“Understood, Your Highness.”
Only then did Bharat step into the helicopter and shut the door.
Inside the helicopter, Bharat sat across from her, jaw tight, a muscle working faintly along the jawline. It was the only visible crack in the composure he had already reassembled for the cameras outside.
“That will be in tomorrow's news,” Yamini said.
“I know.” He didn't look away from the window.
“Bharat. You should go back and issue some kind of statement, explain—”
“No.”
His golden-brown eyes came to hers.
“The media will sort itself.”
His voice remained even. But she knew him well enough now to hear what lay beneath that calm.
He wasn't thinking about headlines.
He was thinking about how Rahul had entered the room. And how close he had gotten to her.
By the time they reached the palace, the video was already everywhere on the news, all carrying some version of the same moments. Yamini checked her phone and saw that the coverage wasn't what she had expected.
The Maharaja Who Doesn't Tolerate His Maharani’s Disrespect,one headline read.Protector, Not Just Royal. Bharat Jogra's Real Response to Public Provocation,read another. A smaller, more speculative piece asked outright whether the Jogra-Gaur marriage had ever been the alliance everyone assumed, or something else entirely.
Her phone buzzed. It was Pooja.
Pooja:OMG. That was so hot!!
Yamini laughed out loud, the sound escaping before she could stop it.
She found him later in the bedroom.
His jacket had been discarded, his sleeves were pushed up, and his right hand rested under the lamp.
The knuckles had swollen slightly. Purple bruises were already forming.
She crossed the room without a word and took his hand in both of hers.
He let her.
“Does it hurt?” she asked softly.
His gaze settled on her.
“No.”
She exhaled in relief and then brought his bruised hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
He went completely still.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then his free hand came to the back of her neck, and he pulled her closer before his mouth covered hers with an urgency that removed all thoughts from her mind.
CHAPTER 58
