Her eyes narrow.
“You’re supposed to be a headache for the men assigned to guard you,” I continue. “Not forme.”
I release her shoulders angrily and take a step back.
“Refusing your guards full access to the estate cameras was a mistake. I didn’t want any outsider to have complete security access to my property.”
My jaw tightens.
“But that ends now. Your guards will have full access to every camera feed on this property.”
She stares at me as my words sink in.
“So the next time you decide to slip away in the middle of the night,” I add coldly, “theywill be the ones coming after you. Notme.”
With that I turn away. I barely take two steps before her hand catches my shirt sleeve.
“You will do no such thing, RK,” she says angrily.
I look down briefly at her fingers gripping the fabric before lifting my gaze back to her face. This is my place, my property. And I’m the one in command here. She’s no one to decide what I do. With a slight roll of my shoulder, I break her hold and continue walking.
Siya Vardhaan doesn’t deserve anything more than that. I’ve hardly taken three steps when her voice cuts through the night behind me.
“Fine. Go ahead then,” she calls out. “Do it.”
I don’t stop.
“If you do,” she continues, louder now, “then even I will not hesitate to tell everyone who you really are.”
Now I stop. Because there is something in her tone that sounds like a challenge.
“I’ll tell them that the Dark Prince, Raghav Khurana, is not dead. He is alive as Raghav Kundra and lives here in these hills as a vineyard owner.”
My body goes completely still as I process her words.
She’s blackmailing me?
Slowly, I turn around. When my gaze settles on her, Siya’s confidence falters for the briefest second. Yet she does not retreat. Instead, she walks towards me with the same stubbornfire that led her into a forest full of predators tonight. She stops barely two feet away, her chin lifting with quiet defiance.
“I haven’t told this to anyone yet,” she says. “But if you decide to disturbmypeace,” she continues quietly, “I won’t hesitate to take yours.”
For several seconds, neither of us speaks. Then she turns and walks past me without another word, her long strides carrying her back towards her cottage.
I remain where I am, watching her disappear into the moonlit path. Anyone who has ever spoken to me with this kind of defiance has never lived long enough to see the next sunrise. Yet this princess, someone I don’t particularly enjoy dealing with, has not only challenged me but also has the audacity to warn me.
And still, she will live. Because I do not harm women. Siya Vardhaan, despite being the single greatest threat to the identity I have buried here, will not become my first exception.
CHAPTER 6
SIYA
Day 3 @ RK Estate
I spend the entire day inside my suite, pacing between the tall windows and the sitting area, trying to find a solution to my current problem.What if Raghav truly gives my guards full access to the security feeds of this estate?
The valley, the resort, the weather… nothing improves my mood. If he truly goes through with his threat, my time here will turn into the same suffocating routine I endured in Cape Town after Dad’s death. The memory of that period still irritates something deep inside me. Samarjeet had called it protection, a form of house arrest wrapped neatly in the language of family concern.
But I called it a prison.
