Page 60 of Addiction

He gave her a warm smile. “Honestly, I just landed some time back. I have a meeting with Tiffany’s CEO, Steffi Warton. My mom is looking for a specific ring, and I have a feeling Steffi might know where I can find it. Why don’t you join me? Let’s meet and greet people together, and then once I’m done with my meeting, you and I can go out for coffee. I have to return to Mumbai in the evening, so I don’t have much time today.”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

She’d barely taken a step when she heard Armaan’s voice. Low, dangerous, sharp.

“Have you forgotten who you belong to,moya tigritsa?”

She took her time to look at him. From next to her, Aditya alternated his gaze between Armaan and her.

“Is there a problem?” Aditya asked, his voice equally sharp.

“Yes,” Armaan growled.

“Of course not,” Navya said at the same time.

Armaan’s eyes narrowed on her for a second and then on her hand, which was still linked to Aditya’s arm before they landed on Aditya’s face.

“Stay away from her.” It was an order.

“Or what?” Aditya asked.

“You really wouldn’t like the answer to that,” Armaan replied, his voice all steel.

Shit. She really hadn’t thought through her actions when she’d decided to provoke Armaan. But seeing him with that other woman had erased all sensible thought from her head.

“Guys…” she began. Both men ignored her.

She tried to remove her hand from around Aditya’s arm, but he put his hand atop hers, stopping her. Armaan stiffened even more.

She freed her hand from under Aditya’s.

“Okay, we all got off on the wrong foot, so let’s do this again.” She looked at Armaan. “This is Aditya Wahi, a friend. And Aditya, this is Armaan Oshnov, my… he’s my… he’s…”

Fuck. She was fumbling like an idiot.

“She’s mine.” Armaan filled in for her.

A spark lit in her chest at that declaration. Aditya’s gaze widened as it fell on her. He arched a brow, and she nodded.

She turned to Aditya. “Rain check on the coffee?”

He looked at Armaan and then at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Aditya leaned down to kiss her cheek. Armaan’s loud growl didn’t even faze him as he said aloud, “I’ll call you the next time I’m here. It should be in a few weeks, I think.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Do Rajiv and Sheena know?”

“Not yet. It’s too new between us.”

He grinned. “I see. Well, they won’t hear it from me then.”

She lowered her chin in acknowledgement.

Ignoring Armaan, he gave her a naughty smile and went in the opposite direction from them. She didn’t even get a chance to take a breath. Armaan grabbed her arm and took her down a corridor. He turned right, then left and halted when they were finally alone, a little distance away from all the hustle and bustle.

---