♔ Aarav ♔

          After lunch, Dad and Anjali leave the conference room for another meeting. I have nothing so I decide to stay in the conference room and work on my laptop. Minutes later, there is a knock on the door before Rihaan pushes it open and walks in.

I ask him in surprise, "Kid, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

He places his bag on one of the chairs and pulls another one to sit in. "Half-day, bro. Thought I'd come visit."

Jhanvi questions, "Coming to office is more interesting for you then doing something teenagers would?"

Rihaan laughs in response, "You're cute, di. But no, I came so bhai and I can watch the match."

I glance up at once given the mention of the match and stop my reading on the laptop. "Wait, it's today?"

Rihaan shakes his head in disappointment, "Keep up, brother! You are getting too caught up with work. Today's India vs. Australia. How can you forget?"

Annie comments, "Eh, might as well not watch then."

I raise a brow at her in defiance, "Excuse me?"

Annie replies in nonchalance as she continues her work, "Well, ofcourse. Australia is going to beat you guys like always."

"Will not!"

She laughs at my defense for my country's cricket team, "Darling, please. Your boys have lost the last... how many was it? Four games?"

I narrow my eyes at her in an attempt to shame her, "Just remember which country you are sitting in right now."

She chuckles shaking her head and returning to her camera, "And you might want to remember which country you were born in instead of giving me that lecture on patriotism."

I roll my eyes.

Okay, whatever.

My birth certificate might list Australia as my birth place but I was a full-out Indian.

Rihaan interjects as if he is the only adult in the room, "Okay, children. We can argue later. Can we go watch the game first?"

I nod towards the TV, "Let's just watch it here."

Rihaan has no issues with that and leans forward to grab the remotes sitting at the center of the long oval table.

Annie complains, "Hey, no. I'm working here."

"Two against one. You lose."

Jhanvi comments, "Not true. Two against two. I'm not much interested in it either."

Annie grins, "Thank you, J. You are definitely my new best friend."

I mimic them to make a mockery before pointing out, "My office. My rules."

Jhanvi clears her throat before challenging while crossing her arms over her chest, "Ahem, want to repeat that looking this way?"

I open my mouth to but cower away on seeing the hard expression on her face. One look and I understand this is a pregnancy thing. If I dared to challenge her right now, I may as well dig my own grave regardless of the fact that it is my name on the board.

Change of tactics: pleading.

I look at Rihaan and he seems to be in league.

He brings on the waterworks. Okay, exaggeration. By waterworks, I mean a charming face with that dimpled grin he gets from his father that can have any girl melting. "Di, please na. I came all the way here to spend some time with you guys. You can't put up with one match for my sake?"

Cue the pout and blinking, pleading, eyes.

The hard expression stays for one second. It changes into confliction the next. By the third second rolls around, the resolve has faded.

Jhanvi answers in a complete soft-heart as her overdrive of hormones work against her in melting her completely, "Aw, you're so sweet. Ofcourse! How about I go get us some snacks from the pantry?"

Rihaan grins and plays his part of an adorable little brother to the T going on to pretend he couldn't let a pregnant lady do all the work. "Oh, no. Please. I'll get them."

Ofcourse, it's not all pretense. I know he knows to be a perfect gentleman when need be.

It's just that it works to my advantage right now and so I do not mind this little manipulation at all.

As Rihaan leaves the conference room with a slight victorious skip in his steps, Annie shakes her head at us before advising Jhanvi, "Sweetie, you might want to not let your hormones get the best of you. When coupled, these two are heartless manipulators."

Jhanvi goes on to protest at first in disbelief, "What? Rihaan? No!" Then she takes a moment to let what just happen settle in followed by a gasp at the realization. She picks up a magazine close by and reaches over to swat my arm. "How dare you manipulate an innocent, pregnant lady!"

I defend, "I did no such thing!"

She still continues to threaten, "You will pay for this, Raizada."

I cheekily wink at her knowing all well that she is not truly mad at us for this. I glance up at the TV to turn to in with its remote. It's set on a news channel.

I am about to pull up the guide to switch to a sports channel when the current international news headlines catch my attention.

Reaching for the button, I turn up the volume to hear what the female news reporter is saying. "...initial reports. A fire broke out in the middle of this quiet neighborhood. It is said to have been a result of a gas leak. Though help arrived promptly and the fire was stopped from spreading, they could not save the house owner."

I blink away to Annie who fidgets in her seat with her head bowed to the layouts in front of her. Anything related to fires were a sensitive topic for her given her childhood. She pulls at the sleeve of her right hand with her left and I know what's underneath that she is trying to hide.

I change the channel but the next one is a news one as well. This one, I leave though given it is recalling a different report.

Jhanvi asks, "Wasn't that where...?"

The familiar images of the neighborhood had been the one to catch my attention initially. It was the same neighborhood we had obtained permission for the shoot.

I nod in response, "Yeah. I can't believe it."

My attention returns to the reporter, "In another turn of tragedies for the day, this news has just got in. Dmitri Genovese, head of the Italian mafia who was imprisoned in a secure location for the last fifteen years is now on the run. Five prison guards and the warden were found dead, shot point black while three other guards are currently in the hospital fighting for the lives. Authorities refuse to comment on how Mr. Genovese could have escaped from a maximum-security prison but for a powerful man such as himself, we are surprised he hadn't made an attempt to escape earlier. We do wonder what could have caused him to escape and if the public is in any danger. Sadly, with his connections, he could be anywhere in the country and for now, we can only look towards our government for assurance that the team be reinstated which had been responsible for bringing down the head of the family said to be feared all over Europe.

Annie shakes her head expressing her opinion, "Mafia. Mob. Don't they have anything better to do? I don't understand how any person can be capable of killing."

I exhale changing channels, "I'm just glad we decided to come back."

Had we stayed there another day...

Jhanvi's voice echoes in agreement, "Yeah."

Annie asks, "Wait, go back."

I return to the previous channel not understanding why she asked that especially since that reporter is repeating the news of the fire with the house burning in the backdrop. "What is it?"

She nods towards the TV where the picture of the dead home owner is on the corner of the screen. "Isn't that the same guy who almost ran me over?"

I pay closer attention to the image and my heart stills for a second.

Before anyone could react through, the door opens and I quickly change the channel again. We put the conversation on hold so as to not discuss the violence in front of a 14-year-old.

Rihaan returns with chips, biscuits and a 20 Oz Fanta bottle and a box of apple juice for herself. All things apple as his addiction the way Jhanvi is addicted to coffee and Annie to her energy drinks.

Still, the thoughts continue looming in my head.

Such coincidence. We were just there in that neighborhood. That man. This head of the mafia escaping. All in one day at one place. Where is that ever head of?

I shake my head mentally, telling myself there are enough of our own problems without having to take concern in odd occurrences halfway across the world. Yes, we were in close vicinity but we were back in India now. Chances of any of us ever returning to the same location were next to nil.

There was no point in worrying over what didn't happen.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          The moment I always feared came when I least expected it in a place where I thought I would be the safest. It only goes to say no one is really safe anywhere as they think they are.

That moment, my world stopped. Those words, chilled my bones like never before.

My biggest fear, standing in front of me.

"Hello, son."

As much as my brain told me it was a bad dream, I knew I was wide awake. I turn away from the TV and towards the voice. There was Shyam, standing at the doorway as if he had the right to casually stroll inside the office - as if he owned it.

At once, I stand up pushing the chair back. The very first thought in my brain to keep the three people in this room with me far away from him. Jhanvi was already on my left side, farthest from him but Rihaan and Annie were on the other side of the table - closer to him than me.

"Rihaan," I say his name and even if he had not seen Shyam's photo and know how he looked like, he understood the urgency of the situation. He moved towards me and with Annie, both stood by Jhanvi.

"Get out." I tell the man with the audacity to stand in front of me and call me that word he has no business saying. I refuse to blink away from him and let him see how affected and rattled I am to see him in such close vicinity.

He should not have been allowed to enter this building. Heck, he should still be in prison for few more months.

Shyam dares to nag, taking a step further inside the conference room. My hands curl into a fist, trying to contain my fear. "Come on, son. That is no way to talk to your father. Has your mother not taught you better?"

My teeth clench as anger replaces fear. But no, I will not give him that satisfaction. "You are not welcome here. Get out before I have security throw you out."

He laughs in humor, "Oh, that same inefficient security which I bypassed to get here without any trouble? Really, I have to say I am disappointed. I expected a challenge."

As much as he poses a valid question on how the hell he was allowed inside, I do not have a moment to spare over it. From behind me, I feel my phone being taken out of my back pocket. It had to be either Rihaan or Annie as they'd know how to reach Vikas.

Perhaps on seeing the blank expression remain on my face, the humor leaves his eyes as well. "Relax, I am not here to hurt anyone."

And I am not a fool to believe that.

He goes proving me right by adding, "Yet."

I return the evil gleam in his eyes with a hard glare. If he thinks he can come at us again as easily as last time or that he'll be a step ahead of us again, he has another thing coming his way.

Before I could answer to him, Annie speaks up. "Security is on its way so it's best you leave before you find yourself in prison again."

I close my eyes for a brief second trying to conceal my emotions. As much as I am relieved she sent the message, she should not have spoken up and drawn his attention to her. Till date, we've kept her far away from the family's biggest enemy.

My eyes reopen when he questions, "And who are you?"

I hold in my breath, praying he'll fail to read into the situation.

His eyes travel to my other side and that devil of a smile appears on his face again that makes me want to do something dark and criminal. "You. You must be my bahu, hmm?"

I have no interest in asking him this, but I still ask the question to pull his attention to me instead of either Annie or Jhanvi. I won't tolerate him looking at either of them with his evil ways. "Why are you here?"

As expected, he is so desperate to have my attention that he forgets all about them and returns his focus on me. "Why else? You refused to come to me. So, I figured I would come to you." He starts to walk towards the tables and pulls out a chair to sit on. "We have a long overdue chat, don't you think?"

I scoff at his delusion that I have anything I would like to say to him, "Then you're going to leave disappointed."

"Leave?" He chuckles turning the chair in my direction. "Aarav, son, I have just gotten back."

I speak through clenched jaw hating every word that comes out of his mouth. "I - am - not - your - son."

He rolls his eyes as if irritation at my resistance, "Just because that surrogate father of yours signed your adoption papers does not make you his son. It is my blood that runs in your veins."

Calm, Aarav. Calm. That is the only way to put him off his balance. I cannot let him spot even a flicker of emotion on my face.

Unclenching my jaw and relaxing my hand, I place them atop the table and lean in casually to show him I am not intimidated or scared by his presence, even if the real story in my heart is the complete opposite. "Let me guess. You are here to prove you are a better father then him? Then think again. Because nothing in me is yours. All you did was contribute your DNA. Forcefully."

His features harden. Finally. Mad. I should not be satisfied at getting under his skin as there is no saying how dangerously he could retaliate, but someone had to put him in his place. I refuse to let him wander into my life and demean my family.

There is no world in which I will ever acknowledge our relationship because in my mind, it does not exist.

And then, that satisfaction falters as his expression transform from a hard glare to a smile again. "No."

What?

"No, I am not here to prove he is a better father. I am here to prove I am your father and a son's rightful place is by his father. Not with his pretend family."

Oh, the nerve of him. That flare of anger flows through my veins again and there is this pretty picture of smashing his head against something. The wall. Or the glass table. Both would hurt and leave him bleeding, yes?

No. I swallow that anger, reminding myself not to give him an image of anything remotely dark inside of me. That darkness that I get from him - the only thing in me because of him - he will never see.

"My rightful place is here. I am already by my dad's side. So, sorry to say, but this was a wasted trip of yours." I calmly answer though there is a storm raging inside of me.

As if on cue, Vikas enters the room with a cocked gun in his hands.

I nod my head towards him, standing back and speaking to Shyam, "Time for you to leave."

Shyam's eyes flickers behind him to see Vikas and catch my meaning. Shaking his head, as if disappointed, he stands up. But before he would leave, he does not leave the chance to have the last word. "I have many things to achieve first. But I'm not worried. By the time I am done, you will come to me yourself. Willingly."

But, I also refuse to stand down. "That will never happen."

He smiles confidently that has my nerves rushing. His eyes flicker past me to Jhanvi, then Rihaan, and Annie before returning to me. "We'll see."

Vikas warns him, "Enough. Leave before I shoot you and trust me, I will very much enjoy it." This was him. Protective of us beyond the scope of his job.

Though he manages to make him leave, the storm inside of me does not leave with him. He upturned every repressed stone in my heart, brewing them all to the surface. His parting words... a threat or a promise. Neither of which seemed less dangerous in my book.

We have already seen what he was capable of 20 years ago. To what extent will he go now?

I did not like for a second how he looked at Jhanvi, Rihaan and Annie. Because... we know what he does best. He uses people we care about against us. He turns our biggest strengths into our weaknesses. And, he doesn't do his own dirty work. He gets others to do his bidding for him.

All these unsettling thoughts. Seeing him unexpectedly. Not being ready for it.

I swallow harshly before my eyes settle on the glass of water. Before I could finish constructing my thoughts of letting out my anger in form of violence, a hand wraps around my wrist to stop me.

I follow it to Annie's instructing voice, "Don't even."

My eyes remain blank and dark. I can feel the red. The murderous gleam threatening at the brink. The temptation to give in to the darkness and anger and hatred for his existence.

It was, however, harder to do when Annie was persistent and despite the anger ebbing its flow, she pulls me tightly in her embrace as if she were the light snuffing out the darkness and taking away all of my anger - refusing to let me give in.

Even when after minutes I manage to fight it, the thought does not leave my brain that life just turned ten times more real. Danger is lurking at every corner and it is impossible to find a safe haven for all of us.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          Everything - the rest of the day - is a blur, but it isn't. The second the rest of the family hears about Shyam's arrival, it is chaos. Dad taking a class of the security team for not doing their job and allowing him to walk in freely. Khushi consoling mom to not be afraid. Lavanya mom after me, repeatedly asking me to tell her everything. Sam trying to convince her to not get so hyper.

I call it a line when Armaan suggests to dad to increase my security and dad was ready to support it. "Okay, that's enough. All of you need to chill. I am not a child anymore."

Dad tries to counter, "But..."

"Eh. Zip it," I scold him before scolding all of them, "Look at you guys! Getting hyper like it's the start of World War III. Can you all instead act like mature, composed, adults?"

Lavanya tries to argue, "Composed? How can you expect us to not...?"

With a sigh, I walk over to her and place my hands on her shoulders. "Mom, please. We have to pull it together. You are freaking Jhanvi out."

The said person speaks up, "Hey, speak for yourself!"

I grumble a sigh again. Great. One person I hoped would be on my side and not betray my inner feelings. But, honestly, if you ask me, I am surprised at how composed she is right now - the complete opposite of everyone.

Here, I am merely trying to pull the act that after a few hours of that fiasco in the conference room, I am A-okay. But at the end of the day, it is still an act. For Jhanvi, however, I imagine she is being real.

I know very well the impressive control she has over her emotions so I cannot even call her out and argue that she is lying. She really is the only composed one here.

She adds, "But, if you all wouldn't mind, I would like to eat dinner now. Can you not hear my stomach growling?"

It is a blessing how easy it is to distract these lot of people. At once, they shower concern and love over her - pampering her to the dining table and apologizing profusely for getting carried away. At the top of that list is dad.

I give him a curious look, burrowing my forehead at the scene in front of me, but his entire attention is now on her.

Jhanvi chuckles in response to him, "Geez, dad. I know what I said before but tone it down. All this love will kill me one day."

I completely ignore everything she says after I hear the word 'dad' coming out of her mouth. Does that... does that mean she accepts this relationship between us?

The look she passes to me before sitting in the chair at the dining table is one of the upcoming talk... as if it's high time we needed to - of all the times since we have returned to Mumbai when I called her my girlfriend without discussing it with her first, when Arshiya and Kriana called her bhabhi, when everyone has been treating us as a couple even when a few days ago she'd told me she needed time.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

  ∞ author note ∞

Okay, let's hear all the curses for Shyam >.< and the cute aww's for Rihaan and the sad aww's for Aarav.

This chapter is very important for future. Anyone up for guessing why?

QOTC: The Raizada family rattled... justified or no? I say they disappoint me because they've known this was coming so they should have been more 'put together' than freaking out :P What do you figure Shyam's game would be this time? 

...One more chapter till the big finish... I'm nervous. You?