Page 52 of Born in Sin

“I have your entire conversation with him on record.” Virat smiled, though his eyes stayed cold.

Varun’s jaw clenched. “What do you want for it?”

“Stay the fuck away from Celina. She knows nothing and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”

“You’ll regret this.”

“When it comes to her, I regret nothing.” Virat stared over Varun’s head at Majid, holding the other boy’s burning gaze.“For her, I’ll burn the world down and bury all of you in its ashes.”

Celina joined him, her hand slipping into his, cold fingers wrapping around his. “Is everything okay?” she asked, her worried gaze going from Virat to Varun.

“Perfectly.” Varun smiled, not looking away from Virat. “We’ll leave you guys to cootchie coo some more.”

He stepped around them, his shoulder bumping Celina’s hard. The remaining cupcake went flying from her hand and landed in the dirt near their feet.

“Happy birthday Jha,” he sneered, as he stepped on it, smearing it into the mud as he walked away. His friends followed closely.

Virat watched them go, his arm around Celina who was looking at the smashed cupcake sadly.

“I should have held on to it tighter,” she said.

“Hold anything too tight and you lose it anyway, one way or the other.”

Even as the words left his lips, he knew this wasn’t the end of anything. There was a storm coming and he needed to be ready for it.

“Celi, I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“If you’re with me when you run into those guys again, I need you to leave immediately.”

“No.”

“Celi-“ Frustrated helplessness lined his throat making it hard to get the words out. “You don’t understand.”

“I don’t need to,” she said, her voice low and lined with steel. “I will not leave you for anything.”

Virat closed his eyes, his breath ragged. “Celi, please.”

“Ask me for anything, Vir, and I’ll give it to you. But don’t ask me to leave you. I will never leave you.”

Chapter Nineteen

VIRAT

The code sounded as it was input into the front door. It swung open and Cara marched through it, her hair a wild cloud framing her furious face. She wore worn trackpants and a tank top which looked to have been worn well past its prime too. The movie star hadn’t come to visit. The girl he loved had. The door banged shut behind her before he even rose from the couch.

Virat put his laptop down and watched her pace the length of his spartan living room. He didn’t say a word, just watched and waited. After another moment, he walked over to the kitchen and poured out a glass of orange juice. Cara was still pacing, muttering to herself under her breath. He pulled out fruit and cheese from the fridge, slicing, dicing and peeling, while keeping an eye on the enraged woman in his home. He set the cheese and fruit platter and the juice on a tray and went back to the living room.

When she caught his eye, he held out the glass, the gesture one as old as their relationship. Her eyes glistened with the bright sheen of tears before she blinked them back and took the glass.

They sat down on the couch, the platter between them. He speared a grape with a fork, added a small chunk of brie to it and held it out to her. Cara didn’t reach for the fork, instead she leaned forward and ate the bite right off the fork. He watched the soft pink of her lips close around the tines of the fork, her gaze holding his in voiceless challenge. Virat swallowed hard but held his ground. He speared another bite, pineapple and feta this time and held it out to her. Something flashed in her eyes, but she continued eating, allowing him to feed her, to care for her.

They ate in silence, sharing the food, knowing each other’s preferences and leaving those bits for each other. When they’d finished the last bite of the platter, she picked up the glass and took a sip of the juice, her body finally relaxing, the tension from earlier leaving her.

He placed the empty platter on the center table and leaned back on the couch. Cara rested her back against the backrest and stretched her legs out, her feet finding the edge of his lap instinctively. Virat stared down at her pretty feet with their sunshine yellow toenails. He was still staring at them when she slouched down on the couch and placed them on his lap, her eyes closing on a sigh that resounded in his heart.

He hesitated for half a second before reaching for her feet, gently massaging the arch of them. An almost inaudible moan escaped her as she melted into the couch, her entire body going boneless. He didn’t dare look up, unable, unwilling to meet her eyes.

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