Page 183 of No Boss
Silence crashed between them.
Then… her voice softened. “And now you’re inside me too.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
His expression changed instantly. Dark. Alive. Wrecked open by her confession.
She kept going.
“That’s the cruelest part.” Her chin trembled. “I can feel you everywhere.” Her fingers curled against her chest. “In my skin. In my breath. In my bones. The same place this Haveli lives.”
She shook her head hard, furious with herself. “And now both of you are tearing me apart.”
The words cracked her open.
“How am I supposed to choose?” she cried. “How do I stand beside you knowing you are the one destroying my home?”
She turned away from him because looking at him hurt too much.
Her steps carried her toward the wall. Her fingers found his father’s name and traced the letters across the stone.
“I thought…” Her voice broke. She swallowed and forced it through. “I thought the man who asked me to marry him could not be the same man who came here to sell this place.”
The last of her strength finally gave out.
Her breath turned uneven. Her shoulders shook. Tears fell as her hand remained pressed to the carved name.
Nothing remained inside her except ache.
Raw. Exhausted. Endless.
Abhinav didn’t move at first.
He watched her, breath heavy. The panic that had driven him across the city had burned down into anger, into control held together by force.
He stepped forward and closed the distance she had put between them. Stopped close enough that the air tightened, close enough for her to feel the heat of him without his hands touching her.
“Are you finished?” His voice came low.
The question hung between them, filled with every accusation she had thrown at him.
Meera turned toward him.
His jaw had locked so tight a muscle jumped against his skin. Fire burned in his eyes.
“Good,” he muttered. “Because now it’s my turn.”
Silence.
Then, “Eight hours.”
The words ripped out of him.
“Eight fucking hours, Meera.”
His palm struck the wall beside her shoulder. The impact cracked through the chamber. The oil lamp flickered.
“Police searches. Rajveer’s men. Half the city looking for you.”
