Page 1 of Love Locked
Prologue
He was going crazy.
Kabir Oberoi had never felt the need to escape any situation in his entire life of thirty-two years. This realisation dawned on seeing his girlfriend’s futile and sorry attempts to blend in with his friends and family. He wanted to be anywhere but here. A drink in hand, he fidgeted, acutely aware that Mira had asked him not to browse work emails during this party. He would have ignored it outright had it been anyone else, but Mira had become a great friend over a period of time, and he could not deny her wishes. Mira was adorable, but if you got in her way, she transformed into a fire-breathing dragon. Adil’s influence had certainly rubbed off on her; he grimaced.
It was beyond him how he ended up attending a family drama in the name of a business event instead of working in the office. There was a great deal of work he needed to do.
They’d organised this getaway to impress Mr. Iwasaki and his associates. This outing was going to screw up his schedule for at least a week, but still, it would be worth it if it made the Japanese happy. He grimaced as he recalled how Raina had declined an invitation to this Alibaug Getaway, only to show up the next day to surprise him. She knew he hated surprises, yet she did just that. Lately, she was behaving weirdly, and he hated it.
As he sipped his beer, he took in the well-lit, spacious living room. A string of lights decorated the room as though they were attending a romantic rendezvous. The first thing that caught his eye was Vaayu and Ruhi canoodling in the corner for everyone to see while Adil and Mira were sitting on a couch, comfortable in each other’s company, conversing with the Japanese associates.
As he looked at them, he felt their joy. But he also felt a pang of loneliness, though he had been in a relationship for three years.Admit it, Kabir…the words echoed loudly in his head, but he refused to acknowledge them. It made him happy that his brothers had settled in their respective marriages, despite the unusual way they married.
Slow music began to play, and all the couples hit the dance floor. At that moment, Kabir realised how he wished he had the power to teleport himself before his girlfriend appeared and forced him to dance. He breathed out, needing something to focus his mind on. He would not have come if it wasn’t for his father, Prithvi Oberoi, insisting he should be present to ensure his brothers did not kill each other.
The other thing that drew him here was the venue, the Alibaug farmhouse, which was like a second home for him. Being here allowed him to be himself without worrying about the media or the paparazzi, as it was secluded with top-notch security. Looking around, he saw the crowd laughing and dancing to the music flowing in the background. Now that the party was in full swing, he downed the last of his beer. It’s refreshing coolness settled down the noise within him. He trudged toward the enormous garden in the backyard in pursuit of solitude.
It was past midnight, and the night sky was stunning when Kabir stepped outside into the garden. Almost every star was visible under a full moon amidst the dark sky, which was a rich gradient of black. A brilliant yellowy-white light shimmered around it.
He could see the beach from where he stood. The ocean waves leisurely lapped at the shore, a medley of azure and greyish blue that glistened in the starlight. As the tides approached, white foam crested the tops of the waves, gushing onto the sand like a mystical spell.
He reached the gazebo, flanked on one side by large trees and froze mid-step. Squinting into the distance, he pushed his glasses up his nose and realised he wasn’t alone. A beautiful woman stood with her back to him on the other side.
With the moonlight coming from the front, she appeared to be surrounded by a halo, giving her an angelic appearance. He didn’t even need to see her face to know she was beautiful. Her slim body, sheathed in a white dress, enhanced her alluring curves.
Damn hot. She had a banging body.
The cool sea breeze blew through her waist-length, silky-straight hair, exposing the enticing arc between her long neck and shoulder. His hands itched to trace the path to explore the beautiful canvas of her body.He shook his head, cursing himself mentally.
Those were the most eloquent thoughts he had had that weren’t directly related to the financial reports showing their profitability. Thankfully, he was wise enough to control his actions instead of doing something stupid, like touching her and discovering how soft her skin was. Or even better…who she was. That’s when he remembered…he wasn’t supposed to drool over any girl.
He had a fucking girlfriend. What was he doing?
It didn’t matter what kind of a person Raina was or how serious their relationship was because he was better than that. He would never cheat on her, not even by thinking about anyone else. He had a set of principles which were considered old-fashioned by his brothers. But he was what he was, and he never compromised his beliefs for anyone else.
But fucking hell! He had never felt anything like this ever before.
For the first time, a woman enticed him on a purely physical level, wherein just the sight of her turned him on. He knew it would be wise to back away without seeing her face. It would be even better if he never learnt who this stunning woman was. But all his brain cells died, and his plans to escape unnoticed went for a toss when the woman suddenly turned around and gasped.
The woman in front of him looked equally shocked. He gazed at her magnificently beautiful face, transfixed. The identity of the woman knocked the wind out of his sails.
She was Kyra Kapoor, Mira’s little sister. She was kind, intelligent, and ever-polite, and he just had the most impolite thoughts about her. He blinked his eyes to see if he was hallucinating.
Fuck! She was young. Very young.
She was eighteen or maybe nineteen when he first met her at Adil and Mira’s engagement. That was almost four years back. She was still a decade younger than him. This was not the way he should be thinking about her. He needed to stop this madness right away.
“Hey, Kabir...” She greeted him in a voice sensual enough to make him think of sex. That thought caused him to frown.
When the fuck did he start thinking of Kyra’s voice as sensual?
“Hey, Kyra.” Kabir stammered like a fool.
“What are you doing outside, leaving the‘happening’party aside?” Kyra asked, looking a lot more mature than her age.
“I can ask you the same.” He remarked while still trying to understand this change of dynamics.
“You can. But you won’t.” She leaned against the railing, and the slit in her dress that ran up to her thigh became visible, exposing a smooth, milky patch of skin.
