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“Does Rajiv know?” Sheena asked Ananya.
“He does know I want to get an interview with him.”
Sheena narrowed her eyes. “And what are you not telling me?”
Ananya looked at her plate. “Rajiv knows that I was in love with a man once, and he died. He doesn’t know Mihir is the same man.”
“He may not be the man you knew then,” Reina said gently.
“How will I know who he is if I never meet him?”
“Babe, going uninvited to his party isn’t the way to meet him,” Sheena said.
“I agree,” Reina said.
Sheena stared at her. Something more was definitely going on here, something that she wasn’t privy to. But Ananya was a friend, and Sheena wanted to protect her. “Why would you put yourself out there in front of his brothers and him? It doesn’t sound safe to me.”
Reina raised her hand. “And can I be the devil and say what everyone here is thinking but refusing to voice out loud? If he really wanted to meet you, Ananya, he would have made contact. You’ve been here all along. The fact that he hasn’t, despite moving to Dubai six months ago, speaks for itself, don’t you think? Maybe he really has changed. Maybe he is as dangerous as everyone says.”
Ananya’s face fell, but then she lifted her jaw. “He won’t hurt me, and I just want to see him. Just once, even from afar is enough. I need closure on him.”
“Still, don’t go, please,” Reina begged.
Ananya ignored her and addressed her other sister instead. “Navya, where is his yacht docked, and what time is it leaving for the high seas?”
“They take off at one,” Navya said. “From the Dubai Marina.”
“That gives me an hour to get ready and go there,” Ananya decided. “Call your model and ask her to get me in.”
“You know I won’t let you go alone,” Navya said.
“Have you both lost it?” Reina screeched. “Rajiv will kill you if he learns you gate-crashed the Oshnov’s party.”
“First off, Rajiv isn’t even in town, and no one here is going to tell him.” Ananya looked at Sheena.
Sheena lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “Babe, I’m the last person you ought to worry of. But I agree with Reina. This is insane. Just…don’t go.”
“We’ll be fine, I promise,” Ananya said, sounding nonchalant.
“Oh fuck,” Reina cursed. “If my flight wasn’t leaving in four hours, I would have come, too. I wouldn’t have let you both do this alone.”
Sheena stared at her new friends. This whole business with these dangerous men was a huge red flag. There were a countless number of things that could go wrong in this scenario. Agreed, Ananya had some sort of history with this man, but Reina was right. The fact that he hadn’t contacted Ananya was enough of an indication. Ananya, however, refused to see it.
Sheena felt it in her bones that what these girls were doing spelled trouble with a capital T. But how could she stop them when she could see they’d made up their mind?
They quickly finished their meal, paid for the cheque, and left. Reina was still arguing with her sisters, trying to convince them not to go as Sheena took a cab to her house. During the last month, she’d spent enough time with Ananya to know that she was too headstrong, and nothing could deter her from a course once she’d set upon it, which in tonight’s case, was this damn party. A party that Sheena did not have a good feeling about. She sent a quick text to Ananya, once again pleading with her to not go, and the only reply she’d got wasCome with me.
Her heart stuttered upon reading those words. Those same fucking words. Another girl had sent her this identical text ten years ago. That time, too, she knew that girl may get into trouble, and yet she’d ignored her. This time, too, another friend was heading straight into trouble, and there wasn’t a lot she could do. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that informing Rajiv would be the best, and even though she didn’t want to do it, maybe his intervention would protect her friends. She began typing a text to him and then deleted it, staring at her screen. Time and distance made everything so hard. Even typing a single text to him was so damn difficult for her. Exhaling, she began again.
Hey. Can you call me? I need to talk about something important.
She hit send and waited. He came online. For sure, he must have read her message. She could see him typing, and then he went offline. She waited for a few minutes more, but there was no reply from him. Fuck. He really didn’t care about her. Her heart felt like it was breaking. But now wasn’t the time to think of the crack in her heart.
She had to protect the girls. Her mind swirled with possibilities. She stilled. God, help her. There really was only one option. She just hoped it was the right choice, both for her sake and her friends’.
19
Fuck. She was an idiot. She used to be reckless at one time. She thought that incident a decade ago had cured her of her wild and irresponsible streak. Apparently, she was wrong. She was still reckless as ever. That was the only reason she was getting off a cab at Dubai Marina, dressed in a party outfit, and searching for Ananya and Navya instead of being asleep in her warm bed. Keya and Raashi would scream at her for being this stupid, and Kabier… Oh God, if Kabier found out, he would lock her in a cage and throw the key away.
