Heeriye

Twenty Nine.

Sidharth

I need to put some distance between myself and all this accountability I've been avoiding since Shehnaaz landed in my home. Kanan's call gave me the excuse I needed to get the fuck out from underneath her pleading eyes. Those eyes are the heart of the damn problem, because they make a man want to do crazy things.

Like...forgive.

Like forget.

Like apologise.

My phone pings with coordinates for a location, sent by Kanan. It's smack dab in the middle of nowhere. I get into one of my more understated vehicles, a black Range Rover, and load the location details into my GPS. Then I call Kanan from the car.

"Well?"

"We've got the place surrounded. It's a fuckin' dump."

"Who zeroed in on the location?"

"Credit goes to Vanraj here. Your uncle really pulled through for us."

Nice to know my uncle is more than just an outdated figurehead with a breeding fetish.

"Is he there, too?"

"Yup. He and his team are on the other side of the house. We're trying to determine if it's booby-trapped."

I snort. "You really think Aarush has the resources for that if he picked a shithole to keep one of the most valuable assets he's stolen from me?"

"There are cameras everywhere," Kanan muses dubiously. "We've pinpointed at least seven around the perimeters of the property and the tech squad is still working on identifying any we might be missing. Speaking of, do you want me to take them down before we move in?"

"No," I growl. "I want that fucker to see me take back what's mine. Then I want him to watch as I burn down everything else."

"Aye-aye, captain. ETA?"

"Seven minutes."

"See you soon."

When I get to the location—which lives up to Kanan's description as a desolate shithole miles away from civilization—Vanraj is standing outside one of the SUVs with my second-in-command lounging at his side and murmuring rapid-fire into a walkie-talkie.

"Decided to join the party?" Vanraj asks with a toothy smile.

"Congratulations, Uncle. I heard that you're the man to thank for this find. You'll have to tell me how you did it."

He seems jumpy as he gives me a distracted smile. "I don't want to be accused of bragging. We should really move fast."

"No need to worry. Aarush doesn't have the balls to challenge me openly. It's why he's resorting to all these underhanded methods of attack. He knows he doesn't stand a chance otherwise."

Vanraj's gaze flickers across the property. "You're that sure we're dealing with Aarush here?"

"Who else could it be?"

He shrugs. "Not everyone loves the Shuklas."

"Okay," Kanan says as he turns his attention up to us. "It looks like we're dealing with a dozen men. Fourteen, at the most."

Fourteen? The number feels low, considering what they're protecting. What the hell is Aarush up to?

Vanraj seems to be thinking the same thing I am. "Aarush clearly got the Venera formula duplicated by now. Suyansh has served his purpose. Losing him now won't be a huge loss."

"Maybe not," I snarl, reaching a sudden decision point. "But he's still my man and I'm not going to leave him to rot in there." I raise my fist in the air and bring it down hard, giving my men the signal to move in from the surrounding territory. "We don't need prisoners. Kill them all."