CHAPTER 5
RAGHAV
Same Night
It’s close to midnight when Haider steps into my cabin at the resort.
“We’ve got more intel on the Reddys,” he says, sliding his iPad across the long oak table towards me.
I pull the device closer and tap the screen once, rotating it so the images face me.
Satellite shots begin to fill the display, followed by a series of grainy surveillance photographs.
Trucks are parked along a narrow dirt road carved through rough terrain.
Several heavy crates are stacked beside them, some of which are partially open.
Even with the low resolution of the images, I can make out what they contain.
Assault rifles, packed explosive shells, and military communication units sealed in protective casings.
Armed men patrol the vehicles like restless wolves guarding their kill.
“You already know Parag Reddy has been camping near the Nepal border for the past few days,” Haider says, stepping beside the table.
My eyes continue to study the screen.
“He’s there for an arms deal,” Haider continues, zooming in on one of the satellite images.
“These weapons didn’t originate here,” he explains. “They are moving through a corridor where Central Asian suppliers push cargo towards the Nepal side. The Reddys take control from there and handle the next leg of the route.”
“Distribution,” I say quietly.
Haider nods once. “He’s there to broker the deal and move the shipment forward. These are military-grade weapons, not small cargo either. But enough to arm a small militia.”
I lean back slightly in my chair.
“That corridor runs east,” Haider adds. “Once the exchange is complete, the trucks will move through the border routes and eventually towards Southeast Asia. Buyers there are already waiting for this shipment.”
The information does not surprise me. The Reddy empire breathes through narcotics, guns, and the kind of violence that forces politicians to look the other way. Deals like this are the pillars that keep their influence standing.
“When does the shipment move?” I ask.
“The exact timeline is still unclear. But from the movement patterns we’ve tracked, it will take a few more days before the convoy is ready to cross the border corridor.”
He pauses for a moment before adding the part that actually matters.
“And once the transfer is complete, Parag isn’t heading back south immediately. He is planning to come here. To RK Estate.”
My jaw tightens.
“Apparently, he plans to spend some time with the princess before taking her back to Cape Town.”
For a moment, I say nothing.
Spend some time with the princess.
Whatever the hell that means… it’s not happening. I don’t say it out loud, but my hands curl into fists against the edge of the table, and an unpleasant irritation begins to spread beneath my skin. The thought alone is enough to darken my mood.
“I do not want him setting foot on this estate, Haider.”
Haider studies my expression carefully before replying. “Blocking the Reddys directly would draw attention,” he says. “The cleaner option would be for Siya Vardhaan to leave before he arrives. If she is not here, Parag has no reason to come to RK Estate.”
He’s right. Logically, that solution would resolve the problem without raising any suspicion. But unfortunately, my instincts tell me that the woman in question has no intention of leaving anytime soon.
I push away from the table and walk to the window, my gaze settling over the dark stretch of the valley as my mind begins to weigh through possibilities.
“How long before he gets here?” I ask.
“Ten days. Possibly less,” Haider answers. “Once the arms exchange near the border is done, he will head straight here.”
Ten days.
My gaze remains fixed on the darkness outside. In that case, the solution is simple. Make sure the deal doesn’t finish on time.
I turn back to him. “Delay it.”
Haider’s brow immediately creases. “How long do you want to hold something like that back?”
“As long as I decide.”
Haider doesn’t question the order; he simply nods once. For him, delaying a weapons exchange involving the Reddys is just another task to be handled.
“Are we not passing this information to Ayaan yet?” he asks.
I’d thought about it. My brother Ayaan… very few know him as one of the Directors of GLEN, the Global Law Enforcement Network, which hunts down and dismantles criminal empires across continents.
Governments trust him. Intelligence agencies work alongside him.
Entire mafia syndicates have fallen because of the operations he leads.
And only a handful of them know the truth about how I fit into that world.
Years ago, after we both pulled the trigger and ended the life of our father, Tej Khurana, Ayaan made a choice that changed everything for me.
Instead of allowing the world to remember me as the Dark Prince who once commanded half the underground networks across Asia and Africa, he erased that history.
He buried my records. Wiped away every trace that connected me to the criminal empire I once controlled. In its place, he gave me a clean slate. To disappear and rebuild a life under a new name—Raghav Kundra.
There were no conditions attached to it.
He never demanded loyalty in return, nor did he force me to turn me into his informant.
But there are certain debts that men like me repay without needing to be asked.
Whenever GLEN required insight into the darker corners of the world, particularly when their investigations stalled because the truth behind a mafia operation was buried too deep, Ayaan came to me.
And I never refused him. I fed him information that no intelligence network could obtain on its own. Contacts, routes, internal disputes within syndicates, hidden alliances that never appeared in official files. The kind of knowledge that only someone who once ruled that world could possess.
Without my help, GLEN would still have succeeded eventually. They always do. It would have just taken them years to untangle the webs I could cut through in mere days.
And that’s exactly why Haider’s question matters.
Because something as serious as military-grade weapons being smuggled near our country’s border is not information that should remain hidden.
If GLEN learns about it in time, Ayaan’s team can shut down the deal before those weapons disappear into another continent.
Under normal circumstances, I would have already sent him the update. But this time… there’s a complication.
Siya.
If Ayaan begins tracking Parag Reddy due of the arms exchange, it won’t take long for him to find out why Parag is coming here next. And once GLEN starts pulling at those threads, Siya Vardhaan will inevitably appear at the centre of their investigation.
A mafia princess connected to both the Vardhaan syndicate and the Reddy empire.
And the moment Ayaan knows that she’s here, he will come for her. That is precisely what I cannot allow. I can feel Haider’s eyes on me, waiting for an answer I haven’t given yet. Finally, I turn away from the window and meet his gaze.
“Ayaan and GLEN will stay out of this,” I tell him.
I can see the slight crease forming between Haider’s brows.
He understands the implication immediately.
Holding back intelligence of this scale from Ayaan is not a small decision.
If the situation spirals out of control, the consequences could reach far beyond this valley.
Haider has been with me long enough to recognise when I’m venturing into dangerous territory.
More importantly, he knows me well enough to understand why.
Because of Siya.
I can see the realisation settle in his eyes, but he says nothing.
“I will inform Ayaan when the time is right,” I continue. “Just not now.”
He studies me, and then nods. The conversation ends there, but the unease does not.
Parag Reddy is closing a weapons deal that should never be allowed to succeed.
A mafia princess is walking through my estate with motives unknown to me.
And the one man who could put an end to all of this, my brother, must remain in the dark for the time being.
I have played dangerous games all my life. But this one is beginning to feel personal.
Just then, the phone in Haider’s hand vibrates. He glances at the screen, and something in his expression shifts before he looks up at me.
“She’s out again.”
The last thread of my patience stretches thin.
“Alone,” he adds. “Her guards have no idea. She slipped past them.”
My teeth grind together. What exactly is that woman trying to prove?
I step away from the window immediately. “Where is she?”
“Near the forest barricades.”
F*ck!
Beyond the barricades that protect the estate, the land becomes wild terrain. Dense forest spreads into the hills where predators roam freely once night falls. Leopards. Wolves. Sometimes, even black bears when the season turns.
If she decides to wander beyond those fences tonight, she won’t be dealing with mafia politics anymore. She will be prey.
“That woman,” I mutter under my breath.
Her guards are not the ones she is troubling here.
It’s me.
I pick up my jacket and move towards the door.
Haider falls in step behind me without hesitation.
Tonight, the princess will receive a final warning.
She either respects the boundaries of RK Estate, or she walks away from my world entirely.
Because if she continues to test her luck like this, one of us will reach the breaking point first. And mercy has never been a quality anyone associates with my name.
SIYA
After Samarjeet’s call, I step out of the cottage intending to take a long walk.
To my surprise, the guard stationed outside my cottage is fast asleep, snoring softly in his chair, probably assuming I have already retired for the night.
I walk straight through the main door, and he doesn’t even stir. Good for me.