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She stopped. That’s right. Her present stay here was managed by Blitz. If she wanted to get another room, she would have to self-pay for it.
“Then I will move to some other hotels. This city is not scarce of budgeted hotels, Mr. Malhotra.”
“Why not?” he sighed. “But most of them are away from our client location. And your entire team is here. You are bound to stick to them. You cannot move out of this hotel, Maya; I won’t let you go.”
His words instilled fear in her. Every time he had tried to show her how he could control her life, she felt like a fragile toy. But not this time. This time he was intruding too close.
“I will shower first,” he exclaimed. Maya was puzzled about how to sort this. Ranveer stopped midway and turned around to see her lost in thoughts. “You amaze me actually.”
Maya met his eyes, coming out of her stance. He came forward, maintaining the grin.
“I thought the very first thing you would ask, after waking up, would be what happened between us last night,” his voice turned huskier.
Her heart beat frantically, but she let him complete his sentence.
“If we…” he paused. “You know what I mean, right?”
Maya swallowed hard.
“But you didn’t,” he added. “Is it because you are too distracted by my presence, or is it that you don’t care if we did it?”
The moment he said this, she slapped him hard on his face. Ranveer felt a strong ache on his cheek, the impact of the slap lingering hard on his face. Maya was so relieved.
“How dare you?” he growled at her.
“How dare you, Ranveer Malhotra? How dare you question my dignity?” she interrupted him with a harsher voice than his. “Who gave you the right to decide what my dignity means to me?” she snapped. “You have bruised my self-respect once, and I won’t let you toy with it again.”
She pointed a finger at his face.
“I don’t know what proposal you have for me, but I am not going to fall prey to it. Do whatever you want to do; you will always find me defending myself.”
Ranveer’s eyes blazed bright with anger. She turned around, picked up her phone, and left the room.
“You didn’t do good, Maya Bajaj. You will pay for this,” he blurted and headed for a shower.
************
Ranveer didn’t see her back in the room, at least until he was there. He didn’t wait for her to show up either. He knew she would never miss the meeting at the office. He would see her there and take this matter forward.
In the next hour, he reached the client's office, and the meeting was yet to start. Everyone from Blitz entered the conference room. Ranveer gripped his chair, his eyes glued to the door, desperately waiting for her to arrive. A gust of wind blew as she finally entered in. Maya looked absolutely stunning in the black trousers and cream top, holding a file in hand. His eyes fluttered to close as she walked inside, with a smile. She appeared so confident and bold, as if she were not affected by the morning’s incidents. She sat opposite to him but ensured their eyes never met. The meeting began. Maya raised her concerns and discussed the agenda regarding the shooting of the show, which was going to happen that evening. She looked prepared and poised. After the meeting was over, Maya headed with the other models to the venue. Ranveer didn’t get any chance to grab her even for a second. He wondered when she came back to the room, showered, dressed, and still managed to reach here on time.
He dialed Aman Mathur, who was in India, working. Until he found Maya’s weakness, he wouldn’t be able to get her to do what he wanted.
“Aman,” he spoke. “Find what Maya Bajaj’s weakness is. I want that information at any cost.”
Aman was confused about why his boss was so fixated on this woman. But he couldn’t question back. He agreed and disconnected the call.
Chapter 9
Hong Kong
The event had begun. Maya was behind the stage, checking if all the preparations were done, if all the models of Blitz were good enough to make this show the best. After giving them a boost, she waited before the plasma screen to see her models performing. Memories of their last show in Delhi struck her mind. She was coaxed to fill in the place of her showstopper, who couldn’t make it that day due to her accident. She walked the ramp after almost three years, and even though this was once her dream, she felt bitter. Her life had taken such a huge turn after that, and that turn led her again to the sinful Ranveer Malhotra. He was that strong-powered magnet, and she a thin piece of iron that was always forced towards him, no matter which path she wanted to take. And last night he proved how much he liked turning things in his favor. He might have made her feel secure in the elevator, but he spoiled his own reputation by staying back in her room last night. She had no clue what happened last night, but she hoped it was nothing terrible. Though she didn’t trust him at all, there was still a thin hope that whatever he was doing with her was only to kill her happiness. He might not have actually crossed any limits, and she prayed it stayed that way.
A phone call got her out of the stance. It was from her mother again. She moved away to take that call.
“Mom, I am at the event, cannot talk much to you now.”
“Maya, I won’t take long, baby. I know you are busy.”
