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“And before this vessel sets sail, which will be in,” Navya checked her watch, “In exactly half an hour. I, for sure, do not want to be here when this boat takes off for the middle of God knows where and returns back to the marina God knows when.”
Sheena looked at her. “Oh, thank God, and here I thought I was the only one against coming here.”
“Oh, I didn’t want to either. But this meeting between Mihir and her was long overdue. Might as well get it over with. You know, she’s never been the same since she learned that he was dead. And then, suddenly, years later, he reappears in the news, alive. Her world crashed again that day.”
There was so much more to this story. She turned to ask Navya a question, but Ananya caught her arm.
“We’re leaving,” Ananya declared, snatching the champagne flutes from Sheena and Navya’s hand and dropping them on the table behind them.
“What?” Sheena was completely taken aback.
Grabbing each of their arms, she started pulling them back in the direction they’d come from.
“Ananya, what is going on?” Navya frowned. “I thought you wanted to meet him.”
“No. I changed my mind. We have to go.”
Sheena shared a confused look with Navya. They rounded a corner, and two European men in suits stepped in front of them, arms crossed on their bulky chests, blocking their way. Her eyes widened as one of them unbuttoned his suit to reveal a gun encased in a shoulder holster. He tapped something on his ear as if listening to some instruction before the man came closer.
“You have to come with us,” he said in a heavy accent. He pointed to the second man who stepped behind them, preventing any chance of escape.
“No.” Ananya balked.
“We’re not going anywhere with you,” Navya put forth.
Sheena took a step forward and lifted her jaw. “Move.”
“We do this the nice way, or we can do this the hard way,” the man in front of them said. “Your choice.”
He tried to grab Sheena’s arm, but she backed a step. “Don’t touch me.”
“Like I said, your choice, Miss,” the man said, his voice rough. Hard. Scary. “But you will come with us.”
Sheena’s stomach fell. She exchanged a glance with the girls. They had no choice but to follow them. The two men, one in front and one behind them, led them to the side stairs and up to the deck of the next floor. The sounds from the party subdued as they moved further away from the ongoing entertainment. They crossed a private and empty Jacuzzi, its blue glare flashing in the night lights like an ominous omen. Fuck. What the hell was going on, and why was she caught in the middle of it? She should have listened to her instincts instead of jumping headfirst into this mess.
From beside her, Navya looked as panicked as she felt, while Ananya looked mad. Sheena squeezed each of their hands before linking their arms together.
“We will get through this,” she placated them, although how they would get out of this mess was beyond her at the moment.
The man in front of them opened a door, and Sheena stepped into a lavish living room.
“I’m sorry,” Ananya whispered. “I’m so sorry for getting you both stuck in this mess.”
“We will get out of this,” Sheena said. She turned to the man closest to them. “What are we doing here?”
Her voice didn’t waver even the slightest. She refused to show her fear in front of these men. The response she got was silence. She glared at the men, who continued to look at the three of them stoically.
Sheena pulled both of the girls close to her and whispered, “Whatever this is, if we are in danger, we get out of it. If they try to separate us, we fight. We scratch, claw, hit. Do what it takes to run. We jump off the boat the first chance we get and call for help. Understand? We save each other. Butoneof us has to get off if things go south. All of us cannot be stuck here if this vessel takes off. Okay?”
The girls nodded, exhaling a shaky breath each.
“Hello, my beautiful Anna,” a powerful voice said in accented English. “Were you trying to leave without saying hello?”
Ananya froze. They all turned, and Sheena stared into the face of one of the most dangerous looking men she’d ever seen. His eyes were hard chips of ice, and there was a long scar running from the side of his head, cutting across his temple down his cheek. His voice was hard, his accent thick. Russian.
He neared them. “And that too, after taking so much effort to sneak onto my ship.”
“Mihir.” Ananya looked white as a sheet. “You really are alive.”
