“Fuck,” Viraj mutters beside me.
My eyes stay locked on Maya, gauging her expressions. “And Nisha? Do we need to be worried about her when it comes to Deepak?”
Maya blinks rapidly, then gives a shaky nod, before she steps around her desk, hands trembling as she opens a drawer. Her fingers fumble before pulling out a small stack of photos.
“I wasn’t supposed to see these,” she whispers, holding them out to me.
I step forward and take them from her hand. The moment my eyes land on the images, every muscle in my body freezes. Nisha is in every damn one of them, with a bold red X slashed across her face in each photo.
“Where the hell did you get these?” I growl as Viraj takes the photos from my hand.
“I went through his cupboard one day while he was at work,” she says, her voice trembling. “He’d been acting strange and secretive. I thought maybe he was cheating on me. After all, that’s what he did with Kavya. Dated me while he was still with her. I thought karma was finally catching up to me.” She swallows hard and lowers her gaze. “But instead, I found these.”
“You had these, and you still kept quiet?” My voice is icy cold. “Why?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” she whispers. “I was scared. If he’d found out I had them…”
I slam my hand down on her desk. “You should’ve come to us the second you saw these, Maya.”
She flinches, her breath catching. “I thought… maybe he was just angry with Nisha. She used to lash out at him, just like she did with me. I thought he’d eventually understand that it was okay for Nisha to be hurt… because wedidcheat on her sister behind her back.” She looks up at me, guilt heavy in her eyes. “I told myself he wouldn’t actually do anything. That he’d cool off. That it was just anger, not something dangerous.”
“You were wrong,” I grit out, jabbing a finger at the photos. “Because this isn’t anger. That psychopath boyfriend of yours is threatening to kill Nisha.”
Her face crumples in shock. “I… I didn’t know it was this bad. I swear, if I had known—”
I cut her off, my voice cutting her mid-sentence. “You should’ve known. The signs were all there. You just chose to look the other way.”
Viraj steps forward now. “What else do you know?”
She hesitates, then says, “I overheard him once. He was on the phone… he thought I was asleep.” Her fingers tighten around the edge of the desk. “He was talking to some guy, some Prakash. He kept saying, ‘If this blows up, you’re going down with me.’” She shakes her head slowly. “I didn’t know what it meant back then, so I didn’t think much of it.”
I glance at Viraj. He’s already pulling out his phone and silently steps out of the room. We’re going to make sure Deepak ends up exactly where he belongs.
I turn back to Maya. Her face is pale, her hands still trembling.
“This stays between us. And if you hear or find out anything else, you come to us first. Got it?” I tell her.
She nods, wiping at her cheek.
Without another word, I walk out of the boutique and spot Viraj already in the passenger seat.
I slip into the driver’s seat and glance at him. “What did you find?” I ask.
“My men are bringing Deepak to the station. He’ll be there before we even reach.”
I nod and press down on the accelerator harder than necessary. I can’t wait to get my hands on him. He thought he could play his sick little games and walk away clean. He was so fucking wrong.
Forty-five minutes later, I pull up outside the station. The moment the engine’s off, I’m out, slamming the door shut behind me as I stride towards the entrance. Viraj follows close behind.
Once I’m inside, I don’t wait for protocol. I head straight towards the interrogation room.
The officer standing outside clocks me in and gives a quick nod. I return it and turn to Viraj.
“I’m the one doing the talking. You should sit this one out,” I say. The truth is, I don’t want him in there because if he comes in and I lose my temper, and there’s a damn good chance I will, then he’ll try to rein me in with one of his smart-ass remarks. I don’t need that. I need to do this my way, not by his rule book.
Viraj narrows his eyes. “Are you sure? You’re emotionally involved. That’s not wise.”
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I snap. “I’m doing this. If I need you, I’ll call.”
