Chapter 24 - His cute storm
Aadhira felt the world tilt beneath her feet.
The rain no longer sounded romantic.
Now it sounded like a warning.
Arjun slowly lowered the phone from his ear, but his expression never changed.
Cold.
Terrifyingly cold.
Not loud anger.
Not shouting.
Worse.
The kind of silence powerful men carried before destroying something.
Aadhira's voice came out faintly.
"Vikram is at your mother's guest house?"
Arjun didn't answer immediately.
His eyes had gone distant now-
calculating.
Every possibility.
Every betrayal.
Every weakness.
Then finally-
"He shouldn't even know that property exists."
The quiet fury in his tone made chills crawl down her spine.
Because private family estates weren't public information.
Very few people knew about them.
Which meant-
someone close had told him.
Arjun looked down at his phone again.
Another message appeared.
His security team.
He read it once.
Then once more.
His jaw flexed dangerously.
Aadhira stepped closer nervously. "What is it?"
He turned the screen toward her silently.
Security camera disabled manually at 11:42 PM.
Access override approved using executive clearance.
Authorized by: Naina Mehra.
Aadhira stopped breathing.
"No..."
But even she couldn't deny it anymore.
Not after this.
Arjun laughed once under his breath.
A hollow sound.
Almost disappointed in himself.
"I trained her myself."
His voice carried something lethal now.
"Do you understand that?"
Aadhira looked at him carefully.
He wasn't grieving a betrayal anymore.
He was blaming himself for creating the person capable of it.
The storm outside crashed violently across the skyline.
Lightning illuminated him for one sharp second-
the soaked black shirt clinging to his broad frame, dark eyes unreadable, every inch of him radiating dangerous restraint.
Then suddenly-
Arjun grabbed his car keys from the table.
Aadhira's heartbeat spiked instantly.
"Where are you going?"
His answer came immediately.
"To end this before Vikram decides to involve you directly."
Fear shot through her chest.
"No."
Arjun looked at her sharply.
"You are not going there alone."
"Aadhira-"
"No."
This time her voice was firmer.
Stronger.
She stepped directly in front of him, forcing him to stop walking.
Rain-cooled air moved between them heavily.
"You think I'm staying behind while you walk into something like this?"
His eyes darkened immediately.
"Yes."
The answer came too fast.
Too possessive.
Too protective.
Aadhira crossed her arms despite the fear clawing inside her stomach.
"You don't get to decide that alone."
"I absolutely do when your safety is involved."
His tone snapped harder now.
But underneath it-
panic.
Not arrogance.
Not control.
Fear.
Arjun moved closer until she had to tilt her head up slightly to hold his gaze.
"If this is a setup," he said quietly, "then Vikram wants me emotional."
Aadhira's pulse quickened.
"And you think using me is the easiest way to do that."
His silence confirmed everything.
The realization hit painfully.
Vikram wasn't targeting Oberoi Industries anymore.
He was targeting Arjun personally.
And she had become his weakest point.
Arjun's hand lifted instinctively, brushing damp hair away from her face with rough gentleness that completely contradicted the storm inside him.
"You stay here."
Aadhira grabbed his wrist before he could pull away.
"No."
That single word made his eyes flash dangerously.
"You don't understand what men like Vikram do when they start losing."
"And you don't understand what marriage means if you think I'm abandoning you right now."
The words hit him hard.
She saw it instantly.
Arjun closed his eyes briefly like he was fighting for control.
Then quietly-
"You make this very difficult for me."
Aadhira's voice softened.
"Good."
His eyes reopened slowly.
And God-
the look in them nearly stole her breath.
Possession.
Exhaustion.
Love dangerous enough to ruin kingdoms.
Then suddenly his phone rang again.
This time-
unknown number.
Arjun answered instantly.
"Talk."
For a second there was only static.
Then a familiar female voice spoke softly through the speaker.
Naina.
"Arjun... don't come here."
Everything froze.
Aadhira watched Arjun's expression turn glacial.
"Where are you?"
Heavy breathing echoed from the other side.
Then Naina whispered something that made even Arjun go still.
"He knows about Aadhira."
Aadhira felt ice flood her veins.
Arjun's voice dropped into something deadly calm.
"What exactly did you tell him?"
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then finally-
A broken sounding whisper.
"I was trying to protect you."
Arjun's face hardened instantly.
"You sold my wife's security routes."
"No!" Naina said sharply. "You don't understand-"
"Then explain."
For the first time since the call started-
Arjun sounded furious.
Not controlled.
Not restrained.
Actually furious.
Aadhira could hear Naina crying softly now.
"Vikram has something on my brother. I didn't have a choice."
Arjun laughed coldly.
"You had thousands of choices before involving my family."
"I never thought he'd target Aadhira-"
"You should've."
The rage in his voice cracked violently across the balcony.
Aadhira flinched instinctively.
Arjun immediately noticed.
Immediately regretted it.
His free hand found her waist instantly, grounding himself against her like touching her was the only thing keeping him from breaking apart completely.
But his eyes never left the darkness ahead.
"Naina," he said quietly now, which somehow sounded even more dangerous, "tell me why Vikram is inside my mother's guest house."
The line went silent again.
Then-
because fate clearly wasn't done destroying the night-
another male voice entered the call.
Smooth.
Mocking.
Dangerously amused.
Vikram Sethi.
"Because your mother invited me, Oberoi."
Aadhira's stomach dropped.
Arjun went completely motionless beside her.
Vikram continued casually, "Though I have to admit... I didn't expect your secretary to panic this quickly."
Arjun's grip around Aadhira's waist tightened possessively.
Painfully.
"Careful," he said softly.
The warning in his voice was lethal.
Vikram laughed lightly.
"Oh, I'm being very careful. Unlike you."
Lightning split across the sky violently.
The call crackled.
Then Vikram delivered the one sentence capable of detonating everything.
"You really should ask your mother how long she's been meeting me privately."