Page 75 of Fixation

Now he understood why his brothers were so keen on Vedant remaining in London. They were trying to keep him from finding out Reina’s identity. If he was in Dubai, then eventually he would have learned who she was.

Shit, he suddenly realised that Mihir had scanned the backgrounds of every single person whom he had assigned to care for Vedant. Armaan must have ensured that Reina got paid the two million pounds they had committed to pay each of the medical team, not that she’d need the money if she was indeedRajiv Mehra’s sister. Fuck. Why hadn’t he remembered this earlier? It would have saved him three weeks.

He addressed Tyrion. “Mihir had looked into the background of all the members of the medical team who were working for me. Check on Reina’s file.”

“Sir, I did that long back,” Tyrion replied. “The files on her are blank.”

He winced. Mihir must have deliberately wiped out all of Reina’s files just so Vedant could never know who she was. His brothers really hadn’t wanted him to find out her identity. Still, he needed to be one hundred percent sure.

“I’m sure Mihir has a file somewhere on Rajiv Mehra’s family,” he told Tyrion. “Show it to me.”

Tyrion tapped on the iPad a few times and handed it to him. Vedant clicked through several photos, until he came across a photo from four years ago. Four women were seated in a Mexican restaurant laughing. Ananya, Navya, Rajiv’s wife Sheena, and… and… Reina.HisReina.

Fuck. He’d never cared to learn who the third sister of Rajiv Mehra was. Now, he knew. For some reason, she had changed her identity to Reina Singh, and she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him who she really was.

Now he understood why Armaan was so certain she was safe. He would have ensured it. Her brother would have ensured it.

His eyes coasted over her picture. Those sparkling eyes, that shiny hair, her glowing face. His heart constricted. God, he missed her.

He handed Tyrion the iPad. “Get the jet fuelled and ready. We’re going home to Dubai tonight. But we need to keep it quiet. Tell no one. Even the pilots need to hear it last minute.”

He just needed to see Reina once and make sure she was okay and safe. Even from afar would do. Then he’d have someonefrom his own security follow her from a distance. Only then would he have some peace.

He exhaled. The rope that had wound itself around his chest finally loosened a bit. He’d found her like he’d promised himself he would, and now he was going to ensure that she stayed safe always. But first, he needed to see her to ensure she was alright.

26

Dubai

Reina flung the romance novel far away from her. Damn these romance novels and their happy endings! In them, the hero and heroine always got back together. They were separated due to a misunderstanding that always got resolved in the end. But real life was far from it. Real life sucked. Falling in love meant getting your heart broken by the most awful man ever, and yet your stupid heart yearned for that same man.

She rubbed her burning eyes. She wasn’t going to cry over him. She was stronger than this. She’d wept all her tears in London. Here in Dubai, she had a very inquisitive family who would notice her red eyes and swollen face. And she didn’t want that. She checked her reflection in the mirror. She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping well. She quickly applied some more concealer under her eyes before heading down to the back of her house toward the basketball court, feeling lost and alone, which was utterly ridiculous because her house was always filled withthe love and laughter of her family. Despite that, she felt like she was missing a part of herself.

She walked forward. March in Dubai was a great time of the year. It was not too hot, and was very pleasant indeed. In comparison, London had been cold and wet. Dubai had been her home for too long, but this time, it didn’t feel the same. She missed London, she missed her job, and she missed… Fuck, she wasn’t thinking about him again.

But no matter how many times she told herself this, her mind wouldn’t listen. It kept conjuring images of him in her head. Vedant Oshnov wasn’t the man for her, but her stupid heart had rejected that missive and continued to ache for him. While her heart pined like a fool for him, her mind reminded her of what a fool she’d been over him. And that made her so bloody mad at herself. Why had she quietly tolerated his awful words? She should have punched him before she left. Her mind was a fucking mess oscillating between missing him and wanting to hit him. Oh, she was an idiot of the first order.

Armaan had transferred the balance of a million pounds to her account the second she’d reached home. She’d donated the entire two million to one of the charities her mother supported. It had never been about the money for her. While initially she’d cared for Vedant because she’d not been given a choice, later on, she’d stayed because she’d felt responsible for him. She’d wanted to ensure he healed and got back to being himself.

She sighed.

It had been three weeks since she’d arrived home in Dubai, unannounced and unexpected. Her family had welcomed her with open arms and happy smiles. She’d told them she’d taken a long break from work, and that perhaps she’d consider working here in Dubai to be close to them, and they’d believed her.

Even Navya had been easily convinced when she’d informed her that she’d left Vedant’s care to her team because he wasrecovering well and didn’t need four medical staff looking after him. And since Navya had moved in with Armaan, she was hardly around to question her more. But she did speak to Navya daily, and during each of those daily phone calls, Armaan asked her about Vedant and if he would recover well, and each time she assured him that his brother would be fine.

She’d also been updated on Navya’s kidnapping, and she didn’t blame Armaan for being paranoid about her safety. Even here, in her own home, she only had to look in a direction and spot the armed guards patrolling the perimeter. Due to Navya and Armaan being together, her family had no choice but to be safe-guarded and protected as well. She’d heard all the details from her brother and Navya about the Oshnovs’ enemies, and now she knew that Su Min’s boyfriend Vasily had kidnapped Navya.

That must have come as an utter shock to Vedant and his brothers—to be betrayed as such by one of their own. Su Min had been calling and texting her since a few days now. Armaan had warned her to stay clear of Su Min; hence, she’d not answered her calls at all. Giving her up as a friend hurt big time. She still found it hard to consider that Su Min could have been complicit with her boyfriend. But for the sake of all their safety, she would stay away from her.

She’d lost so much in these last weeks, and she wanted time to heal from losing a good friend, leaving the job she’d loved, and recovering from her broken heart. Vedant’s face flashed in her mind. She wiped it out immediately. Shit, even coming home hadn’t helped her get over him.

Heaviness weighed on her chest. She felt so damn alone. All this emotional upheaval was saturating her. Confiding in her family meant opening a huge can of worms, one she wasn’t ready for, so she had no choice but to bear the heartache and heartbreak all alone.

The sounds of a ball bouncing, sneakers squeaking, and loud chatter reached her ears. Tonight was one of their customary game nights. It was a sacred ritual at home. Once a week, all her siblings got together to play a chosen game. Last week, it had been Chance, the week before that was Monopoly, and tonight was basketball night. In the past, when she’d been away, she’d always envied such times. Work had always been a priority, and hence, her vacations at home had been few and far. But now that she was home, she couldn’t bring herself to be excited in the least… about anything. Her mind and her heart were thoroughly wrecked, thanks to that asshole.

She turned the corner and paused, watching the happy scene in front of her. Her brother was on the basketball court shooting hoops with his wife and kids. His four-year-old son, Shiven, spoke nonstop, asking multiple questions to his father. Sheena passed her son the ball. He raised the ball in the air, looking expectantly at his dad. Rajiv lifted him up in the air and Shiven slammed the ball in the basket, hooting in joy, his parents and little sister cheering him on.

A second later, Rajiv’s daughter, Nia, demanded attention. Sheena picked her up and handed her a smaller ball. The little girl looked at her father. Laughing, Rajiv lifted Sheena with Nia up in the air and Nia threw the ball in the hoop. Reina laughed. Rajiv put Sheena down and kissed Nia on the cheek, before kissing his wife on the lips.

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