in the meanwhile we need to check the security footage from Club Poseidon as well, to identify if Arlo was present at the club that night.”
“I have that with me, we can definitely look into that,” Rajiv addressed Mihir. “Have you checked on the others in your security team? Can you vouch for them?”
“I have,” Armaan said. “Most of our men are hired from a security agency. The owner is a friend, and we trust him implicitly. However, there are a few men who we have from our father, Alexander’s time. They’ve been with us for years. Arlo is from that time, as are a few more.” He exhaled. “I’ve been thinking about this. Firstly, I still can’t believe Arlo is involved, and if he is, then he is definitely working alone, because if he had more people from our team working with him, then they needn’t have attacked me outside. They could have done it easily at home. Both Mihir and I have been spending all our evenings and nights at home. The fact that they waited for me to go outside means that he doesn’t have anyone else from our staff working for him.”
“I agree,” Mihir said. “And in Vedant’s case, his bodyguard was sick that night. But he went rushing to where Vedant was, the second he realized Vedant had gone alone. He helped Vedant fight those men, and he took him to the hospital as well.”
Rajiv leaned back in his chair. His office door opened, and he immediately straightened as a woman stormed inside.
“I knew there was something fishy going on,” Sheena Sehgal Mehra said, staring at Armaan and Mihir. She flicked her gaze away from them and looked at her husband. “You were behaving too cagey in the morning.”
“Hello, Princess,” Rajiv drawled. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Sheena straightened. “I don’t like being kept in the dark.”
“Well, this one is for your safety,” Rajiv said. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. Sighing, Rajiv stood up and helped her settle into the chair he’d just vacated.
“Fill me in,” Sheena ordered.
Navya’s sister-in-law belonged to the very famous Sehgal family from India. She came from business royalty and her demeanor screamed her privilege and upbringing.
Navya looked between her brother and his wife. At her brother’s nod, she narrated everything again.
Sheena glared at Armaan before she addressed Navya. “Are you sure he’s worth the trouble?”
Navya chuckled. “Yes, you know that. Stop trying to be difficult in front of him when you’re already on my side.”
Sheena shrugged. “Well, then continue discussing.”
Armaan shared an amused look with Mihir before saying, “I have a theory. If it was Arlo at Club Poseidon that night, it means that he saw Navya and me leave through the private exit and instructed those men to attack us there. That parking lot is used by privileged guests only, and Rehana’s whole group was on the VIP list. As per them, we were to go on a double date, which means that perhaps they expected me also to arrive through that very VIP entrance and were already waiting there, but since Navya didn’t even remember she’d agreed to meet Rehana that night, and I wasn’t even supposed to come, I parked in the regular parking and entered through the public entrance. That is the only thing that makes sense here.”
“I agree,” Mihir added. “Or else why would Arlo even bother to show up that night at the club? You’d have recognized him immediately. He definitely must have expected his people to attack you as soon as you parked in that lot. Perhaps, he was the person you saw before that man hit you on the back of your head.”
Navya explained this part to her brother and his wife.
“And you don’t remember any of it?” Rajiv asked.
“Unfortunately, not,” Armaan replied.
“Where is this guy?” Rajiv asked.
“We brought a few of our security with us as is usual. They are waiting in the cars in the parking below. We brought Vasily too, in case we needed help in apprehending Arlo once Rehana sends us the pictures confirming it was him,” Armaan said. “Once we have proof, we need to isolate Arlo and ensure that he doesn’t suspect we are on to him. Mihir and I spoke on the way here, and we need your help to detain him. And we didn’t want to do it at home. You have your own security. We need them to restrain him and bring him to our warehouse. We will take it from there.”
It was a big ask from a man who clearly wasn’t fond of them, but they didn’t have too many people they trusted and he was someone they could trust.
“Why not use your own security?” Sheena asked cleverly.
“As of now, he’s one of them,” Armaan explained. “We have no means of conducting a meeting with the rest of the team without this guard finding out, and we cannot raise any flags right now. None of our security ought to behave differently with him, which they would if they even had a hint. They wouldn’t take defection of one of their own lightly.”
“Besides,” Mihir said, “right before we came here, Arlo asked to speak to us alone. We put him off for the time being. Hence, we need your help.”
Rajiv stared at each of them for a long moment. He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me be absolutely honest here. I don’t like you guys?—”
“Rajiv, please,” Navya interrupted.
He threw her a sharp look, which shut her up.
“As I was saying,” Rajiv continued, his tone harsh. “I don’t like you guys, and while I have communicated with Mihir in the past, it was because Navya and Armaan could work things out. She’s my sister, and she was hurting, so I called Mihir for her. That doesn’t mean I trust you. In fact, none of your actions in the past have endeared you to me. You held my wife and sister hostage. You bargained with me for their release, and then you challenged me to a fight.” His angry gaze landed on Armaan. “I knew then as well that you did that only to get Navya’s attention. Now, years later, you both come into my life again and add to my burden by requesting me to get involved in something I know I ought to stay far fucking away from.”
Sheena clutched his hand. He shared a look with her and exhaled. He sounded calmer when he spoke again. “You both also need to remember that now, thanks to you, I already have twenty-four-hour protection around my family because Navya is in love with Armaan. They attacked her once, and we all know that someone was following her car the other day.”
“What?” Navya choked out.
“Yes,” Armaan said. “I was going to inform you of this, but it slipped my mind. They escaped when Rajiv’s men tried to catch them. We got to know this because apart from the security detail your brother has put in place for you, we hired someone to protect you as well. No one from our team knows about that.”
Navya looked at Rajiv. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.” Rajiv looked at Armaan. “Once your enemies learn that I am standing by your side, it makes my family a direct target. I have no choice but to accept you in Navya’s life; however, I need not involve myself any further.”
Armaan chanced a glance at Navya. She had paled considerably.
He stood to face Rajiv. “Every word you spoke is true. When we met four years ago, I admit that I gave you ample reasons to dislike me. But I am not that person anymore.” He smiled at Navya. “She’s calmed the storm inside me and changed me. I am a better man now because of her. I love her so much. And while we can find our enemies without your help, I am requesting you to help us, because like you, I, too, want to see my family safe. I want to ensure the safety of the woman I love more than my own life itself. I agree I have made mistakes, and that I may make more mistakes in the future. However, the one thing that will never change is how I feel about her. I will die for her, if needed. Navya is my world.”
Navya took his hand in hers and stood up with him. She addressed her brother. “Before Sheena, I know that you weren’t really happy in life. But after her and the kids, I can see that you’re so much at peace, and I get why you’d want to protect all this that you’ve found and created. Please know that I would never hold a grudge against you for choosing them first, because you should choose them first.”
Sheena exchanged a long glance with Rajiv. It felt like a whole conversation happened between them in that one glance.
“We will always choose our family first,” Sheena said. “And you are our family too, Navya. If this is what you need from us, then we are all in with you. If you need us to support Armaan and his family, then we will.” Sheena’s razor-sharp gaze fixed on Armaan. “But if he hurts you, then even God won’t be able to help him.”
Navya laughed. Even Mihir had a tilt to his lips. Navya’s sister-in-law was bloody formidable.
“Thank you,” Armaan said to Sheena.
“Alright,” Rajiv took over, “Sheena, I want Navya and you to go home while I plan everything with Armaan and Mihir. Navya, tell Lavina to forward the images to me as soon as she gets them. In the meanwhile, we’ll go through the security footage from that night.”
As soon as the girls left, Rajiv strategized with Mihir and Armaan, and then called his security team inside. He gave them instructions to set the plan to apprehend Arlo in motion. Once they left, he put on the security footage from Club Poseidon on his laptop. Armaan let out a relieved breath. Having Rajiv on their side would definitely help them act faster. He and his brothers had been alone for far too long. They’d battled the world all by themselves, but now, to have an ally as powerful as Rajiv Mehra, who was firmly in their corner, warmed his heart. Thanks to Navya, he was part of a bigger family now.
Very soon, they’d learn all they needed to learn, and hopefully, they’d be safe again. All they needed was confirmation via one photograph from Rehana or through the camera footage from that night. Their whole plan was dependent upon it.