Nimisha stood to move to the chair, a small courtesy to give the staff room to serve. Her heel caught on the edge of her saree.
She stumbled.
Her hand shot out instinctively, grabbing Samarth's forearm to steady herself.
The fabric of his suit jacket bunched under her fingers. Her nails scraped against the expensive material, and she felt them catch on his skin through the thin dress shirt.
A thin line of red appeared on his forearm.
The room went silent.
Completely, utterly silent.
Everyone who'd spent any time around Bruno knew the stories. The man who'd shoved Samarth during a business meeting—Bruno had broken his arm in three places. The rival gang member who'd stabbed Samarth during a territorial dispute—Bruno had torn the man's arm clean out of the socket.
The dog was fiercely, violently protective of his master.
And Nimisha had just drawn blood.
She released Samarth's arm like it had burned her, taking a step back. Her heart hammered against her ribs as every eye in the room turned to Bruno.
The dog looked at the scratch on his master's arm.
Then at Nimisha.
Then... yawned.
He stretched leisurely, his massive jaws revealing impressive teeth, before turning his head away as if the entire incident bored him.
The silence stretched, disbelief palpable in the air.
"I—I'm so sorry," Nimisha whispered, looking at the scratch. It was barely bleeding, more of a superficial mark than anything serious, but still.
Samarth's jaw tightened slightly. "It's nothing. Sit down."
"You're incredibly lucky, Nimisha," Kritika said, her voice slightly breathless. "Last time someone hurt Samarth, Bruno..." she trailed off, glancing at the dog with something like fear in her eyes.
"Tore his arm out," Kabir finished, his expression fascinated. "I've heard the stories. The Executioner's loyal beast."
"Nimisha, you need to be more careful," Saroj chided, though her attention was on Bruno, clearly unnerved by the dog's non-reaction. "Such clumsiness is unbecoming."
Nimisha nodded, moving to her seat with careful steps. She didn't dare look at Bruno, but she could feel his presence, solid and somehow... reassuring.
The dog has heard worse from our bedroom,she thought, and had to suppress an inappropriate urge to laugh.A few scratches are the least of his concerns.
If Bruno could talk, he'd probably be complaining about the sounds his master made when he buried himself inside her, not some accidental scratch.
"Well," Shaurya said, his eyes gleaming with mischief as he looked between Bruno and Nimisha. "That was interesting."
"Interesting is one word for it," Abhay murmured.
"Bhabhi," Shaurya called out, grinning like he'd just thought of the best idea ever. "Throw a spoon at bhai. Let's really test Bruno's loyalty."
"Shaurya," Saroj said sharply. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm serious! I want to see what Bruno does."
Nimisha met Shaurya's eyes, saw the challenge there, the playful glint that reminded her he was still young despite his position in the family business.
