Page 49 of Addiction

He kept her hand in his, her skin warm from the imprint of his kiss and his touch. God, she was really doing this—dating him and flirting with him. All this was so new to her. Uff, what if she was making a mistake? Doubt poked its questions in her brain, confusing her. She took a few steady breaths. No, this was right.

She lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip. The juice was cool and refreshing. Since she wanted to do this with him, she needed to get to know him better. That was the right way.

“If we are going to date, then I want to know more about you and not what Google can tell me. Tell me something no one knows about you.”

He released her hand. “My brothers know everything about me.”

Dmitri appeared, followed by two women dressed in grey and white maid uniforms. They set a basket of bread on the table and placed a covered plate of food in front of them each. Navya opened her cloche and smiled. Breakfast was a fluffy omelette with veggies on the side. The delicious scent wafted over to her and she realized how hungry she was.

“Priyatnogo appetita,” he said.

This one was easy to understand.

“Bon appetit,” she replied.

They both ate their food in silence.

“This is delicious,” she said a few minutes later. “My compliments to your chef.”

He smiled.

“Tell me about your tattoo,” she said. “Is it an anchor?”

“Yes. I noticed you staring at it through the gym mirror earlier.”

She pouted. “Do you always notice everything?”

“About you, yes.”

“What does the tattoo mean?” she queried, her throat thick. It bewildered her as to how he was always so intense about her.

“It means stability, loyalty, and strength. But for us, it is a sign to remain grounded.” He spread his hand out. “That we didn’t have all this at one time, and now that we do, we need to appreciate it every single day of our lives and remain grounded through it all.”

“Us? Do you mean all of you have this tattoo?”

“Yes, we got inked together. I have it on my back, Vedant has it on his arm, and Mihir has it on his chest.”

They returned to their breakfast and there was silence again.

“So, where was I…” Navya said once she was done eating. “Yes, you were telling me something not many people know about you.”

“You’re relentless, aren’t you?” He lowered his chin a fraction. “Ask me something then.”

“All three of you grew up at the orphanage?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“In Rishikesh.”

Her eyes rounded. “Whoa. Google has definitely not mentioned this anywhere. Tell me more.”

He shrugged. “It’s not a lot and not very interesting, actually. Life was hard, as you can imagine. We grew up poor, but the orphanage wasn’t bad. It was run by some decent people who actually cared about the kids there. The caretakers were nice, but some of the kids could get nasty. It was survival of the fittest, you see. Anyway, from a very young age, we used to all sleep in the same corner of the room. We bonded with one anothervery early in life, and learned to depend on each other. We all chose each other over everyone else and protected one another from the other kids. My brothers and…” he took a pause before continuing, “My brothers are my chosen family. That will never change.”

The two maids came to clear their plates and put a pot of coffee on the table.

“Coffee or tea?” Armaan asked.

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