Chapter 17
Oh God.
Shauna stood to the side, watching Akash hug another woman. The woman’s back was to her, so she couldn’t see her face. But even standing afar, she couldn’t deny the affection Akash shared with her.
Her stomach dropped. The ache that rose in her chest was sharp and familiar.
Every time she thought about giving him a chance, he ruined it.
Hadn’t the past taught her anything? Back then too, she’d hoped something more would happen between them.
And then he had started dating another woman, and she’d realized far too late that she hadn’t mattered to him at all.
And now he wanted to marry her.
He’d filled her head and heart with hopes of more. That maybe she could let go of the past and start fresh with him. That maybe making this marriage real wasn’t foolish after all. Maybe it would be good for both of them. Maybe giving him another chance didn’t make her weak.
And the way he’d kissed her?
It had totally wrecked her. She’d walked away from him with her body humming, his hands still imprinted on her skin.
The way he’d touched her, so boldly, so confidently, had undone her composure completely.
She hated how much she wanted more. How easily he’d made her ache for things she’d sworn she no longer needed from him.
Fuck. She was an idiot.
Nothing had ever really changed. It had taken her years to get over him. Years to stitch herself back together after realizing how easily he could unravel her. And now, like a fool, she was considering marrying him. To build a life with him. To trust him again.
Only to see him holding another woman close. Kissing her.
Yes, it was only a kiss on the forehead. And yet, it was the way they stood. The familiarity between them. The quiet intimacy in the way they looked at each other. As though they were more to each other.
A fierce, burning anger flared through her at the woman in his arms. For one reckless moment, she wanted to pull her away from Akash. To claim him as hers.
She exhaled slowly, steadying herself. He wasn’t hers.
But he was going to be her husband, a traitorous voice whispered in her head. She shut the thought down just as the woman stepped away and disappeared into the night.
Akash turned… and looked straight at her.
Something akin to remorse flashed across his face.
The fragile restraint she’d been clinging to shattered.
She turned sharply and moved away, her only instinct to escape him, this place, and this sudden, searing pain that had no right to exist and yet had lodged itself deep in her chest.
She didn’t want to hear explanations. Didn’t want to hear his voice. She just wanted to leave.
Of all the places she could have chosen to meet her sister, she’d chosen this one. Maybe it was good she’d witnessed what she had. Now she could firmly shut down the thought of a real marriage with him.
Real? Fuck.
He didn’t know the meaning of the word. Perhaps she shouldn’t marry him at all. She knew she wouldn’t be able to tolerate him cheating on her.
She’d barely taken a few steps when a hand closed around her elbow.
“Shauna—”
Before she could react, he steered her into the restaurant and down a narrow side passage tucked into a corner. It was dimly lit and quiet. A corridor meant for staff and storage.
“It’s not what you think,” he said urgently.
She let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “No shit.”
“Shauna, please,” he said, stepping closer. “It’s not what you think.”
“I don’t care,” she shot back, her voice shaking despite her effort to keep it steady.
He lifted her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. “I think you do.”
“Fuck you, Akash Karia,” she snapped, trying to pull away. “Let me go.”
“That was Amara,” he said.
The name hit her, and somehow, it made everything worse.
She sucked in a breath, fury blazing. “Oh, that makes it so much better. Fucking asshole.”
His lips thinned, but she didn’t care. She soldiered on. “You know what? You should marry—”
She broke off as he suddenly covered her mouth with his hand, cutting off her words.
“I wasn’t alone with her,” he said quietly, his eyes dark and intense. “Her brothers were there too. Like I told you before, we’re all friends.”
She yanked his hand away, her eyes blazing. “I. Don’t. Care.”
He caught her chin again and angled her gaze toward a far corner. “Look,” he said. “Vir and Dheer. Her brothers.”
She followed his line of sight despite herself. Two men stood near the bar, still deep in conversation with a few others. One was unmistakably Vir. The other was Dheer Malhotra. She knew him. He was Raashi’s friend too.
The brothers shook hands with whoever they were talking to and left.
“I had to tell them about their grandfather, about how he’d put me in this position, and about you,” Akash explained. “What you saw meant nothing. Amara was simply concerned about me. She’s a friend, Shauna. Only that.”
Her anger deflated in a rush. And instantly, she hated herself for feeling relieved. Still, she couldn’t deny that her chest felt lighter.
Fuck. She’d sworn a long time ago that she wouldn’t care what Akash Karia did. But how could she not when she was considering marrying him? When he was going to be her husband for five years?
She turned back to him, her jaw tightening, anger reigniting. God, she was an idiot. She couldn’t allow him to matter again.
“Ok, you’ve made your point,” she snapped. “Now move.”
“No,” Akash said quietly.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to stop pretending that this—you and I—don’t matter,” he shot back.
“You and I mean nothing to each another.”
“Really?” he said, stepping closer, his voice low. “Because a minute ago, you thought I’d betrayed you.”
“No,” she said fiercely.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, then lifted again, his eyes dark. “Then why are you shaking?”
She hated that he noticed. Hated that he was right.
“Because I’m an idiot,” she said, losing the battle with herself. “Because I feel too much for you when you’re the last man I ought to feel anything for.”
Something raw crossed his face. “You think this is easy for me?” He let out a harsh breath. “You and I are constantly at war, and yet I can’t, for the life of me, resist you. I’m standing here trying not to touch you when every instinct I have is screaming at me to pull you closer.”
His words unlocked something primitive inside her. She studied him carefully. Dressed in blue denims and a white shirt, his hair ruffled and the shadow of stubble darkening his jaw, he looked hot as hell.
Mine. A wild, irrational voice inside her screamed.
He was hers, finally, for the entire duration of their marriage.
And she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted another man.
He was right. She wanted more from this marriage too.
She wanted him, his body, his hands on her skin, and all the feelings only he ever invoked in her.
She’d fought this for too long and buried everything she felt for him for years beneath scathing remarks and carefully constructed indifference. And now she was done fighting.
She was going to let go of the past and take a chance on this marriage. On him.
Rising on her toes, she pulled his head down and slammed her mouth against his.
For a moment he froze. Then something snapped.
His mouth claimed hers in return, harder than it had that morning.
More fierce and completely unrestrained.
He backed her into the wall, one hand braced beside her head, the other at her waist. Her world narrowed to heat and want and the man invoking all that inside her. Everything else disappeared.
Her hands slid into his hair, gripping, holding him there as she let herself fall into him. She explored his mouth, letting his taste to sink into her.
God. She wanted him. She wanted to lose herself in him. In this need that was consuming every inch of her.
“What. The. Fuck.”
A voice cut through the haze.
She pulled back, but Akash didn’t. He followed her retreat, his mouth brushing hers again, unwilling, uncaring, as if the rest of the world no longer existed for him either. She melted back into him, letting the heat and urgency swallow her whole.
“Oh my God.”
That second voice finally pierced through.
Akash stilled.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
Shauna turned, and her stomach dropped. Rhea and Jiya stood a few feet away, their eyes wide, mouths open, shock written plainly across their faces. She’d forgotten that her sister was supposed to meet her here.
And Jiya? How was she even here?
Fuck.
That morning, right after leaving Akash, she’d frantically messaged their group chat, telling them she needed to talk. She wanted to tell them everything. She needed to talk to them.
About the marriage. About Akash.
Rhea and she were meant to loop Jiya in on a video call. And now both women were standing right in front of her. And they had just caught her kissing Akash—the last man on earth they would have expected to see her with.
“Jee?” Akash said, straightening abruptly. “You’re in town? When did you get here?”
Shauna stepped past him, heat flooding her face. “I thought we were doing a video call with you. When did you come?”
Jiya’s gaze snapped to her first and then to Akash. “After what we just witnessed, how is that the relevant question right now?”
The silence that followed was thick, charged, and deeply uncomfortable.
“We need to talk,” Rhea said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Uh, okay.” Akash ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll leave you girls to it.”
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Rhea shot back. “We need answers from both of you.”
Rhea exchanged a look with Jiya, and then they turned and walked ahead.
Shauna had barely taken a step to follow them when Akash’s fingers closed around her hand, pulling her back. She turned to face him.
“Are we really doing this?” he asked softly. “Will you marry me?”
Her heart stuttered. She really ought to think more about this, but her reply came easily. “Yes.”
This felt right. For her. For Sehgal Media. And for him.
Akash’s expression shifted to one of relief. A smile curved his mouth, and then he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small black box and flipped it open.
Shauna gasped. “You got me a ring?”
“Every woman deserves a ring,” he said simply.
She arched a brow. “Even in a contract marriage?”
“Even then,” he replied, a faint smile curving his mouth. “And especially when we’re going to try to make it real.”
“It will be hard,” she said softly, her throat tightening. “I don’t know how to trust you or how to be with you.”
“Then we learn. Together.”
She swallowed. “Slowly?”
He nodded. “One day at a time.”
He slid the ring onto her finger. The moment it settled there, an unexpected thrill surged through her. She didn’t fight it. She let it wash over her, let herself feel it fully. This was right. The certainty of that burned through her.
She stared at her hand, the weight of the ring grounding her in the moment, anchoring her to the choice she’d just made.
“It’s… pretty,” she said softly.
It was.
The ring wasn’t delicate or understated. It was bold, just like her. A striking emerald-cut diamond set in a sleek gold band, flanked by smaller stones that caught the light. It was loud, modern, and impossible to ignore. It was perfect. And she loved it.
His fingers laced through hers. Her heart stuttered again. What was it about this man that she was ready to give him another chance? That she was willing to bet five years of her life on him, hoping for more?
God, her feelings for him were all over the place, and that scared her. So much. Yet she allowed him to lead her into the restaurant.
And together, her hand in his, she walked out to face two of the most important people in her life.