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A laugh rumbled through the chest pressed to her wet, tear-soaked cheek. “I was feeling hot. Damn hormones.”
Raashi laughed, a watery smile. They grinned at each other, unable to stop their smiles from splitting their faces.
“You realise you’re stuck with me now,” he murmured. “There will be no divorce.”
“Which is probably a good thing since you didn’t sign a prenup.” Raashi’s smile widened edging towards this side of wicked.
Harsh tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I couldn’t care less. You can take it all. As long as I have you, all of you, whether it’s for a heartbeat or for an eternity, I have everything I could ever want or need. I love you, Raashi. In this lifetime and all the lifetimes to follow.”
“Eternity isn’t long enough for what I have in mind for you, Harsh Kodela,” Raashi whispered, reaching up on her toes to kiss him. “I’m going to love you in this lifetime and in the afterlife.”
“If there is an afterlife, the two of us are probably bound straight for hell,” he murmured, his words a feathered breath against her lips.
“Brilliant,” she smiled, “Let’s light up the underworld together!”
---THE END---
Epilogue
RAM
For the umpteenth time that night, he clinked his glass of finest scotch against someone else’s in a toast. The mood in the room was jubilant. He didn’t blame them. They’d pulled off a win tonight. And yet, it was still only the beginning.
By the time he was done with him, Anant Madhavan would never see the light of day again. Vengeance burned in his gut as he stood at the large bay window in the Kodela drawing room and stared out into the night.
The man had preyed on his younger sister, groomed her, abused her and then turned her on her own family. And the whole time, Ram had been busy at law school, fighting his own demons and chasing his rabid ambitions. His hand fisted against the window frame. He hadn’t been there for his sister when she’d needed him the most. And when he had come home, he’d been too late.
But he wasn’t now. He took another sip of his scotch, stoking the fire that burned inside him. This time, he wouldn’t be too late. He would bury Anant with the trail of evidence they’d found on him. Anant’s confession to Raashi earlier tonight was the icing on a deeply layered cake. And Ram was going to have his cake and eat it too.
This time he wouldn’t be late.
A tinkling laugh drew his attention from the inky dark of the night and toward the glittering lights of the hall.
Aadhya stood in the center of the room, her hands in furious motion as she told some story to her brother, Aarush, and his wife, Priyanka. The Reddys had arrived about an hour ago, the party just getting started. And no one got the party started quite like Aadhya Reddy.
Her wild curls exploded in every direction, raining down her back in a wild tangle. Every part of her face and body was lit up like a storm in motion. And all Ram wanted to do was be struck by her lightning.
He put his glass down on a nearby table, the click it made against the marble countertop sounding abnormally loud to his ears. He knew that nobody would have heard it with the chatter and laughter filling the room and still, Aadhya’s head snapped up, her gaze lasering in on him.
He held her gaze for an endless moment and then he looked away. There were some things that were not for him, that would never be for him. And Aadhya Reddy and her red lips and sultry gaze topped that list.
He strode out of the hall and down the long corridor that led to the front door. The crisp bite of a winter’s night had him inhaling deeply as he stepped out and onto the large verandah. He took the stairs two at a time, waving off the guards who looked like they’d want to follow him and headed toward the gazebo near the rear compound wall.
Large trees surrounded the marble structure, granting privacy while still allowing line of sight for security that might need it. Tonight, all he wanted was to be left alone. His failure to protect his sister was a stain on his soul, one that would never go away. Ram could spend the rest of his life scrubbing at it and he wouldn’t even manage to lighten it.
And here he was, thinking not about that but about lush, red lips closing around a wine glass.
He took another deep breath, dropping down on the marble bench and scrubbing his face with both hands. That’s when he heard it. The click of high heels on the paved stone walkway that led to the gazebo. He dropped his hands and looked up to watch her approach.
She shouldn’t have come and yet, even before he’d seen her, he’d known she would. She came to a stop a few feet away from him, a hallucination manifested from his fevered dreams. And there had been many. Aadhya had played a starring role in them all.
“Go back, Aadhya,” he murmured.
She took another step forward, coming closer.
“Please.” He closed his eyes in defeat, hanging his head. He didn’t have the energy to resist her, not tonight.
Her hand came to cup the back of his head, her fingernails scraping his scalp. He sighed. He should move, step away from her. He leaned into her touch, his forehead coming to rest on the soft curve of her stomach. They stayed like that for an eternity and a hairsbreadth of a second, all in one.
