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“You’re glad to hear it?” she repeated in disbelief. “You do know that means I know my way around, and I could leave when I wanted to.”
He tapped his fingers on his chin, studying her. “You’re not my prisoner, Avantika.”
Her eyes popped. “I’m not?”
“No. You can come and go as you please.”
His words came as a shock. She couldn’t believe him. “I don’t understand what’s going on. What if I run away and return home the first opportunity I get?”
His eyes narrowed. “You can do that if you want. But then I will be forced to find you again, and like I’ve already proved before, none of you Rajpoots like the means I adopt to get toyou. Oh, and when I find you, which I will, don’t be upset if I demand the entirety of our twelve days again from you. I could even ask for more. So, the choice is yours, Avantika. Always yours.”
Her jaw fell open. “Fuck! You’re unbelievable.”
“I am what I am. In fact, I’m pretty sure you already believe I’m not a nice man, yet you agreed to come with me.”
“Like I had a choice in the matter. You wouldn’t have returned Sanjana to Aaryan if I hadn’t agreed to…” she spread a hand between them “…this.”
“Wouldn’t I have?” He tapped his lips again. “Contrary to your belief about me, I do love my sister a lot. Her happiness means everything to me. Which is why I had already planned on returning her to Aaryan beforeyoucame along and decided to offer yourself to me. And I’m too selfish to have letthatopportunity slide. You’re the reason I moved my entire organization’s headquarters to Dubai. And now, I finally have you with me.”
He’d moved his entire base of operations to Dubai because ofher? Why? What did he truly want with her? Her confusion was only increasing by the second.
Aaryan had already told her that Dev had planned to return Sanjana to him anyway. But she hadn’t really believed him then. But now she believed it. God! This man was always one step ahead.
“I’m so stupid,” she spluttered. “I should never have come to meet you that night.”
“The thing is, Avantika, all our actions have consequences. And our present is the result of the choices we made in the past. We are defined by that for the rest of our lives.”
She frowned, digesting his words. Was there a hidden implication in them, or was he just making a grand sweeping statement?
“If I can’t leave when I want to, then it seems like I’m your prisoner.”
“A prisoner doesn’t get any rights at all. While you have the freedom to do what you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure, as long as I follow your rules.”
“A few of them, yes. And since we are talking about rules, let me add some stipulations as well. I want you to have all your meals with me. And I want honesty from you, at all times.”
“Bloody hell. First, you force me to talk to you, then you force me to have meals with you, and now you want me to be absolutely honest. What happens if I don’t follow your rules?”
He ran his eyes over her, coasting from the top of her head down to her eyes, staying on her lips for a while longer before lingering on her breasts, going lower, and repeating the same path in reverse. By the time his gaze finally met hers, she was feeling all hot and bothered. She knew what his searching gaze was implying. If she didn’t follow his rules, he’d touch her freely, perhaps even do more. Not that she’d let him. She’d fight him tooth and nail.
“It’s three simple rules, Avantika,” he drawled. “Why make these twelve days hard when they can be so easy?”
She thought through her options for a moment.
“Okay, fine. I’m willing to accept your terms if you accept my conditions too.”
“Conditions?” He arched a brow. “You’re cute, you know?!”
She glared at him, but it had no effect on him whatsoever. He simply stared at her calmly. This time she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to relent.
He spread his hands out. “Alright. Let’s hear yourconditions.”
“First, we will never discuss the past ever. Second, you won’t touch me under any circumstance. Third, honesty works both ways, not that I will believe everything you say.”
“Hmm. Judgmental much?”
“The past has given me ample reasons to have trust issues regarding you.”
