Page 96 of Obsession

“Knowing him, he just used her to get inside the UK embassy,” Armaan scoffed. “Fucking asshole.”

“How’s your interview with Ananya going?” Vedant asked carefully.

“It’s fine,” Mihir said. “We’re nearly done.”

Armaan exchanged a glance with Vedant before a naughty glint entered his eye. “Who was the masked woman with you last night at the party?”

“What?” He definitely hadn’t told them about taking Anna with him.

“Who was she?” Vedant asked. “Were you smiling earlier because of her?”

“Is she someone we know?” Armaan asked pointedly.

“She must have been someone special for you to be dancing with her,” Vedant added. “You never dance with anyone at such events.”

Mihir glared at them. “First, tell me, how do you know this?”

Armaan laughed. “It’s on Noir’s socials. Check.”

Mihir tapped on his open iPad. Sure enough, there was a new post on Noir’s page.

This Russian Billionaire was seen dancing with a masked woman at a very private event in Moscow. Who was she? Hush now, Miss Butterfly knows it all. The curtain drops on this mystery soon, in Noir’s sixth anniversary edition. Stay tuned!

Mihir looked heavenward. She was too much. His lips curved into a smile, thinking of how he’d been dancing with her last night. Having her in his arms like that, her body moving against his, it had been so familiar. His heart had eased…

It was still at ease knowing she was near, that she was around him, and that he could keep her safe. That no harm could come to her while she was with him.

His stomach clenched, his heart along with it. He truly was deeply and madly in love with her. God. He’d never stopped loving her.

For years, he’d stayed away from her. He’d convinced himself that he didn’t love her, that he hated her from the bottom of his heart. But it had all been a waste. All it had taken was for her to force herself back into his life and for him to spend some time alone with her, to make love to her, and his heart had protested against his every resolve, reminding him how much he loved her. Only her.

And when she had gotten hurt… Fuck, even thinking of her in that ICU room made his stomach turn. In that moment, he’d realized how vital she was to his existence.

But then, this morning, she’d reminded him that they needed to talk about the past. And nothing good ever came from even thinking about the past. Pain caused knots in his chest. He couldn’t be with her knowing what she’d done to him, but staying away from her was impossible too. In a nutshell, he was royally doomed.

Mihir looked at his brothers’ faces on the TV screen mounted on the wall.

“Hey, Mihir,” Armaan said. “Is everything alright?”

All their phones beeped at the same time. Mihir lifted his phone and read through the message from Chekov. It took a few minutes for him to get his bearings. Mrs. Braganza… NO. Oh God.

Mihir looked at his brothers’ faces. They looked as grieved as he felt.

“I can’t believe this…” Mihir said, his voice thick with emotion. “Mrs. Braganza… She’s dead… I spoke to her a few days back. She wanted to meet all of us. I’d promised her that we’d come to meet her soon. I’d even insisted she come to Dubai, that I’d send her the tickets and she could stay with us. She just laughed and brushed me off.”

“She was such an amazing woman…” Vedant said. “So selfless. So kind. And now, she’s gone. I wish we’d taken the time to go meet her.”

“She was shot inside her daughter’s home,” Armaan said, dabbing his eyes. “She was so happy when she could finally move in with her daughter in Mumbai….”

Memories of their old matron flooded Mihir’s mind. His eyes burned from the unshed tears. “Chekov texted that he is investigating her death to get more details,” he finally said. “We need to talk to her daughter. We also need to know what the police are concluding about this. But I’m sure this was Ivan.”

“Why are you so sure?” Armaan asked. “Why Ivan and not that JD guy?”

“Our spies have confirmed that, so far, JD isn’t searching for Karina. But Ivan taunted me last night. He asked me: ‘Are youreally able to protect all the women in your life?What about the women who are far away?’ I assumed he meant Karina. But he specifically saidwomen—so maybe he was also referring to Mrs. Braganza.”

His fists curled from the force of his unsaid speculations. He turned them around in his head, wondering if he’d misjudgedheragain. One thing was certain: he’d lost focus with Anna. Again. Fuck. He was such a fool.

“Ivan was talking to Anna last night at the party,” Mihir said aloud.

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