Page 16 of Addiction

Navya clucked her tongue. “Don’t you guys know it’s rude to speak in a foreign language in front of someone who doesn’t understand the said language? Be decent enough to talk in English.”

Armaan grinned. God, he liked her spunk. Even knowing their reputation, she wasn’t afraid in the least.

“Very well,” Vedant said, switching to English. “I’d like to meet the third Mehra sister.”

“Absolutely not,” she shot out.

“Why not?” Vedant said. “Both my brothers have been taken in by a Mehra sister. I’d like to see if the third one has a similar impact on me.”

Navya gave him a scathing look, but before she could say anything, Mihir said, “The Mehra sisters are nothing but trouble. At any other time, I would have said go for it. However, right now, we don’t need the headache they bring into our lives.”

“Fucking assholes, all of you,” Navya said aloud. She looked at Mihir. “No wonder Ananya left you.”

Mihir stilled, his face ablaze with fury now. Vedant immediately shared a concerned look with Armaan.

Fuck. This woman really didn’t have any sense of self-preservation. She shouldn’t have antagonized his brother the way she had. Mihir was a hazard when it came to Ananya. There was unfinished history between him and Navya’s elder sister. She was a line even Vedant and he knew not to cross with Mihir. Armaan stepped forward.

“Relax, brother,” he said in Russian. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Let it go.”

Mihir exhaled and replied in Russian as well, “Fine. I want her gone.”

Vedant snorted. “The more important question is doeshewant her gone?”

“You guys carry on,” Armaan said, switching to English. “I’ll join you soon.”

“Let her go, Armaan. I really don’t want to go into battle with Rajiv Mehra right now,” Mihir continued in English. “You know we have too much going on, so don’t get her involved in your life. More importantly, no good will come from getting entangled with a Mehra sister. Trust me, I know.”

They did have too much on their plate right now. They had to find Karina, and they had to be on their guard because of Ivan. And this was added to the huge business responsibility they eachhad. Also, involving himself with Navya would definitely end up being a sore point with Mihir, who still carried a torch for Ananya, even if he pretended that he didn’t. Letting Navya go would be the right thing to do… the good thing.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t good at all.

He was bad. So very bad.

4

Armaan faced Navya the second his brothers left. “So, where were we?”

“We are at the point where your brother clearly told you to let me go, and you’re going to do just that,” she replied coyly.

“Unfortunately for my brother, I rebel against most of his advice. He knows it.”

“What do you want then?”

“I want so much from you, and I will take all of it and more when you’re ready.”

A soft gasp escaped her mouth as she stared at him. She blinked, clearing her face of all expression, and threw him a dark look. He knew he affected her. She, however, was under the misconception that she could hide her reaction to him from him. She couldn’t. He didn’t miss the way her lips had quivered just now. He hadn’t missed the way her gloved hand trembled as she ran it down that wavy mass of her beautiful hair. Navya Mehra was most definitely attracted to him. Yet, she continued to resist him.

“You really think no end of yourself, don’t you?” she said. “I’ll never be ready to accept you into my life.”

He tilted his head. “For some unexplainable reason, I am insanely drawn to you, and the only reason I let you go four years back was because of our brothers. Now, there is nothing holding me back because you changed the rules when you walked right back into my life. So fair warning; I’m going to come after youmoya tigritsa… until you give in to me and fulfil the terms of our deal.”

Her fists curled. She clearly wanted to hit him.

“The only way you will get to spend the night with me will be by force,” she retorted, “because I willnevergive in to you.”

“I’m really not the monster you’re making me out to be.” His lips curved. “I don’t use force on women. Never have and never will.”

“If I recall, you didn’t even want to release me when my brother came to bargain on the yacht with you. That alone makes me think you were a monster to think you could continue to keep me captive.”

---