Page 8 of Empowered

He withdrew the blade, waving it in the air as he spoke. “You will pay for defying my orders.” He moved closer to carve my flesh again.

“Wait!” I begged. “I was just trying to help. Please believe me.”

He cocked his head to one side, studying my face with curiosity. His mannerisms were steady which made him more terrifying. “Explain.”

I didn’t know how he found out what I did, but I needed to talk fast to convince him that I was only trying to help him destroy Shyam to save my skin, literally. “I thought that if I replaced all the addresses for their upcoming orders, it would help to sabotage their business.”

He sat back, allowing me to slide out from under him and sit up right. Blood dripped down from my cut to my neck.

“You think I am a fool? Why would you want to help me when your alliances clearly lie elsewhere?” He was rightfully skeptical.

“I wanted to do anything to keep my mom safe,” I pled.

“I can respect that. Family is important in our culture,” he said calmly.

“She means everything to me,” I said through my tears, my lower lip quivering from emotion. It was easy to persuade him of my motives since my love for my mom was true.

He seemed to have bought my explanation because he stood and adjusted his coat to smooth out the wrinkles. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and threw it at me.

“A gentleman always carries a handkerchief in case a lady should ever find herself in need of one. Clean yourself up,” he said, posing as the picture of decorum.Some gentleman.

Before exiting the cell, he turned back toward me. “Your actionsdowork in my favor, but I’m keeping my eye on you. Considerthatyour final warning,” he said pointing to my cheek. Then he left the dungeon with his guard.

I pressed the handkerchief to my wound, careful not to press too hard. It stung on contact. I pulled the cloth away to examine the damage. He must have cut deep because it was soaked in blood.

I looked over to Salena, whose eyes were full of concern. She did her best to offer me silent comfort.

“Please find us, Shyam,” I whispered through clenched teeth in prayer.

Chapter VIII

Shyam

The engines roared to life, vibrating the entire vessel. Marie, my private flight attendant, made her way around the cabin to ensure that our seatbelts were securely fastened. The pilot came onto the intercom to let us know that we would be ready to take off shortly. Jai and our men were busy discussing details of the plan I had drafted for them.

All of it sounded like background noise to me. I could only focus on one thought.Amelia is alive.

I sat in my seat next to the window with my aviators on—a sign that I did not want to be disturbed by anyone. Even Marie took the hint and silently glanced at my lap, inspecting my fastened seatbelt without uttering a word to me.

How did I not realize she was alive?I had been beating myself up over that question since I found the clues she left on our sales software. So many days had passed while I moped over her death like a waste of space when she was actually alive, and at the mercy of my nemesis. I had seen evidence of his treatment from the bruises on Salena in her engagement photo…my imagination was running wild with how he must be treating my woman.

It was no secret that Jai and I weren’t easy when administering punishments to those who had wronged us, but we didn’t necessarilyenjoyit. Tarun did. He was a known maniac that got off on twisted shit—not just fucking with a person physically, but mentally, too. He was sick in the head, and so were his men. They were vile creatures that found enjoyment in torturing women and even children. I had never needed to punish a woman, let alone a child, in all my years of doing business.

Visions of Amelia with bruises covering her naked body played in my head like a horror movie. What if they had forced themselves on her? I gripped the arm rests, ready to pull them off their screws. Nothing would get in the way of my wrath. I would kill them all with my bare hands for taking her away from me.

Amelia was smart, though. I didn’t know how she had managed to pull this off. Without a doubt, Tarun had her under close watch, wherever she was. He knew she was a computer genius and that was why he took her. He also knew that she was a significant person in my life, which made her more valuable in his eyes. I was almost certain he had used her to hack into our records, but how she’d managed to change shipping addresses to Mongoose Inc. impressed me. We had only discussed the meaning of the mongoose once. She was brilliant for choosing such a subtle clue, and Tarun was oblivious to its meaning. If he ever found out what she did, Amelia’s life would be at risk.

A lump settled in my throat when I thought of losing her again. I took a sip of my scotch, allowing the smooth liquid to soothe my worries. I had always been a big scotch drinker, but in recent days, it had gone beyond “social drinking” to “necessity.” It kept me sane by numbing my insides.

But now that Amelia was waiting for me in India, I needed to remain lucid. I couldn’t save her if I were drunk, so I put my drink down.

Eighteen hours later, we landed in Amritsar, in the north of my home state of Punjab. I hadn’t been home in about two years. Jai and I rarely returned since our mother was killed by Tarun and our dad subsequently killed himself out of grief. We never needed to go back unless it was related to business.

I paused at the top of the stairs as I exited the plane, inhaling the humid air. December usually brought cooler temperatures, but the stagnant air of the city made it feel hotter. To most people, the thick smog that blanketed Punjab was stifling. To me, it just smelled like home.

I buttoned my suit jacket before descending the stairs onto the tarmac. Blacked-out vehicles were already waiting to transport us to my family home.

A tall figure towered in front of the fleet of cars. “Bhaiya.”Brother.Zayn greeted me with a warm smile. We had basically been raised as brothers, even though we weren’t blood. “It’s good to see you. Welcome home.” He patted me on the back.

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