Page 15 of Fixation

Vedant took a moment to study both his brothers. While Mihir looked fit and fine, Armaan looked weaker than before, and he had a few fading bruises on his face.

“Why do you look like shit?” Vedant assessed Armaan again. His eyes widened in understanding. Now, it all made sense. Armaan sounding unlike himself on the phone. Armaan not rushing to check on Vedant after his attack. It was all because he had been attacked as well. He jolted upright. Pain shot down his chest. He flinched, shutting his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside.

Armaan helped him down. “No, don’t get up.”

“Do you want something?” Mihir asked. “Should I call your doctor?”

“Please, she’s the last thing I need,” Vedant grumbled. “She’ll just increase the dosage of my painkillers and sedate me again. I hate not being in control, and these medications make me feel woozy in the head.”

The last couple of times he’d been up, she’d not been around. Most of the time, it had been that other female doctor. That one always looked at him like she was in awe of him. He didn’t quite know what to make of her. But the one whose attention he foolishly sought was hardly ever around.

He’d noticed that all the others in his care team were alone when they attended to him, butshewas always with someone. Which meant she was deliberately ensuring she had limited contact with him, and was avoiding being alone with him. After he’d caught her staring at his abs, he’d wanted to meet her alone to see if this newfound intrigue he’d developed about her was real or just a one-off thing. But she was never alone with him to test out that theory. Why that thought bothered him made no sense. He only knew that it did. A lot. For some insane reason, hewas becoming fixated with his testy doctor. And that made zero sense.

“Do you want some water?” Armaan asked him.

Mihir pressed a button on a remote, and the bed reclined at an angle. Once he 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 Armaan.

“Yeah. It was on the same night and the same modus operandi as you. I was in a nightclub, and four men attacked me in a basement parking.”

Armaan told him what he remembered, with Mihir filling in the blank spots of his memory.

“Do you know he was in that damn basement because he was fighting with Navya Mehra?” Mihir added. “He followed her to that damn night club where he overheard her say something nasty about him, and now he’s refusing to talk to her despite her repeatedly saying that she’d cleared the air with him before he was hit on the back of his head. He’s had a concussion, and he’s forgotten that bit. But he does remember that she fought alongside him, for him. Such an idiot.”

Vedant had known for a while now that Armaan was madly in love with Navya Mehra. And to think that she had fought bravely beside his brother multiplied his respect for her.

Vedant studied Armaan. “How are you doing, brother?”

“I’m better. I just wish I could get back that missing piece of my memory. I feel like I’ve forgotten something important.”

“You have,” Mihir said. “You forgot an entire conversation with Navya.”

Armaan made a face. Vedant knew that his brother had been obsessed with Navya for years. What he found more amusing was that Mihir was actually encouraging Armaan to make up with Navya even though she was related to Ananya Mehra, the one woman Mihir had never gotten over. It just showed thatMihir would always put them first, over everything, including his own emotions.

“I agree with Mihir,” Vedant said. “You should talk to her.”

“Not discussing that right now. My love life is not important at all; 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 fucking protocol of taking your 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 pitch increased with every word coming from his mouth. His eyes locked on Vedant. “I told you to cancel that bloody meeting, but did you listen? No. You went ahead without Tyrion. Ivan’s men were waiting for that one opportunity to attack you, and you gave it to them on a fucking platter.”

Mihir faced Armaan, looking even madder. “And you? You assured me that you wouldn’t go out that night. But you did, and that too by yourself. Who do you think you are? Fucking Superman? Do you both think that? In one single night, Ivan 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? We’ve already lost Karina. I cannot and will not lose either one of you. You hear me?”

Armaan shared a concerned look with Vedant. Neither of them had ever seen Mihir so enraged. And Karina… fuck his chest hurt thinking about her.

“I’m so sorry, Mihir…” Vedant rasped out. “It was absolutely stupid and reckless to do what I did. What we both did. You’dbeen 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 fucking want either of your 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 please stop with all the depressing talk? I’ve been to hell’s gate and back. The last few days have been so hard, but you both are here now, and I already feel so much better.”

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