Page 71 of Born in Ruin

THIRTY-NINE

Ishaan

Ishaan drove through the massive iron gates, a driveway that extended almost half a kilometer stretching ahead of him. In the distance, the house stood, a monstrosity that abutted the sea. He stopped the car in front of it and got out, staring up at Naveen’s Alibaug seaside mansion. The place was massive, light streaming out of every window and door. Music spilled out from the house, echoing into the darkness of the sea swept night. In the distance, the ocean crashed against the shore, a soothing wash of sound. Ishaan took a moment to take in the scene.

“You can hear us?” Virat’s voice filled his ear through the little device they’d stitched into the lining of his inner shirt. Ishaan murmured a quiet acknowledgement. At some point in the evening, they assumed he’d be stripping down and hopefully that would be one of the last articles of clothing to go. Ishaan had a listening device embedded in his underwear as well and he had to say,thatwas an uncomfortable thought.

Virat and his team were hidden away somewhere in the darkness that spread out around this palatial home. They’dgotten here ahead of Ishaan and he was pretty sure they hadn’t come through the gates like he had.

“Vir?” Ishaan murmured.

“I’m here.” The response was immediate, the sound in his ear crystal clear.

“I don’t get a good feeling about this.”

Before Virat could answer, Ishaan heard the front door open. He glanced over and saw Parash silhouetted against the brightly light door.

“Adajania!” He heard the hail in the distance and walked towards it. He slid one hand into his pocket, his fingers closing around the ring, Mayukhi’s ring, his talisman now. He rubbed it once for luck before pulling his hand out.

Hey,” he said, raising a hand in greeting. “How are you?”

“I am fucking fabulous man.” Parash was blown, his eyes bright, his hands jittery. He sniffed, rubbing his forearm beneath his nose before adding, “Tonight’s the night. Welcome to the club.”

“What club?” Ishaan asked, hoping the idiot was high enough to answer him but Parash only giggled, “You’ll see.”

Ishaan shrugged and followed Parash into the house, a very empty house.

“Where are the others?” he asked, his gaze darting around the luxurious yet cavernous space.

“What others?”

“The other guests? The rest of your gang? Isn’t this supposed to be some kind of boy’s night out?” Ishaan’s instincts wererunning haywire, his adrenalin spiking as he walked through the empty rooms, each one larger and more luxuriously furnished than the others.

“It is.” Parash giggled. “Boys night. We’re the boys. This is not a party scene man.”

“What kind of scene is it then?”

“A moreintimateone.” Majid stepped out of a shadowy corner, dressed all in black and looking a lot like a lurking vampire. The only thing he didn’t do was yell ‘boo’. His stress on the word intimate had Ishaan’s skin crawling.

Ishaan forced a smile. “Hi Majid. Didn’t see you there for a moment.” It’s only then he noticed that Parash was wearing all black too. “Is there a dress code or something I didn’t know about?”

Majid laughed but didn’t reply, instead leading them over to the bar at the end of the room. “Would you like a drink?”

“Sure. A scotch neat, please.” The helper standing behind the bar, stepped closer to them. Majid placed their orders as Parash sprawled on the sofa in the corner of the large room.

“Where are the others?” Ishaan asked, taking the crystal glass with three fingers of scotch in it.

“Here.” The doors banged open and Naveen and Ashish strolled in. There was a round of greetings and then, Ishaan said, “You’re looking good, Naveen.”

“And I owe it all to you, my friend.” Naveen hugged Ishaan tight, uncomfortably tight. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.” Ishaan shrugged off the praise, his gaze going from one black clad person to the other. “I definitely missed the dress code memo,” he said now to their general laughter.

“Well, you’ll know next time.” Ashish toasted him with his drink, a sly smile on their faces.

Next time. Wonderful. Ishaan took a large gulp of his scotch, hoping for some dutch courage to get through the night.

“So, what’s on the agenda for this boy’s night?” he asked, leaning against the bar.

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