Page 59 of Twisted Deceit
“Aadhya.” He let out a sigh.
“Nakul, please. Tell me what happened.” It was a plea born out of a strange fear she was feeling.
He ran his fingers through his damp hair. “There was a disturbance on my way home.”
She was done taking his alternate answers. She remembered what she felt on his back and his reaction to it. It was pain that he expressed when her hand grazed over his back. “Are you injured?” She had barely touched him and he seemed to experience pain.
“Aadhya, I need to go.” He tried to walk past her, but she wrapped her arms around him.
She pressed her cheek to his chest. “You’ll need to take me wherever you are going, and before that, you need to answer my question.”
She clung to him and held his gaze as he looked down at her for long moments. “We were attacked last night. Some of my men were injured, and I had to take them to the hospital.”
Her eyes widened, and she let out a gasp. “Are-are they okay?” He nodded. She felt guilty about what she put him through that morning and felt sick to her stomach. “I’m sorry.” She batted away tears as she gently kissed him on his cheek. “Let me look at your back, please.”
He pressed his lips together, stood in place as she let go of him, and took a couple of steps to check on his injury. She let out a gasp when she saw the telling marks. There were three scars on his back, swollen and red. One of them had stitches, too. It explained why he had his t-shirt on in bed. He didn’t want her to see his injuries.
She gently placed her hand right below the three scars. As she took in the details of the injury, something hit her. “Kabalis.” It was one of the rogue and savage clans; only their weapon would leave such marks. “Why did they attack you?”
He shook his head. “Aadhya, it is not the first time I’ve been attacked.”
She could not accept what was happening. “I don’t get it. Why are there so many people who don’t agree with what you and your brothers are trying to do.”
“Time, they need time to process.” He looked at her for a long moment. “They are scared of the curse.”
He was right, and she nodded. “Even I needed time to understand, and I want to make more people see what you are doing. And the curse will be forgotten when peace is restored.”
He smirked. “I’ve already notified that the Kanwar heir will be in attendance for the clan meeting tomorrow.”
She felt the heat creep up her cheeks. “I’ll be there.” She smiled and started to walk away from him when he called out to her.
“I’ll see you for breakfast in a bit.”
She nodded and went straight to the dressing room. She changed into casual and conservative clothes. She was done seducing her husband. He was putting his life on the line to do good for her people and all she could think of was satiating her physical need.
She felt disgusted but in spite of how she felt about her behavior, she was still smiling like a fool thinking about the moments they shared. She could be with him all day and not want anything else.
Just him!
Chapter 24
Before sunrise the following day, they left the Kanwar mansion to meet with the clans of the south region of Singoor. She was amazed at how hard her husband worked to resolve the conflicts one meeting after another. He not only spoke the regional languages; he even knew the sensibilities specific to some clans.
Some meetings were favorable, others not so much. But she got a glimpse of what her husband was doing when he left the mansion so early. She was sitting next to him, on their way to the last meeting when she raised her eyes to look at him. He was frantically typing on his computer like every time.
She noticed he did that after every meeting. “What do you type on your computer after every meeting?” She was genuinely curious.
He smirked before looking at her. “Connect dots.”
“And what do you use this for?” She was intrigued with his way. She noticed he had a lot of detail like he wrote every single word that was said in the meeting.
He turned his laptop toward her. “Every detail that I noticed needs to be noted. This is how we build profiles and determine which clans to invite to a meeting and which one to meet individually.”
“Interesting.” She knew Nakul was the strategy leader for their business. It fascinated her that he was applying his leadership and talent to resolve clan wars. “Is that why we are meeting the Jodha clan by themselves?”
He shook his head. “Not really because the Jangid clan will be joining us for the meeting.”
She let out a laugh when he mentioned her uncle would be there for the meeting. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
