Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 37

37

“ O h my God, you Oshnovs really do like big houses,” Reina exclaimed as Vedant drove her through the gates of his house, the next morning. The sprawling home, she noted, sat on the shore of the Arabian Sea and had three wings jutting out of the main structure. Just like he’d promised, Vedant had come to get her at eight sharp and had driven her here in that very same black Ferrari she’d seen in his picture in the magazine. Being mighty careful, he’d even had an SUV follow him, carrying his bodyguards. Finally, she was beginning to understand the measures the brothers were taking to ensure everyone was safe.

“We do like big homes. Alexander spoilt us,” Vedant replied. “The left wing is mine, the middle one is Mihir’s, and the right wing is Armaan’s. This way we stay together and have our own privacy as well.”

“That’s awesome.”

She scanned her surroundings, noting the armed guards stationed everywhere.

Vedant stopped the car under the porch. She didn’t even have time to glance around the tastefully done interiors before she was ushered to the study, where Mihir, Armaan, and Navya were waiting for them.

Navya drew her in a quick hug. “Are you okay?”

“So far, yes,” Reina said. “But I’m overwhelmed and scared. It cannot be random that both these women are here at the same time and they’re both wanting to meet me.”

She hadn’t been able to sleep peacefully the whole night. So many questions had cropped up, but she had answers to none.

Navya sat her down on a sofa and offered her a cup of coffee.

“Did you get any more messages?” Mihir asked.

“I switched off my phone last night.”

“That’s good,” Armaan said. “Are you okay to turn it on now?”

“Yes.”

She turned it on, and a few more messages popped up on the screen. She read the ones from Su Min first, including the ones from last night.

“Reina, I do need to talk to you.”

“I’m in town. I’ve come specially to meet you.”

“Meet me tomorrow, please.”

“Please reply, Reina. This is important.”

And then she read the ones Laila had sent her.

“Hey Reina, I’m in town for a few days. Yay!”

“Are you free to meet me tomorrow?”

“I would love to catch up with you and get some recommendations about places to go to and to eat at.”

“What do you think? Would dinner work?”

When she was done reading, she looked up at all of them.

“Two very different tones of messages,” Mihir commented. “One sounds very desperate and the other too friendly.”

“Laila’s messages sound too damn convenient,” Vedant said. “Reina and she never got along.”

“That’s true,” Reina nodded.

“At this point, I don’t trust either of them,” Armaan said. “But I’d be very concerned about Su Min. Ivan could have drawn her to his side because we got rid of Vasily. This… us… all of it is personal to her.”

“Agreed,” Vedant accepted. “But I don’t like Laila’s sudden arrival.”

“Maybe Laila wants to ask me about you ,” Reina muttered, feeling irritated. “Let’s not forget she had a crush on you.”

Vedant chuckled. “How is that helping now, beautiful?”

Now, she was even more mad at him.

“Fuck,” Mihir scowled at Vedant.

Vedant threw his hands in the air. “Hey, why are you getting annoyed with me? I never encouraged that woman, ever.”

“No, you were just nasty to me in front of her,” Reina shot back.

“And I explained that I did it so if ever Ivan tried to dig for information about me through her, then she’d never speak about you .”

Reina rolled her eyes.

Vedant clucked his tongue. “Reina?—”

“—okay, enough, both of you,” Armaan said. He addressed Reina. “Why would she want to ask you about Vedant? I thought everyone in London only knew you as Dr. Singh. Also, if, as Vedant says, he ensured that Laila believed there was nothing between you and him, then this seems very far-fetched.”

“Agreed. However, Su Min knows Reina’s my sister,” Navya replied to Armaan. “And since yesterday, every newspaper is carrying at least one article on us. I met Su Min for your New Year’s Eve party, remember?”

“Oh yes, of course,” Reina accepted. “She’s the one who got us the invites.”

“Fuck,” Vedant looked at Reina, “You know, in all this, I completely forgot that you were there in my house on New Year’s Eve. Imagine if we had met that night. Perhaps everything would have panned out differently.”

Reina glared at him. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Why are you mad at me again?” Vedant asked, looking baffled. “You were fine in the car.”

She had been fine, but now talking about Laila was reminding her of how he’d behaved with her in London, and it was making her blood boil again. She was angry at him, at herself, and at Laila.

“Alright, you guys,” Mihir said. “Focus. You both can hash this out later.”

“Yes, please,” Armaan said. “Your push and pull is sounding way too much like foreplay. So, go get a room when we’re done here. Until then, stop it.”

Vedant shot him an angry look. Armaan didn’t even react to it or him.

“Let’s reiterate,” Mihir took charge. “We assume that now Su Min knows Reina is Reina Mehra. Either she saw Armaan’s engagement on the news and made the connection, as did Ivan, or Ivan already knew that and he’d told her. But Laila… she doesn’t fit anywhere.”

“Laila never even liked me. Why would she want to meet me?” Reina asked.

“It could be casual,” Navya said. “Maybe she’s in town and wants to meet you genuinely.”

“But why are they both here at the same time?” Vedant asked.

“Coincidence?” Navya shrugged.

“You know,” Reina began, “That day when we were all kidnapped and brought to your London home, the first thing Laila said was that she’d want to travel with the money Mihir was offering us, and that she’d like to visit Dubai too. I mean, it could be innocent.”

“Or not,” Vedant said. “I just feel this whole thing is because of me. What if they know Reina is important to me?”

“Or they don’t know that,” Armaan said, “and are simply trying to use her because she’s Navya’s sister to get to me.”

Oh God. This whole thing was getting murkier.

“That could also be the case,” Mihir said. “But let’s circle back. Would either of these women have a reason to believe that Reina and Vedant were together in London?”

“Su Min suspected,” Reina said. “But I neither confirmed nor denied it then.”

Vedant faced Reina. “And like I’ve been saying over and over again, the only reason I said what I said to you in London was because I didn’t want Laila to think we were together. So now why would she think that?”

“Su Min and Laila still work at the same hospital,” Mihir said. “What if Su Min convinced Laila that Vedant and Reina were together? What if, and it’s a big if, Ivan is using Laila to get to us, and Su Min is completely innocent?”

“Oh God,” Reina said. “This is insane.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Navya asked.

“The only option is to meet them and find out,” Reina said.

“Absolutely not,” Vedant rejected the idea. “You are not meeting either of them.”

“Do I have a say in this at all?” Reina shot back.

Vedant kneeled at her feet. “Letting you go to meet these women scares the life out of me, moya milaya. For some reason, you are mad at me again, and I am sorry for making you feel that way. But please don’t ask me to risk your life like that. I won’t be able to do it.”

She sighed, taking his hands in hers. She had to let go of her anger. He was trying to fix things, and she too wanted to fix everything between them because living without him was next to impossible for her. She needed him, and even though he made her mad, she loved him more than she’d ever loved anyone ever.

Letting go of her inner turmoil, she squeezed his hands. “I know you’re concerned about me, but we have this opportunity to find out if Ivan is planning something, and we have to take it.”

“Absolutely not,” Navya said. “I agree with Vedant.”

Reina looked at Armaan and Mihir. “Guys, you know I’m right. I have to do this. You all can protect me from afar. We can choose a safe location.”

“I hate to say this,” Mihir said. “But she is right.”

“Yes,” Armaan sighed. “I agree.”

Vedant rose. “Do you both really expect me to let her walk into danger?”

“It could be nothing,” Reina said, knowing in her heart that it wasn’t the case. But they couldn’t simply sit and wait in silence any more. She had to hear what Su Min wanted to say to her. She had to find out, if at all, which of these two women were working with their enemy.

“Vedant, we have to do something,” Mihir said. “Like you predicted, Ivan may have acted soon after Armaan’s happy news was announced to the world via one of these women. Let’s try and eliminate our enemies, brother. Only then can we live without fear. You know we have the power and means to protect Reina. Besides, it may turn out to be nothing. But for knowing that also, we need to act.”

“Then I’ll go with her,” Vedant said.

“No,” Armaan refused. “The moment you do that, they will know something is up. The women might talk easily to Reina if she’s alone. We cannot lose this window of opportunity if at all it is that.”

“Armaan,” Navya called out. “I can’t believe you’re agreeing to this. You cannot expect me to put my baby sister in danger.”

“I can fight,” Reina told her. “You know Rajiv forced all of us to learn self-defence.”

“That’s how you knew how to punch,” Mihir said. “I was impressed that night by the way you struck Vedant.”

Armaan chuckled.

“Again, this is not helping right now,” Vedant growled.

Reina smiled at Mihir. It was the first time she was properly interacting with him after London and when he’d come to visit Vedant. But at that time too, their interactions had been stilted and formal. That was mainly because she’d been still mad at him for holding her hostage there. So far, she didn’t know the man well. The only thing she knew was that he loved his brothers and would do anything for them. Right now, that was enough. She’d have ample time to get to know him and pass judgement on him once they got through the next few days.

“She can’t fight as well as I can,” Navya looked at Reina. “You were too busy working to even finish all the classes Rajiv insisted upon.”

“Oh God!” Vedant groaned. “That gives me no confidence whatsoever.”

“I am doing this,” Reina announced. “Besides, we can choose a public place and meet during the day. It will be difficult for them to try anything then. We need to find out why these women are here. Even if it turns out to be nothing.”

“Or it could be something dangerous,” Vedant muttered.

Reina stood and cupped his cheeks. “Then let’s find out. You and I need to work on being together. But for that, we cannot have the sword of these two women hanging on our heads. Let’s deal with them head on, and if it turns out to be nothing, then well and good. At least we’d have learned that then.”

Vedant shut his eyes for a long moment. They were clear when he opened them again. He kissed her forehead. “Fine, but that means you will do exactly as I say.”

Reina lowered her chin. “I will.”

The moment she said that, the brothers called their security guards inside, and all of them began to plan. But through it all, Reina desperately prayed that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.