Page 74 of Born in Sin

The front door blew open and a tornado of sound and energy blew in. Mayukhi and Ishaan were arguing about something. As they got closer, Cara gathered that Mayukhi had scratched the door of Ishaan’s car while parking it on the roadside. They’d been trying to park closer to the back alley entrance to the building they were using to get in and out unnoticed.

“It’s just a car,” Mayukhi grumbled.

“It’s a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS!!” Ishaan was outraged. “It’s not just a car!”

Cara winced. Kabir drove the same model and she could only imagine his reaction to her dinging it. For that matter, she doubted Kabir would ever let her get into the driving seat of that car.

Mayukhi rolled her eyes at Ishaan’s theatrics. “Whatever.” She dropped another paper bag on the dining table. “We got Cara and Ishaan’s rabbit food. Vir told us you’re joining us for dinner,” she explained to a surprised Cara.

“Oh! Thank you,” Cara said hesitantly.

Dhrithi slapped Ishaan’s hand as he reached for a prawn. “Use a fork!” she admonished. “We’ve only got paper plates,” she told Cara now as Amay pulled them out of another bag. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Absolutely.” Cara was starting to shrink into herself. The noise and chatter around the table was starting to make her feel conscious and uncomfortable. She was completely out of sync with the group dynamics, and her breath was starting to catch in her chest.

And then the door to the bedroom opened, Virat stepped out, his gaze immediately seeking her out and locking on to hers, and her breath rushed back into her lungs.

Amay slid a plate of salad over to her with a small smile. She took it gratefully, happy to have something to do with her hands. Ishaan picked up his own plate of salad and a can of Diet Coke and sat down beside her.

“Want one?” he asked, holding up the can.

“You know those are really bad for health, right?” she murmured, forking up some salad.

Ishaan paused, the can halfway to his mouth. “I do but I like drinking it when I’m pouting.”

Cara slid him an amused look. “Pouting about the car?”

“It’s not just a car!”

Virat slid into the seat beside her, a loaded plate of Chinese food in his hand, and the last of her tension left her. She shifted slightly in her seat, so her thigh pressed up against his, needingthe contact to stay grounded. He stiffened for a second, his gaze dipping to hers, searching for an answer she wasn’t sure she had to give, before relaxing.

Cara glanced around the table but no one seemed to find them sitting close to each other strange and so she allowed herself to unwind too. She dug into her salad as Ishaan and Amay bickered over something. The word ‘trophy’ got her attention.

“What trophy?” she asked, venturing into the boisterous conversation taking place around the table for the first time.

Ishaan immediately launched into a loud complaint about…wait, was he saying Dhrithi and Amay stole his school academic excellence trophy? She honestly thought she’d heard him wrong.

“No,” Virat murmured, his lips so close to her ear that she shivered. “You’re not imagining it. They’re in the middle of a battle over the trophy. Ishaan and Mayukhi attempted a reverse heist a week or so back but failed.”

“I know you’re shocked that I could fail at anything,” Ishaan told her. “But it’s true.”

“Didn’t you fail physical education at school?” she asked, her brow wrinkling.

Mayukhi cackled, a wicked laugh that had Cara’s lips tugging up too.

“I didn’t fail. I almost failed.” Ishaan scowled. “Don’t get cheeky with me young lady. I’m the one who goaded Vir into getting in touch with you again, you know.”

“Well,” she murmured. “What took you so long, old man?”

The words were out of her before she could censor them. She felt Virat still beside her, a tuning fork that was set to only one vibration – her.

“But that’s not what I’m most shocked about,” she said hastily into the startled yet knowing silence that had fallen around the table. “What gets me is that these two,” she pointed her fork at Amay and Dhrithi, “Know how to steal anything.”

Mayukhi laughed. “I know right. Since when did the goody two shoes of the world start to rule our world of chaos.”

“You know who you need,” she told Ishaan conspiratorially, getting into the spirit of the game.

“I know,” he groused. “But Vir doesn’t want to help.”