Vikram wiped the blood from his palm. He still looked angry. Not scared. Not guilty. Angry.
Like he was furious that someone dared to attack when he was with someone special. Furious at the world for revolving the wrong way.
Devika took one step toward him. Vikram lifted his head, eyes meeting hers. There was no softness. Only truth. Truth she didn't want to swallow.
"You...you..you're not--" she whispred, voice shaking.
"Normal?" He finished her sentence. He smirks. "No, Devika. I am not."
It wasn't a confession. It was a warning.
Rishi grabbed Vikram arm which was not injured," you are bleeding too much--"
"I said-" Vikram said
"Shut up and get in the car." Abhinav cut him in his sentence.
It shocked devika even more than the bullets. Someone talking back to Vikram? And Vikram..didn't argue. He gritted his teeth and walked toward the new car.
Devika stumbled toward him without realizing. He looked back at her, his soft for less than a second but then the softness gone.
"Get inside." He said to devika.
Not to comfort her. To protect her.
Inside SUV.
Vikram leans back against the seat, his forehead beaded with sweet. Blood darkened his sleeve, the blood dripping onto his palm.
Devika reached toward him unconsiously, tears falling down." Don't move--let me help-"
He turned his head instantly towards her." Don't touch the wound."
Not because of disgust. It was fear. Fear for her. Her hands froze.
He exhaled slowly." I didn't want you to see this part of my life." He said.
Devika swallowed. Every nerve in her body screaming." What part?" She whispered.
He lifted his eyes and looks at her," the part where i am not just a businessman." He said, in low voice." I built half the empire legally." Then a pause, " And defended the other half with blood."
She covered her mouth. And he didn't even blinked.
" I didn't lie to you." He continued." I just knew you wouldn't understand."
Her voice cracked,"you kill people."
His jaw clenched," I protect what's mine."
There it was. The truth she wasn't ready for. She was not standing beside a CEO. Not beside an arrogant, rude billionaire.
She was sitting beside a man underground world whispers about.
A man people feared. A man rivals hunted. A man who pointed guns without hesitation.
Vikram Oberoi.
Not businessman. Not celebrity.
Mafia leader.
Rishi and Abhinav talking in low voice about something important.
Devika shook her head slowly, tears falling down.
"You are monster." She whispered.
He didn't get shock because he already know about that.
"Maybe" he murmured." But even monsters bleed."
Devika stared at the blood dripping from his arm . Her heartbeat fasten.
And for the first time since she met him- she felt real fear.
Not because of bullets.
Not because many men died.
Because she finally understood the truth. Now, she was tangled in a world she couldn't escape. And the man bleeding beside her was the center of it.
Later...
Inside hospital. Doctors rushed towards Vikram, nurses caming towards him with stretcher.
Devika walking beside him like a ghost. Her fingers were still shaking. Her breath was still uneven. She couldn't even cry properly anymore.
Rishi held vikram the arm, which was not injured. To help him. Abhinav walking behind them, phone on his ears and already telling his man to clean that place.
"Emergency room. No outsiders. No cameras." Abhinav command in deep voice.
The nurses tried to push vikram onto the strectcher.
He pushed it away, "I am walking"
"Sir, you have lost blood" one nurse said.
Vikram looks at that nurse, dark eyes. Serious voice," I said. I am walking."
The nurse swallowed and stepped aside immediately.
Even here where people were supposed to take command. Everyone obeyed him.
Devika heartbeating fast.
Everything she had seen in the car wasn't nightmare. It was real. This man had power everywhere he went. And she was trapped in it.
They placed him in private treatment room, abhinav spoke to a doctor quietly, while rishi looking at his phone.
Devika stood frozen at entrance. She didn't dare step inside first. Not because of the blood. But because of him. Her brain kept replaying the moment he shot those men.
He didn't shake.
He didn't hesitate.
He didn't beg for mercy.
He didn't gasp or panic.
He killed like breathing.
If she closed her eyes, she could still see the bullet hitting his sleeve. She could still hear her own scream in her mind.
He was something she never imagined, not cold businessman, not complicated lover.
Something darker. Something older than fear.
Vikram look at her suddenly.
Not angrily.
Not softly.
Just deeply.
Like he could read all the fear in her eyes.
"Come inside" Vikram said, while looking into her eyes.
Devika flinched.
"No." She whispered instantly, voice trembling.
He blinked once.
Slowly.
Not annoyed.
Hurt.
He didn't get up.
He didn't force her.
Just leaned back as the doctor cut his sleeves opened. Blood was soaking bandage, the doctor injected anesthetic and vikram's jaw clenched.
Devika turned her face away. She couldn't watch. Not because she couldn't even stand blood but because the blood is keep reminding her he wasn't invincible.
He was human.
Human and lethal.
The doctor began stitching. He didn't even blink. He just keep watching Devika. Every second, every heartbeat. Like he was terrified she would run away if he looked anywhere else.