Page 42 of Addiction

Immediately, her face came into view. His punch landed in the air, completely missing Mihir’s training pad.

His brother’s face hardened. “What has she done? And do not tell me it’s nothing, because it’s clearlynotnothing.”

“It’s over, Mihir!” He sighed. “She texted me last night and told me to stay away from her.”

Mihir stayed silent. His brother knew when to poke and prod, and when to keep quiet with him. Right now, Armaandidn’t want any comment or question from Mihir regarding what had gone down with Navya. Right now, he only wanted to train and let his frustration and anger out. And thankfully, Mihir understood that.

Armaan changed the combination, doing a jab, hook, backhand, and then an uppercut.

“Good,” Mihir called out. “Repeat it.”

For the next hour, they continued practising various punching combinations in silence, with only Mihir shouting instructions as and when needed. Finally, they stopped and moved to the water stand. Armaan drank half a bottle of water in one long gulp.

“I’m glad it’s over with her,” Mihir said, watching him carefully. “I need your full focus on the problems we’re dealing with. I’m genuinely concerned about Ivan.”

Armaan wiped his face with a towel. He took off his drenched tee shirt and threw it to the side.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Armaan said.

“I don’t like that he can’t be found. It means he’s plotting something. I don’t want to sit on my hands until he shows his move.”

“I get that, but Vedant’s already searching for him.”

“And we ought to help him,” Mihir said. “We’ve known the guy for more than a decade. I’m sure if we put our heads together, we can come up with a possibility of where he could be. There must be something about him that would give us a clue. Some friend, some acquaintance, or some routine we can remember.”

“I want to cool down,” Armaan said. “Let’s discuss this on the treadmill.”

Armaan set his speed to a slow walk and Mihir did the same next to him.

“I remember he had that Russian heiress he was dating on-off last year,” Armaan said.

Mihir shook his head. “That’s long over. I spoke to Vedant. He’s looked into his past girlfriends, favorite hangout places, his gambling dens, and the nightclubs he frequented, but he hasn’t been seen anywhere in a while.”

“I suppose he knows we’d check there if we were looking for him.”

“Our guys have even checked with his cronies. No one has heard from him. There’s been no activity in his bank accounts as well in the last few days.”

“Shit! He’s really covering his tracks, which is definitely concerning,” Armaan admitted. “Let’s think more. Who was he close to?”

“His mother, but she passed away years ago. You know that.”

Something clicked in Armaan’s brain. He stopped his treadmill and stared at Mihir. “His mother passed away around this time of the year, didn’t she? I remember because that year, Ivan had thrown a fuss with Alexander over having a huge memorial for her. When Alexander insisted on a small, private affair, which his mother would have preferred, Ivan had gotten mad because only a few months ago, Alexander had organized his usual massive celebration for our birthdays.”

Mihir, too, stopped his machine and stepped off it. “Yes, I remember that. So?”

“If I’m not mistaken, Ivan goes to visit her grave every year. Which means, he will go this year as well.”

Mihir’s eyes widened. “Shit. You’re right. We need to find out what date she died right away. I’m calling Vedant and telling him this. This could be our chance to get to him before he gets to us.”

Armaan nodded. That would indeed be a huge relief.

Mihir’s phone rang. He listened to whoever was on the other side, and then his eyes landed on Armaan. Sighing, he put the phone on speaker.

“Vasily, you need to repeat that once again,” Mihir ordered.

“Sir, Ms. Navya Mehra is here at the gate demanding entry.”

Armaan’s heart somersaulted. It took him a second to calm himself in order to hear the rest of the security’s words.

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