Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 38

38

V edant rubbed his sweaty palms against his denims. He checked the time on his watch. It was ten past one, and their plan was already in motion. Reina was seated at a table in full view of everyone in the restaurant. But their quarry still hadn’t showed up.

Both Reina and Navya had insisted on involving their brother and telling him the plan as well. Rajiv, in turn, had helped them choose this particular restaurant. La Soiree was one of the most exclusive and premiere restaurants in Dubai. The owners happened to be Rajiv’s very close friends, and they were extremely anal about their own security. Hence, this restaurant, too, had a private entrance.

Thanks to that, Mihir and he were seated in a far corner across from Reina, facing away from her, yet able to see her through the mirror panelled walls. Both of them were dressed casually in denims and tees, much unlike their usual formal attire. Armaan was outside in a car with Rajiv and their bodyguards, many of whom were strategically seated at various tables inside the restaurant. The restaurant was also filled with other patrons, indicating a usual busy day for the staff. On any other day, he would have taken time to appreciate the fine interiors of this swanky new restaurant, but today, his nerves were all over the place.

He noted Reina’s worried expression through the mirror. She adjusted her purse, in which a listening device was connected to all the men seated around her, watching her. Everyone had a discreet earpiece in their ears, and they were simply waiting and watching. He looked to the side, then quickly turned his gaze forward when he saw Su Min appear. They had decided that Reina ought to meet Su Min first. Accordingly, Reina had messaged her, following which she had messaged Laila, asking her to meet her an hour later in the same restaurant. It was important to see how these two women reacted to each other’s presence as well. They needed to know if they were working together or not, if one of them was working with Ivan, or if neither of them were.

Reina stood to greet Su Min.

“Reina, there you are…” Vedant could clearly hear the conversation between the women. “I’m so happy you came.”

Su Min leaned forward to give Reina a hug. Reina patted her back, and Su Min sat facing her.

“You haven’t been replying to my calls or messages,” Su Min began. “Is there a problem? Are you mad at me?”

A waitress came forth, and both the women placed their beverage orders with her.

“Why would you think I’m mad at you?” He heard Reina ask once the waitress left. “I’m not.”

“I saw Navya’s picture with Armaan Oshnov. I know she’s engaged to him. Which means I also know that you aren’t Reina Singh but Reina Mehra.” Su Min looked at her hands. “Vasily’s dead. He died Reina, but I’m sure you already know that. I still don’t know what happened to him. I thought you were my friend. He worked for the Oshnovs; you could have told me.”

“And how could I have told you that, Su Min?” Reina asked. “Like you, I was also a hostage.”

“But you had access to your phone,” Su Min stated.

Through the mirror, he saw Reina jolt back in shock.

“Don’t lie, please,” Su Min said. “I suspected that while we were there. You never called home in front of us. And I had overhead you speaking on the phone. You brushed it off the first time I asked you, but it made sense, especially after I saw the news of Navya’s engagement and learned your real identity. I remember how Armaan had wanted to talk to you alone that first night he came from Dubai, and he was so courteous to you after that. I finally made sense of everything. It dawned on me that you must be knowing what happened to Vasily, or you could have found out for me. But you never did while we were there, and later, you cut off all contact with me.”

“I didn’t know anything about Vasily while I was in London,” Reina explained. “I found out only when I returned home to Dubai, which happened to be soon after you left Vedant’s house. After learning that Vasily was working for the Oshnovs’ enemy and had kidnapped Navya and tried to hurt her to get to Armaan, do you think my family would have wanted me to be in contact with you? The only reason I’m here right now is because you’re in town and because of the friendship we once shared.”

“What?” Su Min gasped. “He what…”

Su Min’s mouth opened and closed.

“You think I… Me?” Su Min choked out, then shook her head. “How could you think that of me? I’m not a bad person.”

Vedant exchanged a look with Mihir. “What do you think?”

“Her anguish sounds real.”

“Either that or she’s a great actress,” Vedant said.

“As soon as I left, I went to Seoul to meet my parents,” Su Min said. “My father was unwell. I haven’t met Vasily since he came to London with Vedant’s brothers. I haven’t spoken to him in weeks. I told you that he wasn’t returning my calls. I returned to London and still didn’t have any answers. So yes, I want answers. I need your help to understand what happened to him. That’s one of the reasons I’m here. For you to imply that I was involved with him in trying to hurt Navya... I didn’t even know he had tried to hurt her?—”

From the mirrors, Vedant saw Reina’s eyes widen in shock. He looked to the side and saw Laila entering half an hour earlier than Reina’s allocated time for her.

Su Min looked where Reina was staring. “Why is Laila here?”

Laila, too, looked between Reina and Su Min.

“Hi, both of you,” Laila sounded confused. She addressed Su Min, “I didn’t know you were also planning to visit Dubai. You never mentioned this when we spoke at the hospital.”

“It was a last-minute plan,” Su Min said, her voice sharp.

“Hi, Laila. You’re early,” Reina said.

“Yes, I was free, so I thought I’d come wait for you here.” Laila sat next to Su Min. Vedant saw her gaze alternating between the two women.

“How come you decided to visit Dubai?” Reina asked Laila.

“I’ve always wanted to visit, and this seemed like a good time,” Laila replied, her tone stilted.

Mihir looked at Vedant. “I’m still not sure what is going on here.”

“Me neither,” Vedant replied.

“Let’s wait and watch,” Armaan said through the earpiece.

“I think we should isolate both the women and query them ourselves!” Rajiv sounded very agitated. Like Vedant, he too hated putting Reina in this situation. But she’d been adamant, and hence, they both had been forced to relent.

“Just a few more minutes,” Armaan said. “Let’s see what happens.”

Vedant saw the same waitress place coffee cups in front of Reina and Su Min. She took Laila’s order and left.

“Why did you want to meet me?” He heard Reina ask Laila.

“I’m in your city. Of course, I’d get in touch.”

“It’s not like we’re friends, Laila,” Reina scoffed.

After all their discussions this morning, Vedant had concluded that it was best for Reina to be honest with both women. That was the only way to assess their reactions.

“Don’t be like this,” Laila said. “We’re in a different city and in a different situation. Let bygones be bygones. Besides, did Su Min tell you that Dr. Williams has resigned? Apparently, the management launched an enquiry on him after someone complained of sexual harassment, and now some more nurses and doctors have come forth and complained similarly.”

“What?” Reina gasped.

“Yes,” Su Min replied. “I’m glad someone took the first move. Isn’t it, Reina?”

Reina nodded. Vedant noted the shocked look on her face. But she quickly cleared her face to ask Laila, “Why are you really here? It cannot be to only gossip about Dr. Williams.”

“I want us to be friends,” Laila said. “Maybe we can go out after this; you can take me shopping. In fact, all three of us can go.”

“Really?” Su Min cut in. “Just a few days ago, upon my return to work, you spoke a whole lot of nasty things about Reina to me, blaming her for Vedant kicking you out of his house. You called her all sorts of names when I told you that I believed Vedant and Reina were together. And now, you’re here, pretending all is okay. Why?”

Vedant exchanged a surprised glance with Mihir. They still couldn’t understand if either of the women were suspects or both of them were innocent.

The waitress arrived with a cold drink and placed it in front of Laila.

Laila took a sip of her drink as an awkward silence reined between the women. From the mirror’s reflection, Vedant saw a man wearing a high collared jacket approach the women. He took the chair next to Reina and sat down beside her. Panic crossed Reina’s face as she looked from the man to something he was holding in his hand.

Horror spread through Vedant’s heart when he saw who that man was, and that he was discreetly pointing a gun at Reina. He began to rise, but Mihir caught his shoulder, shaking his head.

“Don’t,” Mihir warned. “He doesn’t know we are here.”

“Who?” Armaan asked. “Who’s there?”

“You can’t expect me to sit here when he has a gun pointed at Reina,” Vedant lashed out.

“What the fuck is going on?” Rajiv barked. “One of you needs to talk or I’m coming inside.”

“Karl Leipzig is here,” Mihir said. “He’s sitting with the ladies and has a gun pointed at Reina.”

“Why the fuck did no one notice his arrival?” Rajiv barked. “We’ve been assessing everyone coming and going.”

“That’s because he must have already been in the restaurant when we came in,” Vedant guessed. “Fuck. We should have been more vigilant in screening the people already at the restaurant.”

There were a lot of curses and discussion in the background, but he ignored all that noise to focus on the conversation happening at Reina’s table.

“Who are you?” Reina asked. “What do you want?”

“It’s quite simple, actually,” the man said. “My boss wants you.”

“Your boss, you mean Ivan.”

“So, the Oshnovs have kept you updated,” Karl said.

“Of course,” Reina replied. “And one of these women planned this with you to get to me, correct?”

He nodded.

Reina looked at the women. “How much did they pay you to come here?”

Su Min gasped. But Reina wasn’t looking at her; her eyes were focused on Laila, who was smiling.

“They paid me enough,” she said. “And once Su Min confirmed that Vedant and you were indeed together, they paid for my trip to Dubai as well. Look at you! You had an affair with Vedant Oshnov while chiding me for being interested in him. How very conniving of you. What I don’t get is why he was rude to you in front of me. Lover’s quarrel, was it?”

“Sure, I’m conniving,” Reina scoffed. “Aren’t you the one who told Dr. Williams about Vedant and me having an affair without even having proof of it, and despite Vedant making you believe otherwise? You simply did that out of spite.”

“Of course, it was me,” Laila said. “Like Su Min, I too believed that you and he were having an affair. Neither of you could get your eyes off each other. It had become obvious. I called Dr. Williams to complain about you before Vedant was rude to you in front of me. In that moment, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. Dr. Williams was going to fire you, and Vedant didn’t want you. Little did I know that he was going to ask me to leave his house the second you left the room. Nonetheless, you managed to snag the man and get a glowing recommendation from Dr. Williams. My guess is that it was you who complained about him to the management.”

Reina didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at the man seated next to her. “What is the plan here? You’re simply going to walk out with me and hand me over to Ivan? Is he here in Dubai?”

Laila cut in to say, “The plan was that Karl was to come first and scan the area. Then I would have arrived earlier than you, ordered some drinks, and spiked yours. Once you were feeling unwell, I’d have taken you outside, with his help, of course. But he messaged me saying that you arrived even earlier and were sitting with Su Min.”

Every cell in his body was screaming at Vedant to do something and get Reina out. He’d never felt more helpless than he did now in this very moment. Think… he had to think. He had to protect Reina.

“I recognise you,” Su Min put forth. She addressed Reina. “He was the reason I’ve been wanting to talk to you. He approached me a few days ago in London claiming to be Vasily’s friend. He told me that he was aware that Vasily was my boyfriend and he informed me that the Oshnovs had killed Vasily. He took advantage of my tears and shock and asked me all sorts of questions about Vedant and the Oshnovs. He then asked me about the rest of the team who was with me while caring for him. He told me to contact him if I wanted more answers about Vasily, and he also told me his boss would pay me a lot of money if I did as they said. After he left, I was tempted to call him to ask more about Vasily and what had happened to him. But he looked shady and frightening, so I decided to call you to beware in case he tried to get to you as well. But you weren’t answering my calls and texts.”

“Thanks, Su Min,” Reina said. “I suppose that’s how they got through to Laila. After all, money means the most to her.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who has tons of it,” Laila spat out. “Yes, I know who you are. I saw the news of Armaan Oshnov’s engagement. Since I started working with Karl, I was curious about the girl Armaan was marrying. All the news sites were carrying photos of Armaan Oshnov and his new fiancée. Imagine my surprise when I saw your photo pop up on a gossip site linking you to Navya. I told Karl who you were and that Su Min believed you and Vedant were together. After that, things quickly fell in place and here you are.”

Karl addressed Su Min. “And we thought you’d be more amenable to working with us because of Vasily. We thought that you’d want revenge on the Oshnovs. But you never contacted me. Instead, you came running here to Dubai to warn her.”

He pointed the gun at Reina. “Coming here and trying to get to you was a gamble. Even if by some chance you’re not involved with Vedant, you’re going to be Armaan’s sister in-law. In either scenario, you’re a bargaining chip for us.”

Fear knotted Vedant’s insides. These people were leaving no stone unturned to get to anyone who was important to him and his brothers.

“So, here’s what we are going to do,” he heard Karl say. “All of us are going to walk out of here. Laila can pay the bill and leave as her job here is done, while the two of you ladies will come with me. We are all going to get up slowly without making any unnecessary moves or sounds. I’m sure neither of you wants me to use the gun, correct?”

Vedant watched as Reina and Su Min stood along with Karl, while Laila called for the cheque.

Karl started ushering the women outside, and that was it. Vedant couldn’t sit still any more. The woman he loved was in danger, and he wasn’t going to sit around twiddling his thumbs like a loser. Before Mihir could even react, he threw his earpiece on the table and rushed out of the restaurant.