CHAPTER 1 #2
After a quick shower to wash away the dust, I step out dressed like the businessman I am. Crisp shirt, tailored suit, and polished shoes. The man on horseback is gone. In his place stands the thirty-two-year-old owner of it all, ready to walk into the world that he’s built.
At RK Estate, the atmosphere is already buzzing with activity. Guests start arriving in their expensive cars, and bellboys rush to welcome them. Inside, the lobby is filled with excited chatter as suitcases glide smoothly across the marble floor. It’s the familiar scene at this time of day.
That’s when I see him.
Haider cuts through the crowd and heads straight for me.
He’s hard to miss. Broad shoulders, old scars half-hidden, and sharp, alert eyes that seem to scan the space as if nothing escapes him.
We go back a long way. He was my shield in the life I left behind, the only one who chose to follow me when I walked away from it all.
I never asked him to. In fact, I told him to stay out of it and to build a new life for himself.
But Haider couldn’t. Ever since I came to RK Estate, he has been right here with me.
Years ago, when his parents were marked for execution by one of the cartels, I was the one who went in alone and brought them back alive.
In a single night, I burned down their entire operation and left their leader hanging from a crane by dawn.
No one else could have done it. No one else would have done it.
Since that night, Haider’s life hasn’t been his own.
He would give it up for me without a second thought.
People here think he’s my chief of security.
But truth to be told, he’s my shadow. The one who still has his eyes buried deep in the mafia world.
His ears are everywhere, and there are men who still answer to his call.
Through him, I know who’s rising, who’s falling, and who’s hunting in the dark.
More importantly, he makes sure no threat from my past crosses into my present. No one can ever find out that the dark prince still breathes, still rules in silence.
And if anyone ever tries to drag me back into that pit, Haider will see them coming long before they get close. That’s why I trust him. Because he makes sure my empire here thrives, while the old world never forgets who I once was.
But today, the moment his eyes lock with mine, my calm cracks. His brisk stride sets off alarms in my head long before he reaches me. This look on Haider… I know what it means.
Something dangerous is already at my door. Or is about to be.
He doesn’t waste time greeting me. He just shoves a folded piece of paper into my hand.
Today’s guest list.
I scan the list, my eyes moving down the names, until one of them stops me cold.
SIYA VARDHAAN.
I hiss under my breath, my gaze snapping to Haider, whose eyes mirror mine, burning with the same frustration.
“The booking came in this morning. Same-day check-in. Paid in full. She has reserved for a month. Alone. Her guards are with her, but no family.”
Alone or not, Siya is a Vardhaan. And a Vardhaan stepping into my estate isn’t a coincidence. It’s is a f*cking war cry.
“I’ve already told our men to—”
I raise my hand sharply, cutting him off before he can finish. Not here. The lobby is buzzing with guests and resort staff. None of them can know what is happening. None of them can know who I was.
My gaze lands on Esha, my resort manager, a bright-eyed local woman with a quiet kind of grace and a smile that never falters, no matter what.
The entire place runs as smoothly as it does because of her.
The moment I signal her, she rushes to me, her palms pressed together as she bows her head slightly.
“Good afternoon, sir,” she greets warmly, before giving a quick glance at Haider, who seems to be deliberately looking anywhere but in her direction.
I shove the crumpled paper at her. “Cancel Miss Vardhaan’s booking.”
She looks up at me in shock. “But… Miss Vardhaan has booked for an entire month. Her payment is already processed—”
“I don’t care. Refund her in full. Make the call and cancel it,” I cut in, gritting my teeth, keeping my voice low so that no one else can hear us.
She fumbles, visibly confused. “But sir… what excuse will I give her? I can’t just—”
“Tell her the resort is full,” I interrupt her. “Say there’s been a double-booking. I don’t give a damn what story you spin, Esha. Just make sure Siya Vardhaan does NOT step foot inside RK Estate.”
The words have barely left my mouth when the sound of screeching tyres slices through the air. All heads turn as five cars storm through the gates. Four black. One red. All sleek and armoured.
The black cars stop first, their doors flinging open. Men in suits, at least a dozen of them, spread out within seconds, forming a wall around the entrance, securing the ground like they f*cking own it. The silver stallion emblem gleams on their cuffs, confirming that they are indeed Vardhaan men.
She’s here!
The lobby freezes. Tourists shrink back, and the staff scramble as the red car door opens, and she puts her feet on my soil.
My gaze immediately falls on her sandal.
Diamond-studded. Ridiculously expensive, deliberately flaunting power.
Then it lifts upwards, tracing her long, toned legs as Siya Vardhaan finally steps out from her car.
The red silk of her dress screams power, the slit cut high on one thigh, the neckline plunging low at the front.
The silky fabric clings to her shapely curves, the bold colour matching the car she arrived in.
As usual, even today, she’s dressed to turn heads. To command attention.
She slowly slips off her black sunglasses, as if she’s giving the world time to take her in.
I recognise those sharp assessing eyes instantly.
I’d seen them once before, nine months ago at Josh Club in Mumbai, burning through the narrow slit of the mask she wore that night. Back then, her face was hidden.
But today, it’s revealed for the world to see.
And for the first time, I see her as she truly is. Every picture I hunted down over the past nine months falls short. None of them do her justice. She’s a vision. The very definition of class wrapped in beauty, danger, and power.
In short, she’s a ticking grenade wrapped in silk.
She tilts her face slightly towards the resort and smiles. Not at me. Not yet. But at the world, as if this entire valley has been laid at her feet. The bellboys rush forward, bowing their heads and scrambling for her luggage.
Just then, one of the staff steps forward with a brass plate, applies a tilak on her forehead, and sprinkles rice, a welcome ritual we introduced months ago.
Siya bows her head slightly, accepts it, and flashes a smile so disarming that the staff looks positively smitten.
She’s playing this out like a perfect princess she thinks she is. Regal, approachable, yet untouchable.
Esha stiffens beside me, torn between my order and the reality of a guest standing right here, being welcomed like royalty.
“Sir…” she whispers helplessly, but the moment I nod, she gets the signal.
With a sigh of relief, she steps forward to welcome Miss Vardhaan. Siya’s eyes drift across the lobby before finally locking on me. For the briefest second, recognition flickers across her face. But she masks it instantly, schooling her face into polite indifference.
“Welcome to RK Estate, Ma’am,” Esha says warmly. “May I introduce you to Mr. Raghav Kundra, the owner of the estate?”
Siya’s eyes land on me again. Then she gives a small nod, as if we’re complete strangers meeting for the first time.
F*ck her! How dare she walk into my estate and pretend she doesn’t know me?
“We’ve met before,” I say.
Her lips curve into a faint smile. “I don’t think so.”
Just as she moves past me, I grab her wrist, stopping her mid-step.
“I wasn’t asking. I was stating a fact. We have met before, Miss Vardhaan.”
The moment I touch her, her guards take a step forward. Haider moves instantly, placing himself between us, ready to defend me. Without even looking at her guards, Siya raises her hand in a silent command. The men stop, but their eyes never leave us. As if I care!
Her eyes glitter as the corners of her lips twitch again.
“Impossible,” she finally replies, sounding almost amused. “I’m sure the woman you met was someone else. Because I don’t think I’ve met anyone quite as… intense as you in my entire life.”
Then she flicks her hair back and adds, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, RK, I need to collect my suite keys.”
RK?
She f*cking called me RK!
One of her guards still steps forward. “Any problem, Ma’am?”
She rolls her eyes and cuts him off with a single glare. “Nothing I can’t handle, Michael.”
Then she turns back to me and gives me one last look before heading to the reception desk to complete the check-in formalities.
Michael glares at us before following her promptly.
He’s definitely going to be troublesome.
I look at Haider, and he immediately nods, knowing I want him to keep a special eye on Michael.
My gaze finds her again as she stands at the reception and speaks to the staff. I’ve faced men who came for my life. Enemies with guns raised to my head, fingers ready on the trigger. But never this. This is different.
No one has ever looked me in the eye, challenged me to my face for being wrong, and walked away like it meant nothing. And what bothers me more is her pretence.
I know it was her nine months ago at the Josh Club. She was wearing the eye mask, not me. She’d seen my face. She knew exactly who I was. So why pretend she doesn’t know me now? What the hell is Siya Vardhaan playing at? And why here… in my world?