Page 82 of Addiction

“I fell in love with her, and she…” Armaan let out a painful sigh. “She’ll be safer this way as well.”

“I cannot believe that you’re still thinking about her first!” Mihir shook his head. “Falling in love sucks big time. It only causes pain and heartbreak, and I hate seeing you in pain. I hate that you’re hurting so much.”

“You did warn me, brother. You were right. Despite that, I need someone protecting her all the time, but discreetly.”

Mihir nodded, and then his face turned serious. “I have something important to tell you.”

Armaan frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“The Estonians launched a dual attack two nights ago. One here in Dubai on you, and the other in London… on Vedant.”

“Oh God.” Fear exploded inside him. He tried getting off the bed, but Mihir held his arm and shook his head.

“Don’t. You’ve barely recovered,” Mihir said.

Armaan reclined on the bed again. “I thought Vedant was flying out to Dubai that night. What happened?”

“He went for that meeting he’d been talking about that night without Tyrion. They attacked him in a basement parking, the same modus operandi they used with you. Vedant got shot in the shoulder and his right leg,” Mihir said. “I was with him for two days. I returned early this morning after moving him home.”

Terror coated Armaan’s mouth. “And?”

“Luckily, Tyrion realized Vedant had gone out alone and rushed to him. He helped him fight the goons. They killed three of those men before the fourth one shot Vedant and ran.” Mihir swept a hand through his already mussed hair, looking disturbed. “Vedant survived, but barely. If the bullet had been an inch lower, then we… we would have lost him, Armaan. In one night, that fucker Ivan targeted both the people that mean the world to me.”

His elder brother looked shaken up. Armaan was too.

“Tell me about Vedant,” Armaan said. “What are the doctors saying?”

“He was unconscious for a long time after the surgery, just like you. It’s going to take him a while to regain full use of his shoulder and leg. But that is a problem for later.” Mihir pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “The second he regained consciousness and his vitals were stable, I moved him to the mansion in London. I’ve doubled the security around him. The mansion is locked tight like a fortress. No one can enter and exit without my knowledge. I couldn’t leave him alone in the hospital while I returned to check on you here. At least now I know he’s safe. Here, Dmitri was there by your side, and Navya was too.Also, Rajiv Mehra put additional security around you, probably because of his sister.”

Armaan grimaced. Even hearing Navya’s name made him want to scream and hit something. Hard.

He composed himself. His love life wasn’t important right now. Vedant was. “What about the doctors and care staff for Vedant? He must be in pain, and being immobile will make him grumpy as hell.”

“The doctor who operated on Vedant is looking after him 24x7 in our London mansion now. So are a few nurses.”

Armaan blinked. “How the hell did you convince the doctor to do that?”

“I gave them no choice.”

Armaan nodded. He knew how determined Mihir could be when it came to their safety. In fact, had he, too, listened to Mihir and not gone out that night, then they wouldn’t be in this situation at all. But what was done was done. Now, they had to move forward, which meant finding that bastard Ivan and making him pay. Anger raged through him.

“What’s the news on Ivan?” Armaan asked.

“I’m sure he’s lying low after failing to kill both my brothers,” Mihir replied. “We will find him. Dmitri is holding three of the men who attacked you in our warehouse. I will interrogate them once I leave the hospital. Unfortunately, the leader of the gang, who attacked you in the end, managed to get away.”

Armaan lifted his jaw. “Those men are mine to interrogate. I will get answers from them. What about the men who attacked Vedant?”

“The only one alive in that group was the one who shot Vedant and fled. The dead men had no IDs on them, not even mobile phones. Security footage of the basement where Vedant had parked the car is also blurry. We have no leads on that front.”

“Shit,” Armaan said. “Once I’m out of here, let’s see what we learn from the guys who attacked me.”

Mihir nodded.

“And any update on the search for Karina?” Armaan checked. “We can’t lose focus on the hunt for her.”

“Honestly, I haven’t checked in the last two days.”

“Then, I’ll look into it as soon as I’m back on my feet.” Armaan looked around. “I need to get out of here.”

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