Page 31 of Addiction

“Not against a gunshot, you can’t.” Mihir glared at him.

His brother worried way too much.

“Mihir, we moved to Dubai because it is one of the safest cities in the world. No one is getting shot here,” Armaan said. “Plus, we are powerful in our own right. Only a fool will try to get on our wrong side.”

“And we’d be fools to underestimate Ivan’s desire to gain control of O-Corp,” Mihir shot back.

“Guys, can we get back to theherArmaan went running to?” Vedant asked. “Is it who I think it is?”

“Yes,” Mihir growled.

“Yes,” Armaan snapped at the same time.

“Whoa,” Vedant raised his hands up. “Wrong timing to get involved with the wrong woman, brother.”

Armaan gave Vedant a hard look. “I don’t need a lecture from you too. Mihir’s already giving me a tough time on this, as you can see.”

“And yet, you’re not going to listen to either of us, are you?” Mihir stated.

“Look,” Armaan said, cooling his tone down a notch. “You’re right that we shouldn’t take Ivan for granted, and we won’t. But I refuse to live in fear, especially when we have no solid evidence that we are in danger. Visibly increasing our security will send a message to the world and to Ivan that we are scared. There are too many people who hate the fact that three poor orphan boysfrom a remote city in India have become the richest men on the fucking planet. We have enough problems to tackle right now before adding ourselves to more peoples’ hit list.”

“He’s right, Mihir,” Vedant said. “We cannot show weakness to the world at large. The reason we’ve been so successful this far is because we are known to be ruthless, and the fact that we’re not scared of anyone. We don’t know what Ivan is up to right now, so I’m going to put all our resources into finding him and learning that.”

When Mihir still remained silent, Armaan said, “You know we’re right, brother.”

“Ivan knows that losing even one of you will end me,” Mihir said quietly. “You both are the most important people in my life, and I refuse to put either of you at risk.”

Armaan’s heart melted. “I feel the same, you know. I am who I am because of you both.”

“Same,” Vedant accepted.

Mihir lifted his jaw. “Then promise me that neither of you will take risks, and neither of you will be at places that are even the slightest bit unsafe. Both of you will reduce your socializing to a minimum. No going out at night until this matter of Ivan is tackled. If you can promise me that, then I will agree to whatever you both are suggesting.”

“Alright,” Vedant said.

“Okay,” Armaan accepted.

“You’re definitely okay with what I’m asking for?” Mihir reconfirmed with Armaan.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Mihir asked. “So, you won’t be showing up at the events she’s attending? Which means you’ll drop your pursuit of her?”

Armaan gave him a wicked smile.

“Fuck. That smile,” Vedant muttered. “He’s up to something. I know it.”

Mihir sighed. “Armaan, you just promised?—”

“You said no going out at night, and to reduce socializing. You never said I couldn’t meet her in the daytime, brother. I’ll ensure I do that in a safe environment.”

“Bloody fucking hell,” Mihir cursed. “You can be so bloody stubborn and foolish.”

Armaan fanned a hand down himself. “Hey, I have many flaws. But I am still awesome. You know that.”

“You can be an asshole as well,” Vedant deadpanned.

“Listing one of my flaws doesn’t make me less awesome,da?”

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