Page 15 of Every Move You Make
Akash smiled easily at his sister. “I’ll be there.”
Then, without sparing Shauna a glance, he added, “I think I’ll go for a swim in the pool and figure out the rest later. It’s been… quite a morning.” He smiled at the kids, kissing each of their foreheads in turn. “Love you both. I promise to spend more time with you soon.”
And with a quick wave, he walked away, completely ignoring her.
It shouldn’t have bothered her. They weren’t friends. They weren’t even civil on most days. But the deliberate lack of acknowledgment—the way he could be warm and charming with everyone else and then turn ice-cold with her—stung more than she wanted to admit.
She pressed her lips together, forcing her expression to remain neutral as Keya smiled at her.
“I think I’ll head back to my room and figure out what to do today,” Shauna said. “I’ll definitely be there tonight.”
Keya nodded, distracted by Kiana’s animated storytelling, and Shauna used the moment to step away. She walked toward her room without looking back. Her heart was pounding, whether from anger, disappointment, or something far more inconvenient, she couldn’t tell. The feeling was messy. Perturbing. Too close to hurt for comfort.
She pushed open the terrace doors to her room with more force than necessary, the glass rattling slightly in protest. Exhaling hard, she crossed the room in quick strides. His behavior toward her shouldn’t matter. Akash didn’t matter to her. She didn’t care about him.
Nothing between them was ever going to change. This… The tension, the irritation, the endless misunderstandings… this was what they were.
She needed to keep her distance from him. She’d learned the hard way that Akash Karia could hurt her if she let him get too close, so staying away from him was for the best.
4
He shouldn’t have cared. That was the part irritating him the most. Akash walked along the wooden jetty toward the far end of the lagoon, sunglasses shielding his eyes from the glare bouncing off the water from the midmorning sun. He barely registered the beauty around him. Her words from last night replayed instead.
Living off your sister’s money.
Most people didn’t know his truth. Perhaps a lot of them thought the same thing. Usually, he didn’t care. He knew his time was coming. But hearing those words from her? They had landed differently. Wounded him, as she knew they would.
Hence, he didn’t understand why she’d stayed by his side this morning to play with the kids. Why she had tried to behave as though nothing was wrong. Why she had tried to make small talk with him. If she truly thought so little of him, why even bother?
He exhaled sharply and forced his attention forward, finally allowing himself to take in the view. The ocean stretched endlessly before him, shades of aqua bleeding into deep blue where the reef dropped away. The Maldives was breathtaking as always, and the Sehgal Coral Bay resort, with its overwatervillas, beach suites and quiet luxury, only amplified the illusion of perfection.
He paused at the edge of the jetty, his hands resting lightly on the railing, and stared out at the water. For a moment, the vastness of it steadied him.
He smiled, thinking of the activity he’d planned for himself. He loved snorkeling and indulged in it as and when the opportunity arose. And today, it felt perfect. An hour underwater. An hour of silence. No thoughts and no conversations. Bliss.
At the end of the jetty, a resort staff member waited beside a sleek white speedboat idling gently in the water. The young woman smiled as Akash stepped aboard, welcoming him warmly.
He paused when he noticed a woman standing near the edge of the boat, her back to him, facing the open water. A wide sun hat shielded her face, and the breeze lifted the hem of the strappy beige linen dress she wore, making it ripple against her bare legs.
She turned, and his breath stalled.
Shauna.
Her lips parted in visible shock as she recognized him.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he muttered under his breath.
She was the reason he wanted solitude, just some time off not to think about her. And now, she was here, doing the exact same excursion he had planned.
Unbelievable. The gods truly had a twisted sense of humor.
She walked forward slowly, every step measured.
“You requested snorkeling too?” she asked, stopping a few feet away from him.
“Obviously.”
Her lips tightened at his cold response.
