Married in Vengeance (Dynasty Rebels #4)

Chapter 7

Seven

RAM

Hours of greeting people and accepting their felicitations later, Ram swiped at the sweat trickling down his temple and walked towards where his father stood. The old man had strategically taken up a spot in front of one of the largest pedestal fans they’d set up for the event.

It was an unseasonably hot day or maybe it was just the fires of hell reaching up to roast him for his sins.

“Did you meet Swamiji?” Nanna said in lieu of greeting.

Ram opened his mouth to reply but his father spoke right over him. “I’m hoping to get an exclusive interview with him about the sex scandal that erupted in his ashram. When are Aadhya and you leaving for the hotel? After that I can –“

“We’re not going to the hotel,” Ram interrupted. “We’ll be going straight home.”

His father paused. “Was there a problem with the reservation?”

“No.” Ram stood right in front of the fan, shut his eyes and let the breeze cool his fevered self.

“Is there a problem?”

“No.” Ram kept his eyes shut. It was just easier that way.

“Did Aadhya and you have a fight or something?”

“Nanna.” Now, Ram opened his eyes. “Everything isn’t always about the drama.”

“Then why are you making it about the drama?” his father asked in a perfectly reasonable tone.

Ram didn’t answer.

“If it wasn’t about the drama, you’d go to the hotel with your bride, do what’s expected of you and come home tomorrow for the griha pravesh. But you’re being a little drama queen only.”

Ram gritted his teeth together. “Maybe I’m tired of doing what’s expected of me. Has that ever occurred to any of you?”

“And you decided that your wedding night is the hill you’re going to die on? This is the stand you wish to take?”

Ram stared at his father, annoyance and regret pulsing through him. “It’s not a stand. I just want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

His father shook his head. “Anybody else might buy that rubbish but I’m your father. You’ll have to do better.”

“Is this reception done yet?” Ram yanked at his tie, pulling it off.

“People have just started eating their food.” His father’s eyes were level even though his tone told Ram exactly what he thought of Ram’s behaviour.

“I’m out.” Ram said, his disappointment in himself weighing heavily. “I’m going home. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“And Aadhya?” Nanna’s frosty voice stopped him as he started to walk away.

“What about her?”

If Ram had been five years old, he had no doubt his father’s hand would have been connecting with his butt in this moment.

“Are you going to take your wife home with you?” Chaitanya Gadde asked as politely as you could when you were grinding your teeth to dust.

Ram looked around, feeling hunted. His gaze landed on Aadhya as she laughed and spoke to Raashi about something. Her hands flapped and wove through the air as she told some story.

“She looks like she’s having fun. She’ll probably want to stay longer. She can come home with you guys later.”

“Let’s ask her, shall we?”

Ram sighed as his father clapped his hands to get the attention of his daughter and new daughter-in-law.

“We’ll go to them,” Ram said before his father could call them over. He didn’t want to have to watch Aadhya struggle and walk with her heavy lehenga dragging through the grass and mud. Couldn’t she have worn something more sensible? But when had Aadhya ever been sensible ?

They walked over to where the girls were watching them expectantly.

“Aadhya beta, Ram was saying he’s tired and wanted to head home. Do you want to go with him or stay a little longer?”

He saw the hurt flash through her wide, expressive eyes as she processed his father’s question.

“Actually,” she began.

“You’d rather stay,” Ram interrupted like the ass he was being. “I told Nanna but he insisted on checking with you.”

Her stormy gaze clashed with his.

Stay.

He did his best to convey it telepathically but, as always, with Aadhya, he failed.

“I’m tired too. I think I’ll head home with Ram. Is that okay Mamagaru? If we leave the reception so early?”

“Yes, of course,” Ram’s father said expansively. “The rest of the family will hold the fort down for you guys.”

Oh? Now his father wanted to hold the fort down? When Ram wanted to go home, he was the dick who was dismantling the fort?

But there wasn’t much Ram could do now as he gestured for Aadhya to precede him. She struggled along, holding her skirts and waddling like a drunk duck beside him, the angry set to her face telling him not to bother with any offers of help.

He slowed his pace to match her waddle, keeping his hands shoved into his pockets so he didn’t reach for her. Even now, with everything that lay between them, all he wanted was to hold her, touch her, breathe her in.

She’d tried to destroy him, he reminded himself. All for her own selfish ends. If only, she’d known that all she’d had to do was ask.

If she’d asked for what she wanted, he’d have laid the world at her feet. Instead, she’d resorted to lies and trickery. Two things Ram couldn’t forgive even if his heart did its level best to forget.

They finally reached the entrance to find his car waiting for them. Someone, probably his sister, had had the foresight to call ahead and notify the valets.

Ram held the door open for Aadhya to slide in. She slid, but her heavy lehenga still trailed in the mud. He reached for it and slipped it all into the car, settling the folds around her legs.

He looked up, his gaze meeting hers and for a moment, his heart won. All he saw was her. All he felt was her. It had been like that from the moment he’d met her. She’d been his lighthouse on a stormy night, his lodestone in the midst of a tornado.

They could have been magic together. But she’d broken them. She’d broken him.

He would never forgive. Never forget.