Page 14 of Born in Sin

His throat clogged, his chest tightened, every breath a struggle. But all he did was nod.

“That makes sense,” he murmured, walking past her to his bedroom. “Please sit down while I bring you everything I have.”

She sat. He was acutely conscious of her gaze boring holes into his back as he walked out of the room. He rummaged through his work desk, picking up the most relevant papers and shoving them into the back pocket of his jeans. He grabbed the corner of his whiteboard and wheeled it into the living room.

Cara’s eyes widened as she stared at the mess of information on the board. Pictures were strewn all over, notes scribbled under them practically illegible. And in the center of it, was her. Or rather a picture of her.

“Have you never heard of technology?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

Virat shrugged. “I think better like this.”

“You really think it all began with me,” she murmured, coming to stand before the board, her sharp gaze darting every which way like a magpie’s who didn’t know what to grab first.

“I do,” he admitted, coming to stand behind her. The scent of her cologne wafted up to him, making his head spin. He took a discreet step back. She noticed, her shoulders tensing and squaring up in defiance.

“What’s their game plan?” she asked, her tone stiff and awkward.

“To sleep with as many women as they can blackmail into it?” Virat offered. “I don’t think they’re smart enough to come up with a big picture game plan.”

“No,” Cara murmured. “But they are smart enough to follow one.”

“You think someone else is pulling the strings? Varun is dead, and he was the leader of their pack.”

Cara kept staring at the board, her mind clearly working overtime to figure his mess of information out.

“And what is this?” she asked, pointing to a table he’d prepared.

“The past dates of their boys only parties.”

She tapped a finger against her chin as she thought it through. “Once in two weeks,” she muttered. “Why that timeframe? It worked for their collective libidos?”

“Cara,” he said now, drawing her attention away from the board. “I don’t want you getting involved in this. It’s too dangerous.”

She stilled, her gaze roving over his tense face. “I thought you were going to keep me safe.”

“We all know how well that went down last time.” Bitterness leaked through his voice as he spoke. “As you pointed out.”

“Anyway,” she said with a flick of her wrist. “I don’t need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself.”

“Cara,” Virat sighed. “You know-“

She didn’t wait for him to finish, marching towards the table she’d set her bag on. Slipping her hand in, she closed her fingersaround the cold metal of the gun. She pulled it out and levelled it at Virat’s head.

“Now tell me what you think I know,” she challenged.

A muscle ticked in his jaw as his gaze went from the gun to Cara’s tense face. Sighing, he walked forward, wrapping his hand around hers and adjusting her grip.

“When you aim to shoot,” he murmured. “Aim here.” He tugged at her hand bringing the muzzle right up against his chest, right over his heart. He didn’t move. Neither did she.

“Why?” Her gaze was fixed on the pointy end of the gun that dug into his shirt.

“Because a chest is a much bigger target than someone’s head. If you’re going to use a gun, you should make sure every shot fired goes for maximum destruction. If you don’t kill the fucker outright, at least do the most damage.”

“Are you teaching me how to kill someone Virat Jha?”

He glanced at her somberly. “Yes. And once you’re done, call me. I’ll handle cleanup.”

Crestwood