Page 41 of The Redemption
She goes quiet.
“I said I’m not interested,” I add, stressing each word. “So please stop calling me about this.”
I hang up without waiting for her reply this time.
What kind of service is this? I haven’t booked anything, yet they’re pushing this tour on me like it’s already decided. This isn’t normal. No resort goes out of its way like this unless there’s a reason.
The phone rings a third time and a humourless smile tugs at my lips before I pick it up. “What now, Esha?” I’m barely holding on to my patience.
There’s a brief hesitation before she speaks, her tone softer now, more careful. “Ma’am… I’m really sorry to disturb you again. But if you don’t want to go on the vineyard tour or horse riding, we also have a private cellar tasting arranged today. It includes access to our reserve collection, guided wine blending, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the production unit. It’s notopen to other guests, but we can arrange it for you if you’d prefer something more experiential.”
I let out a slow breath and press my fingers to my temple. Now I’m positive this isn’t hospitality. This feels deliberate and calculated. “Okay, Esha,” I snap, feeling a bit angry now. “What’s going on?”
She doesn’t respond.
“I’ve never seen someone so determined to make me sign up for something,” I continue. “So you can either tell me exactly why you’re doing this… or I take this up with whoever you report to. Your choice.”
There’s a longer silence this time.
“Ma’am, I’m really sorry,” she finally says. Her voice is quieter now, almost defeated. “This is not in my hands. I was just… following instructions.”
My grip tightens slightly around the receiver. “Whose instructions?”
She hesitates, as if she knows this is where she shouldn’t cross the line. But she says it anyway. “Raghav Sir’s.”
For a second, I say nothing.
Raghav?
Why would he do this? Why go out of his way to push me into something I clearly don’t want? Without responding to Esha, I simply disconnect the call. My sleep is ruined now. I sit there for a moment, staring ahead, replaying the calls in my head. I can hear the hesitation in Esha’s voice and the way she kept trying to redirect me back to that tour.
Raghav is definitely up to something. But what? A part of me wants to ignore it, to let it go. To stay right here and not give him the satisfaction of a reaction. But that’s not how I work. If he’s involving me in something, I need to know why.
I swing my legs off the bed in determination. “Fine, RK,” I murmur under my breath. “If you want me involved in your plans, then I’m going to find out exactly what those plans are.”
With that, I get up and head straight to the shower. Because whatever this is, I’m not letting it go until I know exactly what Raghav wants.
****************
After the shower, I step out of my cottage and head straight to the indoor restaurant for breakfast, though I barely taste any of the food. For the past hour, I’ve been trying to meet the man responsible for my irritable mood today. But each time I ask for him, the answer is the same.
“He is busy, Ma’am.”Esha says this politely, using that same careful tone she had on the phone earlier. But it does nothing to ease the irritation building inside me.
Busy? I don’t believe that for a second. And I’m not reading this wrong. Raghav wanted me to be occupied today. To be kept away. That’s why he was trying to distract me with those vineyard tours and curated experiences I never asked for. Now I need to know why.
I step out onto the lawn just outside the lobby. The sun is still mild, and the air carries that faint scent of earth and grapes. My eyes take in the surroundings without trying too hard. And then I see him.
He’s standing a short distance away, talking to a man who appears to be one of the tour guides. He’s dressed in a white polo neck T-shirt beneath a black jacket. There is nothing loud about him, nothing that tries to draw attention. And yet, I can’t look away. My gaze is drawn to the faint glimmer of gold against the white of his T-shirt.
The pendant.The one I fixed onto his chain yesterday.
I recall the way I leaned closer, and the way he went completely still, barely breathing. I would have never gottenthat close to him, but the moment he told me it belonged to his late mother, something in me melted. And when I saw him struggling with it, I couldn’t resist fixing it back for him.
Now, seeing it resting exactly where it belongs, I feel oddly satisfied. My gaze lingers on him a moment longer than it should before my feet move in his direction. But just as I get closer, he lifts his gaze and meets mine. The moment he knows I’m coming, he quickly turns away. He says something to the man beside him and starts walking away with him, continuing the discussion and totally ignoring me.
Urgh! Why is he running away from this conversation? This is so not him. From what I have seen, Raghav does not avoid things. He confronts them directly without wasting time.
And yet, here he is, making sure I don’t get a moment alone with him. And then they say women are complicated. Whoever stated that clearly never had the misfortune of dealing with Raghav Khurana… orKundra… whatever!
