Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 40

40

R eina woke up sometime later, wrapped in Vedant’s arms, his fabulous scent all over her. God, she had missed him. He’d taken her straight home to his bedroom, where he’d spent the next several hours making slow and leisurely love to her. She studied his sleeping form. Her chest welled with love. He was snuggled into her, holding her tightly, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of being away from her. She smiled. She felt exactly the same.

She looked outside the window. Darkness had set in. The time on her wristwatch showed it was a little past seven in the evening. She gently shifted out of his hold and wore her clothes. She looked around his very masculine room. The walls were painted a dark green, and the furniture was mahogany wood. Spying a terrace, she opened the doors and let herself outside. She leaned against the railing, taking in the fabulous view of the waves crashing a short distance below her. Illuminated with various lights, the lawns of this house looked beautiful.

She inhaled and exhaled, her heart feeling free for the first time in weeks. She was finally where she belonged. Strong hands caught her waist and Vedant rested his chin on top of her head, enfolding her in his arms.

“Hi!” He snuggled into her neck, breathing her in.

“Umm, hi.”

They stood like this for several long moments, watching the rumbling sea in the distance. He kissed her cheek. “Marry me, Reina.”

She whirled. “What?”

“I never imagined I’d be lucky to find someone like you to love. You make me so happy. Will you spend the rest of your life loving me and allowing me to love you back?”

“But… But you still don’t know everything about me. There is a huge part of my past that you don’t know anything about.”

“We all have a past,” he said. “But I love you, and I want to be with you despite that. Nothing you say will make me change my mind. Marry me, Reina.”

She studied him for a long moment and saw the sincerity shining in his eyes. “Yes, yes, I will marry you.”

He took his ring off his pinkie finger. “Will this do for now until you buy a ring of your own choosing?”

He slipped the ring on her right-hand ring finger. Reina studied her hand; the blue diamond glittered beautifully. “I want a diamond of this exact same colour for my engagement ring.”

He kissed her smiling mouth. “Whatever you want is yours, moya krasivyy .”

She cupped his face. “You need to know why I was so hesitant to tell you I love you.”

He caught her wrist. “You don’t need to tell me now. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Reina said. “Seeing you offer yourself in my place lifted all that stupid fog from my head.”

Shifting away from him, she looked into the distance. “There’s a reason I never trusted men easily. There was a reason why I never had a relationship before you. That reason was my father.”

“Your father?” Vedant asked, confused.

“No,” she quickly amended. “Not Anvay Mehra. He and Sara are my adopted parents—well, mine and Navya’s. Sara is our paternal aunt—our real father’s elder sister. Our biological parents were Gautam and Latika Singh, both deceased.”

“What?” Vedant gasped. “This is huge. Everyone believes Rajiv Mehra has three sisters.”

“Well, I’m sure Navya’s told Armaan. The rest of the world has forgotten this truth, and we prefer it that way.”

“This is unbelievable,” Vedant said.

She smiled. “Sara, Anvay, Rajiv, and Ananya never once made us feel any different. Navya and I learned that families can be happy only once we began living with them. You see, our lives were very different at one time.”

She rested her hands on the railing. “Sara was the elder one, and from a very young age, she showed a keen business acumen and began to work at Poseidon. My father, however, was just another rich, spoilt brat. He was only interested in the money that came into his account every month via Poseidon and his trust fund. He was handsome, charming, and so damn reckless. He thought his wealth and looks entitled him to do what he wanted and get anything he liked. He met my biological mother, Latika, at a social event and was captivated by her. She’d heard of his wild reputation of too much wine, women, and gambling, but he charmed her thoroughly. Additionally, his family background was impressive, and my maternal grandparents were delighted to get their daughter married to one of the heirs of the Poseidon empire. Latika believed marriage would change him, but sadly, it didn’t. He continued his old ways, disregarding her feelings. He only took her out to events to maintain his public image as a family man. Otherwise, his many affairs and mistresses kept him occupied.”

She looked at the crashing waves. “Latika never gave up on him. She thought having children would change him. However, he only became worse. His nonchalance about everything gradually eroded her spirit. She wanted to file for divorce, but his father and her parents opposed it, and she was left stuck in a hopeless marriage with no way out.”

“Fuck, that’s so sad,” Vedant said.

“It was…” Reina breathed out. “She soon slipped into depression and took to drinking. I was six, and Navya seven.”

“Oh God…” Vedant exhaled.

“My father was awful,” Reina continued. “Her depression and alcoholism angered him. He became violent and abusive toward her and ignored us. He hated it when one of us cried or complained, so we tried to remain invisible around him. But our mother… she never spoke badly of him to us. She lived for the rare moments of peace between them.”

She traced her finger on the railing. “My mother kept spiralling. One night, she had a violent fight with my father. Navya was sleeping. My mom saw me awake, hiding behind the curtain and took me back to my room. I was only eleven, but I knew she wasn’t alright. She didn’t look well. She was so sad, and she kept rubbing the left side of her chest. She tucked me in bed and returned to her room. She went to sleep and never woke up. I saw her dead body and realised I could’ve tried to help her if only I had seen the signs. That was when I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I couldn’t save my mother, but I would save other lives.”

A tear fell down her cheek. Vedant pulled her against his chest, holding her close. “It wasn’t your fault that she died. You were a child then.”

“My mother suffered a heart attack because of heartache.” Reina sniffed against his chest. “She’d been sad for too long, and it was better this way for her. Soon after, Sara and Anvay proposed to care for Navya and me. But my father wouldn’t agree to let us go live with them. Only after Navya went on a hunger strike and I refused to talk to him that he allowed them to take us in. I think in the end, he was really happy to get rid of us. Now, there was nothing to hold him back from his hedonistic lifestyle. Sara and Anvay offered to adopt us immediately, but again, he didn’t agree for the longest. It just didn’t make sense why he was posturing so much. Nonetheless, other than the rare times he came to visit us, we were mostly free of him. For the first time in our lives, we were living in a happy, healthy environment.”

“How did you both get adopted then?”

Reina shifted slightly, but Vedant kept his arm around her waist, holding her close.

“He agreed only after my grandfather passed away,” Reina said. “I was almost seventeen then. My grandfather had left most of his wealth and Poseidon’s reins to Sara. Gautam got nothing, but he left Navya and me a substantial inheritance. That enraged Gautam to no end. He bartered a deal with the Mehras, agreeing to let them adopt us in exchange for a high-ranking position with a hefty salary at Poseidon, and the freedom to do as he pleased without any interference. Mom agreed for our sake but on the condition that he’d never force us to meet him. He agreed quite easily. In the end, he was waiting to use us to negotiate with his sister. He was that awful. Luckily for us, he passed away soon after and all of us were finally free of him. Rajiv shifted base to Dubai, and we’ve lived here ever since. Over time, everyone forgot that we were adopted. Sara and Anvay became Mom and Dad to us, and Rajiv and Ananya became our siblings. They have never treated us differently. We fight like normal siblings, and we love one another to bits.”

She looked at Vedant. “But my history with my birth dad changed me. I became quieter and very focused on my studies. In school, while other girls were busy talking about boys and crushes, I was only studying. My family was delighted to learn I wanted to be a doctor. They had several contacts to get me into the best schools because of Poseidon’s name. But I refused to take any favours. I wanted to succeed on my own, and I did.”

“That’s amazing!” He smiled. “I’m sure they’re all proud of you. But wait, did you change your name to Dr. Singh because you thought you’d be treated differently if people learned you’re an heiress?”

“Yes. I didn’t want my career to be marked by even a hint of nepotism. I wanted to succeed on my own, and I did. I took my loathsome biological father’s name just so that no one knew I was Reina Mehra. I became so focused on my career that I forgot who I was. I didn’t put myself first, but then you came along and made me think differently about myself.”

She linked her fingers with his. “You know, the day… the day our birth father bargained for our adoption was the day Navya and I promised one another to never fall in love, for love only brought pain and heartache. He is the reason why I never trusted any man. I was always afraid of falling in love and becoming like my mother, of dying of heartbreak and heartache. But there you were, breaking my resistance, challenging me every moment, making me take notice of you… and I did. I so did. I couldn’t stop thinking of you, of wanting you, and yet I was so scared that you’d hurt me like he hurt my birth mom. And then…”

Vedant wiped the tears she hadn’t realised had been streaming down her face. “And then I actually did hurt you when I pushed you away. Fuck. I’m so sorry, Reina. You know I did it only to keep you safe. It was wrong of me, and I’m so Goddamn sorry.”

“I know and I believe you, Vedant,” she said. “I realise now that you and I will make mistakes, but as long as we love and trust each other, we will prevail against all odds. We will make it ahead and be happy.”

“We will, I swear it, Reina.” Vedant touched his forehead to hers. “Thank you for sharing this part of yourself with me. Please know that you are always safe with me.”

She nodded. “I have to take you home to formally introduce you to my parents, you know.”

“Yeah, about that,” Vedant said. “Armaan texted that Rajiv and Sheena are downstairs. The two of us disappeared so soon after the incident at the restaurant, and you were not answering your calls. Your brother wanted to see for himself that you’re fine, and so he’s here.”

“Rajiv’s here?” Reina sputtered. “Shit. I’ve never heard him come here before. Despite Armaan and Navya, I always thought he’s maintained a distance from your family.”

“Well, now his baby sister is also in love with an Oshnov!” Vedant grinned. “Come on, we need to go and welcome him.”

“Yes, of course…” Reina looked down at her wrinkled shirt. “Oh God, I’m a mess.”

She patted her hair. “I have to get?—”

Vedant caught her hand. “You’re perfect, okay. Let’s go meet your brother. We don’t have many people we call friends, and my brothers must be delighted to have him and Sheena home. I also need to learn what happened with Karl and if my brothers got any information from him.”

“Alright.” She moved to leave him, but he caught her hand in his and pulled her back to him.

Vedant captured her mouth with his. “Can we tell your family that you’re moving in with me?”

She chuckled. “A marriage proposal, and you’re asking me to move in with you?”

“Yes. What do you think?”

“Yes, please. Although, I have to talk to my family about it.”

His phone rang before he could say anything else. They both looked in the direction of the bedroom.

Vedant caressed her cheek. “Let’s go, beautiful. I think everyone is getting impatient.”

Taking her hand in his, he led her downstairs, where their families were waiting for them.