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“Do you guys want me to leave?” Rajiv snapped. “Because I will.”
He grabbed his jacket and began to rise when Vihaan tugged him down.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Vihaan frowned. “We didn’t ask you to go. We’re just saying that you need to stop feeling bad that you were away for a month. We managed, and we’re all safe as you can see. You need to chill the fuck down and tell us what is bothering you because there sure as hell is something that you’re not telling us.”
“Oh, and Avantika is joining us as well,” Aaryan said after reading something from his phone. “She’ll be here in ten minutes. You’ve still been avoiding her calls, Rajiv.”
Rajiv sighed. Yes, he’d been avoiding her calls. At one time, he’d accepted Avantika to be his future. But now… How could he even think of her in that way, when he was in love with another? And he did feel so guilty about that. Avantika had been his friend for too long, and for certain, she’d see right through him. Hence, he made up excuses to not speak to her and only communicated with her via text. However, she’d be here soon, and he couldn’t and wouldn’t avoid her any longer. It wasn’t fair to her. Perhaps, spending time with her would be his wake-up call to stop dreaming about another woman, to stop being in love with another woman, when he’d promised himself that all these people were his responsibility and keeping them safe would always be his first priority.
Sighing, he folded the sleeves of his white shirt. His phone rang. He checked the time. It was past one. Why was Ananya calling so late? It was the weekend, he remembered, and so, of course, she’d be out.
Smiling, he answered the call. “Hi, Ananya. What’s up?”
“Rajiv, oh, thank God,” she cried. “You need to come back to Dubai, right now.”
Worry snaked over him. “What’s wrong? Is it Mom or Dad? Is it one of the girls?”
“It’s my fault,” she wept. A horn sounded in the distance. She was driving. “It’s all my fault. I forced them to come…and Navya… God...”
Panic flared in the pit of his stomach. “What happened to Navya?”
“She and…” she sobbed. “Mihir Oshnov has taken them hostage.”
“What in the actual fuck? Tell me it’s not true,” he asked, his voice calm, even though he wanted to yell at her.
“It is. I insisted on gate-crashing his party, and now he…he’s holding them hostage in his yacht, and they’ve set sail from the Dubai Marina to God only knows where.”
His throat knotted. “Them? Who’s with Navya, Ananya?”
He knew for a fact that Reina was to return to the UK that night. She’d texted him that she’d boarded her flight just some time ago. Which meant… Fuck. He shut his eyes, his chest squeezing in pain as he feared the worst. Off late, there was only one person his sisters met with daily and spoke about a lot.
“Sheena’s with Navya,” Ananya sniffed, confirming his suspicions and thus plunging his heart to the floor.
Fear stabbed him. “How the hell did you manage to get both Navya and Sheena involved in this mess? Do you even know how dangerous Mihir Oshnov is? Why would you even go within ten feet of him? Fuck, Ananya. I knew you wanted an interview with him, but surely even you know this wasn’t the way to go about it. This was beyond reckless.”
His friends stood. They glanced at one another, and Aaryan began to make some calls.
“I know, and I am so sorry,” she sniffed again, “How much time will you take to get back? Should I call Kabier Sehgal? Do you know how to reach him? What if he’s in Mumbai? He can reach faster than you.”
“Hold on. Don’t call anyone just yet,” Rajiv said. “I’m already in Dubai, and I’ll handle everything.”
“You’re here…” Ananya whispered. “Thank God. Please…just get them back.”
“I landed two hours back,” Rajiv informed her. “Tell me what happened. And don’t miss anything out.”
Anger swept through him as he heard how reckless they all had behaved.
“I’m so sorry…” Ananya whispered after she was done.
“Just go home, and let me take care of this.”
He disconnected the line. There was nothing he could say to her. Her sorry would be of no use if he failed to bring Navya and Sheena back from the clutches of Mihir Oshnov.
Vihaan stared at him, looking as shocked as he felt. He told him everything that had happened.
“Mihir Oshnov is never alone. Where he goes, his brothers follow,” Vihaan confirmed. “They stick together always. Fuck. Those three men are like ticking time bombs. No one can predict their moods and actions.”
Unfortunately, Vihaan was right. Everyone who was even remotely involved in the business world had heard of the Oshnovs. They were hard negotiators and believed everyone had a weakness that could be used, as needed, against them.
