Page 168 of Twisted Sins

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ma. Goodnight.”

Her mother nodded and left.

Nandini went back to her room. Rudra wasn’t there yet. She had seen him disappearing into the office room with her father and brothers a while ago.

Knowing that they would need to discuss the next steps of the alliance, she didn’t intrude.

She sat in front of the tall dresser and began removing her jewelry in preparation for the night. Just as she wondered if Rudra had been given another room, the door opened, and he strode in.

She bit back a smile, realizing her demon husband wasn’t the kind to agree to sleep in a separate bedroom.

Her smile dropped as he came closer.

“Rudra! What happened?”

There was a visible bruise on his cheekbone.

“Did my brothers hit you?” she asked in shock. Her brothers were the only ones who would dare to punch a Kabali. She knew it must be Rishab or Nakul since they were her hotheaded brothers.

Rudra’s mouth twisted. “Yes, but there are matching bruises on your brothers too. I guess we settled our scores now.”

She couldn’t believe that her demon husband and her brothers punched each other to settle their scores. But she supposed it was better than using weapons.

“Does that mean you and my brothers have come to an understanding and a truce now?” she asked with hope.

He nodded.

She felt glad. Although her brothers must be quite pissed with Rudra for stealing their sister, they would have realized that it would be better for the Thakvar and Kabali clans to work unitedly for the same cause of bringing back the Goddess Shakti statue and stopping Tantra.

“I have to tell you something important,” she said. “It’s about Goddess Shakti’s original statue and Tantra…”

She told him about her brothers finding the location of the original Goddess Shakti’s statue that was stolen thirty years ago. She also told him the details about Tantra, his role in killing several heirs, and lastly, the creepy obsession Tantra had with her late aunt, which he now transferred to her.

Rudra didn’t look surprised by the revelations. She realized he must have heard it from her father and brothers.

“Tantra isn’t just obsessed,” he said. “He tried to marry you three months ago.”

She was shocked. “What?”

“That’s how I knew about your arrival to Singoor. Preparations were being made on the north side of the holy land for a wedding ceremony. The groom was to be someone from outside Singoor, and the bride was to be the Thakvar clan heiress. The security who picked you up from the airport were Tantra’s men taking you to the wedding. I attacked them and took you instead.”

She was too shocked. It wasn’t her mother who had called her to come to Singoor. It was Tantra because he wanted to marry her.

She shivered at the thought of what would have happened had Rudra not taken her away. Tantra would have hurt and killed her because she would have refused his love and fought him.

“I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he said. “If anyone comes near you or touches you, they will lose their head.”

The fierceness on her demon husband’s face made her feel safe. She knew he meant those words literally as she had seen him taking off the Dhankar clan heir’s head.

He cupped her cheek softly and looked at her for a long moment. And then, he swept her into his arms and carried her to bed before placing her in the middle.

When he lay next to her, she thought he was going to kiss her and make love to her like he did each night. But he simply held her close.

“Sleep,” he commanded softly. “You are tired.”

She knew he was being considerate. They both had a long day with barely any rest. And they would travel once again the next day afternoon. She should be getting proper sleep.

But she missed her demon husband, and they hadn’t even kissed all day.

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