Did he even want to?
Or was he too broken to let anyone in, even the woman who'd somehow worked her way under his skin despite all his walls?
He poured another drink.
And tried not to think about the sound of her crying.
Tried and failed.
CHAPTER 9
Following Morning - Samarth's Office, 9:23 AM
Samarth stared at the contract in front of him, the words blurring together into meaningless shapes. He'd read the same paragraph four times and still had no idea what it said.
His mind kept drifting back to last night.
To Nimisha's tears.
To the way she'd broken in his arms, then been left alone to shatter completely.
To the anniversary he'd forgotten and then ruined.
It's just a date on a calendar. Nothing more.
The lie tasted like ash.
He'd heard her crying through the walls of his office. Had forced himself to stay away. To maintain the distance. To remember the rules.
Don't romanticize what we are.
But when he'd finally gone back to their bedroom at dawn, she'd been asleep, curled around Bruno like the dog was the only source of comfort in her world.
His dog. Not him.
And the sight had done something to his chest he didn't want to examine.
"Boss?"
Samarth looked up to find Abhay in the doorway. "What?"
"Package came for Mrs. Ranawat. Security intercepted it per protocol."
"And?"
"You should see this yourself."
Something in Abhay's tone made Samarth stand. He followed his right-hand man to the security office where Armaan waited beside a medium-sized box on the inspection table.
"Who's it from?" Samarth asked.
"No return address. No card. Just her name on the label."
Samarth's jaw tightened. After the diamond bracelet incident, he'd instituted protocols for all packages delivered to the estate. Everything got screened.
"Open it."
Armaan cut through the tape and lifted the lid.
