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“Oh, look, we’ve reached the house already.”
He gave her a pointed look. “Don’t deflect, Avantika. I am serious.”
She shut her eyes and opened them again. “How could I not have thought about it?”
He gave her a sideways look as they walked on. “Then what is stopping you from agreeing? You know it’s the right way forward.”
She halted. They were close to the main house now.
“It’s not easy for me,” she said.
His forehead marred. “Why? Do you still not trust me?”
She clucked her tongue. “It’s not that.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “It seems like that to me.”
“I’m scared, okay?” she shot back, annoyed that he was forcing her to acknowledge why she hadn’t agreed to marry him yet.
“Scared of what? Of who? Me?” He spread a hand out. “Are you scared that I’m going to hurt you? Or are you scared you won’t believe my side of the story when we finally talk it out?”
Twelve years of distrust, hate, and thinking he’d betrayed her still made her hesitate. And while she did trust him, there were those one-off moments when she was still afraid that he may just end up being the villain she’d always believed him to be. It was a horrible thought considering she was very much involved with him and because of what she felt for him in her heart. She loved… God! She was still scared to say it out loud. But, she couldn’t help feeling insecure. She’d felt this for him in the past as well, and things had gone horribly wrong. It made her afraid to say what she felt for him out loud, even to herself.
“Dev, please. I need time.”
“This is exactly why I’ve hesitated in sharing my story with you.” He sounded upset. “Deep down, I don’t trust that you will see it from my viewpoint. Where do we stand if we don’t have trust between us, Avantika?”
He was right. She had to trust him wholly and completely at some point. She had to trust that history wouldn’t repeat itself and that she wouldn’t be hurt by his actions again. Maybe the first step towards that was to accept what she actually felt for him. To accept that she…that she loved him.
There. She’d said it to herself. She loved him. She loved Dev Luthra. Her heart rejoiced as the thought settled deep in her soul. They had a plethora of unspoken things between them, but admitting that she loved him was a step in the positive direction. Maybe she ought to tell him what she felt about him so that he’d never feel that she didn’t have faith in him. Perhaps, she ought to take her mother’s long-ago advice and listen to her heart.
She gulped in a huge breath of air, and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Dev was staring at a spot on her chest, his face twisted in worry.
She frowned. “What is it?”
Dev stepped in front of her, pushing her to the side. A gunshot resounded around her. Dev looked into her eyes, his expression frozen. Red began to cover his pristine white shirt, and fear slithered down her spine. No!
She screamed.
She reached Dev just as he fell to his knees. She caught hold of him as he lay on her lap. Tears pooled in her eyes.
“A…Avantika…” he sputtered. “Just go…run.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
From the corner of her eyes, she saw the old housekeeper rushing toward them along with several of the household staff.
“Call an ambulance,” she yelled. “And keep Neil inside. Guard him.”
The man backed away, pulling his phone out while instructing the rest of the staff to surround them in a circle.
Dev caught her hand. “Take Neil and g…go back to Dubai. A…Aaryan…he will…he will keep you safe. I failed…to do that. Forgive…me.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Please…go.”
“NO,” she cried.
