Page 37 of Born in Sin (Phoenix #3)

Chapter Nineteen

VIRAT

The code sounded as it was input into the front door.

It swung open and Cara marched through it, her hair a wild cloud framing her furious face.

She wore worn trackpants and a tank top which looked to have been worn well past its prime too.

The movie star hadn’t come to visit. The girl he loved had.

The door banged shut behind her before he even rose from the couch.

Virat put his laptop down and watched her pace the length of his spartan living room.

He didn’t say a word, just watched and waited.

After another moment, he walked over to the kitchen and poured out a glass of orange juice.

Cara was still pacing, muttering to herself under her breath.

He pulled out fruit and cheese from the fridge, slicing, dicing and peeling, while keeping an eye on the enraged woman in his home.

He set the cheese and fruit platter and the juice on a tray and went back to the living room.

When she caught his eye, he held out the glass, the gesture one as old as their relationship. Her eyes glistened with the bright sheen of tears before she blinked them back and took the glass.

They sat down on the couch, the platter between them.

He speared a grape with a fork, added a small chunk of brie to it and held it out to her.

Cara didn’t reach for the fork, instead she leaned forward and ate the bite right off the fork.

He watched the soft pink of her lips close around the tines of the fork, her gaze holding his in voiceless challenge.

Virat swallowed hard but held his ground.

He speared another bite, pineapple and feta this time and held it out to her.

Something flashed in her eyes, but she continued eating, allowing him to feed her, to care for her.

They ate in silence, sharing the food, knowing each other’s preferences and leaving those bits for each other. When they’d finished the last bite of the platter, she picked up the glass and took a sip of the juice, her body finally relaxing, the tension from earlier leaving her.

He placed the empty platter on the center table and leaned back on the couch.

Cara rested her back against the backrest and stretched her legs out, her feet finding the edge of his lap instinctively.

Virat stared down at her pretty feet with their sunshine yellow toenails.

He was still staring at them when she slouched down on the couch and placed them on his lap, her eyes closing on a sigh that resounded in his heart.

He hesitated for half a second before reaching for her feet, gently massaging the arch of them. An almost inaudible moan escaped her as she melted into the couch, her entire body going boneless. He didn’t dare look up, unable, unwilling to meet her eyes.

“They came to the set today,” she said softly, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair as it fell in loose waves over one shoulder. “Kabir’s out partying with them right now.”

“I know.” He kept his gaze on her feet and continued to press and knead the soft skin, every stroke a welcome burn to his heart. It had been years since he’d had the right to touch her, but, still, every tactile second was a balm that both healed and seared him.

“I spoke to Majid. Alone.”

His hand stopped, mid stroke, for the barest second before he started again. He could feel her gaze on the top of his head, but he didn’t meet it.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what we talked about?”

Virat exhaled. A rueful smile touched his lips as he looked up to finally meet her gaze. “Do you really need me to ask?”

“Given that I barged into your home to tell you, I guess not.”

“Tell me,” he said, struggling to keep the conversation in the present. “What did he say?”

“He said I reminded him of someone special, the best friend he’d ever had.”

Virat’s eyes burned, remembered rage sweeping through him and taking common sense with it. She pressed her foot into his hand, a gentle nudge that helped ground him in the present.

“Do you think he knows it’s you?” he asked, his voice carefully level.

“No.” She took a deep breath, her eyes fixated on where his hand rested on her foot. “But there is something about me that is triggering him. It’s good,” she said. “The more on edge he is, the more likely he’ll snap.”

“That’s not good,” Virat said sharply. “Or have you forgotten what happened the last time he snapped?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything.” Cold, hard words that sliced across his conscience. “No one can forget their lived reality. It’s different this time.”

“How?”

“This time I will be the one who snaps his tether. I’m in control, of him, of the situation, and of the consequences from it. I’m the one herding him to the edge of the cliff and I’m the one who is going to push him off of it.”

Ice slid through his veins. “What have you done, Celi?”

“What needed to be done.”

“Celi.” The quiet command was a plea that he knew she would hear.

She pulled out the burner and handed it to him. He tapped the phone open and scrolled to the latest text thread.

I see you.

Majid’s reply had come through a second later.

I want to see you too. Can we meet?

Cara’s final message had gone through seconds before she’d entered Virat’s flat.

You’ll see me. I’m coming for you. You’ll see me but you won’t see me or mine coming.

He looked up at her, his face grave. “Don’t push so hard that you snap along with him, Celi.”

“I snapped a long time ago. I snapped the night my friend turned on me. My friend, Vir,” her voice cracked, tears welling in her beautiful eyes.

“He was my friend. Even when I reached the Chemistry Lab building and saw him standing there, instead of you, I wasn’t worried.

Even when he asked if he could keep me company, I didn’t question it.

Even when the others arrived, I felt no fear.

I just thought I was spending time with a friend until you came.

” Her breath caught on a sob. “But he was no friend. And you didn’t come. ”

Virat’s hand tightened on her foot, fingers trembling, a fine tremor working its way through him.

“Why did you come here tonight, Celi?”

“Why do I always come to you? Because I can’t stay away. I still can’t stay away, even after all this time,” she said, her voice drenched with emotion. “I swore I would never leave you and I didn’t…even when you left me.”

His eyes closed, weighed down with defeated sorrow. “Celi, I’m-“

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” The fierce words cut through his regret like a hot knife slicing through butter.

“I don’t want Majid’s regret or your penance. I want only my vengeance. And when I’m done extracting it, I hope to never set eyes on either of you ever again.”

A phone rang in the silence that echoed after her statement. They glanced down, in unison, at the burner, but the sound wasn’t coming from it. Virat watched as Cara pulled her personal phone out and glanced at the screen. Kabir was calling.

She answered, holding the phone to her ear. Music and screaming sounded loud enough through the speaker for Virat to hear even from where he sat.

“Car, I think I’m in. These guys would lick my balls tonight if I asked them to.”

“Please don’t ask them to,” she murmured. “It’s not quite the agenda we were aiming for.”

“I have to brief you on shit and not over the phone. Where are you?” he asked.

Cara’s eyes met Virat’s. “Nowhere important,” she replied. “Shall I meet you at your place?”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you there in half an hour.”

She pulled her foot out of Virat’s palm, leaving a gaping absence behind, one he already knew he would feel forever. He rose with her and walked her to the door in silence. At the door, she paused, her head bent, gaze trained on the floor.

“I’ll let you know what he tells me.”

“Will you come back?” he asked, trying to hide the hope in his voice and failing. “Until this is done, will you come back?” The words ‘to me’ were left unsaid, but they heard them anyway.

“I will,” she said, her voice devoid of all emotion. “We need to talk and plan in private. And privacy is a concept that’s unheard of in my life. This place is the only place we can meet. So, I’ll come back. Not for you, but for me.”

She looked up at him, met his gaze, confused, tangled, messy feelings floating in the space between them.

“Goodnight Vir.”

“Goodnight Celi,” he murmured, standing in the doorway and watching her leave him to go to another man.

“Ask me for anything, Vir, and I’ll give it to you. But don’t ask me to leave you. I will never leave you.”

Endless days he’d fought her, begging her to leave him, in the hope that distance from him would keep her safe. And now that he’d gotten what he’d asked for, he didn’t know how he was going to live with it.