Page 76 of The Redemption
I stop and turn back again. He’s watching me carefully.
“I’ll be out for a few hours,” he adds. “But the rest of the guards will be here. So don’t try anything.”
There it is. That warning. That assumption. Like I’m just waiting for a chance to run away. I meet his gaze head-on. If I really wanted to escape, they wouldn’t even realise I’m gone until it was too late. But not this time. Not without Mom. And not until I have a foolproof plan that ensures the mafia world can’t trace us again.
Despite wanting to give him a kick-ass reply, I turn away and walk inside. But the moment the door closes behind me, a smile tugs at my lips. Michael won’t be there for a few hours tomorrow. That’s all I need. The rest of the guards are predictable and easy to handle. As always, I can pretend to be inside the cottage, while I’m actually at the event, enjoying, even if it’s just for one night. It looks like destiny is finally giving me a small chance, and I’m going to grab it with both hands.
CHAPTER 16
RAGHAV
Day 9 @ RK Estate (Evening)
Raghav’s Office Cabin
I sit in my cabin, the file on the vineyard expansion plan open in front of me, waiting for approval. Land allocation, irrigation mapping, cost breakdowns… everything is structured, exactly how it should be.
And yet, I’ve been staring at the same line for the past few minutes. I’m reading the words, but my mind isn’t processing them. I tap my pen lightly against the desk, trying hard to focus. Instead, my mind drifts back to yesterday.
To the game lounge.To Siya.To the way she stood at the pool table, completely off with her angles. To the stubborn glare she threw at me when I corrected her. To the feel of her waist beneath my hand as I adjusted her stance.
And then… her hair.
F*ck.
I can still feel the softness of those strands sliding through my fingers as I tied them back, pushing them away from her face because they kept falling over her face.
My mind then drifts back to the messages she sent me yesterday morning while checking on my wound, especially that last one.“Abhi bataane ka mood nahi hai.”
A low scoff escapes me.Brat.
That smug little reply has been sitting in my head since yesterday. She’d deliberately refused to explain herself after provoking me on purpose. And the infuriating part is that she succeeded, because she got exactly the reaction she wanted from me.
I had ignored every message before that, but the moment she mentioned Kriti, my fingers moved before my brain could. And I don’t like it. I exhale slowly, shutting the file a little harder than necessary. This needs to stop.
Haider knocks on the door and walks inside.
“She’s out again.”
That gets my attention. My gaze lifts instantly to him.
“This time Siya has stepped out of the RK estate, and her guards have no idea.”
For a second, I just stare at him, before the anger hits. Does she think this is a game? Just two days ago, someone had tried to kill her, and now she decides to walk out alone again? How can she be this reckless?
“She’s not alone, though. Esha is with her,” Haider adds. “She’s taken Siya to the Shivtara Valley temple for tonight’s event.”
Haider continues, already sensing from my expression that I’m not happy with any of this.
“The security at the estate gates didn’t check the staff vehicle,” he explains. “Esha’s car was allowed to leave directly. Siya was apparently hiding inside, which means neither her guards nor the RK Estate security realised she had crossed the gates.”
Unbelievable. So Siya planned another impulsive stunt? She actually had the audacity to slip past armed security right under everyone’s noses, just two days after a hitman entered my estate grounds for her. I lean back slowly in my chair and glare at Haider.
The brain of that woman was raised in a mafia empire. She should have known by now that whoever sent that shooter once can try again. How can she slip away and walk straight into a public gathering full of strangers all alone?
F*ck.
The invitation to tonight’s event had arrived a few days ago, just like it always does. The locals make a point of inviting me to everything, whether it’s a festival, a religious ritual, or a community gathering. It’s more out of respect than obligation now. Even so, I never attend any of these social events. I’m simply not made for them.
