Page 88 of Addiction

Armaan nodded. “Do you want some water?”

At his nod, Armaan poured water into a glass from a jug nearby. Mihir pressed a button on a remote, and the bed reclined at an angle. Once Vedant was comfortable, Armaan handed him the glass. He took a few sips and studied Armaan again.

“They got to you as well, right?” Vedant asked.

“Yeah.” Armaan told him what he remembered, with Mihir filling in the blank spots of his memory. Mihir also didn’t hesitate to update Vedant on the situation between Navya and Armaan.

Vedant studied Armaan. “I agree with Mihir. You should talk to her.”

“Not discussing that right now. My love life is not important; you are. You were almost killed.”

“And so were you,” Vedant stressed. “We got a second chance at life. Why don’t you live it fully with the woman you love by your side? You know we have the money and means to protect her.”

“None of that protected us,” Armaan gritted out.

“Because neither of you followed the protocol of taking your fucking security guards along with you.” Mihir crossed his arms over his chest, looking incensed. “Just because I’ve been worried sick about the two of you doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how blatantly irresponsible the two of you behaved.”

Mihir’s volume rose with every word coming from his mouth. His eyes latched on Vedant. “I told you to cancel that bloody meeting, and still you went ahead, without Tyrion. Ivan’s men were waiting for that one chance to attack you, and you handed it to them on a platter.”

Mihir faced Armaan, looking madder. “And you? You assured me that you wouldn’t go out that night. But you did, and that too by yourself. Do you think you are fucking Superman? Do you both think that? In one single night, they got to both of you, the two most important people in my life. How do you think I would have survived if I had lost either of you?”

Armaan shared a concerned look with Vedant. Neither of them had ever seen Mihir so enraged.

“Sorry…” Vedant rasped out. “It was stupid and reckless to do what I did. What we both did. You’d been warning us for weeks to be careful, and one break in protocol was all that was needed for them to get to us.”

“I’m sorry too,” Armaan said.

“I don’t want either of your fucking apologies!” Mihir fumed. “I want you both alive, which means no more risks till we find Ivan.”

“Agreed.” Vedant held a hand out. “Can we now stop with all the depressing talk? I’ve been to hell’s door and back. The lastdays have been so hard, but you both are here now, and I already feel so much better.”

The tension between them immediately faded. Armaan put his arms around Vedant, holding him close. Vedant was alive, and he was going to be fine. When it was Mihir’s turn, he took his time to release Vedant as well.

“It’s always been us against the world,” Mihir said, his tone calmer now. “We have no one but each another, and I never want to see either of you hurt ever again.”

Armaan nodded, as did Vedant.

Mihir addressed Armaan, “What I was trying to say before I got all emotional is that if you decide to be with Navya, then we can keep her safe.”

Armaan pinched his forehead. “Still not discussing this.”

“Fucking stubborn asshole,” Vedant swore.

A knock on the door distracted all of them. A slim, bespectacled woman wearing a white doctor’s coat entered, followed by a nurse carrying a tray.

“Can’t you see we’re busy?” Vedant growled. “Come later.”

The doctor, a severe-looking woman in a tight bun and thick glasses continued forward.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she replied, not sounding sorry in the least, “but, it’s time for his medication.”

Mihir’s phone rang. He went outside to answer it, while the doctor and the nurse went to work on Vedant.

Vedant scowled at the doctor. She threw him a dark look and continued to check his vitals on the screen, before moving to the IV bag connected to his hand. Detaching the empty IV bag, she administered some injections to him through the IV cannula on his hand.

“That fucking hurt,” Vedant grumbled. “I hate needles.”

The doctor didn’t respond. She lifted the second injection and went to work with that.

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