Chapter 29 #2
“I thought you felt the same way,” her voice cracked as she hit him again. “I thought you were falling in love with me too.”
She stilled then, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“Do you remember that night?” she demanded, her voice trembling now. “You were leaving for Keya’s wedding the next morning. Rhea and I were supposed to leave two days later. You had come home to meet me.”
His chest tightened. He nodded, clearly remembering that night. Remembering how hard it had been for him to leave her then. How he’d almost—
“We were in my living room,” her voice dropped, raw with emotion. “Rhea had already gone to bed, so it was just us. We talked for hours… laughing like we had all the time in the world. You kept saying you should leave, but you didn’t. It felt like you couldn’t.”
She swallowed, her gaze distant. “And when you finally did get up, we stopped at the door. Just… stood there. You leaned in close. So close that I could feel your breath. I thought you were going to kiss me. But then you didn’t.
You just brushed a kiss against my cheek and walked away.
” A hollow laugh escaped her. “And that moment meant everything to me. I thought—” She shook her head.
“I thought it meant something to you too.”
She stilled again, her chest rising and falling unevenly. He stared at her as the weight of her words crashed into him.
Fuck.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“I was wrong,” she whispered, the words cutting deeper than anything else she’d said. “So goddamn wrong.”
Another tear followed.
“You felt nothing for me,” she said, her voice trembling now. “Clearly… you returned from Keya’s wedding and started dating her. And now you’re being forced to marry me because of the damn business. Just go and marry Amara instead.”
She spun away from him, but he caught her arm, forcing her to stay in place, right there in front of him.
“Shauna—” He moved closer, his voice dropping, stripped of everything but truth. “I love you.”
She froze. Then her eyes widened in shock.
“No…” she whispered, shaking her head as tears spilled freely now. “No—”
“I love you, Shauna Sehgal,” he said, his grip tightening just enough to keep her there, his gaze locked onto hers. “I have only ever loved you. And that is the truth.”
She stared at him like she didn’t recognize him.
Like she didn’t believe a single word. But he wasn’t stopping now.
Perhaps the problem always had been the distance, the silence, and all the things left unsaid between them.
Perhaps it was because they had both avoided the truth when it mattered most. Not anymore.
He was done holding back. Done fighting what he felt for her. What he had always felt for her.
“I saw you at Sheena’s wedding,” he continued, his voice steady despite the storm inside him. “And that was it for me. Love at first sight.”
Her lips parted, but no words came.
“We went back to London. Became friends. And I fell harder for you. Your beauty, your sass, your wit… you were everything. And then you told me about your dreams,” he went on quietly.
“About Sehgal Media. About how much it meant to you. And I loved you even more for your ambition and determination to see your dreams through. And then we came to India for Keya’s wedding. ”
The memory hit him harder than he expected.
“I overheard Keya and Janak talking about my inheritance. I wasn’t supposed to know until I turned twenty-five…
but I heard them, and so Janak told me the truth.
That Sehgal Media was mine.” He exhaled sharply.
“I knew then that I couldn’t have you. How could I, when my inheritance would destroy your dreams?
It would be the single reason you’d hate me forever. And so, you became off-limits.”
She stepped back, as though the ground had shifted beneath her. But he didn’t let her go. His hold on her arm tightened, pulling her back toward him, refusing to let her retreat into distance again. Not this time.
“I stepped back from you,” he said. “I told myself that I couldn’t love you.
That perhaps it was better this way for both of us because when you learned the truth, you’d hate me anyway.
I did not choose Amara over you. I dated her because I couldn’t have you.
I stupidly and naively thought that if I dated someone else, anyone else, then I’d be able to forget you.
Amara was a friend, and it was easy to be with her.
But we broke up in a matter of weeks because I didn’t want her. And she wasn’t you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth back then?” Shauna shot back.
“Because I swore to Janak that I wouldn’t. The terms of my inheritance stated that I couldn’t tell anyone till I was twenty-five. And I couldn’t be with you and keep lying to you. I couldn’t have listened to your dreams knowing I’d be the one to break them. How would that have been fair to you?”
She looked at him for a long moment before she spoke again.
“I know what you’re saying makes sense. You were trying to do the right thing…
but you didn’t just protect me, Akash. You broke me.
” Her hand pressed against her chest. “You made me feel like I wasn’t enough. Like I was easy to walk away from.”
“I never wanted you to feel that,” he said. “And I’m so sorry you were hurt.” A beat passed and he added, “But I was hurt too.”
His jaw tightened, the memory surfacing as sharply as ever.
“That day… it was yours and Rhea’s twenty-second birthday.
We were all supposed to meet for lunch at Sketch in London.
I got there early.” His gaze never left hers.
“And I heard you. You were with Rhea. She asked you… she asked if there was something between us. If you felt something for me…” His voice hardened slightly.
“And you laughed. You said, ‘Of course not. He’s just a friend. Not even a close one… more like an acquaintance. I’d never date him even if he were the last man on earth. ’”
A hollow, humorless breath left him. “And then you said you didn’t care who I dated. That it wouldn’t make a difference to you.” His eyes held hers. “What was I supposed to think, Shauna?”
“I was hurt,” she said angrily. “You were with her. What was I supposed to say? That I was in love with you?”
His breath hitched.
“Were you? In love with me?” he asked, needing to know the answer to that.
For a moment, she didn’t answer. Her gaze dropped. Then slowly, she looked up at him again.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Relief flooded through him, followed by an overwhelming sense of rightness. She had loved him. All those years ago… she had loved him too.
He pulled her closer, closing the distance between them. His hand slid up, curling lightly around her jaw, holding her there, making sure she couldn’t look away.
“And what about now?” he asked, his voice low, rough, urgent. “What do you feel for me now?”
She looked away from him.
“Shauna,” he murmured, leaning closer, his forehead almost brushing hers. “Look at me.”
She finally met his gaze.
“Tell me,” he said softly. “What do you feel for me now?”
She didn’t answer. Her lips parted, her chest rising and falling unevenly. Her eyes searched his.
“Say it,” he pressed, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I want to hear you say it.”
Her fingers curled into his shirt, holding on.
“I tried not to,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I tried to hate you. To forget you.” A tear slipped free, tracing down her cheek. “But I couldn’t. I love you, Akash. I never stopped loving you.”
He exhaled a relieved breath, touching his forehead to hers. Her fingers tightened in his shirt, her voice trembling as more of the truth spilled out.
“All those arguments… the way I spoke to you,” she admitted, shaking her head, “it wasn’t because I didn’t care.
I just… wanted a reaction from you. Anything.
” A broken laugh left her. “Anger, annoyance… whatever you were willing to give me. It was better than nothing at all. And like a fool… I held on to that. Because I knew I couldn’t have you. ”
“I did the same, Shauna,” he said. “All those arguments, all the things I said… I pushed you. I provoked you. It was the only way I could still be with you. Because I never stopped loving you. Not when things fell apart between us. Not when we fought. Not even when I was angry with you. Not even when there was nothing but distance between us.”
He gave her a soft smile. “After that night in Singapore, I tried so hard to talk to you, to try and understand what you felt for me. I hoped you felt something too, but then you always ran away when I tried to talk to you. So I went to Dubai feeling heartbroken all over again.”
“How could I tell you how that one night had destroyed me so thoroughly?” she said.
“I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t breathe without thinking about you.
But I believed you didn’t care for me. So I tried to avoid having that conversation with you because I was sure you’d see through me and know what I felt for you in my heart. ”
“God, we’ve been so foolish.” He took both of her hands in his.
“I love you, Shauna Sehgal. I fell in love with you when I saw you the first time at Sheena’s wedding.
” He smiled. “I’d just landed from London…
and there you were… Standing by the sea in that rust-orange lehenga, the wind in your hair, the waves behind you.
You stole my breath away. My heart has been yours since that moment.
” He gripped her hands tightly. “When Janak suggested this marriage between us for the sake of the business, I couldn’t believe you were even considering it.
I was delighted when you agreed to it. I’ve wanted you for so long, and now I finally get to have you.
I lost you once, and this time I’m never letting you go again. You are mine.”
“I love you so much, Akash,” Shauna said softly.
Her fingers tightened around his, holding on just as firmly.
“When I agreed to this marriage… it was supposed to be for the business. That’s what I told myself.
” A faint, almost shy smile touched her lips.
“But a part of me hoped for something more from you. Then you wanted to make it real, and I knew I had to agree. I wanted to take a chance on you… on us. These last few days… they’ve meant everything to me.
It feels like we’ve finally found what we lost back then.
Like we’ve found our way back to each other. ”
“These last few days have been rather perfect,” Akash said with a smile.
She nodded and then looked at him carefully. “Tonight… when Mr. Malhotra brought up Amara, it did something to me. It made me feel angry. Insecure. Like I was right back there in the past... thinking that you felt more for her than you did for me. And I hated it. I hated how much it got to me.”
He opened his mouth to correct her, but she shook her head.
“The thought of you with someone else…” she whispered, her eyes locking onto his, fierce now, almost wild, “it drives me mad.” She fisted her hands in his shirt, pulling him closer. “You’re mine, Akash. You’ve always been mine. And I’m not sharing you with anyone. Not now. Not ever.”
“I’m yours, Shauna. I’ve only ever been yours.”
He leaned forward and palmed her cheeks, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. But Shauna didn’t want gentle or slow. She captured his mouth, her arms coming around him, pushing her body flush against his.
Mine.
The word roared through him, fierce and undeniable. She was his. Finally.
He tilted her head and captured her mouth again, deepening the kiss as his tongue traced hers.
He pulled her closer, his hands moving with purpose, finding the zip at her back and dragging it down as the fabric loosened and slipped from her shoulders.
The dress fell away, pooling at her feet, forgotten.
She was no less urgent. Her fingers worked at his shirt, unbuttoning it quickly before pushing it off him.
Within moments, clothes lay scattered behind them in a careless trail as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bed. He watched her for a moment after laying her down against the white sheets.
God, she was beautiful. Perfect. His.
She was exactly where she was meant to be, spread before him on his bed.
And he was going to claim what was always meant to be his.