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“Great. Do you want an award for that? Should I clap?”
“Avantika, I’m not done talking,” he said sharply. Her brows shot up at his hard tone.
She kept silent, thankfully. He truly was on edge right now, and one wrong word from her would cause him to completely lose control over his rage, which he’d tightly kept leashed for years. He exhaled, controlling himself.
“As I was saying, Myra worked with me for four years,” he continued. “Do you know how hollow she was back then? She’d lost the love of her life, and she’d become this lifeless person, one who never showed any emotion unless she was in the presence of her father. That’s when she put on an act, showing him how perfect her life was. She got fake engaged to that fucker Yug because of her father. My interactions with Yug were limited, yet I could see how horribly wrong he was for her. More than a year ago, I found Aaryan and Vihaan because of Shaurya’s success story in Dubai. I probed into him and learned that he was indeed the man Myra thought she’d lost. I convinced her to move to Dubai with me. I deliberately held a party atLa Soiree,yourfamily’s restaurant, to announce my arrival, knowing Aaryan would check the security footage once he learned I was inside his premises. I hoped Shaurya would be watching as well and find her, and he did. And then, I bought that villa atKeyStone’s residential project atArabian Greens.”
Dev had learned a year ago thatArabian Greenswas an upmarket residential project being constructed by the Rajpoot’s firm,KeyStone. It was an immensely successful project, as he well knew, and consisted of villas, a mall, an exclusive hotel, and a school.KeyStonewas minting money through it as they were entitled to a percentage of the cost of every villa sold, plus they were contracted to do the interiors of every villa as well, for which they made further money. It was quite impressive.
Avantika pouted. “I do recall how you forced our Arab partner to sell you the largest villa there and thus forced my brothers to get in touch with you.”
His jaw clenched. “And how else was I supposed to get a reaction out of your brothers? I had to do something to make them notice me. Through that project, I got in touch with Shaurya first, and from thereon, I got a way to get into all your lives.”
Avantika stared at him with an indecipherable expression. He ignored it to continue, “Because of this villa, I could push Shaurya and Myra together. I forced them to come face to face every opportunity I got. Nature took its course then. They are happy now, aren’t they?”
Avantika swallowed and lowered her chin in a nod. But it did nothing to dissipate the rage flowing in his veins.
“Now let’s talk about Vihaan and Tiya…”
The waitress approached them for their drinks order. Seeing the fury etched on his face, she started to back away, but Avantika gave her a placating smile. “Please get me a whiskey sour and a martini for him.”
The waitress backed away, and Avantika faced him. “You need to calm the fuck down.”
He ignored her to continue, “Where was I? Yes, Vihaan and Tiya. You forget that I know Vihaan very well. When I met him at Tiya’s parents’ party for the first time after twelve years, I realized he was just the same—wild and rebellious. However, he was quite protective of his family, and I figured he’d do anything, even give up his own happiness, to protect you all. Even that first time I met him, I could see that he wanted Tiya, although he’d have never accepted it.”
“But you did dare him to fall for her,” Avantika said, “and if he did, then he’d have to tell you about me. How was that in any way helping him? Same with Shaurya too. You threatened to out his real identity to the world if he didn’t give you information about me.”
He lifted his jaw. “Let’s get one thing very clear, Avantika. Everything I did was to get to you and to be seated in front of you, as I am right now. You were and always will be my priority. I will never deny that. However, I did help your brothers too. I knew Vihaan would never accept Tiya in his life. He was too scared to let her in and to trust her. He was too scared of me to bring another person into his inner circle. So, I egged him on with that stupid bet, daring him to be with her and still deny that he felt nothing for her. As expected, he fell for her, hook, line and sinker. However, I was too shocked when he rejected her in front of me. That’s when I realized how far your brothers were willing to go to protect you and keep you safe from me. Nonetheless, it all worked out for Vihaan and Tiya, and they, too, are happy, right?”
“Yes, they are,” she breathed out, watching him in disbelief.
“Now, getting to the most important couple, your brother, Aaryan, and my sister, Sanjana. Them falling in love was something I’d never ever imagined. I know how much Aaryan hates me. He thinks of me as his enemy. And yet, he fell for my sister?!My sister? Fuck! I find that hard to believe till date. I took Sanjana from him; of course, I did. I thought he’d kidnapped her to get to me. I didn’t know she loved him at that time. And yes, once I learned it, I was too selfish to not use her to try to get you to come to me. However, I knew in my heart that Aaryan would give up Sanjana, but he’d never allow you to meet me. So, I’d brought her with me that night when Aaryan wanted to negotiate with me. I was always going to return her to him. Her happiness is what has kept me going for years. Meeting you and bargaining with you, so we are finally seated face to face as we are right now, was a bonus. My sister has always been innocent in this war between us, and I will never ever hurt her. And hurting Aaryan or any of your brothers was never on my agenda, ever.” He exhaled a long breath. “Now that I’ve cleared that, pray tell me, how have I jeopardized your brothers’ love lives or when have I hurt them? Seems to me they are all happy, thanks to me.”
She stared at him for a long moment as if pondering over his words.
A different waitress arrived with their drinks, and he gave her a nod, refusing to scare her away too.
The waitress had barely placed his martini glass on the table when he picked it up and downed it in one go. He signaled her to get him a refill.
Avantika lifted her own glass and stared at it. “So, you really want me to believe that you’re not the bad guy?”
He shrugged. “You can think what you want about me. The truth, however, is very different from what you believe it to be.”
She sighed, looking around the restaurant.
“I like this place,” she said. “I like the wooden décor, the mahogany leather, and the rather English wallpaper, all those arches and brown—”
“—your attempt to change the subject because you refuse to see me as anything other than a villain is not lost on me.”
Her eyes fused to his. “Do you blame me?”
“No,” he said.
That was the one thing he’d never do…blame her. She’d been innocent, too, when everything had fractured so badly for them. His greatest regret till date was that he hadn’t been able to protect her then.
His second glass of martini appeared before him, and he stared into it.
“What are we doing here?” she finally asked him in a soft voice. “Don’t you have a life to live, a business to run, and maybe even a…a woman—or more—waiting for y…you?”
