ARYAN
When Kethaki walked into the room in that pink saree, I was close to returning to the 13 year old Aryan inside of me, and apologise to him for cursing at him for thinking about her in the dirty ways he did.
Seeing her enter the room with that slight anger on her nose, lips sealed shut and eyes cast downwards, I was suddenly compelled with the urge to bring her attention to me.
Like always. Like before! I was getting tired of it. Tired of it all.
When I had gotten the chance to be the holder of her attention, and the owner of her anger, I jumped on it. My actions not only surprised her and the room, but also myself.
And that's where things turned for the worst. It wasn't her being near me. Or her touching and feeling my hand like the way she did. Or her counting my calluses with her soft fingertips. Nor was it the way she exclaimed that they were the result of me going to the gym regularly.
It was the day of my marriage being announced.
Bribing their family pandit was my last attempt at stopping this wedding. Last. There was no way I could convince Papa to change his mind. Or Viraj Uncle. Kethaki was set out on torturing me, so there was no point in asking her to change her mind. Nor would I beg her or ask her for anything, so changing her mind was out of the question. I couldn't take back my word either.
It was a mess.
When I found out that the Thakur family's Guru Ji was coming to read our kundli and his decision and call would finalise everything, I jumped on the opportunity like a starved dog on a bone. It was what I needed. One last shot at stopping this. And, so I did.
"You think this would work?" Parth asked as he eyed the envelope of cash he held in his hands.
"Just do it," I asked him.
"You are asking me to bribe a Man of God!" Parth said.
I looked at him. I didn't have time for his bullshit. "And what exactly are your reservations against it?"
"None."
"Then why question it?"
"To get on your nerves?"
"Well, mission accomplished."
"Good." He left the office with that.
I sighed and relaxed against the backrest. The paperwork for the collaboration with the Murthy Group was on the table before me. This deal would not only bring in millions but will solidify the front. More was never too much, especially if it was another legitimate business. And to think that Papa threatened to take it away from me. All for my marriage with her.
I rolled my chair closer to the table and grabbed the pen. There was a file with the details of the project, one on the numbers and finances and one with the logistics. I had a lot of work, so much work, and yet, my mind strayed to her, and tomorrow's lunch.
But thanks to a few green notes and a best friend who doesn't feel bad about corrupting people, you could do anything.
I just had to wait for Parth to call and give me the good news and I could rest and leave it all behind.
So, I started working, after somehow bringing my attention back to it. There was a chatter in the office, and my team was working to finalize the deal. It was important to them for an entirely different reason. They wanted their yearly bonus. And they wanted to keep their jobs.
My phone went off, and I was not proud of how quickly I picked it up, but I did pick up the minute it rang. It wasn't Parth. It was someone else.
A call I wasn't expecting; at least not so soon.
I picked it up and waited for the message.
"We have the package in the mailroom. We are awaiting your signature," Karan said.
"Tend to it and make sure it's safe. I will be there in an hour to sign it," I said and hung up.
This was the news I was waiting for quite a while. And almost managed to put me in a better mood. But maybe until I get the confirmation from Parth, I won't sit and rest. So, I just called my driver to drive me to Mailroom.
I closed the files and walked out of the office. The office stood still and nobody moved from their places, as I came in their view. My assistant followed me, while I made my way over to the elevator.
"Take care of the files on the table," I told Veer.
He nodded and asked, "Mr Rathore asked me to cancel all your appointments for tomorrow, so when should I reschedule them?"
I paused and looked at him. He stared back. "Did I ask you to cancel them?"
"He has the authority to fire me," Veer said.
"So do I," I replied.
"He can get me killed if I don't listen to him," he replied.
"So can I."
"I am more scared of him than I am of you."
I narrowed my eyes and walked over to him. "Reschedule the ones at 9 am, 11:30 am, and 1 pm. I will be here at 2 for the meeting at 2:30."
He nodded. "Noted."
I walked in the elevator and until the doors slid shut, not one person said a word or made a peep. I relished in their fear of me. It ensures timely work, no snooping in fear of being caught, and timely circulation of employees. Most leave after a maximum of three years, and that was not enough time to know what happened behind the scenes.
As I walked out of the elevator, my driver was already waiting in the car. I didn't need my driver to open the door for me. Just drive for me, so that I could focus on other important stuff. Like calling Parth and Shivansh.
As I sat in, Tilak Kaka nodded at me, and I nodded back. I respected that man. In his prime, he had worked in Papa's inner circle as a getaway driver. Now, after 55, he worked for me as my driver, and would later be asked to retire. His son was my assistant after all, and we took care of our employees.
I called Shivansh first, and he picked up in the third ring.
"Yes?" He asked.
"The package has arrived, and I am on my way to the mailroom. Come over," I said.
"Is it..." he confirmed.
"Yes."
"On it."
I hung up and thought of calling Parth. It had been two hours and there was no update. I couldn't text him about this. I called him anyway.
"Don't worry, I am working on it," he said the minute he picked up.
"The package has arrived."
There was a pause. "Dammit! This is taking a little longer. You two go on ahead, I will meet you at the Mailroom."
I hung up. Tilak Kaka drove over to the city outskirts and I reached the Mailroom.
"Leave the car here, and go home. I won't be needing your services for the rest of the day," I told him and grabbed the keys he gave me.
I eyed the abandoned 50-year-old building, situated in the middle of the route to Suryagarh Haveli, the palace which was to be converted into a resort. A part of the palace was reserved for the Royals to live in, another was left for us. Both were separate and were far from the main Palace Resort which maintained the privacy that we needed when we used it.
That's when I found out about this place. It was a disputed property and would remain disputed until we no longer needed it.
Karan walked out of the main door with Rajat and Darsh following him.
"Did you take care of it, when I wasn't there to personally assist it?" I asked Karan.
He nodded. "The package is expecting your arrival."
At dusk, under pale purple light, Shivansh's car's headlight shone, as he parked his car opposite mine. He got out and came to stand with us.
"Papa wants an update after the package is opened, and I am assuming Dev uncle would want one, so tomorrow, after the date of your wedding is decided, let's sit down after lunch," he said.
Nothing in the world could have prepared me for that statement.
"Wait, you are getting married?" Came the question I dreaded the most. Karan's eyes were wide and his jaw was on the ground, in the dust.
"Yes," said my soon-to-be brother-in-law. For now.
There was an audible gasp from Karan. Even the stoic Rajat and Darsh looked puzzled.
"To?" Asked my employee who loved to cross boundaries. Karan would get punched, for sure, one day.
"Kethaki Thakur," Parth's voice interrupted my interrogation.
"To whom?" All three asked in disbelief.
Parth walked over to us and draped his arm around Shivash's shoulder. "His sister."
"What the fuck!" They said again.
This bullshit had gone for far too long. "Is there anything that you would like to say?" I asked them, and Rajat and Darsh shut up. Karan composed himself and straightened.
"That the package is waiting for you."
Parth and Shivansh laughed. I ignored them all and walked in. The Mailroom was kept in its rundown state. There was no point in maintaining it. As I walked in, I reached for the door, which made this particular property better than most in this area. The secret door to the basement.
I pulled open the trapdoor and walked down the stairs leading to the basement. The sight that greeted me was perfection.
Dino Russo was tied to the chair, his lip busted, cuts and bruises around his arms and biceps, his white tank torn to bits, and sweat coating his skin. Saliva dripped down his lips as he sat there, unconscious. Two guards who kept an eye on him nodded as they greeted me.
A second later, Parth and Shivansh walked down the stairs.
Karan signalled one of them, who stood by a large bucket of water. He picked it up and splashed the water on the captive's head. While this was happening, I took off my blazer, and the moonstone ring from my finger, which belonged to my mother. Behind me, Parth also took off his blazer and all three of us rolled our sleeves. It was a bad day for me to wear a white shirt. Parth wore a dark grey shirt so he was set and I was sure Shivansh changed into a black shirt before he came here.
Even after splashing the water, our guest didn't wake up. Karan grabbed his face and shook it. I could see his bruises better now. There weren't many. They just broke him in. We got to have fun with him.
Karan kept slapping him, throwing his head around some more until he woke up.
Upon looking at us, he snarled.
"You look so happy to see us," Parth said.
He growled.
"Did you cut off his tongue?" I asked Karan.
"Nah. He is just being an asshole, like his kind."
"We Italians are honourable. Take our name with a little respect," he spoke in his thick accent.
"Ah," I said and grabbed a seat to sit in front of him. "Is that why you and your people decided to attack my sisters in our vacation house when they were in Bora Bora eight months ago?"
He paused.
"Or, like how your cousins decided it would be so funny to try and steal my shipments to Spain?" Parth asked as he checked the sharpness of his collection of knives, displayed on the wall.
That had him straightening a bit more. Then, he turned to Shivansh, who leaned against the wall opposite him, observing silently.
"I am here to have fun."
"You have the wrong people," he began and would have held his hands up if it weren't for the ropes tying them behind his back. "We didn't do any of that."
Parth tsked. "Now now, Dino. I don't think Enzo would appreciate you not owning up to your actions." He grabbed another chair and placed it beside me. "You Italians love to own up to your shit. Even the ones that don't concern you."
That seemed to trigger him.
"If you think that you can stop the Italians from creating a base in India, and take over South Asia, then, you are wrong!" He yelled.
Shivansh's punch came out of nowhere.
Dino laughed. "You can punch me all you want, stronzo!" He said and spat right on my shoe. "Your punches won't stop what has already begun!"
I stared at him. "Why were you sent to India?"
He laughed again. "Oh, you would love to know that, wouldn't you?"
Shivansh punched him hard again, and his blood splattered on my shoe, in his spit.
"Start answering him or I will get to work as well." Parth pulled out his favourite dagger. The one he made himself, and was the sharpest knife in his collection. Then, after he walked behind him, he grabbed his finger.
"Sei uno scemo," Dino said but tried to flex his finger out of Parth's grip. "Do whatever you want. It has begun, anyways!" He gulped and kept his attention on the finger in Parth's hand.
Parth's ways of torturing were a bit unconventional. When a normal person would pull out the nail, Parth would insert the tip of his blade under the nail, and pry it off. He argued that it took a longer time, hurt more, and the screams were louder. So, that's what he did.
Dino's screams were muffled inside the room, and the passersby on the road were completely unaware of what was happening underground. Shivansh took a plier from the table and grabbed the septum he wore. The minute his screams of pain died into grunts, Shivansh pulled out his septum and screamed again.
They went on for a few minutes, and by the time every nail was removed and all his piercings were taken off, Dino was a bloody mess.
"Will you talk now?" I asked.
He cried, but shook his head, nonetheless.
I looked over at Karan and nodded. He left with Darsh and Rajat.
"What? Bringing more tools to torture me with, because none of your attempts worked till now?" Dino asked. His voice was hoarse from the screaming.
"Something like that," I replied.
"Whatever you do, Indian. There is no way you would convince me. I will never, ever, betray my family!"
That had me smiling. "Let's see shall we?"
He spat.
That disgusting habit of his was my last nerve. The minute his spit landed on the floor, the smile dropped from my face. I grabbed the knuckle duster and put it on my right hand. Then, punched him. Then another punch came. And another. I didn't stop. Not when the blood was splattering on my face and the walls. Not when I could hear his teeth break. Not even when I broke his jaw and cheekbone.
Parth and Shivansh came over to stop me.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Parth said. "Stop."
"We don't want to kill him yet," Shivansh said from my left.
"Not before he sees the gift we have for him," Parth said.
Dino's busted eyes remained shut, but the other was left untouched, and in shape enough for him to see. "What is he talking about?" He asked.
"You know, you keep saying 'you Indians' this and 'you Indians' that," I said, and threw the knuckle duster on the floor. "But we have one thing in common," I said, kicking the chair I was sitting on to remove it from his view. The room was now open enough for a show. "We love our family."
"And," Parth said and opened the door further. "We, especially, love our women."
Karan descended the stairs with a woman behind him, bound and gagged. She looked terrified.
Dino roared and started struggling in his chair. "You keep your hands off her!"
In retaliation, Karan grabbed a piece of her matted hair, and gently tucked it behind her ear. "It's okay, Dino. I am gentle with women." Then, he removed her gag.
Dino thrashed. He screamed and cursed and said some words in Italian which even I couldn't understand.
"Dino..." she whimpered as Karan kept touching her cheek. "Dino, what is happening?" She asked. "How am I in India? I was in the States and then...'" She paused and looked like she was focusing on her memory. "And then, someone hit me on the head when I was returning from work, and then I woke up in this dark room. Oh god, Dino! Dino, I am scared," she said and kept brushing off Karan's touch.
"You keep your hands off her!" He roared.
"Will you talk now?" I asked.
"Dino, help me!" She screamed as Karan grabbed her by the hair and pushed her on her knees.
"Stop touching her!" Dino screamed at Karan.
"If you want this to stop," Shivansh said, "then start talking!"
"Cara mia..." Dino whispered, his voice thick with emotions. Love. The emotion I knew well enough to exploit. Love was the downfall of men. "Not my Bianca!" He whimpered.
"I can be rough as well, Dino," Karan said, and to demonstrate, he pulled her head up with her hair, and she screamed in fear.
"Okay, okay!" He begged. "Just stop! Stop!" He cried louder.
I turned to look at my captive. There were some screams, some begging and some whimpers behind me. Karan didn't stop for the next two minutes, and Dino thrashed in his chair until he screamed for mercy. The noises stopped.
"You went too far, Rathore!" Dino said, his eyes on the girl he allegedly loved.
"You started it eight months ago," I said, then sat on the chair against the wall. "Talk!"
And he did. He spoke like a parrot. As he revealed details, my hands itched to hit him more. These Italians believed that we were greedy and could be bought like those Americans. That we would like Delhi become their Chicago and New York.
When we had the information we needed, Bianca looked at me. I nodded.
She got up and removed the ropes from her hands. She straightened and brushed off the dirt on her clothes and hair. Then, she smiled at Dino.
"Thanks, my love," she told Dino, who sat on his chair, looking confused and shocked.
"Come on, you are smart," she said, and rolled her eyes when Dino looked at her, crushed. His eyes accused her. "I was a plant? To find you and bring you to India? After what you did to Aryan's sisters?"
Dino didn't speak.
Shivansh walked to Dino and pulled his head up with his hair. "Tell, Enzo, that he was able to take over the weak West, but not my country. India is ours, and we would die before we let a shitty little foreigner take it," Shivansh said.
"Our country belongs to us, you scrawny little Italian," Parth said.
"We really do love our women, don't we?" I said as I pulled out my Glock.
"Live with the reality that you were betrayed by your woman for ten more seconds, Dino," I said, as I raised my arm and pointed my gun at him. "Because you are going to die with the knowledge of what would happen to your family after Enzo finds out that you betrayed him."
His eyes widened, and before he could speak, I pulled the trigger. Then, Parth shot a second bullet for his shipment and good measure.
"This was fun," Shivansh said. "And informative."
"Wait, what happened to the work, I asked you to do?" I asked Parth.
"Oh yeah, that's taken care of," He said and waved his hands to dismiss it. "It was like clockwork."
It wasn't like clockwork, because Guru Ji just announced the date of my wedding with Kethaki.
The room erupted in a roar, and champagne was popped open. Someone passed me a glass, and another brought Kethaki to stand by my side. She stood stunned as she witnessed the celebration. I looked at everyone laughing, chatting and congratulating each other.
Papa walked over to me. "This is the best news of my life, my son," he said and hugged me. Then, he turned to Kethaki and placed his hand on her head. "Welcome to our home, beta." She smiled at him.
Tara Maa almost squeezed her. "We are all so happy," she said as she had her arms around her.
Jaya Aunty came. She had tears in her eyes. She held her daughter's face tenderly in her hands and lightly brushed the hair out of her face. "Mera bachha!" She exclaimed. Then, she turned to look for her husband, who stood away from everyone looking at his daughter.
"Viraj," Jaya Aunty said extending her arm out to her husband. That gave him strength, apparently, because he came over to us barely containing his tears. This was the first time I had seen him cry.
Viraj Thakur was crying. I was uncomfortable, to say the least.
"Are you sure?" He asked Kethaki. "I know we pressured you, but you will always have the option to stop everything if you wish," he told her, then pulled her to his chest. "Anytime! Remember that!"
She just stood. Silent. She nodded at everything he was saying but did not speak.
It felt good knowing she was hurting too.
Viraj Uncle and Jaya Aunty turned to me. "Remember, I beat the shit out of my kidnappers," Jaya Aunty said.
"And my bullet always finds its target," Viraj Uncle said, extending his hand to me. I shook it, and when I pulled back, he grabbed it tighter and stared down at me. It didn't help that I was the shortest amongst all the men here at 5'11. And with Viraj Uncle being 6'2 he was even taller than my dad. "Remember that." With that, he gave my hand one last squeeze.
Huh, one would think that he was marrying his daughter to me, against his wishes.
"Understood!"
"Oh my god, watch where you're going!" Maithili's voice came from somewhere in the room. "You dropped your drink on me!"
"You bumped into me!" Said Parth.
I tuned them out because the minute our parents left to celebrate with the others, I wanted to leave to look for Parth, who followed Maithili into the home, and down the hall behind the stairs.
"Are you happy now?" Kethaki said.
Fuck, she was the last person I wanted to talk to. "What do you mean?"
"This! All of this is your fault."
I turned to face her. "My fault? You are the one who said yes, first!"
"Because I had to! I had no other option, but you were not bound!"
Sometimes, I wanted to shake her and get her head right. I could feel my temper rising and my voice too. "Don't you remember Papa's threat?"
She shushed me. "Keep your voice down!" She looked around, and when she noticed everyone was busy, she grabbed my hand and led me down the same hall Parth and Maithili had walked to.
Good! Because the minute I get my hands on that motherfucker, he was as good as dead. When we reached there, however, I witnessed a sight inside the bathroom I probably would never be able to forget. Ever.
Parth and Maithili were busy throwing water at each other. Not hosing each other, but scooping water in their hands and just... throwing it at each other. What was happening today? He was 29 years old, for fuck's sake. And she was training to become a doctor!
Kethaki stared at them. Then, she knocked on the door. More, like, banged on the door.
Maithili's hair was wet and so was her face. There was a big patch of wet shirt on her shoulder, probably where the champagne was spilt. Parth's shirt was wet. Completely. That's not even where he spilt the champagne.
"If Radha and Krishna are done playing Holi with each other," Kethaki said with an extremely calm demeanour. "Then, leave!"
~*~
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