zeal of his love

HEARTFELT PLEA

Angrey groaned, banging his hand on the table before reversing the footage a hundredth time. The IT guy whose chair he has hijacked yawned unable to understand the obsession of their underboss with this flimsy footage. There was hardly anything on it, just every family member of their king going to one room at a gap of five minutes each.

What is he even looking for, the video was not very clear either. What is the underboss trying to find? He bit his lips, clenching them in a thin line as he stifled the yawn threatening to erupt. He might be best at his job but he was sure replaceable if he disrespected the underboss. He wriggled his toes, punching stealthily the aching muscles. They had been doing the same thing for the past an hour, and he was standing still hands behind his back in the same position in case the underboss needed him. He didn't dare move a muscle as Angrey replayed the video again eyes glued to the screen. One thing he could say in the middle of all the bone-shattering tiredness was feeling that their underboss had the stamina of a cheetah.

His head lolled, lashes begging to be allowed to hug when a loud bang reconnected his short-circuited brain as his eyes slashed open,

"Mai nahi so rha tha---mai nahi so rha tha---mai nahi so rha tha..."

(I wasn't sleeping--I wasn't sleeping--I wasn't sleeping...)

He mumbled, shaking his head like a dog standing in attention. Angrey was already on his feet,

"Subha 3 se 4 bje ke beech VR Mansion ke aas pass jitney cell towers hai unsy cross-check krky mujhe sabhi outgoing calls ki details chaiye. Sab matlab sab...."

(Cross-check with all the cell towers around the VR Mansion and I want details of every outgoing call from the Mansion between 3 to 4 am. Fast...),

He nodded frantically, flinching, his body tilting to one side as Angrey placed his hand on his shoulder, fingers digging in turning the nerves numb and pain erupting through the whole body. Angrey smirked, stepping towards the door, his phone already out of his pocket fingers swiping the screen.

If he was right, he just found the traitor inside the family. Legs rushed towards the waiting car as he placed the phone near his ear, waiting for Vansh to pick up on the other side of the line.

***********************************************************************************************************

"Riddhima madam please darwaza kholiye. Please Vansh baba bahut gussa hongy agar humny aapko is halat may akela chora tha. Please humy madat karny de..."

(Madam please open the door. Boss will be very upset if we leave you alone in this condition. Please, let us help you...)

Mrs. D'Souza pleaded with Riddhima continuously tapping her locked door. She sighed, looking around at the tense fearful faces staring back at her. She pursed her lips, wiping her clammy against the edge of her saree, her taps against the door getting frantic and urgent. She stared at her watch a million times, the clock was ticking incredibly fast and she was sure the boss of the house would be back any second now and even god wouldn't be able to protect them all when Vansh found out they failed in their task of taking care of the lady of the house.

With every passing second, their death was getting more and more clear. She again looked towards the two guards assigned for the door duty, considering having the door broken down but giving up, shaking her head, and turning back to the door to scream and plead again. Who knows what would Vansh do if he saw they dared break into his and Riddhima's room? They were safe neither way, if Riddhima didn't open the door before his arrival, all of them were fucked up.