Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 22

22

W ith her mind in turmoil and her heart pounding, Reina hurried to her room, grabbed a jacket, and took the only thing she had of import here—her cell phone. Then she rushed down, opened the main door and stepped onto the porch. She’d forgotten it was raining. It was really coming down heavy. Fuck it. She didn’t need an umbrella. She rushed down the long stretch of the road.

Something tugged at her heart. She stopped and turned. Ahead in the distance, she could make out Vedant standing on his terrace, his eyes closed, face lifted up to the rain. Standing as she was, hidden by the foliage and the trees, she could study him without being seen. She pressed a hand to her aching chest. She’d fallen in love with him, and he’d turned out to be a jerk.

His eyes opened and he looked down the railing, exactly where she was hidden. He leaned closer as if searching for her and she moved deeper into the shadows. She couldn’t let him see her. She wouldn’t allow him to keep her here.

From behind him, Laila appeared. Vedant said something to her, and together, they returned inside. Cold seeped into her bones. Seeing them together hit her with a force, splintering her already broken heart. Vedant Oshnov was a vile man, and she was never seeing his face ever again in her life. She rushed down the road.

His security stopped her as she neared the gate. “Miss, do you need any help?”

“I need you to open the gate. I’m leaving.”

“I’m sorry, Miss,” he said. “I can’t do that. I don’t have instructions to let anyone out tonight.”

How had she thought that leaving would be easy? Fuck. She hadn’t been thinking at all.

“Dr. Singh, is that you?”

She turned to see Tyrion walking to her. He was wearing a raincoat and a cap over his head, a machine gun strapped to his back, while she stood drenched and shivering in the cold rain.

“Can I help you?” He guided her into the warmth of the large security box near the gate. Dozens of terminals filled the area around her, displaying live camera footage from every corner of the house and the vast grounds. This gatehouse was a huge hive of activity. Armed guards were seated around the screens, all of them busy on some monitor, scanning, checking, and speaking into wireless devices.

She faced Tyrion. “I need to leave tonight.”

“Has Mr. Oshnov approved this?” he asked.

“No, but I’m requesting you to let me out.”

“I’m so sorry, Doctor, but I need an approval from Mr. Oshnov to allow you to leave.”

A feeling of hopelessness struck her chest. Suddenly, she straightened, remembering something. She pulled her phone out and tapped on a contact in her list. Tyrion’s eyes widened when he saw the phone with her, but he thankfully remained silent.

“Reina, what’s wrong?” Armaan asked as soon as he answered her call. He sounded like he’d just woken up. “It’s way past one in the morning here. Is Vedant okay?”

“He’s fine. I’m calling you to collect on the promise you made me. I want to leave right now. So, I need you to tell Tyrion here, who is in front of me, to open the fucking gate.”

Armaan went silent for a moment. She heard a door shut behind him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“Will you ask him to open the gate or not? Because the next call I make will be to my brother, and God help you all if that happens.”

Her patience was at an all-time low, her heart was hurting, and she was barely holding back her tears. Thus, she was more than okay to bring Rajiv into the picture. She was fine with telling him about her entire ordeal and letting the whole world burn, just so she could get the fuck out of here.

Armaan sighed. “I just need to know if Vedant will be okay once you leave.”

“He is recovering well, and it’s only a matter of time before he is back to normal. However, right now, I don’t need you to be a brother to him. What I want is for you to be a friend to me.”

“Reina, are you okay? Has he done something? Please talk to me.”

Her anger waned. Armaan didn’t deserve her wrath. It wasn’t his fault that his brother was a horrible person.

“Armaan,” she gentled her tone, “I need to go home. I cannot stay here a second longer.”

He was silent for a moment. “Okay. Put the phone on speaker.”

She tapped a button on her phone. “Tyrion can hear you now.”

“This is Armaan Oshnov. Tyrion, I need you to open the gate and let Dr. Singh leave.”

Tyrion stood straighter. “Sir. I need to inform Mr. Vedant.”

“No one is informing Vedant, not until Reina leaves or, better yet, tomorrow morning only. Am I clear?”

At the bodyguard’s silence, Armaan roared, “Am I fucking clear, Tyrion?”

“Sir, it’s raining, and there is no cab for miles,” Tyrion said. “At least let me drop her off where she wants.”

“Absolutely not,” Reina said. “I’ll call a cab.”

“Alright,” Armaan told her. “Call one. Do it right now. I’m waiting.”

Reina clicked on her cab app, and to her luck, she found a cab close by. It would reach in ten minutes. She informed the same to Armaan.

“Tyrion, wait with her till she gets in the car,” Armaan instructed the security guard. “Ensure you get the driver’s details so I know she’s safe. And Reina, you will message me when you’re safe at home.”

“I will.”

“One more thing, Tyrion,” Armaan said. “Like I said, you will inform Vedant that Reina has left only tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Reina, please take the phone off speaker,” Armaan ordered.

“Thank you, Armaan,” she whispered into her phone.

A tear fell from her eye and then another. She sniffed, trying to control herself, but once the torrent started, her tears wouldn’t stop. She hated Vedant for making her feel so vulnerable. Bloody asshole.

“What the fuck has he done?” Armaan growled. “Do you need me to take a flight and come to you?”

His concern warmed her heart. Armaan Oshnov was a good man. It was just too bad that his brother was an untrustworthy dick.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She walked a little distance away from Tyrion to speak. “No. I’m fine. I will be fine. I just need to get home. My cab will be here soon. I’ll message you when I’m home. And Armaan, please don’t tell Navya anything.”

“Oh God. You can’t ask this of me.”

“Please, for my sake. I’m sure you must know how protective she is of me. She won’t keep this to herself. She will tell Rajiv and Ananya. And then… and then… I don’t know what exactly Rajiv will do, but it won’t be good for your brother, that much I can guarantee. Besides, I don’t want friction between Navya and you because of me.”

Now that she was confident she was leaving, she realised it was better that her family didn’t know. She just wanted to gather herself first, think through everything, and then decide rationally whether she wanted to tell her siblings anything or not.

“I’m so sorry for whatever he did to you,” Armaan said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Her cab stopped in front of the gate. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine, for trusting a bastard like him. The taxi is here. I have to go.”

Disconnecting the line, she looked at Tyrion, who immediately ordered the gate to open. Reina got into the cab and rested her head against the back of the seat. Her heart twisted in pain. Her anger rose once again. Vedant’s harsh and cruel words couldn’t destroy her. She wouldn’t let them. She was a survivor. She’d survived the pain her biological father had put Navya and her through. Once she’d decided on becoming a doctor, she’d endured sleepless nights and burned the midnight oil to get through med school. She’d worked too fucking hard to get where she was in life. She would survive him. That was a promise.