Page 93 of Temptation

“If you think I’m going to wait around while the woman I love is in danger, then you don’t know me at all.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Kabier said. “I should have trusted her. This is my fault.”

“Yes, it is. But I don’t have time to waste on this talk right now.” Saying that, he disconnected the line and entered the building.

He rushed to the elevator. There was no security around, making it clear how easily Karan must have managed to get Sheena inside and upstairs without anyone noticing. Rajiv’s chest hadn’t stopped hurting ever since he had confirmation that Sheena was in danger, and now he prayed he got to her before she was hurt. Sheena and he had a beautiful life ahead of them. He had finally found happiness, and he wasn’t going to lose it no matter what. He would do everything he could to save her.

37

Sheena woke to her head feeling like a hammer was pounding against it. Dizziness assailed her as she sat up. Her vision swam. It took her a moment to understand that she was in a strange room, lying on a bed. She assessed herself. She was fine. Unhurt. Just a bit woozy in the head, but otherwise she was alright.

Memories swam in her head. She remembered telling her brother about Rajiv proposing to her. She remembered getting into a fight with Kabier because he wouldn’t budge on his opinion of Rajiv. Kabier had categorically refused to consent to her wedding. She’d gotten so mad at him. She’d gone to her room and then decided to take a walk. She’d been so upset that she didn’t quite remember when she had walked out of the gate of her house. Finally, when she had rounded the corner of her house, she had realized she had walked a short distance away. Her instincts had tingled as if warning her.

Immediately, she had turned to go back home, and had come face-to-face with Karan. Shock had left her frozen. For a moment, she had even thought he was an apparition. A figment of her imagination. But then he had laughed on seeing her stunned expression, and she had known he was real and standing in front of her. She’d opened her mouth to scream, but in the next moment, something wet and sickly smelling had been put on her nose from behind, and her world had turned dark.

She took a shaky breath. How stupid of her to step out of the boundary of her house so late at night? Why did she just jump headlong into things without thinking through them? How could she let a stupid fight with her brother control her emotions that she had walked into danger like this? And Rajiv… God, he’d assume she was safely sleeping in her bed.

She looked around the room. Where was she? Fear crept into her heart. She breathed in and out. She wasn’t going to panic. By now, someone must have found out that she was missing. The guards had seen her leave. They’d seen her walking out of the gate. If enough time had passed, they would tell her brother and mother that she wasn’t back. Her brother knew how to find her.

She hoped and prayed he would come for her. But in the meantime, she had to survive whatever this ordeal was by herself. Karan had taken her for a reason, and she’d know it soon, she was certain.

She checked her surroundings. The room was decent but musty and filled with the smell of mothballs. Dusty white covers were placed on the chair and the dressing table in front of her. She put her feet on the floor and stood up only when she was certain that her head was steady enough.

The room had a single window, which was grilled, and seemed many floors up. She was obviously in a high-rise building. She pulled at the window, but it was sealed shut. Disappointed, she went to the door. It opened before she could touch it. She backed a few steps as Karan appeared in front of her.

She studied him quietly just as he was studying her. The years hadn’t been kind to him. Gray lined his temples and the tips of his hair at his forehead. His face was harsh, hardened, and cold. A cruel smile formed on his face.

He raised a hand to touch her face, and she backed a step. “You’re even more beautiful.”

“What do you want?” she asked, refusing to show him her fear.

“I want my life back,” his voice was icy, scary, “I want the years you stole from me back. You ruined my life. Do you even know how hard jail was? The things I did…the things I saw…the things that I had to suffer… And all of it was because of you.”

He stepped closer, and she backed several steps. He caught her jaw in a painful grip. “Because of you, my family had to leave this city and move to Dubai. We lost so much while you have only flourished. I heard you have a new boyfriend. Rajiv Mehra, right?”

She gasped.

“Don’t look so shocked, Sheena,” he spat out. “My brother told me how your boyfriend’s men questioned him because you thought it was me at that nightclub. My mom and sister told me how he threatened to get them thrown out of Dubai’s society because of you.”

She tugged at his hand. He released her.

She shifted to the side, trying to put some distance between them. “Why am I here? Where are we?”

He spread his hands out. “This is where it all started. You would know had you come with me that night instead of that bitch Rohini.”

Horror slammed through Sheena. This was his house. This was where that damned party had taken place all those years ago. The same house from where Rohini had jumped off to save herself from this monster, one who stood in front of her now.

“Alright, we are here,” she said slowly, “where it all began. What do you want with me then? Are you going to hurt me? Kill me? You ought to know that by now, my family would have realized I am missing.”

He grabbed her elbow and began dragging her out of the room. All around her, the house was covered in dust cloths, looking unused and abandoned.

She screamed.

“You can scream all you like. No one is going to hear you. My parents had soundproofed the house a long time ago. That’s why I could have so many parties here. The neighbours couldn’t hear the noise then, and they won’t hear you now either.”

He tossed her in the middle of what looked like a living room. She fell on the floor. She heard a few laughs, and that’s when she noticed the three men around them. They all looked mean and dangerous, like him. Her mouth turned dry as fear flared and expanded in her chest. One man, she could have taken on. But four… God, she was no match for these mean-looking men.

Her brother must have learned that she was missing by now. Where was he now, when she needed him the most?

---