Page 32 of His Accidental Princess

Abetment of suicide was still punishable in India, from what I had heard. What if they thought I had a hand in abetting Vishal’s death?

“You’re not alone, Tasha. Sure, there will be an investigation. But I will be with you every step of the way. The cops know enough not to mess with you for no reason. We made that very clear when they investigated your mother. They will leave you alone once they realise that you didn’t even know the man was obsessed with you. As for the media, if they come anywhere near you, I will bury them all so deep they won’t be able to dig themselves out for years. I’ll buy every media outlet in India if I have to,” he declared.

His ferocious defence of me warmed my heart, even as I knew that he couldn’t control everything. He might shut down newspaper reports, but there was nothing he could do about social media and the paparazzi. I was going down in an avalanche of infamy and there was diddly squat anyone could do to stop it from coming.

DV threw on his clothes hastily and brought me a bottle of water.

“Are the cops coming here? I couldn’t bear to see the sanctity of the commune violated because of me, DV. Freddy doesn’t deserve that. I’d rather go to the station and turn myself in.”

“Turn yourself in for what, Tasha?” asked DV incredulously.

I ran a hand over my eyes and tried not to be too obvious about it, but the tears kept running down my face. I thought I’d cried myself out earlier, so God knows where this lot of waterworks was coming from. At this rate, I wouldn’t have a drop of water left in my body. With that in mind, I took a big gulp of water before I answered DV.

“For whatever caused that poor man to hang himself,” I said bleakly. “I must have done something. Maybe I was rude to him or slighted him in some way. You know, he made my flesh creep when he asked me out. Like I got actual goosebumps on the back of my neck, and not in a good way. Because he kept talking to my breasts. And the light in his eyes was a little repulsive. Maybe that showed in my expression, and made him feel small…”

I broke off when DV grabbed me by the shoulder and shook me hard.

“Tasha, please listen to me. You have the right to say no. Always. Fuckingalways! And no one can blame you for it. You can reject a thousand men if you like, and if they can’t take it, it is still not your fault.”

“I know that DV, but maybe I wasn’t kind enough in my refusal,” I said, feeling thoroughly ashamed of myself. I knew I hadn’t been rude to Vishal, not consciously. But I didn’t know if I had unconsciously sent any negative signals to him that might have driven him to take his own life.

“Tasha, I know you better than you know yourself. You would never be unkind to anyone. Not even unconsciously.”

I snorted despite myself.

“Seriously? Haven’t I flayed you often enough with my words?”

“That’s because you know that I can take it as well as dish it out in equal measure. You don’t talk like that to anyone else,” he pointed out.

“And doesn’t that make you feel like a special little boy?” I asked drily.

DV held my eyes and the intensity in his gaze made me look away because I didn’t want to see anything that would be a balm to my guilt right now.

“More than you can imagine,” he murmured, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into an avuncular hug.

I wanted to grab his other hand and wrap it around me tightly, but maybe this was enough for now. Maybe I didn’t deserve to feel too comfortable.

“Are you hungry? It’s way past dinner time,” he said softly, but I shook my head.

“I can’t even think of eating right now. But you should eat.”

“I’m okay for now,” he replied, picking me up and taking me out to the living room.

“I can walk,” I pointed out.

“Think of this as my strength training for today. You wouldn’t want me to fall back on my fitness, would you?” he asked, as he set me down on the sofa.

I rolled my eyes at him. He was so full of shit. But I liked being in his arms, so why the hell was I complaining?

“You sit and relax while I whip up a light meal for us. You don’t have to eat right now, but I’d like to keep something ready,” he said.

I gaped up at him in surprise. DV owned three palaces with a full complement of staff in each one. Plus, he had an over-protective mother who looked at me as if I was something unpleasant she’d found on the underside of her shoe. There was no way she allowed him to do anything as plebeian as learn to cook.

“When you say whip up a meal, do you mean you’re going to wave your hand and produce food out of thin air?” I asked for clarity’s sake.

DV snorted in reply.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but magic wasn’t part of my training at RAW.”

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