Page 115 of Fixation

Rajiv shut his eyes with a sigh. “Alright. I had a feeling you’d say this, but I had to ask. I had to put everything in perspective for you. I want you to make the right choice, and if he is your choice, then I will accept him.”

She rose to her toes and kissed her brother’s cheek. “Have I told you that you’re the best?”

“Not lately!” Rajiv chuckled.

“Well, you are,” Navya added from the side.

Sheena stood and held her husband’s hand. “See, I told you there was nothing to worry about. Reina knows what she’sgetting into, and these men here will protect her, just like you will.”

“We will,” Vedant said. “I will protect her with my life if it comes to it.”

“Our family is growing,” Mihir said. “We will protect this new family with everything we have.”

“But first, we need to eliminate our enemies,” Armaan added.

Mihir splayed a hand toward the sofas. “Come, let’s sit. We need to talk, all of us.”

Vedant took a seat on one of the couches. Reina sat beside him, and everyone else spread out around them.

“We questioned Karl,” Mihir looked at Vedant. “You were right. Ivan was flustered by the announcement of Armaan and Navya’s engagement. He hated that we were going about our lives unconcerned about him. He got desperate and acted impulsively. This plan of attacking Reina seemed too hasty and poorly thought out.”

“I agree,” Armaan said. “He knows we won’t take unnecessary risks, and for him to try and get to Reina in broad daylight at a location of our choosing screams ill-conceived planning. He’s making mistakes like we wanted him to.”

“Good,” Vedant said. “We have him exactly where we want him.”

“Karl also said that Ivan has been changing his hideouts regularly. But he’s mainly in Poland,” Mihir added. “We got a list of locations of Ivan’s whereabouts in various cities from him, and we are mobilising our teams to look for him. But knowing him, once Karl fails to respond, he will disappear once again.”

“Hey, there was a white van at the entrance of the alley,” Reina said. “It wasn’t there later.”

Vedant shared a look with his brothers. “It must have been a driver. He must have escaped when things didn’t go the waythey wanted. Which means Ivan already knows he’s failed again. Good.”

“I’ll check with my friends—the owners ofLa Soiree—if they have CCTV footage from that area outside,” Rajiv said. “If we find the van, we can find the driver as well.”

“What about Laila?” Reina asked.

“Our team intercepted her when she was trying to leave,” Mihir said. “We handed both her and Karl to the police. She will be tried for colluding with a killer and for trying to hurt Reina and Su Min. Karl will be handed to the UK police, where he’s already wanted for Anita Svensson’s murder. Our contacts within the police here and in London will ensure he’s incarcerated for a lifetime.”

Armaan looked at Vedant. “We also questioned Karl about Anita. Apparently, he met her as a reporter and asked her questions about you. Then he started following her, hoping she’d lead him to you.”

Mihir took over. “Karl also confirmed that Anita had seen him following her. We think that she was trying to get in touch with you to probably warn you about Karl. In the end, as we suspected he killed her because Ivan thought she was important to you.”

“Karl will pay for her death,” Armaan said. “I hope you have closure on this now, Vedant.”

Vedant gave his brothers a grateful smile. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. An innocent woman had died because of him, but now her family would get justice.

“But, yes, this is far from over,” Mihir said. “My gut says Ivan will act again and soon.”

“I agree,” Vedant said. “My team is working on blocking all his bank accounts. Once that is done, he will get more desperate.”

“We will be ready for him when he comes,” Armaan said.

“Absolutely,” Vedant concurred.

“But no taking risks,” Rajiv added. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Mihir nodded.

A sombre silence settled around them.

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