“No, Meera. I’m at home. I didn’t send you any note?”
“Then… who sent the note? It had your name, telling me to meet outside.”
His voice sharpens instantly. “Meera, listen to me. I’m coming, and you…”
I don’t hear the rest.
The moment I feel a shift behind me, my phone slips from my hand. I turn and stumble back, my breath ripping out of my lungs as I come face to face with a masked man, a knife glinting in his fist.
I barely have a moment to react. His arm swings towards my stomach before I can even think. I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for impact.
“How dare you!” Dev’s voice roars through the air.
I immediately open my eyes and see Dev standing between me and the attacker, one hand wrapped around the knife, blood streaking down his fingers, while the other yanks the man by the collar, keeping him pinned in place.
“Dev!” I cry, my panic rising, and start to move forward, but a sharp glance over his shoulder stops me.
“Stay back, Meera!”
The attacker takes advantage of the moment and shoves Dev aside. In a flash, he disappears into the narrow lane.
“Fuck,” Dev mutters, letting the knife fall. He stares at the lane where the attacker disappeared, clutching his bleeding hand.
I step in front of him and grip his wrist. “Dev, your hand… you need—”
“Are you okay?” he interrupts, every breath uneven, his eyes wild with panic.
“I am okay… but you’re hurt.” My gaze drops to his palm, now smeared with blood.
“I can handle getting hurt,” he says, cupping my cheek. “But I can’t handle losing you.”
His thumb trembles against my cheek as he chokes out, “God, Meera… you could’ve died if I hadn’t reached you in time.”
“I know,” I whisper, shaken. “But you saved me.”
His eyes shut tightly, then open again, flickering with pain. “I am not losing you. Not to destiny, not to fate, and definitely not to some twisted asshole.”
Tears sting my eyes as he leans closer, his thumb brushing away a stray tear I didn’t realise had slipped free, never breaking eye contact.
“Nothing will happen to you,” he promises quietly. “I’ll protect you… always. Even if it costs me everything.”
At his words, my chest aches so violently it feels like it might shatter.
This man… he has no idea how, with each passing second, he is making my heart betray me.
Chapter 22
Dev
What the fuck?My blood boils at the thought that some asshole dared to attack my wife.My wife.Just thinking about how he came so close to hurting her cracks against my ribs, feeding a rage that feels almost feral, drowning out everything except the urge, no, the need, to break that bastard’s bones one by one until he regrets ever letting the thought of hurting her cross his mind.
But who the hell could he be?
Who is fucking suicidal enough to mess with me by coming after her?
But as the question hangs, no name surfaces. That only makes the fury coil tighter. I swear to God, the second I have his name, I’ll bring hell to his doorstep myself.
“Dev, what the hell happened to your hand?” Dad demands the moment we step inside.
