Page 61 of Married in Vengeance

Ram paused, taking a moment to think. This was a new one. Ram had been many things in their family history. Until now, he’d never been the problem.

His father pulled out his phone and stepped towards him, his furious gaze landing on Aadhya. He stopped, his throat working as he stared at her, seeming to register her presence for the first time.

“Can you give us a moment please? I need to speak to Ram alone.”

Ram stared at his father, surprised. What in the world was going on?

“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Aadhya,” he told his father cautiously trying to gauge the situation and failing.

His father’s gaze swung between the two of them, his fury seeming to drain out of him in one dramatic swoop.

“Maybe it’s better to do this with both of you,” he muttered. He tossed his phone at Ram. “This was mailed to a rival news channel today. They gave me a heads up as professional courtesy. The story runs at nine tonight.”

Ram looked down at the phone, Aadhya peering over his shoulder. Ice slid down his spine as the video on the screen started to play. A video he’d seen innumerable times before.

He heard Aadhya’s harsh, indrawn breath even as his gaze stayed on her hands twining in his hair and pulling him in for a kiss as he pressed his body desperately closer to her.

“Why would this be news?” he asked calmly, even as his fist clenched around the phone. He had to resist the urge to fling it against the wall.

“It’s coming on the heels of the court case against Laxmi Builders and its Chief Architect.” Nanna looked at Aadhya. “This is going to work against you in court. And you,” his gaze swung towards his son, “can kiss your judgeship goodbye.”

Thirty-Four

AADHYA

Horror sweptthrough her as she stared at the clip playing on her father-in-law’s mobile phone. She didn’t need to look at it to know that it was Ram and her. This was from before their wedding, before anyone knew they were together, before they’d been whatever complicated mutant relationship thing they’d become now.

“How?” she breathed, the word a strangled sound.

Ram watched her, an undefinable look in his eyes. What was he thinking? And was that relief she saw in those dark, dark eyes of his. That didn’t make any sense. Nothing made sense.

“Does the media house know who sent it?” he asked his father, his voice toneless, a man completely removed from the situation.

“Anonymous.”

Her father-in-law wouldn’t look at her. There were two people in that video but the only one who her father-in-law couldn’t look at was her. Bile rose in the back of her throat as the memory of that video played like a movie clip in her head. She spun on her heel running from the study and down the hall to the tiny powder room at the end of it.

She’d just finished emptying the meagre contents of her stomach when Ram’s strong arm came around her waist, holding her up.

“Easy,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”

She shook her head, her body heaving in his grasp.

“I’ve got you, Aadhya,” his voice low and intense. “And together, we’ll get the bastard doing this.”

He did have her, she thought dimly. No matter what other madness erupted in her life, she knew that much. Ram had her.

They still needed to have the talk about whatever lunacy had been part of the early days of their marriage but if there was one thing she knew without a doubt, it was that Ram had her.

He helped her rinse her mouth and face, flushing the remnants of her loss of control away before she had to face it. Aadhya buried her face in the front of his shirt, tremors racking her body.

When she finally felt like she had some semblance of control back, she pulled out of his embrace, straightening her shoulders and wiping her still wet mouth with the back of her hand.

“Well, I can’t really say that starring in a sex tape was on my bucket list.” Her voice was a hoarse rasp, but she was still proud of the fact that it stayed steady.

Ram’s hand came up to brush her curls out of her face, his gaze on her. “You’ve never seen that video before?”

Aadhya shook her head, a strange numbness overtaking her. “Why would I have?” she asked, trying to shake off the fatigue and failing.

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