Married in Vengeance (Dynasty Rebels #4)

Chapter 5

Five

RAM

Later that evening, Ram stood beneath the shower in his private bathroom, eyes closed, arms braced against the wall, the water running down his neck and back.

It was done. He was a married man now.

Someone hammered on the bathroom door. Ram ignored it, a harsh exhale escaping him. What had he done? What the fuck had he done?

“Rammmm!”

“Ram, open up!”

“Or we’ll break the door down.”

“Fuck!” he cursed under his breath, turning the shower off and swiping streaming water from his eyes. He stepped out of the cubicle and grabbed a towel, drying himself. His suit pants and shirt were hanging on the hooks on the back of the door and he shrugged into them quickly. The mob outside was quite capable of breaking the door down.

He glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, a split second before he looked away. It would be a while before he could face himself again, if ever.

“There he is! The man of the hour!” Harsh Kodela, his brother-in-law crowed the minute the door was open and the whole lot of them crowded into the room. A second later, Harsh’s wide grin dimmed. “Is that what you’re wearing to your wedding reception?”

Ram glanced down at himself as he shrugged into his suit jacket. “Yes,” he muttered.

“Dude, that style is about a decade behind.” Harsh was frowning now. “Why didn’t you tell me you need help? I would have helped you with your outfits for the wedding.”

“I didn’t need help. I like what I’m wearing.” Ram muttered, not meeting Agastya’s gaze. His other brother-in-law, Agastya Kodela, stood in a corner of the room, his arms folded across his chest as he watched Ram, a contemplative look on his face.

Ram ran a brush through his hair, not bothering to gel it into submission. He quickly knotted his tie, tightening it until it felt a lot like a noose around his neck. Just like this marriage.

“It will take us an hour in traffic to reach the venue,” Agastya said now, his voice level and authoritative as always. “We should leave in ten minutes so we can make it on time.”

“Your convoy will clear the road,” Harsh countered. He pulled out a hip flask and looked around the room. “We need shot glasses. Where can we find some?”

“We aren’t doing shots.” Ram and Agastya snarled at the same time.

Virat chuckled as Harsh shrugged and pocketed his hip flask. Virat hadn’t said a word, as yet, and he was the only one in this room who knew the truth of this marriage.

“We should get going,” Ram muttered.

“In a hurry to meet your wife?” Harsh winked, his good humour rubbing against Ram’s last nerve.

“Let’s go, man.” Virat clapped a hand on Harsh’s back and ushered him out of the room before he managed to push any more of Ram’s buttons.

Ram went to follow but a large hand came down on his shoulder, holding him back. The door shut behind Virat and Harsh, silence descending on the other two occupants of the room.

“I’m not in the mood, Kodela,” Ram gritted out.

“I can see that, Gadde,” Agastya said mildly. “Why exactly aren’t you in the mood?”

Ram paused. At the best of times, he wasn’t a great actor. And this certainly wasn’t the best of times.

“I don’t need you to bust my balls right now.”

“I wasn’t planning to. How can I help?” Agastya asked gently.

Ram’s shoulders slumped, his breath leaving him in a shuddering exhale. He could handle anger, irritation, even good-natured taunting. But he really couldn’t handle compassion. Not right now.

“You and I, we’re like opposite poles on a magnet,” Agastya continued. “Repel each other but still so damn alike.”

Ram grunted. “Thanks for the last-minute philosophy lesson but I have a wedding reception to get to.”

“Why did you marry Aadhya?” The question came out of left field.

Shoulders stiffening, Ram shot his cuffs. “Because I wanted to.”

Agastya didn’t say anything. After a beat of silence, Ram asked, “Why did you marry Veda?”

Agastya’s hand clenched on Ram’s shoulder. After a second loaded with the weight of past mistakes and painful memories, he said, “Because I wanted to.”

Ram scoffed, shaking his head and pulling out of Agastya’s grasp.

“And because I was a dick,” Agastya continued. “Are you being a dick, Gadde?”

Ram flexed his right hand, fingers clenching and unclenching. “Is there a point to this?”

“Aadhya is like my sister.”

“And Veda is my sister. Not just like my sister.” Ram’s fury roared. “It didn’t stop you from fucking up, did it?”

“Is that what you’re doing? Fucking up?” Agastya gazed at him steadily.

Ram shook his head, running a hand through his hair and tugging. He needed to keep his mouth shut and his head in the game. This waffling around wasn’t going to work. He needed his conscience to shut up so he could focus on the mental chess game he had in play against Aadhya.

“I just want to help,” Agastya said quietly. “I want you to be happy.”

Happy…There were many things lined up for Ram’s present and future. Happiness was not one of them.

“Keep my sister happy, Kodela,” Ram said gruffly. “And keep your meddling nose the fuck out of my life.”

The bedroom door opened again and Harsh stuck his head in. “Are the two of you having a midlife crisis or something in here?”

“They’re probably doing secret shots,” Virat drawled from somewhere behind Harsh.

Harsh rolled his eyes. “Please! Know your audience! These two wouldn’t do a shot even if it poured itself down their throats.”

“Listen Bridegroom, if we don’t leave soon, Aadhya’s family will send a search party looking for us.” Virat popped his head around Harsh’s, his gaze lasering into Ram’s.

Too late, buddy, that look told him. Too fucking late.

Ram shot Virat a mental middle finger. He didn’t need Virat’s ‘told you so’s’ in his head. He had his own mental critic screaming at the top of his lungs.

Agastya shot Ram one last look before they all left the room. “Whatever you’re planning,” Agastya murmured. “Don’t.”

“Just keep walking, Kodela. It’s my wedding reception and I don’t intend to be late for it.”

“We’re already late,” Virat said, leading the way. “The families are going to be pissed.”

“Not a problem.” Agastya smacked his hands together. “That’s easy enough to deal with.”

“How?” Ram glared at him as they walked out onto the foyer of Gadde mansion.

“We’ll just blame it on Harsh.”