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He rubbed the back of her neck soothingly and she broke out in goosebumps. Fuck.
“Someone who can be the life of a party. Someone who knows all the etiquette and social niceties. Someone who can be a Kodela kodalu. And when I don’t know what to do, I get angry and then my tongue has a mind of its own and it runs off at a tangent.”
“Easy,” he said, squeezing gently on the nape of her neck to stop her hysterical tirade. “Take a breath and count to ten.”
“I could count to fucking hundred and still not be ready for our wedding spectacle,” she hissed.
“Then we’ll elope,” he said calmly like he was suggesting they get a cup of tea together.
“Huh?” Raashi gaped at him. “They’ll murder us.”
Harsh paused for a second. “True,” he acknowledged after thinking it through. “Then we need to make the best of it.”
“And how do you suggest we do that when I can’t even touch your parent’s feet without my boobs trying to play peek-a-boo?”
Harsh fought the laughter struggling to break free. “You have a secret weapon, Raashi,” he smiled. “Me.”
She stared at him suspiciously. “If you’re talking about your magic dick, I don’t think that’s the solution here.”
“My dick, magical or otherwise, is the solution to everything,” he told her loftily. “But that’s not what I meant. You may not be good with people, crowds and social shit. You know who is?”
“You,” she muttered grudgingly.
“That’s right,” Harsh nodded encouragingly. “Me and my magic dick.”
An aunty walking past them shot them a horrified and disgusted look. Raashi stifled her laughter, her embarrassment from moments ago fading a little.
“You don’t have to be the Kodela kodalu,” he told her, a small smile on his face. “Just be my wife. The rest will fall into place.”
“And how do I turn myself into Harsh Kodela’s wife?” she asked, sweeping a hand over herself to encompass her new look and wardrobe. “I already tried and clearly didn’t quite manage it.”
Harsh’s smile faded, his eyes turning intense and broody. “That’s the strangest thing Viper. You never had to try. It would seem you already were exactly what Harsh Kodela needed in a wife.”
“And what’s that?” Raashi asked, her mouth dry.
“Raashi Gadde, thorns and all.”
Warmth flooded her as she stared into his eyes, trying to decipher what he was trying to tell her. Did he mean-
“Well. Well. Well. If it isn’t the lovebirds?” The smooth, cultured voice had ice sliding through her veins chasing away the heat Harsh generated so effortlessly.
Long forgotten but never gone fear and anxiety reared their ugly heads as Raashi turned to face Anant Madhavan, the past she’d never quite shaken off.
Thirty-Two
RAASHI
Most children feared the monster hiding under their bed. Raashi had grown up loving the monster hiding within her family’s close circle. First, as an elder brother of sorts, then as a mentor, and finally, as a lover. The acrid taste of disappointment, disillusionment, and disgust filled her mouth as she stared at him.
Neither of them said anything as they stared at each other, years of memories filling the space of words.
“Mr. Madhavan.” Harsh stepped into the breach when he realised Raashi wasn’t going to speak. “Welcome to our wedding festivities. The wedding you didn’t believe was going to happen,” he added helpfully.
Anant flashed him an irritated glance before looking back at Raashi. “What are you doing with your life?” he asked softly. “You have so much potential. You have an IQ that tracks in the highest percentile, a PhD in your arsenal, and you’re sitting at home, unemployed and engaged to him.”
“Me.” Harsh pointed to his own chest. “You mean movie star me?”
“Yes.” Anant shot him another irritated look. “I mean trained monkey you.”
