Page 9 of Born in Sin (Phoenix #3)

Chapter Five

VIRAT

The door closed behind him, the sound a gunshot ricocheting through the silent room. He watched as Celina turned in a small circle, her bright eyes taking in every corner of his spartan space.

“It’s not much,” he said, feeling compelled to fill the silence and to make excuses for this space he called home. It had never felt like home though, more of a transient resting place.

Until now. Until she’d walked through the doors, filling it with the sheer essence of her.

She turned to face him, her expression cool and remote. “What’s your next step?”

“My next step?” he asked, playing for time. He gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. She didn’t move.

“Don’t play games with me, Virat. You don’t just have a next step. You have several steps ahead mapped out. What is it?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Because I do. You don’t honestly think I’m going to sit back and let them rampage through people’s lives like this, do you?”

“You’ve never shown any inclination to cross paths with them before,” he said quietly.

“I’ve never had to,” she shot back. “Their lives don’t intersect with mine, my name’s different, and I’ve had enough subtle work done on myself for them to never recognise me.” She shrugged. “There is no reason for them to connect Cara Ferns to Celina Fernandez. And I’ve liked it that way.”

“So, what’s changed?”

“You.” The word landed like a bomb. “You wouldn’t have come to me, if you didn’t think this mess was going to land on my doorstep, sooner or later. I cannot afford a mess, Virat.”

It hurt. Every time she called him Virat instead of Vir, it was like she was adding another shallow cut to his already wounded heart. It didn’t matter. For her, he would bleed.

“I would never allow a mess to land on your doorstep,” he swore, holding her gaze so she could see his intent.

Cara nodded. “I know you’ll do your best to make sure that happens but…”

“But?”

“As we found out in the past, your best is not always good enough.”

Virat closed his eyes, pain and sorrow digging talons into his heart and soul.

“So, I want in,” Cara said now, her voice level and tinged with frost. “Let me in, so I can make sure that your best is up to the task this time.

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 fingers around 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.”