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They circled one another again.
“I don’t have the time or the inclination to court women,” Aaryan retorted. “You, on the other seem distracted as fuck.”
“Youtook a hit on the face, andI’mthe one distracted?”
“That one was a lucky hit.”
“Sure, if you insist.”
“Are you going to tell me who she is?”
Immediately, an image of rosy lips, long hair and dark, angry eyes appeared in his mind. Shit! His distraction cost him…almost. He ducked just before his friend could land him a straight punch to his face. Nonetheless, Aaryan’s fist managed to graze his chin. He huffed out a pained breath. Fuck! That stung like the bloody devil. Aaryan’s fists were like rocks. If he managed to get a hit on his opponent, then it hurt, bad.
Aaryan laughed. “So, it is a woman.”
“It’s always a woman,” a voice said from beyond the ring. “Are you going to tell us who it is?”
It was Vihaan, Aaryan’s twin brother.
Aaryan snickered. “Ready to give up now, Mehra?”
“In your dreams, Rajpoot,” Rajiv threw back, wiping a trickle of sweat from his face with the back of his hand.
“Maybe I’ll dream abouther, the woman who hasyouso distracted,” Aaryan taunted.
His friend’s words hit their mark, and a rush of raw anger swarmed through him. He’d just about finished chiding himself for that nonsensical reaction when a fist rammed into his face, followed by a solid punch to his stomach, and then his legs were pulled from under him. Rajiv went down flat on the ground, gasping for breath. He shut his eyes. Fuck! He’d been distracted again. By her. What the bloody hell was wrong with him?
He opened his eyes to find Aaryan leaning over him, watching him in that quiet way of his. Aaryan offered him a hand. Rajiv heaved out a breath and allowed his friend to raise him up.
“We need to talk,” Aaryan said. “It’s not like you to react to my teasing like that.”
“Agreed. After Rajiv’s awful performance in the ring, we need to discuss who he was thinking of,” Vihaan, younger to Aaryan by ten minutes, put in from below the ring. He tossed them both a towel each. Rajiv rubbed the grime off his face as they stepped out of the ring and headed to the showers.
A quarter of an hour later, they were all seated inside a cafeteria close by, sipping their favored caffeinated drinks, black coffee for Rajiv and Aaryan, and green tea for Vihaan. The weather in Dubai was too hot at this time of the year to be seated outside.
He focused on his friends. Aaryan was discussing the plans of the new realty project the brothers were considering bidding for. The Rajpoots owned Keystone Corp, a small real estate company, apart from two restaurants, The Strawberry Café and The Komobay Beach bar. They’d come a long way in life, and he was proud of them.
Rajiv observed the two of them. These two men were his closest confidantes, and they’d do anything for him, just as he would for them. He’d promised the Rajpoot siblings a long time ago that he’d protect them, and he had. Their story was bleak and sad and connected to him, a fact he regretted till date.
The Rajpoots had faced unbelievable trauma, heartbreak, and betrayal at the hands of a man they had trusted immensely. To the world, the Rajpoot siblings were dead. Rajiv was perhaps the only person who knew that they were alive and living in Dubai. After all, he was the one who had brought them here years ago. He had helped them rebuild their lives in this city they all now called home, and were flourishing. Although they lived in hiding, they were safe, and that was what was most important to him.
Nonetheless, their enemies were still alive, and rather than face them head-on, his friends had chosen to remain in hiding. Rajiv understood their decision and respected them for it. However, he discreetly kept an eye out for their enemies, for their sake.
The Rajpoot siblings were the reason he’d presented a frivolous image of himself to the world. On the off chance that anyone doubted that the Rajpoots were alive, he couldn’t allow anyone to suspect even for a second that he was the one sheltering them. He refused to take any chances when it came to their safety.
He’d been protecting them and keeping them safe for so long now. Since his friends continued to remain in hiding, he couldn’t openly meet them. They met in private settings like the sports club they were in earlier or in tiny, irrelevant cafes like this one they were at. In fact, Rajiv had bought that sports club so that his friends had a safe place to visit when they wanted to play any sports. He knew Aaryan used the club to hone his fighting skills and play tennis, while Vihaan used the shooting range in the club to better his aim at firing a gun. And while the Rajpoots used the club mainly at nights, he came during the day as well to use the gym and to fight and train with his trainers.
Aaryan switched his keen gaze onto him. “Well, are you going to tell us which woman has caught your eye?”
“She was no one,” Rajiv replied. He instantly regretted his words because two pairs of eyes latched onto him.
“Hmm, which means there is ashe,” Vihaan declared.
Aaryan straightened in his chair. “Shemust have beensomeonefor you to lose focus the way you did.”
“Forget it, Aaryan,” Rajiv exhaled. “It’s not like I will meet her again.”
Vihaan’s eyes widened. “You know this is the first time you’ve ever spoken of a woman like this.”
