Page 110 of The Redemption
But this was no longer about what Haider or Ayaan wanted. This was about what I wanted. And nobody… not Ayaan, not GLEN, and not even Siya herself was taking that away from me.
“Just get the f*cking jet ready. We are flying tonight.”
I turned to leave but Haider blocked my way.
“You’re not thinking straight,” he said. “If Ayaan has changed the plan and Trisha is following his orders, we can still send someone else to fix this mess. But not you. We cannot risk that.”
I glared back at him. This man had always thought about my safety, but this time, even he cannot change my decision.
“Just do as I say, Haider,” I said, almost pressing my palm once against his chest to push him out of my way. “Activate every silent unit we have in Cape Town. Every sleeper cell. Every man still loyal to me. I want weapons loaded, routes secured, and our convoy ready within an hour. We are going to crash Siya’s wedding.”
Haider’s face changed instantly as he understood what those orders meant.
“That would mean direct confrontation with the Vardhaans and the Reddys,” he warned. “There’ll be a war, Raghav.”
“Then let there be a f*cking war.” The words echoed throughout the shooting range. “If I have to burn down the entire underworld to bring Siya back,” I yelled, glaring straight at him, “I’ll do it.”
Haider was not a man who argued with me repeatedly. Usually, one look was enough for him to understand when my decision was final. But today, he kept pushing back again, and every second of it was scraping harder against my temper.
“This is madness,” he said. “You’re exposing yourself again. The second you step into Cape Town openly, the entire underworld will know the Dark Prince is alive.”
As if I didn’t already know that. For thirty f*cking months I had stayed buried. I had killed the Dark Prince the night I pulled that trigger on my father. And now, Siya had somehow dragged that monster back out of his grave.
“Think about this again,” Haider insisted, still trying to convince me.
I grabbed the front of his shirt violently and slammed him back against the table of weapons hard enough to rattle the metal across its surface.
“This,” I snarled. My fingers trembled with rage as I held my thumb and forefinger barely an inch apart. “I’m this f*cking close to losing Siya, and you want me to rethink?”
Haider held my gaze silently.
“I’m not letting her go, Haider. So stop arguing and mobilise the men.” I released him roughly. “There will be a war. And anybody from the underworld stupid enough to stand between Siya and me is going to leave that battlefield in a body bag.”
A thick silence filled the shooting range after that. My gaze shifted towards the weapons table again, where the guns rested in neat rows.
For thirty months, I hadn’t touched one. But today…
Today, Siya was slipping beyond my reach, and suddenly every promise I had made to myself felt meaningless compared to the thought of losing her.
My hand moved before my brain could stop it. I wrapped my fingers around the gun. The weapon still fit perfectly in my hand, as if those thirty months had never happened. A cold rush of power crawled back under my skin the longer I held it. My fingers instinctively adjusted around the trigger.
Then, a violent tremor ran through my hand. The memory of blood, smoke, and my father, Tej Khurana, collapsing on the ground after I shot him hit me hard. I almost wanted to drop the gun, and never touch it ever again.
But then, Siya’s face flashed through my head.
That was it.
I angrily lifted the gun towards the target board and pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Thrice. I kept firing relentlessly, emptying round after round into the target without stoppingeven once. Twelve bullets, and every single one of them hit the exact same spot. The bullseye.
Smoke curled from the gun in my hand as Haider watched in grim silence, as if he had just witnessed the Dark Prince come back to life.
“We fly tonight,” I said before turning around and walking away.
Present – Vardhaan Mansion (Cape Town)
An eerie silence spreads across the grand wedding mandap of Vardhaan Mansion, despite the sheer number of underworld figures gathered there. Nobody moves. Nobody even dares to breathe too loudly. Everyone seems to be in a state of stunned disbelief as every mafia lord, every syndicate member, every armed guard, and criminal kingpin present here turns their attention towardsme.
Half of them are still trying to process that the Dark Prince is alive. The other half are waiting to understand why the hell I’m here. Around them, my men have taken control of this estate. Every gate is locked down. Every exit covered. Every rooftop occupied by my snipers. And every single gun around the mansion is pointed straight at anyone reckless enough to challenge me tonight.
