Page 111 of Twisted Alliance

Over the past two weeks, he had considered asking Rai Bahadur’s wife, Malati, to have his things shifted to a different bedroom suite. He didn’t want constant reminders of his wife. But he held back and continued to torture himself.

With a dark sigh, he entered the suite and went straight to the bathroom for a cold, numbing shower.

The cold water helped somewhat to numb his body if not his heart. Toweling himself dry and not bothering to wear nightclothes, he prepared for yet another torturous, sleepless night.

He went to the bedroom, his eyes falling on the full moon outside. It reminded him of the times when he saw a sweet, shy smile on Ishani’s face as she waited for him at midnight.

Stop it.

He ordered his mind to stop torturing him with memories that ripped his heart out. But unfortunately, his mind continued to ignore his command.

Dragging his eyes away from the moon, he pushed aside the bedcover. He was about to get into the bed, but he froze.

On his bed was his wife. Her small figure was curled up and her beautiful face looked peaceful in sleep.

He blinked thinking his mind must have descended into madness and was hallucinating his wife’s presence. He slowly raised his hand and brushed the back of his fingers against the softly rounded cheek. It felt way too real. His heart thudded when he saw his wife’s eyes opening. He saw the familiar sweet smile on her lips. Her eyes slowly swept over him and her smile turned sultry when she noticed he was naked.

“Shivay,” she said huskily.

He immediately turned painfully hard. It was then he knew he wasn’t hallucinating. It was real. His wife was in his bed.

“What are you doing here, Ishani?” he demanded.

His voice came out harsh. Anger, fear and dark self-loathing warred inside him.

She slowly sat up and watched his angry face. “I’m home with my husband,” she said softly.

“You need to leave,” he snapped. “Whoever helped you get here is going to pay. What the fuck were they bloody thinking?”

He was about to storm away to put on his clothes, take her to the airport, and put her on a flight to San Francisco.

But her hands caught his wrist, stopping him. “Shivay wait.”

He turned to look at her.

“I’m not leaving, Shivay,” she said. Her soft voice sounded determined. “Even if you send me to San Francisco, I’ll take the next flight back and come here to you.”

Anger erupted inside him. “Then I’m going to have you locked in a damn room in San Francisco for your own damn safety.”

She smiled.

His heart twisted seeing her beautiful smile.

“You need to go,” he rasped. “It’s not safe here. The last time I couldn’t protect you from your brother. You nearly died…”

The memories of what had nearly happened and how he had found her, haunted him each and every moment.

Her smile disappeared seeing the torment on his face. “How is that your fault?” she asked. “I was the one who betrayed you and went to my brother.”

The dark ache inside his chest grew. “I knew what you were going to do. But I underestimated that bastard brother of yours. I thought he wouldn’t hurt you. I was wrong.”

Devraj had slapped her, kicked her and would have even killed her eventually. The thought of it burned inside his chest.

She rose to her knees and cupped his cheek. “I’m fine, Shivay. It was only superficial injuries. Several doctors checked me, and you already know that.”

He did, but that still didn’t stop him from his self-loathing that he had sent her into danger. His heart ached, seeing her beautiful face watching him with trust in her eyes.

“The only thing that hurt me more than those injuries is you, Shivay,” she said softly. “Being apart from you hurts me.” She leaned closer. “I want you. I need you. And I love you.”

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