Page 19 of The Promise of a Traitor

Maya just shook her head at him again, her angry eyes silently warning him not to ask too much here, and got to her feet. “I’m going to bed,” she announced. “We’ll leave you young ones to it.”

Advik’s father rose too with a murmured goodnight and followed his wife out of the room. A weird silence fell over the rest of the group as everyone side eyed each other, trying to figure out what had just happened.

“I’ll leave now,” Aastha mumbled, jumping to her feet, looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

“No, you won’t,” Advik said irritably, feeling lost and less in control of his life than he had been for ages. “Sit down.”

But when had Aastha ever listened to him. She muttered a broken goodbye to the group in general and started to walk towards the door.

Advik stood and blocked her path. “No,” he said simply.

“You’re not the boss of me, Advik Malhotra,” she flared, her temper rising to match his. “Let me go.”

“No.” He took a step forward, crowding her and forcing her to step back. “Sit.”

“I’m not a dog,” she snarled, sounding rather a lot like one. “I’m not going to sit on command. Not yours at least.”

“If not mine,” he asked, his voice dangerously soft, “then whose?”

Aastha’s eyes glittered as her cheeks flushed a dramatic red. There she was, he thought. There was the girl he’d fallen in love. The one who’d given as good as she got.

Let’s go, darling. You want to take me on? Let’s do this.

His mental voice rang crystal clear in his subconscious and from the widening of her eyes, he fancied she heard it too. But as always, when it came to Aastha, he was too fanciful for common sense. She said nothing.

“That’s enough.” Kabir’s voice cut through their standoff, stepping up and between them. “I’ll drop Aastha home.”

Then he got in Advik’s face, his stormy eyes issuing a clear warning as he stared his brother down. “Move,” Kabir said, softly.

Advik moved. Aastha walked past him, leaving the room without another word. But she didn’t have to say anything. He heard her every thought, nevertheless.

Chapter Twelve

Aastha

They almost made it to the front door before Advik’s voice stopped them.

“Kabs,” he called out and Kabir stopped, turning to look at him. “I’ll drop her home.”

Kabir gave her an apologetic glance before stepping closer to Advik and murmuring, “Have you got your shit together?”

Advik nodded, meeting her gaze with the same intensity that always shadowed them when he looked at her.

“Are you comfortable going home with him, Aastha?” Kabir Kashyap, THE Kabir Kashyap, asked her. God, how surreal was that?

Aastha nodded, smiling a little. “I’m not scared of him.” Angry, anxious, and avoidant maybe, but not scared of him.

Kabir's gaze lingered on them for a long moment, moving from Advik's rigid expression to hers. There was understanding there. Concern too. Like he knew enough to recognise the wreckage of their equation without knowing what had caused it.

"Behave," he muttered to Advik.

It sounded less like a joke and more like a warning. And then he was gone, striding down the corridor with a last wave and smile for Aastha.

“Wow,” she murmured, turning to walk out.

Advik gave her a weird mutant smile as he walked her to the door. “Told you I knew him.”

“But you never introduced me,” she protested, following him into the cold, empty elevator. “How was I supposed to know he was real?”