Page 51 of Trapped By the Maharaja
Sanjana wore a dress from the new wardrobe. A soft, expensive yet simple-looking silk dress. She matched it with pearl earrings.
“It’s your hair,” the nurse stated. “You normally wear a ponytail. But today, you left your hair loose. It suits you well.”
Sanjana’s cheeks heated. She left her hair to hide the bite mark on her neck.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
She joined the crowd outside the building. Nurses, interns, department heads stood on the main steps. At the front of the steps was Sania Kolli standing with a flower bouquet next to Dr. Kolli, Dr. Rao and other senior hospital staff.
Everyone was waiting for the Devara Trust representative to arrive.
A few minutes later, two black SUVs with tinted windows arrived. The doors opened and armed guards stepped out.
Sanjana frowned.
Whispers broke out among the crowd.
“Why is there so much security for a Royal Trust member?” someone whispered.
A strange thought settled into Sanjana.
No, that’s impossible. I would have known if he was coming. He would have told me.
Her thoughts broke and she nearly gasped when she saw a black luxury sedan bearing the Devara insignia on its hood. The golden crest caught the sunlight as the car rolled to a stop in front of the steps.
The back door opened, and a middle-aged man in a navy suit emerged first. The expected Devara Trust member, the one officially named to oversee the hospital’s expansion project. He adjusted his glasses, accepted Sonia Kolli’s eager bouquet with polite stiffness, and nodded to the staff lined up to greet him.
But Sanjana’s heart began to thump. And her eyes were glued to the other side of the car where a royal security guard was waiting in alertness.
The car door opened and Ram stepped out.
Gasps rippled through the staff like a wave as they took in his tall, broad-shouldered form in a well-fitted, expensive suit. Dark sunglasses masked his eyes, but his presence was unmistakable and impossible to ignore.
The hospital staff stared while the board members faltered, greeting awkwardly as they tried to recover from the shock of his presence.
“Your Highness, welcome,” a senior board member greeted.
Ram gave a single nod.
Sania Kolli stepped forward. “Welcome, Your Highness,” she greeted with a bright smile.
But Ram didn’t acknowledge her or slow. Surrounded by his bodyguards, he walked up the steps. Halfway up, he raised a hand and removed his sunglasses in one fluid motion.
His eyes met hers.
Her breath caught, and her cheeks heated as memories of that morning flashed through her mind. The weight of his muscular body, the heat of his lips, the roughness of his hands as he captured her wrists, and even the sting of his teeth where he had bitten on her neck.
Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to compose herself.
His stare didn’t falter. It lingered as he passed by, sweeping over her with the same intensity that left her face flaming as her thoughts continued to spiral back to the events of the morning.
Stop it!
She forced her gaze away from him while the hospital board led him through the double doors.
He disappeared into the hospital.
Suddenly, the crowd erupted in whispers of excitement.
