Skeletons in closet.

Ranveer

2020

The one thing I had learned over the years was it was important to acknowledge my weakness and work with it to turn it into my strength.

The first few weeks at CSU had been hard. It sucked to be around people who paid so much of their attention significantly to a set of 'who says what' about them. When I walked through the halls, people backed away with terror, judgment, and disgust. It didn't bother me because I couldn't care any less about people who weren't worth my while.

I saw many fellow students loitering around in the hallway, muttering among themselves. I caught their gaze and they shut up. I lowered my head to hide my smirk as I strode to the lecture hall.

"Is this college even safe with a drug peddler on the loose?" Someone yelled and I stopped. "What if his junkie friends show up and terrorize us?"

"Do you have a hooker? I have heard so much about the infamous Ranveer Goyal."

I steeled my jaw, exasperated. Goddamn it. It was insufferable and I was pissed. I narrowed my eyes as I turned to face the guys I didn't know anything about across me.

"Did you get fucked in your ass when you were away?" one of them asked and the other added, "how did that feel?"

I clenched my fist, damn near ready to punch his fucking face. I lifted my chin and glared at him. "Are you done?"

"It's not fair you got a lesser sentence. Had it been a commoner, it would have been years and years of imprisonment. This justice system is a shame."

I sneered, shaking my head. "Are you jealous?"

"Did you run to your father when you were raped in the jail?"

My chest rose and fell with fury. "Shut up," I pinned him with a warning but he didn't take me seriously.

I shot up and whipped this fucking face against the wall on the opposite side. "Fuck!" he bellowed and I slammed his face again with a right hook. I heard a few scream and gasp. "You broke my nose?" He darted his hand to his nose and stumbled backward.

I made a beeline for the other guy and he backed up against the wall. Sweat broke out on my body as I reared up my fist and punched him across his jaw.

"Listen to me very carefully," I demanded and stepped away from both of them. "Look at me and tell me you see someone afraid of killing people." He winced, blood trickling from his nose. "You must know by now that jail doesn't scare me so don't push your shitty luck and stay the hell away from me."

I walked to the dean's office before someone came looking for me. I didn't care if my reputation preceded me as a fucking criminal of the campus but I'd had enough.

*

I watched a girl—I didn't remember the name of—in the center of the crowded living room of Aagnay's apartment, eye-fucking Aagnay and taunting him. He poured himself a glass of drink and I tore my gaze away from the weirdly dancing girl.

"We have a problem," he announced as he handed me the glass of scotch and I jerked my chin to silently urge him to continue. "It seems like Kunal has caught up to my business."

My muscles tightened as I looked ahead to spot Kunal with Maira. "I had my suspicions," I muttered to the mouth of the glass and tossed it back.

"It has to be taken care of," he demanded and I nodded. "I suppose I can delegate that to your disposal."

"Sure you can." I drank from my glass and set my gaze on him. "You will get what you want, in the meantime, I advise you to keep calm and lay low."

"Kunal doesn't want to continue his liaison with Maira." He set his glass on the bar countertop.

I looked at him he had grown two heads. "How is Kunal's affair any of my fucking business?"

He turned his head away to hide his smirk. "It isn't any of ours," he said and drank from his glass. "However, Ella has caught a certain fascination towards Maira's business and she proposed—"

My disdain and confusion must have been evident on my face. "You fell for a matchmaking proposal by Ellakshi Ahuja?"

"Lack of fucking options," he gritted out and I smirked. "People have been catching up to the skeletons in my closet to control me."

"That's fucked up." I threw the contents of my glass in a shot. "In that case, I don't see how Kunal can call quits on Maira."

He nodded once. "I second you on that one."

My gaze caught on Vaanya across the room, talking to her friends. It stirred a longing in my heart but she was so hot. I could almost feel her straddling over my lap. I grunted lowly, tearing my gaze away to clear my fucking mind.

"We are meeting at your place tomorrow first thing in the morning," Aagnay said and Vaanya's glance in my direction was filled with so much heat. I nodded mindlessly as memories from the other night wrapped around my mind.

How could I hate her?

I watched Kunal head towards the bar and fix a drink. I turned to him. "You're stepping on the wrong nerves." My tone hardened. "Don't put yourself into shit I can't pull you out of."

Kunal turned his head in my direction. "Are you trying to leash me?" He scoffed and drank from his glass. "Don't be offended, brother. I'd rather be dead than taking orders."

I locked my arms over my chest as I looked at him. "I'll remember you said that," I threw back. "You might as well be and it will be too late."

"Is that a threat?" There was a sinister gleam in his eyes. I was starting to fear for his safety.

Aagnay's premonition had always been insidious especially when he stopped operating according to the plans.

"Consider it a warning." I had to make sure Kunal wasn't a part of Aagnay's agenda. "Your actions have already proven to be a home stretch." I didn't explain any further as I walked away from him.

*

I set down my drink and looked ahead. Vaanya's friends were still laughing among themselves. Scanning the room, I found her across the room near the threshold of the exit. Her gaze locked on mine as she glanced over her shoulder and continued to walk out. I stood up and threw the remainder of the drink before I followed her, keeping my eyes on her back as we both walked out of the room.

I descended another set of stairs, away from the prying eyes and blaring music. The staircase had muted lights and a window that hung across the corner. There she stood, looking out of the window and admiring the night sky.

What the hell was I doing?

"I like the view of the city from this one," she said quietly. "The lights make the city look magical."

I stood behind her and gazed at the city shrouded with darkness but a sea of lights glimmering. Sure enough, it indeed seemed magical.

I breathed in the hint of her perfume, the shadows of the night on the top of her head as she turned to face me. I held my breath, feeling high with need. God, I wanted to touch her, it had been building since the night she showed up in my boathouse.

"Sometimes I wonder how different our lives would have been if I didn't ruin it with my own hands," she whispered, her beautiful dark eyes holding mine. "Would you have loved me now? Want me and take me?"

Goddamn it to hell.

"You were looking at me tonight," she said and turned her gaze back on the window towards the night city. "It's been a while since you did that...almost never."

Lightening bolted in my gut like the pain, twisting it with my struggle to restrain. I caught her by her waist and held her closer than I should have. "How could I not notice you?" I breathed harder near her ear.

She buried her head in my chest and sobbed, wrecking through every form of restraining I had ever built. I should have torn away from her. It wasn't right.

But I was tempted—I had no control.

I darted my lips from her jaw towards her ear, getting lost in her warmth. Her sharp gasp sent all my blood rushing to my groin.

So many times I wanted her near me, talking to me, smile at me, get in my arms and I finally had her. I couldn't let her go. I went crazy.

Vaanya

2020

Joy swept through my heart like a cyclone when I walked through the living room. Ranveer hadn't spoken a word ever since we made love at Aagnay's party but he had agreed for me to spend the rest of the night with him at his boathouse.

I had made up my mind to confess my feelings for him tonight because he deserved to know the truth. I was a coward before when I didn't take a chance for him but I was done being that person. She was a fool to let him go but I wasn't.

I glanced at my phone and giggled. "I missed a bunch of calls from the girls, "I announced as he tossed his set of keys on the coffee table. "They must think I fled the party for all the wrong reasons."

"Send them a text or wait till the morning to call them if you may," he told me as he strode to the kitchen.

I decided to send them a quick text followed by a 'goodnight' and placed my phone on the coffee table as he returned with a couple of cans of soda and a bottle of water. "Thanks," I smiled and drank the cool water from the bottle as he took his seat across me on the sofa, stretching his legs on the coffee table to unwind. "Are you gonna say anything? This silence is getting awkward."

"What's left to say Vaanya?" He looked away and heaved a loaded sigh. "Except, this shouldn't happen again."

"What?" I shot up to my feet and he looked up at me. "You mean to say that you're already regretting it?" I couldn't believe him—I thought I was going to lose my mind. He hurt me deliberately. "You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking because this is a sick one."

He cursed under his breath as he winced silently and caught my wrist. "Sit down, we have a lot to talk about."

"Oh that we do," I laughed. "We do need a nice long chat where you can explain why you hate me so much to hurt me like this."

"I don't—" He growled under his breath and buried his face in his hands. "Don't you see how this is a bad idea?"

I gaped at his face for a silent beat. "No." I shook my head slowly. "No. I don't see how being with the only person I love is such a bad idea."

"Goddamn it Vaanya," he roared and ran his hand through his hair. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

"You're the one who is making it so much harder," I shot back and he groaned exasperatedly. "How could you make me feel so small?"

"I didn't mean to—shit." He averted his dark gaze on me and my heart thundered in my chest. "I do regret our night but not for the same reasons as you're assuming. You know what we have been through—what I have been through. It's a risk to involve you into my world right now."

"Then we will keep it under wraps," I told him and caught his hand. "I can't stay away from you okay? I tried and I tried hard over the years but I can't be someone else's Ranveer—I have always been yours." My whisper coalesced with a soft whimper and I hid my face with my hands. I was so stupid to think that he was ever going to accept me. Of course, he hated me and I ignored the signs all along like the emotional fool that I was.

"Hurting you is the last thing I'd do, damn it. Do you still doubt that after all these years?" He removed my hands to reveal my face and I sniffled softly. "What do you want?"

"You," I told him conclusively and he rolled his eyes but grinned regardless. "I just want you and me—together, even if it's away from people. I don't care about the world. I care about us."

"And what if I can't?" he asked and my heart began to race in my chest. "You don't deserve me Vaanya. You deserve someone who doesn't have a criminal record for fuck's sake you're too good for me."

"That's not true," I protested and pushed to my feet. "We have always been together. Can you remember a single time when we weren't together?" I sat beside him and he stared at the can of soda on the coffee table.

"At the juvenile home," he said quietly and my heart broke in my chest. "You weren't there for all these years with me. You can be without me—don't get into my mess. I don't want you into my mess anymore."

"But I'm a part of your mess," I grumbled and cupped his face gently. "I have always been a part of your life, can't you see? Do you think you can push me away so easily? Never!"

"I can't—Vaanya. You know how fucked up everything is—"

"Please don't say that," I pleaded with a broken voice. "I'm already going through a lot and the only thing I want right now is my best friend who is also the only man I love."

"But I can't be the man you deserve—"

"You're everything I deserve and so much more." I hated that he didn't see how beautiful he was. He was the same guy I fell in love with. He was the only good thing about my life and I couldn't let him go. "Please be with me. I do need you." I kissed his cheek softly and he closed his eyes as though he was in too much pain. "I love you."

He inhaled sharply and caught my gaze but remained silent even when I waited for him to say something.

"Did you think that I'd give up on you just because you were away for all these years?"

"I was hoping you would," he told me and exhaled hardly. "You should have given up on me the moment I was arrested."

"You're so stupid." I giggled and nudged his arm. "How could I give up on the only guy who ever truly made me happy? We have so much history and we have so much to do together. Don't you want to be with me?"

"More than anything," he told me and my breath caught in my throat. "Don't you know that? I have always loved you, Vaanya but I'm not sure if this is even something we should indulge in—"

"Don't you want to?" I asked him somberly and lowered my gaze on my clasped hands in my lap. "I'll understand if you think you can't be with me—I—you have every right to hate me."

"I can never hate you." He caught my wrist gently and pulled me closer. "You know I can't." His dark eyes searched mine and he lowered his gaze on my lips. "Are you sure you want to be with me?"

My answering kiss washed his qualms, putting his doubts to rest.  

~~~~

Hello Darlings! 

I know, I know. It's been a hot minute since my last update but believe me when I tell you that I'm working on it. I promise I'll finish this book even if it seems impossible at the moment. My life beyond wattpad has been a mess and I have been swamped with so many commitments. I appologize and I truly hope you guys understand and forgive me for the delay. 

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