Page 64 of The Promise of a Traitor

“Talk to me,” she pleaded. “What happened?”

He cupped the back of her head, the tender gesture a direct contrast to the ice in his voice as he dipped his head to hers. The cheers around them escalated.

“No more lies?” he asked, fury reverberating through every word.

Confused, Aastha blinked and nodded. “No more lies.”

“When you were with me in New York, when you told me you loved me, when you made love with me, when you spent nights in my arms and days planning a future with me,” his voice dropped another octave, “were you engaged to another man the entire time?”

The bottom dropped out of her world as the question he asked sank in.

No more lies.

“Yes.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Advik

There was a fire raging inside him, a wildfire. It consumed every rational thought, every gentler emotion. It ate into him, bringing the fury, the hurt, the pain he thought he’d buried to the fore.

Aastha stared up at him, defiant tears shimmering in her big eyes. And then she shook her head, and made a small gesture to her mother indicating that she wanted to leave. And just like that Aastha turned from him, walking off the stage with her mother, not looking back. Not once.

Did she really think she could just walk away from him like that? Again?

Something inside Advik snapped. The wildfire roared higher, scorching through the last fragile threads of his restraint. He stepped forward but before he could reach her, Kabir grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a bear hug.

“Not now,” Kabir murmured in his ear, holding on to him tight. “Keep it for later.” He pulled back, smiling brightly. “Congratulations bro.”

Advik forced a tight smile, acutely conscious of the eyes of the crowd on them. He allowed his cousins to surround him, their bright smiles and anxious eyes doing nothing for the wildfire still building inside him.

“Where is she?” he asked Vikram.

“With her parents and sister at the other end of the room.”

Advik turned towards that direction though he couldn’t see her through the crowd. “Who has the keycard to the suite we booked in the hotel? The one we have for tonight?”

Nobody answered. Finally, Vedika said in her quiet voice, “Maybe this conversation doesn’t have to happen tonight, Adi. Sleep on it.”

“Sleep on it?” The fury in his voice had her taking an automatic step backwards. Daksh steadied her and shot Advik a warning look.

“I’ve been sleeping through every step of our relationship. Seven years ago and now. But I’m finally awake.” Advik took a deep breath, plastered another fierce smile on his face and held out a hand. “Who has the keycard?”

Kabir fished it out of a pocket and handed it over. “Adi,” he said, stepping forward and forcing Advik to meet his eyes. “I know you’re angry. But I want you to remember something before you open your mouth. You love her.”

A bitter laugh escaped Advik but Kabir didn’t stop talking, forcing him to listen. “You love her,” he repeated. “Every time you say or do something to hurt her, you’re going to hurt more.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to hurt more than this,” he told Kabir, pushing past him and looking for Aastha in the crowd. He spotted her in a far corner, standing in a group of people, the blank look on her face telling him she wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation swirling around her.

He strode over, pushing his way through people, smiling and accepting hugs and congratulations. About half way across the room, Aastha’s head snapped up and her gaze lasered in on his. He saw the colour rise in her cheeks at whatever she saw in his eyes. For a second, she glanced at the door as if contemplating escape and then she straightened her shoulders, tossing her hair back and facing him.

God, she was magnificent. As always, he didn’t know if he loved her or hated her.

“Excuse me everyone,” he tried to model Rehaan’s charming smile. “Would you mind if I stole my fiancée away for a bit?”

“Arrey wah! I wish my husband wanted to spend this much time with me,” one of the ladies said nudging the portly man beside her who was digging into the largest gulab jamun Advik had ever seen in his life.

“Maybe,” the man mumbled around his large bite of gulab jamun, “you should marry him then.”