Avni pushed her chair back immediately and tugged Mishti up with her.
“Come on,” she said excitedly. “Let’s get ready. This is my first time back in India after so long, and I can’t wait to stroll through the markets here.”
Mishti could feel Avni’s excitement as the two women hurried out of the lounge to get ready.
Rajat then turned to Karan and asked quietly, “So? When are you going to tell Avni about Mishti? Your side of the family arrives in Jaipur for the wedding in a week, and they’ll recognise Mishti as your wife. We won’t be able to hide it. We need to tell her.”
Karan grew thoughtful. Rajat was right. His extended relatives were arriving next week, when the actual rituals wouldbegin. They had been present at his wedding with Mishti. It wouldn’t take long for the truth to reach Avni.
But then he remembered what Mishti had said the previous night during their confrontation in his suite.
“You snatch people away from me. One by one. Anyone who comes close. Avni was the closest I’ve had in a long time. And I won’t be surprised if you destroy that too. Our friendship, that sisterly bond—just to prove that you still have control over me and my life.”
He swallowed as those exact words echoed in his mind, and shook his head in denial.
“No one tells Avni yet.”
Abhimanyu looked as surprised as Rajat. “Bhai… but eventually she’ll know.”
Karan sighed. “I know. Let’s try that Avni never finds out, at least not from us. Not even from the extended family. If Mishti wants to tell her, she can. But none of us will.”
Rajat and Abhimanyu didn’t fully understand his reasoning, but they agreed.
*****************
An hour later
Mishti and Avni stood near the entrance of the resort, waiting for Rajat to bring the car so they could leave for shopping. Avni kept adjusting the dupatta on her shoulder, visibly restless, glancing at her phone every few seconds.
“He said five minutes,” she muttered, irritation slipping into her tone as she checked the time again. “It’s been fifteen.”
Mishti stood a step away from her, hands clasped loosely in front of her. She had already decided she wouldn’t speak to Rajat unless it became absolutely necessary. Avni should not sense anything odd.
Avni finally sighed and dialled Rajat’s number, lifting the phone to her ear. “Where are you? What’s taking so long?”
Before she could listen to his response, her gaze shifted past the phone, and her irritation eased.
“Oh. There you are.”
A black SUV rolled into the driveway, slowing to a stop in front of them. Avni ended the call, relief replacing her impatience.
Mishti’s eyes followed the car without thinking. The moment the vehicle came to a halt and the engine went silent, Rajat stepped out from the front passenger door.
Mishti’s brows knitted slightly. If Rajat wasn’t driving, then who was? Her answer came a second later as she saw the glass window shield slide down smoothly, and there he was.
Karan sat behind the steering wheel like he belonged there, one hand resting casually on it, the other near the gear. He was dressed in black. A black shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the top two buttons undone. Black jeans, fitted just enough to make the picture unfair. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but nothing could soften the sharpness of his presence.
There was something different about him today. He looked more than handsome, dangerously sexy and was infuriatingly aware of it.
Heat rushed through Mishti’s body before she could suppress it. Her heart stuttered for one reckless second, but she shut it down. The Mishti whose hormones once ruled her was gone. This Mishti was too hurt, too guarded, to let those fizzy sensations take control of her mind again. This Mishti was too bruised, too aware of what wanting him had cost her once.
Even Avni looked shocked when Rajat opened the backseat door for the two of them to get in. “Why did you bring him along?”
Karan heard her, but he didn’t even acknowledge the question.
Rajat cleared his throat awkwardly. “Come on, Avni. Even we men have some last-minute shopping to do.”
Avni frowned. “And you decided to do it with us? Seriously?”
