Page 64 of A Royal Deception

“Listen, Shivina and I didn’t have a proper wedding. I thought I was marrying Kavya. And I think, at some level, my wife still feels like a stand-in for Kavya.”

“Isn’t she?” asked Veer, and I almost lunged at him.

“Of course not! Shivina is not a stand-in for anyone,” I snarled.

“Just checking that you recognise that,” he replied dryly.

“Stop messing with my mind and help me out,” I snapped. “When we go to court next month to register the marriage, I want to make it more romantic.”

“Like a gesture?”

“Exactly! A big romantic gesture! How do I do that?”

“Ask the brain trust,” he suggested.

“Huh?”

“The girls. Ask the girls! Because my idea of romance is a moonlight drive-by shooting of a Goel cocaine lab. I know it’s weird, but Isha likes to take Basanti out for a spin sometimes. But I don’t think Shivina will like that.”

“Hmm, she might,” I said thoughtfully, remembering her love of weapons. “But I don’t want to involve her in that part of my life. It has nothing to do with her.”

Veer stared at me as if I was an idiot.

“Umm… she’s your wife. It has everything to do with her,” he stated.

“It’s not what you think,” I said wearily. “She’s had a hard life until now. I don’t want her to worry about things that are out of her control.”

He snorted in derision at my words.

“You don’t get to decide what she should worry about, RV. And let me tell you that if I tried to pull something like that with Isha, she’d murder me in my sleep.”

“We’re not like you guys. Or like Dheer and Diya. Our marriage is not like yours. We don’t plan to interfere in each other’s lives beyond a point,” I said irritably.

“Then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. Shivina is the best thing that happened to you. You finally have someone to love.”

I made a barfing face.

“Ugh! You sound like my mother.”

“Your mother happens to be a very wise woman. Heed her words!”

“Eat your lunch and get out,” I snapped.

“I don’t see why you want to do something romantic if you don’t believe in love,” he complained.

“I might not believe in love, but I do want to make Shivina happy. She’s spent her whole life making others happy, and she deserves to know that she’s special and she matters.”

“But you’re sure you’re not falling in love with her?” he asked sceptically.

“Yes,” I thundered. “What does love have to do with any of it? I’m just being nice.”

“You don’t sound very sure,” teased Veer.

Just for that, I picked up the two dumplings on his plate and stuffed them in my mouth.

“Serves you right,” I said when he howled in anger. “You’re getting fat anyway.”

“Fuck you,” he replied, reaching for my plate, but I held it out of his reach and shovelled my own dumplings into my mouth quickly.

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