Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 28

28

R eina didn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. When Ananya had insisted on having a sisters’ evening with her, Reina had thought that her elder sister would take her out and ask her all sorts of questions that Reina had promised to answer. Instead, Ananya had insisted on coming to Club Poseidon, hellbent on having a good time. And what a fab night it was turning out to be.

They got down the bar top and Ananya hugged her hard. “That was so much fun, Rei.”

“I know, right?” Reina replied. “I cannot believe we actually got up there and did that.”

Ananya flicked her long hair away from her face. “Damn, I missed being me.”

“Oh, I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that.” Reina kissed her cheek. “Please tell me, this means you will look after your health henceforth.”

“Absolutely. Eat well, sleep more, and exercise—that is my new mantra.”

Reina was glad to hear her sister say this. She’d been worried about her eldest sister for too long, but seeing the resolve on Ananya’s face gave her hope that her sister was finally ready to move past Mihir Oshnov. Navya had told her of the uncomfortable encounter between Mihir and Ananya a few days back in the Oshnovs’ study. So, Reina was aware of Ananya’s determination to live again. It was a good sign. Ananya needed to get over her obsession with Mihir.

The Oshnovs were nothing but trouble. Of course, Armaan had turned out okay… but the other two… ugh. She had her own Oshnov troubles. Vedant’s face flashed in her mind. Shit. She was so not thinking of him . She focused on her sister, who was looking stunning.

Even though Ananya was still too thin, she’d taken extra care with her appearance tonight. Her makeup was perfect, her lips were painted a dark red, and she was dressed similarly to Reina in black leather pants, a skimpy shiny crop, and sky-high heels. The two of them looked great and were the focus of many eyes, especially after their impromptu dance.

Ananya ordered them some vodka sodas and handed one to Reina.

“Hey, Macarena girl,” a smart looking man on their left addressed Ananya. “Care for a drink?”

Ananya lifted her nose. “Not with you.”

She looked at Reina and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, reject.”

Reina laughed. Her naughty, bold, unapologetic, wild sister was finally back, and Reina couldn’t be happier. Ananya pulled her to the stairs that led to the VIP section above. The bouncer manning the roped section smiled as he recognised them. Club Poseidon belonged to their brother, and ever since Armaan was attacked here, Rajiv had heightened the security. But all the old staff knew them well. The man opened the roped section, but Ananya shook her head and made her way to the side of the stairs to an empty, tall table. It was less noisy and less crowded here.

Reina sipped her drink, looking into the crowd. The dancefloor was full, all tables on the sides occupied. She was glad to see that Club Poseidon continued to be one of the most exclusive clubs in Dubai.

Ananya bumped her shoulder with hers. “Alright, now, baby sis. We’ve had enough fun. Let’s get serious. Talk and leave out nothing.”

Reina blinked, taken aback.

Ananya narrowed her eyes. “What? Did you think I forgot?”

“Definitely hoped for that.”

Ananya eyed her. “Start from the beginning.”

Shit. Where could she even begin? And say what exactly? Everything? Something? Nothing? No, nothing was not an option. She’d promised her sister that she’d confide in her. But where was she to start? Her thoughts were all over the place. Her eyes darted to the stairs where a man was descending. It was too dark to make out his features clearly. From the side, he looked like… her heart leapt… he looked like Vedant. She shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, the man was gone. Fuck. She was hallucinating now. Maybe she’d had one too many vodkas.

“Reina, I’m waiting,” Ananya pushed forth.

“I think I fell in love with the wrong guy,” Reina blurted. She slapped a palm over her mouth. That was so not what she’d wanted to say.

“What?” Ananya choked on her drink. “Excuse me?”

“Oh God, I think I should probably start from the beginning,” Reina sighed.

Ananya glared at her. “You think ?”

She took a fortifying sip of her drink before she began to talk. “Almost two months ago, I was working as the ER doctor in the hospital when a man was brought in. He was critically wounded and was dying. I took a call to operate on him and saved his life. However, the next morning, I and a few other people from the team that had operated on him were asked to meet Dr. Williams at the back of the hospital. Although I found the request strange, I still went, you know, considering my then history with him. Anyway, once we all were there, some armed men surrounded us, held us at gunpoint, and ushered us into a van. They took us to this huge house. They were all this patient’s brother’s men.”

Ananya’s eyes rounded. “Oh my God! You were kidnapped?”

Reina could see her sister’s brain working as she put things together, because Ananya said, “So before you returned home, when you kept saying that you were having a hectic week and then you wouldn’t take our calls and called us back only during certain times, it was because you were being held hostage?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.” Ananya held her arm, her eyes frantically running over Reina. “Did they hurt you, Reina? Did anyone touch you?”

“Hey, no, Ananya, breathe,” Reina said. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what the fuck was it like?”

“We only had to care for him. My patient, he was the man I… I—” Reina’s gaze moved past her sister. She blinked. Surely, she was hallucinating. She shut her eyes, but this time, when she opened them, he didn’t disappear. Fuck. It was… he was…

Her heart fell to her feet because it was him. Vedant was here. Dressed in a navy-blue jacket worn over darker denims, a collared black t-shirt, hair stylishly swept back over his forehead, black Tom Ford specs on his nose, and his face clean shaved, he looked… He was catching the eye of every woman he was crossing. But he didn’t look at any of them; his entire focus was on her .

Her pulse kicked up a notch with every step that brought him closer to her. Her eyes ran over him, hungrily taking him in, assessing him for any sign of injury or disability. But she found none. His limp was gone; all the bruises from his face had disappeared. He looked fine. He looked fabulous, in fact. Something lit inside her. That spark that had died within her after she’d left London flared to life under his gaze, reminding her that he was the only man to ever make her feel everything she was feeling in that moment.

And then he was in front of her, towering over her. Her heart melted at his nearness. The urge to throw herself against his chest, to breathe him in, and to feel his arms around her slammed through her ribcage. Stop. Just stop, she told herself. He was not for her. He had cruelly cut her off his life and then refused to let her leave. She allowed her anger to rise and push its way through all the emotions tangling inside her.

“Hello, moya prekrasnaya .” He leaned closer. Lifting her hand from the table, he kissed the back of it. She gasped, and his lips tipped up in that arrogant smile.

Fuck. How dare he touch her like he had all the right to? Fury erupted inside her. She tried to pull her hand away from his, but he held it tight. Memories from their initial encounters rushed through her mind.

“Release my hand,” she snapped.

“And if I don’t?”

Oh God, the arrogance of him. She swung her fist out and slammed it against his jaw.

His smile vanished as he staggered a step back, dropping her hand.

“The next time I ask you to release my hand, you bloody well do it,” she stormed.

He ran a hand down his jaw and laughed. “Fuck, I deserved that I suppose.”

“You suppose?” she shouted. “Fucking asshole.”

“Oh My God!” Ananya’s loud voice broke through the haze inside her head. Ananya looked beyond Reina to the man nearing Vedant, and Reina knew that was the exact moment her sister joined all the dots together.

Ananya stormed toward Mihir. “Did you know she was my sister when you got her kidnapped?”

“Yes.” Mihir didn’t even have the good sense to look apologetic. Ananya swung her fist out, but Mihir caught it in his hand. When she swung her other fist out, he ducked. “Enough, Anna . You’re creating a scene, and I’m sure you recall how much I hate being the centre of attention.”

“Fucking bastard,” Ananya fumed, twisting her hand free from his hold, but he held firm.

Oh God. Reina’s head was spinning now. Ananya and Mihir were arguing, Vedant was watching the whole situation like it was a comedy show, and all she wanted to do was get in his face and hit him some more. From behind Ananya, she could see the security approaching.

Crossing her arms over chest, she addressed Vedant, her tone haughty and stone cold. “Mr. Oshnov, you and your brother need to leave, now.”

Vedant faced her. “There you are. I finally see you , Reina Mehra. Care to tell me why you lied to me and never told me who you were? And no more of this Mr. Oshnov business. I haven’t forgotten how you were screaming my name the last time I was moving inside you.”

Her jaw dropped even as her body came alive at the reminder. Fucking arrogant asshole. How dare he speak so casually to her? How dare he remind her of the time when she and he had been close like that? She swung her hand to punch him again, but this time, he caught her fist, shaking his head slowly.

God, she really was in a TV serial or, rather, one of the romance books she devoured so eagerly. His lips tipped up. Fucking arrogant asshole.

She exhaled. But it didn’t work to calm her down. She was spitting mad now—at him, and at herself for allowing him to push her buttons the way he was. He squeezed her fist gently, and her skin began to light up.

She tugged her hand out of his. It didn’t matter that he knew her real identity. It wasn’t important. He wasn’t important. From the corner of her eye, she noted that Ananya and Mihir had stopped arguing and were standing side by side, staring at the two of them. While Ananya looked one step away from murdering Vedant, Mihir was rubbing his scarred cheek, looking irritated. And through all this, Vedant was staring at her. His intense gaze was burning right into her as if she… as if she mattered to him. Which was bullshit. He didn’t care at all about her.

Two of the club’s security guards reached them.

“They are just leaving,” Reina told them, not wanting to create a scene.

“Actually, we are not,” Vedant lifted his jaw. “Miss Mehra and I have something to discuss.”

She blinked, unable to believe him. “Mr. Oshnov, leave or I will have them make you leave.”

“Really?” His lips tightened. “Then let me tell you that I won’t go out nicely. There will be a fight. Mihir will not like it, but he will not stand on the side when I get into an altercation with your brother’s men. The whole thing will get ugly. Is that what you truly want, Reina? Do you want your brother to get involved when, so far, you have clearly kept him out of everything?”

A wave of frustration washed over her. He was right. She didn’t want her brother involved in the mess she had made of her life.

At her silence, he said, “Come with me, beautiful. You and I need to talk.”

“Absolutely not,” Ananya said.

Vedant didn’t even look at her sister as he replied, “I wasn’t asking you, Anna .”

“Careful, brother.” Mihir’s voice was low, almost like a snarl.

Vedant looked at him, his lips tipped in mischief. “Control your woman while I talk to mine.”

“Not your woman,” Reina hissed.

“Not his woman,” Ananya spat out.

Mihir pinched his forehead. “Fuck, you’re more trouble than Armaan ever was.”

Vedant raised his hands in the air. “Look, I’m not leaving here until I talk to Reina, and I am willing to create a scene to do it.” He faced Reina. “The choice is yours, krasivyy .”

“Fuck,” she breathed out. She looked at the security. “It’s alright. We know these men.”

Once the two security guards backed away, Ananya addressed her. “Reina, no.”

“I don’t have a choice. We promised each other four years ago after that fucking mess in their yacht that none of us would do anything to jeopardise Rajiv’s happiness and his peace of mind. And this fucker has clearly understood that, and that’s why he’s threatening to create a scene.”

Vedant raised a hand up. “Sorry, I come only in peace.”

“Shut up,” Reina, Ananya, and Mihir said in unison.

Vedant grinned, looking completely unaffected, as if he wasn’t the one responsible for ruining her night, taking away her peace of mind, and giving her a headache in the process.

“You have ten minutes, Reina,” Ananya warned.

Reina lowered her chin in a nod.

“Come with me,” she told Vedant.

“I’ll follow you anywhere you go, moya milaya ,” he said.

Moya milaya. My darling. She’d spent enough time around Armaan and Navya to know what it meant.

She shut her eyes, praying for strength to deal with him. Vedant had shown up out of the blue and was behaving as if everything was alright between them. It wasn’t. She needed to remind him of how things had ended between them. She’d listen to whatever the fuck he wanted to talk to her about and then close his chapter from her life once and for all.

She was going to get over him, even if it was the toughest thing she ever did.