Page 67 of Fixation

“Tyrion, wait with her till she gets in the car,” Armaan instructed the security guard. “Ensure you get the driver’s details so I know she’s safe. And Reina, you will message me when you’re safe at home.”

“I will.”

“One more thing, Tyrion,” Armaan said. “Like I said, you will inform Vedant that Reina has left only tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Reina, please take the phone off speaker,” Armaan ordered.

“Thank you, Armaan,” she whispered into her phone.

A tear fell from her eye and then another. She sniffed, trying to control herself, but once the torrent started, her tears wouldn’t stop. She hated Vedant for making her feel so vulnerable. Bloody asshole.

“What the fuck has he done?” Armaan growled. “Do you need me to take a flight and come to you?”

His concern warmed her heart. Armaan Oshnov was a good man. It was just too bad that his brother was an untrustworthy dick.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She walked a little distance away from Tyrion to speak. “No. I’m fine. I will be fine. I just need to get home. My cab will be here soon. I’ll message you when I’m home. And Armaan, please don’t tell Navya anything.”

“Oh God. You can’t ask this of me.”

“Please, for my sake. I’m sure you must know how protective she is of me. She won’t keep this to herself. She will tell Rajiv and Ananya. And then… and then… I don’t know what exactly Rajiv will do, but it won’t be good for your brother, that much I can guarantee. Besides, I don’t want friction between Navya and you because of me.”

Now that she was confident she was leaving, she realised it was better that her family didn’t know. She just wanted to gather herself first, think through everything, and then decide rationally whether she wanted to tell her siblings anything or not.

“I’m so sorry for whatever he did to you,” Armaan said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Her cab stopped in front of the gate. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine, for trusting a bastard like him. The taxi is here. I have to go.”

Disconnecting the line, she looked at Tyrion, who immediately ordered the gate to open. Reina got into the cab and rested her head against the back of the seat. Her heart twisted in pain. Her anger rose once again. Vedant’s harsh and cruel words couldn’t destroy her. She wouldn’t let them. She was a survivor. She’d survived the pain her biological father had put Navya and her through. Once she’d decided on becoming a doctor, she’d endured sleepless nights and burned the midnight oil to getthrough med school. She’d worked too fucking hard to get where she was in life. She would survive him. That was a promise.

23

Vedant hadn’t slept the whole fucking night. He couldn’t forget the look on her face—of the shock, the betrayal and the utter hurt. He had behaved awfully with her, but he had to do it. Armaan had gotten it right when he had stayed away from Navya just to keep her safe. The second he’d gotten back with Navya, she’d been kidnapped. Fuck. Now, Armaan would spend the rest of his life worrying about her each time she stepped out of his sight.

His heart pinched. Reina. Fuck, he’d hurt her. His equation with her was different from Armaan and Navya’s. He and she were just beginning. His only option had been to end whatever it was that was evolving so strongly between them. He was forced to end it before it became more, before Ivan or his men found out that she was important to him. And she was so Goddamn important to him. However, her safety came first. She didn’t deserve to be pulled into his battle with Ivan.

What would Ivan do to Reina once he learned how important she was to him? And now, Su Min had also left. His heart shrivelled. Panic burst through him. Reina had to be safe, and he would keep her safe no matter the cost, beginning with keepingher here, at least until he found Su Min and understood what her motives were. But Reina… Oh, she’d hate him thoroughly, and he deserved it. But Reina would have to remain in his house until he made the world a safer place for her.

He’d done what he could to quickly cut things off between them so that neither he nor she made a move on one another ever. Simply telling her gently that he wanted to end things would have been rather unbelievable, considering the explosive chemistry they shared. One of them would have succumbed to it at some point, and once again, they’d be back to square one. Which couldn’t happen.

She hated him now, which meant even if, in a moment of weakness, he tried to fix things with her, she’d never agree and hopefully never allow him to be near her again. And he had to stay far fucking away from her at all times, no matter how much it hurt him to do so.

He pressed a hand to his chest. It hadn’t stopped aching since the previous night. Letting her go hurt. It fucking hurt so damn much.

Despite their limited time together, he’d felt a deep connection with her. He’d seen her eyes brighten when they fell on him. He’d experienced first-hand how she’d completely surrendered herself to him. He was certain that she felt the same pull toward him that he felt toward her. He’d foreseen the possibility of them having a future, one he’d wanted to desperately explore.

With a heavy heart, he walked toward his study, where he was scheduled for a meeting with his medical team. Reina had been right last night when she’d suggested reducing her team to half. He didn’t need full-time care anymore. This meeting was exactly for that. However, only two members of the team were in the study waiting for him.

“Where’s Dr. Singh?” he asked.

Laila remained silent. Stefan stepped forward. “Last night, after Laila told me that you’d called for this meeting, I went to Reina’s room, and she wasn’t there. This morning, too, her room was empty; her bed hadn’t been slept in. I checked the lounge, the kitchen, the pool, the gym, and all the places she likes to walk around, but I couldn’t find her.”

His heart drummed in fear. He looked to the side and Tyrion stood at the entrance. Seeing Vedant busy with his medical team, he hesitated. Vedant beckoned him in with a finger.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Tyrion spoke in Russian. “I can come later.”

“No, wait,” Vedant replied in English. “Can you check on Dr. Singh for us? No one has seen her since last night.”

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