Page 13 of Addiction

Something akin to awe flashed on his face, but it was gone so soon she wondered if she’d imagined it.

“The bartender overheard you mention that this man had tried to spike your drink as well. Is that true?” Armaan asked.

“Yes.”

“He will pay for that.” His face turned cold as he spoke to his men. “Search him.”

“I didn’t do anything,” the man said as Vasily instructed the guards to search him. “She’s lying, I swear.”

When the search resulted in nothing, the man gave Navya a hard look. “See, I told you. She’s lying. That bitch got me into trouble for nothing. I’ll?—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Armaan said, silencing him. “Check his shoes,” he ordered his security guards.

Pure fear was now stamped on the man’s face. He spun around. He’d barely taken a step forward when the guards caught hold of him. A moment later, they retrieved a small packet of pills from his left shoe.

Armaan stalked toward the man, his every step radiating violence and danger. “Do you know who I am?”

The man nodded, trembling.

“And yet you brought drugs to my party and tried to spike a woman’s drink.”

“Please, I made a mistake… please…” the man begged.

Armaan’s lips twisted in a cold smile. “Apologize to her.”

The man looked at Navya, his eyes filled with hate. “I… I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe that apology was sincere enough.” Armaan was clearly toying with him. “Apologize again. On your knees this time.”

This here was the cold, dangerous man she’d heard of. She ought to be scared of him, but she wasn’t. Not at all.

The man got on his knees in front of her.

“I’m so sorry. Please tell him to forgive me,” the man grovelled.

She gave him a look of pure disgust. “Get this weasel away from me. Such a horrible excuse for a human.”

Armaan looked at Vasily. “Take him away and ensure he never walks again. Oh, and find out who invited him.”

“Please, I need another chance,” the man begged Armaan.

“There are no second chances in our world,” Armaan declared.

Vasily and the two security guards dragged the now weeping man outside. She could hear his loud wails long after he’d left. Navya smiled. The bastard deserved what he was getting. She felt no mercy for men like him.

Armaan turned to her. Before he could say a word, his phone rang. He immediately began conversing with someone in rapid Russian. Try as she might, she couldn’t move her gaze off of him. The way his lips moved, the rich baritone of his voice, the way he curled his Rs when he spoke, it was all so damn… No, she was not completing that sentence.

You don’t like him, Navya. You hate him, she reminded herself. Armaan Oshnov was too arrogant, too dangerous, and too wild. He was the kind of man who believed that his ridiculously handsome face gave him a license to be the womaniser that he was. She knew this because she’d foolishly googled him over the years. Armaan was a bad boy through and through. He was the king of one-night stands and meaningless sex, and she’d always stayed away from men like him.

However, she had to accept that despite his flamboyant Casanova image, he was not a lazy wastrel. He was, in fact, extremely intelligent and successful. She was aware that his family business empire, O-Corp, was into diamond mines, oil wells, and energy. His late father, Alexander Oshnov, had handed him the reins of O-Diamonds a couple of years before he died, and now, thanks to Armaan, O-Diamonds was a household name. Not only did they supply stones to the rich and famous, he had also made it possible for people from every stratum of society to own their diamonds. He was only thirty-two, but he was one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world.

Annoyed that she was once again staring at him, Navya rose from the sofa and looked around. What was wrong with her?Instead of staring at him, she ought to have found a way to escape. This man had already held her hostage once. At that time, her brother had been forced to come rescue her. She wasn’t going to allow history to repeat itself. Her brother was married and deliriously happy with Sheena and their kids. Hence, involving Rajiv was not an option at all.

She looked up and found Armaan walking toward her. She stood her ground, refusing to show that she was intimidated by him. That her heart was speeding up with every step that brought him closer to her. That even though she’d repeatedly told herself that she disliked him, her stupid body was tilting toward him now that he was standing in front of her.

A dark eyebrow quirked, and his eyes brightened, as if he knew what she was thinking. Damn him. She was not going to allow him to perturb her.

She had to find a way to get away from him. She had to ensure he and his brothers never set their eyes on Reina. Nothing else mattered more than that. Not even the gorgeous man standing in front of her.

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