Page 24 of Born in Sin

“Except?” Cara challenged, her eyes sparking at the idea of him questioning her boyfriend’s ability to pull this off.

A shard of grief lodged itself in him as he watched the unquestioning faith she’d once had in him transferred to someone else. He forced the pain down, making sure nothing showed on his face as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

“Can we trust him?”

“I do,” Cara replied. “Unconditionally.”

Virat could feel the ground crumbling beneath his feet with every word she spoke. He was happy for her, blindingly happy. It didn’t take away from the fact that this was the final nail inhis coffin, sealing him into an eternity of pain, yearning, and loneliness.

“He’d need some context to pull this off. You’ll have to tell him about what happened.”

“He knows.”

He knows, Virat thought numbly. “Of course,” he said, pushing the words out through the pain that threatened to swamp him. “Like I said, it’s a great idea.”

Cara’s eyes darkened as she watched him, her lips parting as if she was about to say something. But she didn’t, turning away from him and towards the other guys.

“We should workshop this a bit more. Both ideas and maybe also, the one you guys already have in action.”

Ishaan and Amay didn’t reply. They both looked at Virat, clearly waiting to take their cues from him.

“Sure,” he said. “We will. Tonight?”

Cara rose to her feet, the fluidity in the movement, grace in motion. “I have to get home now. We should schedule another meeting to discuss this in more detail. It will give me a little time to flesh it all out in my head as well and, of course, to discuss it with Kabir.”

Images of her in bed with Kabir as they ‘discussed’ it flashed in Virat’s head, leading to his brain shorting out for a moment. But when he spoke, all he said, again, was, “Sure.”

“Well then.” Cara hovered uncertainly. “I’ll say goodnight.”

All three of them rose to their feet but it was Virat who walked her to the door. He opened it first, glanced out into the hall tocheck if it was empty. It was, save for her bodyguard who walked over to them immediately. Virat stepped aside, allowing Cara to precede him out of the door. He shut it behind him and followed her to the elevator bank at the end of the hall.

They waited, in silence, her bodyguard hovering a few feet behind them, for the elevator to arrive. Neither of them looked at each other, their gaze levelled at the shut elevator doors in front of them.

“Does he make you happy?” Virat asked, the words shards of gravel in his throat.

Cara stared straight ahead, her chin tipped up, her shoulders firm and level. “Extremely,” she said crisply. “He makes me happy, calm and peaceful. I prefer calm to chaos. I learned that about myself over the years. You taught me well.”

The elevator doors slid open and she walked into the empty space, her bodyguard following. She held his gaze, her own unreadable. The last thing he saw before the doors shut was her beautiful face, cold, remote, and completely foreign.

He heard the apartment door click open behind him. Amay stood there, leaning against the doorjamb.

“Are you coming back?”

Virat didn’t move, his feet seemingly glued to the floor in front of the elevator. He wanted to run down the stairs, grab her, kiss her, beg her…anything really, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was, where she’d left him.

“I’m so sorry, man,” Amay said, coming to stand beside him. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“We should have though,” Virat answered, his voice cold and detached. “I’m surprised my team had no intel on this.”

“Unless there is nothing to have intel on.” Ishaan joined them, his hands shoved into his pockets.

Amay’s gaze sharpened. “You think it’s a lie?”

Virat shook his head, leading the way back to his apartment. This wasn’t a conversation for the corridor. “She won’t lie to me.”

“Celi won’t lie to you,” Ishaan corrected. “Cara? I think she’d lie to your face.”

Virat walked over to his kitchen and opened one of the topmost cabinets. He dug out the bottle of scotch he had shelved there.

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