Page 66 of Fixation

How had she thought that leaving would be easy? Fuck. She hadn’t been thinking at all.

“Dr. Singh, is that you?”

She turned to see Tyrion walking to her. He was wearing a raincoat and a cap over his head, a machine gun strapped to his back, while she stood drenched and shivering in the cold rain.

“Can I help you?” He guided her into the warmth of the large security box near the gate. Dozens of terminals filled the area around her, displaying live camera footage from every corner of the house and the vast grounds. This gatehouse was a huge hive of activity. Armed guards were seated around the screens, all of them busy on some monitor, scanning, checking, and speaking into wireless devices.

She faced Tyrion. “I need to leave tonight.”

“Has Mr. Oshnov approved this?” he asked.

“No, but I’m requesting you to let me out.”

“I’m so sorry, Doctor, but I need an approval from Mr. Oshnov to allow you to leave.”

A feeling of hopelessness struck her chest. Suddenly, she straightened, remembering something. She pulled her phone out and tapped on a contact in her list. Tyrion’s eyes widened when he saw the phone with her, but he thankfully remained silent.

“Reina, what’s wrong?” Armaan asked as soon as he answered her call. He sounded like he’d just woken up. “It’s way past one in the morning here. Is Vedant okay?”

“He’s fine. I’m calling you to collect on the promise you made me. I want to leave right now. So, I need you to tell Tyrion here, who is in front of me, to open the fucking gate.”

Armaan went silent for a moment. She heard a door shut behind him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“Will you ask him to open the gate or not? Because the next call I make will be to my brother, andGodhelp you all if that happens.”

Her patience was at an all-time low, her heart was hurting, and she was barely holding back her tears. Thus, she was more than okay to bring Rajiv into the picture. She was fine with telling him about her entire ordeal and letting the whole world burn, just so she could get the fuck out of here.

Armaan sighed. “I just need to know if Vedant will be okay once you leave.”

“He is recovering well, and it’s only a matter of time before he is back to normal. However, right now, I don’t need you to be a brother to him. What I want is for you to be a friend to me.”

“Reina, are you okay? Has he done something? Please talk to me.”

Her anger waned. Armaan didn’t deserve her wrath. It wasn’t his fault that his brother was a horrible person.

“Armaan,” she gentled her tone, “I need to go home. I cannot stay here a second longer.”

He was silent for a moment. “Okay. Put the phone on speaker.”

She tapped a button on her phone. “Tyrion can hear you now.”

“This is Armaan Oshnov. Tyrion, I need you to open the gate and let Dr. Singh leave.”

Tyrion stood straighter. “Sir. I need to inform Mr. Vedant.”

“No one is informing Vedant, not until Reina leaves or, better yet, tomorrow morning only. Am I clear?”

At the bodyguard’s silence, Armaan roared, “Am I fucking clear, Tyrion?”

“Sir, it’s raining, and there is no cab for miles,” Tyrion said. “At least let me drop her off where she wants.”

“Absolutely not,” Reina said. “I’ll call a cab.”

“Alright,” Armaan told her. “Call one. Do it right now. I’m waiting.”

Reina clicked on her cab app, and to her luck, she found a cab close by. It would reach in ten minutes. She informed the same to Armaan.

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