Chapter 12
The golden morning sun of Lombardy filtered through the sheer silk curtains of the master suite at Villa Raheja, painting the dark timber floors in warm, amber light.
Shruti woke up with a soft, involuntary smile curving her lips. For the first time in weeks, the heavy weight of fear and anxiety that had burdened her chest was completely gone.
She turned her head on the feather pillow. Sitting on the edge of the bed, freshly showered and dressed in a crisp white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up, was Akhil.
He was watching her sleep, his dark eyes filled with a quiet, overwhelming tenderness that made Shruti’s heart skip a beat.
The fierce, terrifying billionaire who had single-handedly taken down four armed thugs in a misty Venetian courtyard last night looked entirely transformed.
His sharp features were relaxed, and a soft, genuine smile played on his handsome lips.
"Good morning, Shorty," Akhil spoke softly, his deep, velvety voice brushing over her skin like a physical caress.
Shruti smiled, reaching out from beneath the duvet to wrap her hand around his wrist, pulling him down towards her. "Good morning, Mr. Dictator. How long have you been sitting there staring at me?"
"Long enough to realize that I am the luckiest man alive," Akhil murmured, leaning down to brush a sweet, lingering kiss against her temple, his stubble lightly scraping her cheek.
Shruti giggled softly, turning her face to press a kiss against his jaw.
The memory of their passionate confession in the Venetian water taxi, his fierce words, his desperate touch, and the breathtaking kiss under the falling rain, was burned into her soul.
After eight long years of silent yearning, they were finally together.
She felt safe, adored, and unconditionally loved.
Akhil brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles gently before setting a steaming porcelain mug of fresh ginger tea on the bedside table.
"I made your favorite ginger tea," Akhil smiled teasingly. "Though Chef Matteo was deeply offended that I brewed it myself."
"You made chai for me?" Shruti grinned, sitting up in bed and wrapping her hands around the warm mug. "My goodness, Akhil Raheja, you really are trying to win full marks as a boyfriend."
"I intend to win every single mark, Miss Malhotra," Akhil replied, his dark eyes flashing with a possessive, loving light.
He reached out, his long fingers gently tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
"Finish your tea and get dressed. Gia and Leonardo are coming over for a late breakfast. After that, I am taking you on a private helicopter tour over the northern alpine lakes. "
"A helicopter tour?" Shruti breathed, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. "Really?"
"Really," Akhil confirmed, standing up and buttoning his cuffs. "You spent eight years dreaming of Lake Como, Shruti. I am going to make sure every single second you spend here is unforgettable."
Shruti looked up at him, her heart swelling with an emotion so deep it almost made her eyes tear up. "It’s already unforgettable, Akhil."
Akhil gave her one last, lingering look before stepping out of the suite. "I have a quick ten-minute phone call with Mark regarding Victor Romano's transport to the Milan high-security facility. I’ll meet you downstairs in the dining courtyard."
***
An hour later, Shruti had showered, dried her dark wavy hair, and dressed in a comfortable, elegant white summer jumpsuit with a thin golden belt at her waist.
Feeling happier than she had in years, she walked downstairs towards Akhil’s ground-floor executive study. She wanted to grab her professional camera from the desk where she had left it the previous evening before heading out to the garden terrace for breakfast.
The heavy mahogany doors of the study were slightly ajar.
Shruti was about to push the door open and call out his name, but the sound of Akhil’s voice coming from inside made her pause. He was speaking on a secure satellite line, his tone dark, hard, and razor-sharp.
"...I don't give a damn about the legal technicalities, Leonardo!" Akhil’s voice boomed through the room. "Victor Romano is behind bars, and he stays there. I want his financial assets frozen by noon!"
"The Italian carabinieri have already locked down his Como compound, Akhil," Leonardo’s voice echoed through the speakerphone. "Romano's phone records from last night have been fully decrypted. We found the direct encrypted messages between Romano and Reyansh Khanna."
Shruti paused outside the door, her hand hovering near the brass handle.
"Did Reyansh know about the Venice operation?" Akhil asked coldly.
"Yes," Leonardo confirmed. "In fact, Reyansh was the one who funded the hired operatives in Venice. But Akhil... are you sure you want to handle the Mumbai situation this way? If Miss Malhotra finds out that we knew about Victor Romano’s trap in Venice three days ago, "
Shruti’s blood instantly ran cold.
Her breath caught in her throat. She froze completely outside the door, her heart doing a sudden, violent thud against her ribs.
'What did Leonardo just say?'
Inside the study, Akhil took a heavy, slow breath. "Shruti does not need to know, Leonardo. She was traumatized enough by what happened at Marine Drive. If she realized that I allowed us to travel to Venice knowing that Romano was setting an ambush, she would have panicked."
"But Akhil," Leonardo argued softly through the speaker, "you deliberately used the Venice Carnival Gala as bait to lure Romano out of hiding! You knew his men would target her at the ball!"
"I had thirty armed operatives disguised in the ballroom!
" Akhil’s voice rose sharply, filled with an intense, defensive authority.
"She was never in actual danger! I was tracking her location every single second through her brooch transceiver! I needed Romano to make a move on Italian soil so the Carabinieri could legally arrest him and strip away Reyansh’s European financial backing! "
"I understand your strategy, my friend," Leonardo sighed. "It worked brilliantly, Romano is ruined, and Reyansh’s Italian network is destroyed. But keeping Miss Malhotra in the dark... using the gala as a trap without her knowledge... if she ever discovers the truth, she will feel used."
"She will never discover it," Akhil stated firmly, his tone solid as granite. "The encrypted security logs and intelligence reports are locked in my private drive. As long as she is safe and happy, that is all that matters. I will handle Reyansh Khanna in Mumbai my way."
Outside the study door, the world completely shattered into a million jagged pieces.
Shruti stood frozen on the polished marble floor. All the color drained from her face, leaving her pale as a sheet. Her hands began to tremble violently, her chest heaving as a suffocating, crushing pain slammed into her heart.
'He knew.'
'He knew about the Venice trap three days ago.'
'He didn't bring her to Venice to fulfill her dream or give her a romantic getaway. He brought her to Venice to use her as bait.'
'He had used her as a pawn in his corporate war against Reyansh Khanna and Victor Romano.'
Every sweet word he had spoken on the wooden dock, every passionate kiss in the Venetian water taxi, every loving promise he had made this very morning... it all suddenly felt like a cruel, calculated lie.
"No..." Shruti whispered, a choking sob catching in her throat. "No, no, no..."
Tears of raw, blinding betrayal spilled over her eyelashes, scalding her cheeks.
She backed away from the mahogany doors in utter horror.
The man she had loved for eight years, the man she had trusted with her life, her heart, and her soul, had lied to her.
He had treated her like a helpless, ignorant child, keeping her in the dark while using her as live bait in a dangerous game of mafia chess.
Driven by a desperate, agonized need for absolute proof, Shruti silently pushed the study door open after hearing Akhil walk towards the adjoining bathroom to take another call.
She stepped over to the mahogany desk. Resting on the screen of his high-end executive laptop was the open security intelligence file that Leonardo had just transmitted.
Shruti’s trembling fingers scrolled down the digital document.
There it was, in black and white, a detailed security dossier dated three days prior to their flight to Italy.
The report explicitly detailed Victor Romano’s plan to kidnap Shruti Malhotra at the Venice Carnival Gala.
Below the report was an encrypted audio recording of a phone conversation between Akhil and Raghav in Mumbai.
Shruti clicked 'Play' on the audio file with shaking fingers.
Raghav’s voice came through the laptop speakers in a low whisper: '"Akhil, are you sure about taking Shruti to Venice? If Romano’s men try something, "'
Akhil’s deep, cold voice replied instantly: '"She doesn't need to know the full truth, Raghav. I will use the Venice gala to draw Romano out into the open. My security team will neutralize his men the moment they make a move. Keep Shruti in the dark. It’s safer that way."'
'Click.'
The audio ended.
Shruti stared at the computer screen, her breath coming in ragged, painful gasps.
Even her own brother had known. Raghav and Akhil had made the decision together, deciding what she should know, deciding how to use her, treating her like a fragile, senseless pawn while pretending to protect her.
A dark, bitter wave of anger and heartbreak erupted inside Shruti’s chest, burning away every trace of the happiness she had felt just one hour ago.
***
Five minutes later, Akhil stepped back into his study, hanging up his phone. He was smiling, carrying a leather jacket for their upcoming helicopter ride.
"Shruti, I just spoke to the pilot, "
Akhil stopped dead in his tracks.
The smile on his handsome face vanished instantly. The leather jacket fell from his fingers onto the marble floor.
Shruti was standing behind his executive desk.