Page 61 of Born in Ruin

“Did she give any other details?” Mayukhi asked, still looking at Ishaan. She saw him turn slightly away from her, giving her his back.

“She said she heard the men refer to someone as their ‘King’. He took his turn first and was, apparently, the most brutal. She didn’t see anyone because of the blindfold.”

Her heart shuddered in her chest as she listened to Virat’s quiet, unemotional recitation of the girl’s horrific ordeal. This was the world she belonged to? This was the world she had lived in all her life? These were her friends?

“Will she testify?” Amay asked.

Virat shook his head. “Her father still works for them.”

“Why would they retain an employee who stole from them?” Amay frowned.

“Naveen’s insurance policy for her silence.” Ishaan’s voice sounded like gravel crunching under a car’s tyres.

He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking everywhere but at her. A chill coasted down her spine. What was he thinking? Was he regretting the confessions of the night, the glimpse he’d given her into the real him? Was he regretting everything that had happened between them?

What had happened between that intimate, tender moment outside Naveen’s home and now? She continued to stare at the man she’d fallen stupidly in love with as he argued with his friends. Something didn’t compute. Something didn’t add up. And nothing irritated Mayukhi more than a puzzle she couldn’t solve.

Amay got a call on his landline. He picked up, listened carefully and then hung up before saying, “Naveen’s stable. He’s been shifted to the ICU. The prognosis is good. He’ll probably be out of here in a couple of days.”

“Forgive me for not throwing a party,” Ishaan muttered, his voice ice cold.

“Mayukhi.” Virat’s gentle voice had her looking away from Ishaan.

“Yes?”

He leaned against Amay’s table, his perceptive gaze flicking between Ishaan and her. “Would you be okay to go down and sit with Naveen’s wife? See if you could get some information about tonight’s incident from her?”

Mayukhi nodded, getting to her feet. “I’ll go.”

She looked at Ishaan one more time but he wouldn’t turn his gaze towards her and so she left without another word, her recently mended heart ripping apart at the seams with each step she took.

THIRTY-THREE

Ishaan

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Amay sounded genuinely curious.

Virat said nothing. He just watched him. The knowledge in his eyes made Ishaan’s skin prickle.

Ishaan buried his face in his hands, unable to meet their eyes.

“Alright, Mr. Overthinker,” Amay said. “Lay it on us.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ishaan pulled himself to his feet, frustrated anger mixing with regret and shame, a toxic mess of emotions swimming through his veins. “I’m leaving,” he said, heading for the door.

“Ish.” Virat’s quiet voice stopped him.

“What?” he snapped, the word a roar of pain.

“Are you going to just leave Mayukhi here?”

Ishaan froze, his hand on the doorknob, his back to his friends. After a moment’s pause, he said, “One of you will see her home, right?”

“We will,” Amay said. “But we shouldn’t have to.”

“I can’t.” Ishaan gritted the words out. “I can’t right now and I need you guys not to ride me on this.”

“You’re not them, Ish.”

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