Chapter Forty-One
Kian
My brother and I sit in the carcass of our vengeance. The dilapidated shed reeking of death and hell.
I need to be home with Iris, aware that I haven’t called or texted her the entire day.
She knows me too well to know what I was doing tonight.
It’s why I left before she could wake up and try to talk me out of it.
No way was I letting Arjun stay alive. As for Vicky, she’s going to suffer and rot in jail.
“How did you know I was going to be here?” I ask Nathan.
Taking a drag from his cigarette, he blows smoke toward the sky. “Where else were you going to be?”
“It still doesn’t explain why you were here tonight,” I probe. He doesn’t say anything, but I read between the silence. “Why pretend she doesn’t mean anything to you, Nathan? Why hurt her to get back at me?”
He doesn’t answer for the longest time. I think he never will until he speaks without glancing at me.
“I wanted to make it easy.” Blowing out a ring, he explains, “I was always going to lose her to you. It was only a matter of time. She would’ve never forgiven herself for choosing you over me. I didn’t want her to think she owed me anything.”
“So what?” I accuse. “You decided to shatter her trust instead?”
“It’s easier to be the bad guy than a good one.” Pinning me with a condemnatory look, he utters, “You taught me that.”
“Did the truth change anything? Or are you going to keep punishing me?”
“You’ve had eighteen years with the truth, Kian.” He throws the cigarette to the ground. “I’ve had a fucking week.”
My ire dies, realizing I’m being an inconsiderate ass.
“The truth isn’t a magic pill that you can expect me to swallow and make us brothers again,” he says.
“I understand.” My apologetic tone gives him pause. “And I am sorry for everything. I hope you believe it.”
“Iris has made you soft.”
I scowl, thinking it’s a taunt. Then I notice the sly curl to his mouth, realizing he’s teasing me. The way he did when we were kids. “She sure has.”
It’s wild to me that sitting three feet from a dead man in a prison is where he and I are having a heart-to-heart.
Catching me staring at the cold body of Arjun, he says, “Go home to your girl, Kian. The worst is over.”
“She was spying on me.”
“I know. I found the offer letter and the NDA.”
I laugh humorlessly. “Of course you did.”
“You can’t hold it against her, Kian,” says my brother. “Iris is fiercely loyal and protective of the people she loves. When it comes to you, she’s twice as overprotective. If she didn’t tell you, it’s because she was guarding you in her own way.”
“I know that. I just don’t like the thought of her putting herself in danger for me.”
“You’ll have to learn to live with it, because that’s how deeply she’s in love with you. Don’t try to change her.”
I hate that he’s right.
“I’ll take care of this.” He points to the body. “Be with Iris.”
“It isn’t your mess.”
“For once, trust me, Kian.”
Knowing I can’t turn down the offer because it’s his way of holding out an olive branch, I stand up and give him a number to call for cleanup. Putting on my jacket, I stalk toward the door and unlock it. I pivot at the last second, another question nagging at me.
“Are you in love with Iris?”
Nathan’s muscles tense, his expression becoming impassive. Crossing his arms, he asks me, “How long did it take for you to fall for her?”
“Less than a month. Or maybe it was at first sight. I don’t know.”
“I was with her for three years.”
His confession is a blow to my chest.
He shrugs. “But like I said, I knew she wasn’t mine from the start.”
“Nathan…”
“Don’t.” His jaw tightens. “I’m never coming between you two again. Now leave.”
I believe him.
We both know Iris and I belong together.
***
It takes me two hours to remove all the evidence from what occurred tonight. Darian and Nathan texted and confirmed that everything is taken care of.
Tomorrow morning, the world will learn Arjun Patel was killed in a fight in prison.
After parking in the underground garage of my building, I ride the elevator up to my apartment at midnight.
As per the message I received from Dash, both Bianca and Rosalie have been with Iris the entire day.
I’m grateful to them for keeping her company so she wasn’t alone. They must’ve gone home by now.
The car stops with a ding.
Exiting on my floor, I quickly march to my front door and unlock it. Crossing the threshold, I’m greeted with silence and the scent of strawberries from every corner. Her scent is a balm to my soul, dispersing the lingering tension from my shoulders and back.
“Rainbow?” I call out. Shrugging off my jacket, I throw it on the chair on my way past the drawing room. I catch sight of her long hair flowing down her back as I round the corner to the living area. “Iris, bab─”
My throat goes dry, terror takes root in my bones as I walk into my worst nightmare.
A frenzied Yukta stands across from my Iris, pointing a gun at her.
“Perfect timing,” she sneers, her eyes bloodshot like she’s high.
I take a step so I’m standing next to Iris, ready to tackle her in case Yukta shoots.
“Kian! Go!” Iris shakily says.
“Oh, no,” tsks Yukta, shaking the gun at her. “Nobody is going anywhere. Do as I say, Kian, or I will shoot her.”
I raise my hands beside my head, showing her I’m not a threat. “Whatever you say.”
“Walk and stand over there,” she orders, flicking her chin to the edge of the couch. A good distance from Iris.
Fuck! I can’t protect her from there.
“I said. Move!”
“Okay, okay.” I walk sideways, keeping both her and Iris in my line of sight. I don’t stare at my girl’s face, despite sensing her obvious distress and tangible fright. I need to focus on ensuring we make it out of this alive.
Yukta is a twist I didn’t see coming.
Was she involved too? What did we miss?
I scan the rest of the room to take in the situation fast. Half-eaten dishes set on the coffee table, wine dripping onto the white carpet. In my peripheral vision, I notice a pair of legs peeking out from behind the couch on the other side.
Bianca or Rosalie ?
Don’t let them be dead.
If they are still here, either Dash or Nova must be on their way.
A plan forms fast in my head. I need to stall and keep Yukta talking until one of them arrives.
I also need to get closer to her, so when one of them arrives and knocks on the door, I can tackle and steal the gun in the split second she becomes distracted.
My heart stops when Iris pleads to her.
“D-don’t hurt him.”
“Stop talking, Iris,” I command her.
“It’s me you want, Yukta,” she continues as if I hadn’t spoken. She cannot put me first. Dammit. “I-I was the one who spilled Arjun’s name to the police. Let him walk away.”
“Like you let Arjun walk away,” Yukta spits out angrily, thumb hovering over the trigger.
“You ruined EVERYTHING! Why couldn’t you mind your own fucking business?
What’s with this need you have to save the poor and the needy?
He’s the love of my life. We were supposed to run away.
Now he’s in jail because of you, you fucking BITCH! ”
Iris flinches, shaking like a leaf. “I’m-m sorry. Please. Don’t do this.”
“I am going to kill you!” Her grip tightens around the weapon.
“Arjun’s dead!” I shout.
Her head whips toward me, and she gasps, “What did you say?”
“I killed him with my bare hands. He’s dead.”
“Kian, no!” Iris yells.
“If you wish to hurt someone, it’s me.” I take a step toward Yukta, as her arm shakes while tears gather in her eyes. She swings the gun in my direction. “You want to punish us both? Shoot me. It’s the perfect punishment. I’ll be dead like your boyfriend, while she’ll have to live without me.”
“Don’t listen to him, Yukta,” Iris yells again, panic bleeding into her soft voice. “He’s lying. Yukta!”
“Shut the fuck up!” Yukta aims at Iris once more. “I will decide.”
I close another inch of distance between us.
“Hey! Move back.” Her hysterical gaze flits my way. “I told you not to move! Step back.”
Jaw gritting, I back away.
“Yukt─ AHH!” Iris wails in horror as Yukta shoots right beside her.
“Mouth shut!”
I can’t wait. Every nanosecond I’m wasting puts all of us in danger. Yukta is like a madman, heartbroken and irrational.
“Come on, Yukta,” I calmly draw her attention to me, keeping my hands raised. “Her friends’ husbands are on their way. You’ll miss your chance.”
“Please no,” Iris sobs, the woeful sounds splitting me open. “Don’t hurt him. You’re making a mistake.”
Yukta laughs, staring at Iris with narrowed eyes, basking in her misery. “Doesn’t feel so good when the love of your life is in danger, does it?” With a determined set to her jaw, she aims the gun at my chest. “An eye for an eye, Iris. Say goodbye.”
She pulls the trigger.
Everything happens in slow motion.
The bullet flies through the air, knocking me backward. I look down as my hands wrap around something soft.
It’s Iris.
Time stops as I roar, “NO!”
Both of us crash to the ground. Her small body jolts violently in my arms as a second bullet ricochets, hitting her in the stomach. Her lips make a choking noise, sucking in air, and her eyelashes flutter in pain.
No! No! No!
This can’t be happening.
Wake me up, please!
Twisting, I lay my body over hers and cup her face in my palms. “Iris! Baby, what did you do?”
Somewhere in the background, I hear a loud bang, then a crash. Multiple footfalls running down the hall. Somebody shouts and fights.
While my world comes to a standstill.
Wetness sinks into my shirt. I lift slightly, trailing my blurry gaze lower. A crimson river flows through Iris’s pale white top. Her entire front is painted red.
“No, Rainbow,” I cry out. “Stay with me, baby. Please. Please.”
Tearing her top in the middle, I frantically look for the source of the bleeding. My military training kicks in. There’s a hole in her chest and another on her lower body. I press on the wound on her chest with one palm, while pressing the other lower.
It’s not enough.
She keeps bleeding through my fingers.
“Ki-Kian,” she whimpers, gasping.
I meet her gaze, her face turning pale by the minute as she struggles to keep her eyelids open. “Don’t you dare die on me, Iris.”
A shadow falls over us as somebody drops to their knees. A set of hands pushes mine aside from her chest, taking over in applying pressure. “Let me help, Kian. The ambulance is on its way.”
I recognize Dash’s deep voice.
“You’re going to be fine, Rainbow,” I whisper to her.
She smiles, sad and beautiful. “Y-youuu’ree saf-fe.”
“Don’t talk. Just stay awake for me.”
“Let’s get her downstairs. If the ambulance isn’t here, Nova will drive us,” urges Dash. “Come on, man.”
“Get me a cloth,” I bark. “She’s bleeding too fast.”
“It’s,” Iris coughs, her lips becoming white, “o-okay.”
“Baby, no.” I blink, trying to keep her in focus. Soon, I realize it’s my tears making her face blurry. “You can’t leave me. I haven’t fulfilled my promises to you. Hold on for me. Please. Please. I-I can’t survive without you.”
“I-I love you-u.”
Her ocean blue eyes close just as her body stops moving.
“NO!!”