Page 10 of Addiction

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Navya asked Su Min. “I’d like to thank him, too, for tonight.”

“He’s here—” Su Min’s words were cut short when a tall, blond, East European looking man grabbed her by the waist and spun her around to kiss her cheek. He spoke a few words to Su Min, and a shiver of foreboding climbed down Navya’s spine. His words and his accent were vaguely familiar.

A moment later, Su Min tugged him forward. “Girls, meet Vasily, my boyfriend.”

He shook hands with Reina first. When he greeted Navya, she said, “Thank you for inviting us to this party.”

“No, I need to thank you for giving us your Coldplay tickets,” he replied. “I’d tried to buy the tickets online but they were all sold out.”

Huh? That was strange. Navya was well aware that rich men had enough contacts to get them what they needed. Her brother, for example. He was the one who’d managed seats for them in an already sold-out show. She stared at Vasily. He was a large man and was simply dressed in black trousers, a beige sweater, and a simple black leather jacket. Nothing about him screamed rich and privileged. In fact, the headpiece on his ear made him look like a security guard. Her instincts buzzed. Something didn’t feel right here.

“Your home is beautiful.” She tipped her chin to the house—the castle—a short distance behind them, needing further confirmation.

Vasily grinned at Su Min. “Have you been telling them it’s my party?”

Su Min frowned at Reina. “Did you think that—never mind. I’m sure you weren’t even paying attention when I told youabout the party. So typical of you to be focused only on your work when we’re at the hospital. You really ought to pay more attention to your surroundings, Reina.”

Reina shrugged. “Sorry, you know me.”

“Um, who’s party is it then?” Navya asked Vasily.

“My bosses host a party every year on New Year’s Eve here. This is their home. I’m their head security guard. They allow the staff to invite whoever they want for the party. They’re cool like that.” He pointed to an enclosed and elevated VIP section behind them. “See, that’s them, the?—”

A sharp sound of static cut him off. He removed a walkie-talkie from his back pocket and spoke into it in what seemed like fluent Russian.

Her heart jumped. Oh God in heaven! She was right. The house and the party weren’t Vasily’s. Unease crawled through Navya as her heart told her what she desperately didn’t want to be true. But this level of security, this wealth could be afforded by only a few… which meant. Which meant… Oh God. Please no.

She turned to look at the VIP section. Her eyes scanned the crowd there. It couldn’t be… Please, it couldn’t be… But God wasn’t listening to her. Her eyes fell upon a tall man in glasses talking to some men in formal suits. Vedant Oshnov. Fuck. She scanned the area next to him, and her eyes paused on a taller man. Even from a distance, she could make out the man’s cold features and the scar that she knew ran down the side of his face. Mihir Oshnov. The one man her sister, Ananya, craved till date.

Her heart tripped. Fuck. Fuck. If the two of them were here, it meant… it meant… Her eyes searched through their group, buthewas nowhere to be seen. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t around. She swung her gaze to Reina, who was chatting away with her friends. Reina was innocent. The Oshnovs didn’t know her—they’d never met her, and Navya intended to ensure that the status quo remained intact.

Her heart was racing away even as she touched Reina’s hand. “I need to use the restroom. Will you come with me?”

“Sure.” Reina faced her friends. “We’ll meet you right here in a bit.”

As soon as the two of them had walked a little distance away from Reina’s friends, Navya faced her sister. “We have to leave.”

Reina halted. “What? Why? Aren’t you having fun?”

Navya took her sister’s hand and began to drag her away. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“What is going on, Navya?” Reina pulled out of her hold. “You’re behaving strangely.”

Navya tipped her chin to the VIP area. “You see that man in glasses. That’s Vedant Oshnov. And that guy next to him looking into the crowd with that scary look on his face is…”

“…Mihir Oshnov. Fuck. Are you saying it’s their party we’re at?”

At Navya’s nod, Reina started to walk toward the exit.

“Let’s go,” Reina said. “I’ll text Su Min once we’ve collected our cell phones and make an excuse to her that we had to leave after we’re seated in the car. But first I need some water. I’m feeling buzzed. I’d decided not to drink alcohol for the rest of the night so I’d be sober enough to drive back. But now…”

“…I’ll drive,” Navya declared. All her buzz had disappeared the minute she’d figured whose party she was at. “We need to hurry.”

Navya’s pulse spiked. They needed to get out of here before Armaan Oshnov found her at his party, no less.

“No, Navya,” Reina said. “You’ve had as much to drink as I have, and I’m better versed with these roads than you.”

Reina stopped at the bar and picked up a bottle of water. Navya searched the crowd again, especially the VIP section. He still wasn’t to be seen, thank God. A loud burst of laughter drew her attention to the two girls standing next to Reina, chattinganimatedly. One of their drinks was left unattended at the counter beside them. Navya opened her mouth to tell Reina to hurry when something caught her attention. The man standing on the other side of the two girls dropped a tiny white pill in the glass beside them. Horror swamped her, triggering her memory. Shit. It was the same man who had crashed into her earlier. That time, too, she had noticed something fall from his hand. Had he been trying to spike her drink? Oh God.

---