I catch her hand and shove it away, in no mood for her nonsense.
“Did you attack Meera?” I fire the question straight at her.
My men have been digging through every possible lead since yesterday. Raghav, our private detective, the one man who never misses a trail and can drag the truth out of mud and shadows if he has to, is leading the charge. He promised me updates within hours; he knows better than to keep me waiting.
But I couldn’t just sit still and wait for answers. In fact, the more I racked my brains through the night, the more one name kept circling my mind with stubborn precision.Esha.She never liked Meera. And no matter how hard I tried to considersomeone else, her name was the only one that fit the vicious space of wanting to hurt Meera.
Which is exactly why I am standing here at ten in the morning, with no damn evidence, just my instincts.
Her mouth falls open. “What?”
“Don’t play stupid,” I bite out. “Just answer me. Did you send your man to attack Meera?”
Her eyes narrow in offence. “Why would I ever do something like that?”
“Because you hate her. Because you want her out of the picture. Because you can’t stand that I chose her and not you.”
“All of it is true,” she crosses her arms as her lips pull into a tight line. “But that doesn’t mean I attacked her. If anything, I hate that it wasn’t me. Someone else got to her before I did.”
“Say that again, and I’ll make you regret even thinking about hurting my wife. I let it slide last time, but not again.”
Her throat bobs and her arms tighten around herself. “I didn’t hurt your wife this time. If you don’t believe me, run a check on me and see for yourself.”
I study her face. She may be selfish, stupid, and painfully jealous, but she isn’t clever enough to stage something violent and then play the innocent.
I exhale sharply. “Esha, I don’t trust you. And I sure as hell don’t forgive you for what you did to my wife last time. But for now, I don’t think you’re involved in this… yet. I will verify it, and if your name even comes up, you’ll regret it.”
“Do your verification, Dev,” she says, chin lifting. “You won’t find my name anywhere.”
I turn and walk towards the door, but my hand pauses on the knob. I glance over my shoulder. “Stay away from my wife. Make sure I don’t find you near her.”
She stiffens, then nods quickly. “I won’t.”
I step out and shut the door behind me, but the tension doesn’t leave my chest.
Damn, I was sure it was Esha and that this would end here. But it wasn’t.
My jaw tightens as irritation coils through my veins. Whoever did this to Meera is still out there. But that asshole won’t stay free for long.
Soon… I’ll have that man exactly where I want him.
Chapter 23
Meera
My heart still refuses to settle. Just thinking about the way his lips felt against mine sends a fresh, dizzying flutter through me. Damn… I should feel guilty, furious at myself for crossing that line.
But the tiny, foolish part of me doesn’t feel an ounce of regret.
God, I am supposed to be smarter than this. Stronger than this. I am supposed to keep my guard up, keep him at a distance. I should be keeping my heart locked behind iron walls. Instead, one weak moment has my body, my mind, and my heart, betraying me all at once.
“Meera.” Samarth’s concerned voice pulls me back to the present as he leans forward in the chair across from me, his elbows resting on my desk. “I know you’re still worried. I am too. Whoever attacked you… this isn’t something either of us can take lightly.”
I look away. I can’t tell him what’s actually looping through my mind. That it has nothing to do with the man who attacked me and everything to do with Dev, who is far more dangerous to my heart than that attacker ever was to my life.
I rub my temples, my head already starting to throb. “Samarth, I still feel that you staying with me in that house isn’t a good idea.”
He exhales a weary sigh. “Meera, you already know how I feel. I am not leaving you alone. Not when someone is trying to harm you. And not when every instinct I have tells me it’s connected to the people in that house.”
