Page 14 of Wicked Trap

“I-I’m here,” Arjun called out. He didn’t know why, but his heart began racing. A bad feeling, the kind he felt when he was in trouble, filled his mind.

The door was pushed open, and he heard his two brothers laughing. “We knew you would hide here—” There were shocked gasps. “Papa!”

“Papa!”

Arjun watched as his two older brothers shouted out loud and rushed to their father and held his legs, trying to push him up.

“Arjun, go get help!”

At his brother’s order, Arjun ran out to get help.

It was only much later in the night when he saw his mother and brothers crying that he realized his father hadn’t been sleeping. His father was gone.

Rage, regret and anguish filled Aryan at those memories.

He regretted that for fifteen long years, he misdirected his anger at his father. He and his brothers had thought their father had committed suicide, leaving his wife and children destitute. But after discovering the truth two months ago, the rage was directed at the people responsible.

Rajesh Mohan. Anand Kashyap. Girish Shetty.

Those were the names of the three enemies. Yash and Bhargav were going after the first two men who had been their father’s childhood friends. The so-called childhood friends had betrayed a generous-hearted wealthy man due to sheer jealousy and greed.

Aryan was going after Girish Shetty, the lawyer who was an accomplice and the possible mastermind of the entire debacle. Aryan couldn’t wait to destroy that bastard.

Controlling his rage, he turned to his brother. “Let me know if you need help with the negotiation of the estate or if you want me digging up the sales documents of the surrounding lands.”

There was a soft buzz on Aryan’s phone. He read the message and looked at his brother. “That’s the confirmation that Kashyap’s son is on his third round of cards.”

Bhargav nodded. “Let’s go then.”

They took the private elevator outside the penthouse and went down to the parking area where an SUV with dark, tinted windows was waiting. As soon as they got in, the SUV sped out of the building and into the crowded streets.

It was raining and yet there was a considerable crowd outside during the night.

The crowd reminded Aryan of the streets of New York. The crowd and traffic in New York were only slightly more organized.

It had been three weeks since he landed in the city for the first time, but he was still getting used to it.

He and Bhargav were on a hunt that night. And the prey was Bhargav’s target’s son.

Aryan was joining the hunt because he enjoyed the thrill of it. However, the thrill of hunting a weak prey such as their enemy’s gambling-addicted son was much lower. Hunting down someone who gave a tough fight was much more satisfying.

Someone like Tanvi Shetty.

Very soon, he was going to be in her life in a way that she would have no choice but to become the pawn who would bring down his enemy.

CHAPTER 4

“One moment we were protesting, and then bam! We all got arrested.”

Tanvi was at a friend’s place attending a birthday party. She had arrived slightly late because the tree-planting event ran a little over. To distract her friends from snapping at her, she began speaking to the group about what had happened at the protest site a few days ago.

Her friends and some of the other girls listened to her with their eyes wide in fascination and horror.

“Did you challenge them to arrest you again?” one of Tanvi’s friends asked.

Tanvi grinned. “No. This time, I didn’t.”

She hadn’t challenged the police or resisted arrest. After one of the goons threw a stone at the police, she knew the protest would turn violent. It was safer for the protesters to disperse. And safer if she and the rest of the protesters didn’t resist arrest.

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