Page 14 of The Redemption
It’s Siya Vardhaan. In my garage.
She doesn’t yelp, doesn’t curse, even when my fingers tighten around her throat. She simply meets my eyes over my hand. Her pulse throbs wildly against my wrist. Her chest rises and falls fast against my forearm, which grazes the curve of her breast. She’s so close that her scent hits me harder than the adrenaline ever could.
What the hell is happening?
I’ve spent a lifetime in the underworld, surrounded by women whose beauty was crafted to seduce and kill, and yet noone ever got to me like this. But this… this fire in my veins every time I’m near her… it’s the only thing I haven’t been able to control yet. The only thing left to tame.
I don’t release my hold. Iwon’t.Not until I know what she’s doing here and why? Although I’m shocked seeing her inside my garage, there’s also a sense of relief that she didn’t get away. But I crush it just as quickly, because I’m furious. She tried this stunt on her very first night here. First f*cking night inmyestate!
And still, even when my thumb presses harder around her throat, she doesn’t flinch.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I loosen my grip just enough for her to speak.
The moment I do, she moves. Her hands clamp around my wrist as she twists, trying to shake off my hold on her neck while pushing herself away from the wall. The knife slips from my hand, and she almost gets free.
Almost.
But I catch her before she can take two steps. This time I grab both her arms, slam them back against the wall behind her, and pin her there leaving no space between us. My body cages hers completely. The wall at her back, my chest pressed against her front.
“Let me go,” she snaps.
It’s anger. Not fear. It’s an order, not a plea. And that only makes me hold on tighter. Her guards might jump at that tone, not me.
“You shouldn’t be here in the first place,” I say quietly. “At my private residence. A place where no guest is allowed.”
Her eyes burn into mine. She ignores every word of it.
“I said leave me, RK.”
I keep her there a second longer, just to make a point.
Big mistake.
Her body shifts suddenly, and I sense the movement before I see it. Her knee jerks upward, aimed straight to my groin. But I’m faster. I press forward instantly, my body locking her in before her leg can rise fully. My thigh blocks the movement, my torso sealing the gap between us so completely that even air would struggle to pass.
Now she’s trapped again. This time, chest to chest. Breath to breath.
“Don’t even dare,” I growl.
Her eyes flash, but she’s still not backing down.
“You’re not walking out of here until you tell me what you’re doing on my private property.”
“I have no interest in trespassing either,” she says finally. “But someone needed to be reminded of a few things.”
Her chin lifts slightly in defiance.
“Now you know how it feels when someone invades your private space?” she asks, holding my gaze. “Not a good feeling, right?”
I don’t move nor loosen my hold.
“I heard you’re planning to give my guards full access to the estate’s CCTV feeds,” she fires back. “I don’t need them breathing down my neck every second, RK. So don’t even dare to do that.”
I just stare at her, stunned. That’s what this is about?
“Oh,” I say slowly, studying her face, “So you climbed down from your cottage balcony, walked across half my estate in the dark, and hid in my garage just to check if I gave your guards full access?”
Her expression doesn’t change.
