Page 2 of Obsession

Her heart came to a stop before it began beating again with renewed vigour as her eyes scanned the man watching her from the railing above.

Standing under the lights, she could make him out clearly. Windswept hair over a wide forehead, the same dark, knowing eyes, those carved cheekbones covered with stubble and those gorgeous, full lips. Her heart sighed and then began to pulse, as if coming alive for the first time in years. It washim.

“Mihir…” her lips whispered his name.

Happiness danced inside her. This man was her Mihir indeed. The urge to run to him and wrap her arms around him burst inside her. She took a step forward. His gaze narrowed on her, freezing her in place.

She studied him again. His eyes were hard, cold chips of ice, and they were swirling with anger and…hate. She staggered a step back.

Everything about this man seemed different. Yes, he was impeccably dressed in a full black suit and black shirt, but even his fine clothes couldn’t hide the danger dripping out of him. Yet, she couldn’t look away and break eye contact with him. A frisson of awareness ran down her as he studied her from top to toe. His lips tipped to the side, and a predatory gleam shimmered in his eyes.

Her stomach bottomed out.Shit.What if he had truly lost his memory? What if he had forgotten her?

Someone approached him from behind. His eyes never leaving Ananya’s, Mihir tipped his head to the side. She gasped when she saw the scar that ran down one side of his face from his temple down to his cheek.

Oh God, what had happened to him?

A woman came to stand next to him. She was tall, blonde and beautiful. She spoke a few words to him and ran a hand down his throat. Jealousy blazed through Ananya. It was instant and wild. She wanted to climb upstairs and pull that woman off Mihir. She wanted to claim him as hers, but she couldn’t.

Too much time had passed, and too much remained unresolved and unanswered between them. Yet, one thought reigned supreme. Mihir was her… He was her…

No. Even though her heart was protesting, she wasn’t going to voice that thought aloud.

Her heart cracking, she watched as Mihir wrapped his hands around that woman’s slim waist and tugged her towards him. The blonde fell on his chest, laughing, her arms going around his neck. Turning to lean her against the railing, Mihir dug his face into the side of the woman’s neck, his hard eyes still locked on Ananya.

Revulsion filled her as the woman cuddled into his throat, running her hands through his hair. His hands snaked up and down the woman’s bare back before he tipped her chin up, and his mouth descended on hers.

Ananya looked away immediately, her heart splintering and breaking all over again. This wasn’t the Mihir she had loved. That man wouldn’t have hurt her so cruelly. He wouldn’t have made her watch while he fondled and kissed another woman. He wasn’t unkind. This man, however, was indeed the cold, brutal and ruthless billionaire she’d heard of—a different man from the one she had loved.

She shook her head, her eyes burning with tears. She didn’t want to know him. She didn’t want to meet him. She just wanted to leave before her heart shattered again for this man, who had clearly forgotten her.

She rushed to where Navya and Sheena were still standing.

“We’re leaving,” Ananya announced as she snatched their champagne flutes and dropped them on the table behind them.

“What?” Sheena looked shocked.

Grabbing each of their arms, Ananya began pulling them in the direction they’d come from.

“Ananya, what is going on?” Navya halted. “I thought you wanted to meet him.”

“No. I’ve changed my mind. We’re leaving. Now.”

Tendrils of fear crept down her spine. She had to leave. Something in her heart told her to leave before things spiraled.

Beforehecaught her.

They rounded a corner, and two European men in suits stepped in front of them, arms crossed on their bulky chests, blocking their way. Her eyes widened as one of them unbuttoned his suit to reveal a gun encased in a shoulder holster. He tapped something on his ear as if listening to some instruction before he stepped closer.

“You have to come with us,” he said in a heavy accent. He pointed to the second man who stepped behind them, thus preventing any chance of escape.

“No,” Ananya balked.

“We’re not going anywhere with you,” Navya put forth.

Sheena took a step forward and lifted her jaw. “Move.”

“We do this the nice way, or we can do this the hard way,” the man in front of them said. “Your choice.”

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