Page 3 of Right Where I Belong
JD crouched in front of her. “You stupid girl. This was just a warning. You don’t know what awaits you if you create a ruckus. There is no one here to help you. No one will listen to your screams. In fact, we like the screams.”
He tilted his head to study her. “I’m going to get a lot of money for a young, innocent girl like you.”
“And you’d do well to follow his orders,” Dorab said, his voice low. “JD Sir is the most dangerous man in India.”
JD’s mouth curved into a slow, cruel smile. “There is no escaping me. I have ears and eyes everywhere. Those who go against me don’t simply vanish—not at once. First, I break them. Slowly. Deliberately. There’s a pleasure in watching someone unravel, and I enjoy torturing them.”
Even Dorab, who’d never shown fear, went still. His jaw tightened, his eyes dropped to the floor, and for a fraction of a second, his bravado crumbled. That tiny falter was all Karina needed to understand the gravity of what and who stood in front of her. Her pulse hammered in her throat. Every instinct screamed at her to run. If she stayed, if she got stuck in JD’s world, there would be no bargaining, no mercy. Only cruelty. The realization settled over her like ice. She had to get out, and she had to do it right away.
“I’m sorry,” she said, making her tone as faint as possible. “I won’t cause any trouble.”
Her hand still on the knife, she rose to her knees to face the crouching man.
Just when his posture relaxed and a cruel smile lifted his mouth, she struck his chest with the knife, twisting it inside as hard as she could. Shock flashed across his face as he fell backwards. Blood gushed out of his wound and soaked his white shirt with red. He staggered toward her, but she punched his face as hard as she could. His eyes rolled back, and then he stilled.
Dorab stood there, shocked. And then, suddenly, as if coming to his senses, he lunged at her, but she was ready. Every ounce of training that Mihir had drilled into her surged to the surface. The second Dorab was near, she pivoted sharply and drove her leg into his gut with all her might. Before he could recover, her hand slashed forward with the knife. He ducked, but not fast enough. The sharp blade tore through his arm, slicing clean from his elbow to his wrist, skin peeling in a crimson arc. Bloodspurted. He opened his mouth to scream, but she slammed a knee into his groin. He went down and didn’t rise.
Her breath came in sharp, ragged bursts, her chest heaving as the weight of what she’d just done hit her. But there was no time to process it.
“I’ll find you, you bitch,” Dorab yelled as she ran to the office. “You have nowhere to go. You’re too stupid. You will eventually return to Rishikesh, and I will come for you. I will kill you and your brothers. I will…”
His voice trailed off as she slammed the terrace door shut and locked it from the inside. Thankfully, there were no windows in the room, so she couldn’t hear his voice inside. The blood on the lock made her lose her breath. Her whole hand was bloodied. She’d killed that man… Oh God, surely she’d killed him. She ought to check, but there was no way she was returning outside. She tamped down the panic. She wouldn’t be caught. She quickly wiped the door handle and lock with the inside of her cloth bag, removing all traces of her fingerprints.
Cold fear settled inside her chest, and her heart was running away. She inhaled a lungful of air and exhaled. She repeated this a second time. On the third breath, she hid her bloodied hand in her purse and quietly left JD’s office.
The armed man waiting outside raised an eyebrow.
She lowered her gaze. “JD Sir doesn’t want to be disturbed. He’s very angry with Dorab. And he wants you to go tell Chandni to be ready for him. He needs to talk to her.”
The man frowned.
“He’s very angry…” She shuddered. “He’s already thrashed Dorab...”
The man’s face fell, and he backed away from her before he turned and went down the corridor.
Seeing him disappear, she quickly walked down the stairs she had climbed with Dorab just moments ago. As before, noone paid any attention to her. Her heart thudded against her ribs as she made her way outside. She walked in slow, measured steps, and thankfully, no one was outside when she exited. She rounded a corner, and then she hurried her steps. Covering her head and face with her stole, she ran into the maze of streets, crisscrossing, ensuring no one was following her anywhere.
Spotting a bus at a stop, she ran across and jumped onto it just as it began to move. Lowering her head, she went to the back and sat down next to a lady passenger, angling her body so that no one from outside could see her face.
Each time the bus halted at a stop, her heart filled with fresh fear. It was only after an hour or so that the fear slightly abated, and the reality of everything dawned on her.
Dorab had deceived her in the worst possible way, all because he hated her brothers and her relationship with them. Her eyes burned with tears. She couldn’t cry now. Too many people were around her, and she didn’t need the attention. She couldn’t give Dorab a way to find her. Surely, he’d hand her over to the police or do worse to her. God, had she really killed that man? He’d looked too still. No. She wasn’t thinking of that right now. She rubbed her bloodied hand against the cloth bag, ensuring it was clean.
She focused on herself. She had enough money to return to Rishikesh, but that wasn’t an option. She couldn’t endanger her brothers’ lives. JD’s men would want retribution, and the police would be searching for her.
No. She had to protect her brothers. They’d be safe as long as she stayed away. JD’s men had no reason to hurt them if she wasn’t there. Her brothers were strong physically, but even they wouldn’t be able to withstand the might and power of those goons or the cops.
No, she wouldn’t allow her brothers to be hurt by her naiveté and reckless actions. If she stayed away, they’d keep believingshe had eloped with Dorab. They wouldn’t look for her. They would leave the orphanage and build a new life for themselves, as had been their plan.
She would ensure they lived, which meant… A shuddering breath escaped her as the enormity of the decision she was going to take washed over her. Memories of her brothers came to her mind. Mihir, strong and silent, with an irrefutable belief that all four of them would get out of this poor life and make it big; Armaan, with his naughty smile, and Vedant, the sweetest and kindest person she knew.
Wiping the tears that slipped down her cheek, she firmed her resolve. If the cost of keeping her brothers safe meant she’d have to live without them, then that was what she would do.
Dorab thought she’d never survive on her own. Fucking bastard. He’d underestimated her. She’d ensure he, or anyone connected to him, would never find her. She was going to erase her very existence. No one was ever going to find her.
From this moment on, Karina was gone. And the woman she’d become in place of her would be strong, unbreakable, and no longer naive.
She’d bury her past so deep that even the devil would never be able to dig it up.
