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Did those assholes really think I was going to hand Diya over to be slaughtered?
“Haye haye! Don’t start a war again, Hukum,” he begged.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Diya safe,” I said grimly.
“I’ll talk to them and see what it will take to settle this matter,” he said reluctantly.
“You do that, Kirori Ji. And if they aren’t amenable, remind them that they are dealing with the beast of Trikhera. I know how to protect what’s mine.”
“But the princess is not yours, is she?” he asked craftily.
“That doesn’t matter,” I replied and hung up before he could argue further.
Diya might not be mine to keep, but she was mine to protect, and I would see the Goels in hell before I let them anywhere near her.
When I returned to my room, there was no trace of Diya ever having been there. The bathroom had been cleaned, too.
“I’ve moved her into my room, Bhai Sa,” said Isha, coming into the room.
“That’s good. She’ll feel safe with you around.”
“Did you speak to her parents?” she asked severely.
“I spoke to Veer,” I replied. “I’ve promised to keep her safe until we deal with this mess.”
“Diya wants to go home tomorrow morning, and I think you should let her go,” said Isha.
Every fibre of my being rejected the idea. Diya was safe in my house and I refused to let her go. A voice in my head - the one I called my inner beast - suggested that I never let her go, but I silenced it. I didn’t want her running headlong into danger, that’s all.
“Not until the Goels promise to leave her alone,” I declared.
“Bhai Sa, I know you’re trying to keep her safe, but there’s far too much bad blood between the two of you. It might be better for all of us if you just send her home with a security detail. Her parents are capable of keeping her safe,” argued Isha. “You cannot keep her here without her consent.”
I knew she was right, but I didn’t like hearing it.
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow after Kirori Ji speaks to the Goels. I’ll consider sending her home if I can be sure they won’t attack her on the way,” I said grudgingly.
Isha nodded and turned to go. But she turned around at the door and stared at me for a moment.
“And Bhai Sa, please promise me you’ll leave the Goels alone as long as they agree to back off from Diya. We’ve left that life behind, and I don’t want to revisit the past in any way,” she pleaded.
“He tried to kill her, Isha. I cannot forgive that,” I said starkly.
I wanted to leave the past behind as much as she did, but there were some things a man just couldn’t ignore.
Isha sighed with despair and walked out of the room. I knew she wouldn’t give up so easily, but I was glad she wasn’t nagging me about it tonight. Not when I was fighting the need to go to Diya and keep her safe in my arms.
I posted my best men around the perimeter of the palace to make sure there were no sneak attacks in the middle of the night. Still, I got no sleep because my mind kept trying to think of ways around this mess. One thing I knew was that the Goels wouldn’t give up so easily.
Diya could easily land Ayush in jail because her family was as well connected as his. If it came down to her word against his, there was a strong chance that her word would carry a lot of weight. Especially when I backed her up. They would do whatever it took to silence her.
I gave up on sleep as soon as the first streaks of dawn crept across the sky and made my way downstairs. The household was still asleep but I decided to take Pasha out for a quick ride.
Just then, I heard a screech of tyres and ran to the window to see my vintage Rolls Royce racing down the driveway. Isha came running down the stairs, still in her pyjamas.
“She’s gone,” she wailed. “Diya’s gone.”
I closed my eyes in despair as I realised that it might be easy to keep Diya safe from the Goels, but I had no idea how I was going to keep her safe from herself.
