Chapter Seventy Four.
~??~?~??~
Ira was sitting at the edge of the mattress, her lower legs draped over the side while the private physician sat on chair before her, a sterilized medical kit laid out.
"Ahh..." she hissed, her fingers gripped into the silk of the duvet as the doctor delicately tended to the abrasions on her feet.
"Deeply sorry, ma'am.." the doctor murmured, instantly freezing mid motion.
He held up a fresh piece of cotton wool saturated with a cold, stinging antiseptic solution and lightly dabbed it against the swollen skin of her ankle.
"Ahh!" she winced again, her shoulders tensing as the medicine bit into the cuts.
"Be gentle with her!" Devraj's voice boomed across the room.
The doctor visibly flinched, a cold sweat breaking out across the back of his neck as he swallowed hard under Devraj's glare.
"I-I am so sorry, sir. I am being as cautious as possible." the man stammered, his hands trembling slightly as he held the forceps.
"Well, be more gentle!" Devraj commanded, his jaw clenched so tight.
"Devraj..." Ira called out softly.
With the single mention of his name, he broke his lethal gaze away from the doctor and rushed to her side in a split second.. sinking onto his knees right beside the bed to bring himself down to her level.
"Does it hurt badly? Do you want me to take over? I'll do it myself." he rushed out, his hands cradling her face.
A small, breathless smile broke through Ira's exhaustion at his intensity.
"No, Devraj... stop it. The doctor is being perfectly gentle. My feet are just incredibly bruised from the cavern rocks. No matter how light his touch is, I'm going to feel the sting."
"Then let's get some heavy painkillers into your system right now." Devraj countered immediately, his eyes searching hers with a possessive need to erase every ounce of discomfort from her body. "That way, you won't have to feel a single thing. I'll have him administer an IV sedative."
Ira slowly shook her head, her smile widening slightly as she placed her palm over his racing heart.
"No. No Devraj. Just let the doctor finish his job, okay? Sit with me."
Devraj let out a defeated sigh, the tension slowly draining from his rigid shoulders. He nodded.
He cast one final, warning look at the doctor, making the poor man flinch slightly for a second time, before settling into his position beside her.
"Please continue, doctor." Ira said.
The doctor offered a grateful nod and went back to work, moving with an even greater vigilant precision under the watchful eye of Devraj.
With every touch of the forceps, Ira's frame subtly flinched, her teeth cutting into her lower lip as she desperately swallowed down another hiss of pain.
"D-Deeply sorry, ma'am." the doctor whispered, his fingers trembling, he nearly dropped his medical tape.
He cautiously glanced up, only to find Devraj standing over him like a grim reaper, arms folded tightly across his massive chest, his eyes burning holes right through the man's skull.
The doctor wept internally, Sensing the immense friction in the room, Ira looked and tracked the doctor's frightened gaze straight to her side.
Devraj entire posture radiating an explosive, predatory hostility directed entirely at the man trying to heal her.
She sighed in defeat.
"Devraj... can you please step outside for a few minutes?" she asked gently.
Devraj gasped, as his arms instantly unfolded in betrayal.
"What? Why on earth would I leave you?" His voice laced with an defensive panic.
"Please.." Ira reiterated, her eyes pleading with his. "You can come right back inside the second he is finished bandaging me."
His possessive instincts rearing his head to refuse any separation from her.
But before he could speak a single word of defiance.
"Devraj..." Ira called his name again, her voice dropping into that soft, melodic cadence that completely disarmed his defenses.
He swallowed hard, his throat tight as he reluctantly nodded.
Slowly, he shifted his gaze back down to the doctor, hitting him with one final look if he screwed up.
"I will be right outside this door." he gritted out.
He walked toward the door. He paused at the threshold, looking back over his shoulder at Ira with a sad pout on his face.
Finally, he stepped through into the hallway and pulled the door shut.
He stood there motionless, his large palm resting flat against the door.
Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, Arjun's name on screen.
He stepped away from the door, his posture instantly shifting back into that of a cold stiffness.
"How is she?" Arjun asked, the moment Devraj picked.
"She's alright.." Devraj responded, as he paced the hallway. "My private doctor is attending to her wounds as we speak."
"Good." Arjun stated, "I've already deployed my team to completely sanitize and clear out Samar's hideout. There won't be a single trace left of what happened on that rock."
Devraj merely offered a distracted hum, his focus still entirely to the closed door in front of him.
"By the way.." Arjun continued, "My Wife wants to see Ira the when she's feeling up for it. Is that going to be an issue with your current lockdown protocol?" He teased..
"That is entirely up to Ira." Devraj replied flatly.
Arjun let out a low, knowing chuckle on the other end.
"Fair enough. I'll talk to you later."
The call disconnected, and Devraj pulled the phone away from his ear, exhaling a heavy breath that had been trapped in his chest since they left the shoreline.
He cast one final, lingering look at the bedroom door before turning to pace down the corridor, letting his adrenaline burn off.
~??~
A few minutes later, Devraj was still restlessly pacing the length of the hallway when the door finally clicked open. The doctor stepped out into the corridor, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
Devraj spotted him.
"Mr. Rathore, the bleeding has completely stopped and ma'am needs to-" The doctor didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence. Devraj brushed past him.
"Don't forget to use the front door on your way out." Devraj threw back over his shoulder.
The doctor blinked in utter bewilderment, staring at the empty doorway where he had just vanished.
"A single woman has that ruthless man completely wrapped around her little finger.." he muttered, adjusting his medical bag before walking away down the hall.
Devraj stepped into the bedroom and immediately found Ira looking toward him, a smile lighting up her face the moment their eyes met.
He rushed over to the side of the bed, his gaze instantly dropping to inspect feet, which were now cleanly bandaged and covered in a soothing, thick layer of antiseptic ointment.
"Are you comfortable? Is it still throbbing? Do you need me to adjust the pillows?" he bombarded her with desperate questions as he sank onto the edge of the bed, bringing his massive frame close to hers.
"I am perfectly fine, Devraj." she murmured softly, she gently pressed the palm of her hand against the rigid line of his cheek.
Devraj leaned into her warmth, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned his head heavily into her palm, his own hand coming up to securely hold hers in place against his skin.
"Thank you for coming for me, Devraj." she whispered.
Devraj let out a trembling sigh, slowly opening his eyes. But as his gaze locked onto hers, the confidence was entirely gone, replaced by a shattering sorrow that turned his dark irises incredibly sad.
Ira's breath hitched at the vulnerability on his face.
Her thumb lightly stroked his cheekbone.
"Devraj... what's wrong?"
"This is my fault.." Devraj murmured, as he held her hand tightly against his cheek.
"I was too selfish, Ira, too blinded by my desperate need to have you, to make you see me, love me, that I allowed myself to forget how truly monstrous my rivals can be. Because of me, Samar saw you as nothing more than a target, and-"
"It is not entirely your fault, Devraj." Ira interrupted softly, her steady gaze forcing him to look directly at her.
Devraj's eyes searched hers, his brow furrowing slightly.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Deepak didn't come after me because of your reputation, did he?"
Ira pointed out, "He clearly knew exactly who and what Samar was, before you came into the picture. Even if you had never entered my life, I might still have ended up in their crosshairs. But there is something else..."
She paused, her fingers tightening slightly around his hand.
"Samar told me something back then. He said someone had contracted him to have me thrown into the underground human trafficking network and ultimately killed. He claimed he disobeyed those orders and chose to keep me for himself instead."
Devraj's entire body stiffened, his jaw clenched tightly.
"Someone contracted him?" Devraj demanded. "Do you have any idea who it is? Did that bastard drop a name?"
"No." Ira replied, shaking her head slightly as the dark memory passed behind her eyes. "He didn't give me a name. But he did leave me with one specific detail... he said the person who planned the entire hit is a woman."
Devraj's mind instantly went into a focused spiral, the puzzle pieces of his connections clicking into place with a terrifying speed.
Alia?
"I will dismantle this city brick by brick until I find out exactly who is behind this." Devraj promised, as he looked back into her eyes. "I give you my word, meri jaan. They will pay for every single bruise and bad memories you shed."
Ira offered him a faint smile, but the warmth quickly faded from her lips, replaced by hesitation.
"Devraj...?" her voice trembling slightly.
"Yes, meri jaan.. what is it? What do you need?" he asked instantly, shifting his weight to sit even closer to her.
"My parents..." Ira murmured,. "How are they? Do they know?"
"Oh. Right. About that..." Devraj paused, a slightly sheepish expression crossing his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.