Page 59 of The Pursuit
My lips curved into a smug smile as I slipped an arm around Trisha’s waist, pulling her closer. “Well, actually, Trisha was off-limits for other suitors even before she met you or Ayaan.”
Meher and Ayaan both looked confused.
“What do you mean?” Ayaan asked, raising a brow.
“Well, when I first met Trisha, I fell for her almost instantly,” I confessed. “We had a misunderstanding and broke off for two years. It was only thanks to Ayaan, who brought her back as your bodyguard that our relationship took a turn, and we sorted things out.”
Ayaan crossed his arms, feigning anger. “How could you hide that from me, Krish?”
“Even I am a bit miffed you two didn’t give me any hints about your previous romantic endeavours!” Meher added, but then her face softened into a warm smile. “But you two deserve this happiness more than anyone. I’m so gladyou found your way back to each other.”
“You might forgive him, Meher. I won’t,” Ayaan continued, his tone mock-serious. “Krish, I never expected you to hide things from me, especially something this important. I told you everything about Meher and me from day one!”
Meher rolled her eyes and turned to Trisha. “And here we thought only women couldn’t keep anything in their stomachs and shared everything with their besties. Men are worse than us.”
We all burst into laughter, the tension melting away as Ayaan bumped his fist on my chest, gently though.
“Dare you hide anything from me ever again,” he warned.
“Never,” I replied sincerely, giving him a tight hug. “Anyway, it’s time. Trisha and I have a flight to catch to Austria so I can introduce her to our big boss… my dad.”
“Yep. Say hi to Boss,” Ayaan added. “I’ll be working from here for some time, as he already knows. But you never know when work back there calls.”
“Will miss you, buddy,” I replied before saying our final goodbyes to them and heading out to the car.
The flight was long, but we were both in high spirits. This trip was more than just a visit; it was a chance to introduce Trisha to my father and solidify our future together.
TRISHA
As we landed in Austria and stepped out into the crisp mountain air, Krish turned to me and took my hand. “You ready for this?” he asked, his eyes shining with excitement and warmth.
I smiled, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “With you, always.”
We arrived at his father’s estate, a beautiful old manor nestled among the towering Alps. As we approached the imposing wooden doors, I felt a mix of nerves and anticipation flutter in my stomach. This was it—it was the second time I was going to meet the renowned man who headed the global agency GLEN I worked for. And who also happened to be my future father-in-law.
The doors swung open to reveal Krish’s father. Even in his late 60s, he cut an impressive figure with his ramrod straight posture and intense gaze. This was clearly a man who commanded respect simply by entering a room.
Yet the moment his eyes landed on Krish, his stern expression melted into a warm smile. Father and son embraced tightly, sharing a look of obvious affection.
“It’s wonderful to have you home again,” he murmured gruffly.
Pulling back, he turned his assessing gaze on me. I fought not to shiver under his penetrating stare as he extended his hand.
“So, we finally meet again, Miss Trisha Choudhary,” he said, his tone inscrutable.
I took his proffered hand, unsure if I should attempt to touch his feet as he was going to be my father-in-law soon. But I resist doing so for now. “The honour is all mine, Sir. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”
He studied me a moment longer before his lips quirked in a faint smile. “Please, call me Ratan. Any woman about to join this family deserves to use my first name or call me ‘Dad’.”
And just like that, the uncomfortable tension seemed to dissipate. Krish looped an arm around my waist, beaming proudly.
Over a scrumptious home-cooked meal, Ratan uncle indeed proved to be as larger-than-life and commanding as I’d suspected. He regaled us with stories from the earliest days of GLEN’s formation, the gritty details of undercover operations that made my stomach churn. Yet he also shared amusing anecdotes about Krish’s mischievous childhood that had me doubled over with laughter.
“He reprogrammed all the computer systems in the headquarters one day to play that ridiculous item song he loved those days, on loop!” Ratan uncle chuckled, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “It took our tech teams over a week to override his system hack!”
I shot Krish an incredulous look as he snickered unapologetically. “What? I was going through... a phase.”
“More like causing me multiple headaches is what you were doing,” his father retorted, though his eyes twinkled with unmistakable fatherly pride.
