Page 117 of Entangled Vows

She smirked. “Arrogantanddomesticated, huh?”

He leaned closer, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Only for you.”

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewellery box, sliding it across to her

“What is this?” Mahika asked, baffled.

“Open it and see for yourself.”

Mahika opened the box and stared at the delicate bracelet nestled in the velvet-lined box. A dainty gold chain, simple and elegant, with a tiny starburst charm attached to it.

Her brows drew together. “It’s beautiful… but I don’t understand why you’re giving me jewellery?”

Vikram wiped the crumb of toast from the top of her lip as he spoke. “It’s not just jewellery.” He picked up the charm between his fingers, the tiny starburst glinting in the light.

She frowned as she examined the bracelet in his hands. There was a tiny button hidden on the charm.

“Press it once,” he explained, “and it sends your GPS location to your emergency contacts. And press it twice, and it calls me directly. You don’t even need your phone. It also has a microphone. You can’t hear me, but I’ll be able to hear everything going on around you and know exactly where you are.”

She stared at him with disbelief. “You’re serious.”

“Yes. I had it custom-made,” he said. “It’s encrypted and discreet, and it connects only to my phone.”

Her breath caught. “Why would you—”

“Because that night on the isolated road could’ve ended very differently,” he interrupted. “And I don’t ever want to go through that again. I don’t want to waste time ever again.”

She looked down at the bracelet, a flicker of unease curling in her chest. “I don’t like this,” she said quietly. “It makes me feel… weak.”

“But you’re not,” he said softly. “You’re the strongest woman I know. But being strong doesn’t mean you have to be alone when something goes wrong,” Vikram said, gently clasping the charm around her wrist. “It’s a direct line to me. Remember that.”

She nodded, looking away, her heart doing something it absolutely should not in the presence of his velvet voice.

“You really think I’ll need to use it?” she asked, softer this time.

“I hope not, Momo,” he said. “But I’d rather be overprepared than too late. If anything ever happens… anything at all, I’ll find you. I promise.”

The words weren’t wrapped in romance, but they were clad in steel and certainty that felt dangerously like care and worry.

When she caught that flash of warmth in his eyes, something almost tender, she had the sinking feeling that he’d just won another round. She rolled her eyes, as always, but she couldn’t deny the butterflies fluttering in her tummy. Lately, they were showing up far too often.

She was already head over heels in love with him. That was dangerous, yes. But then again, her brain warned her about eating tubs of ice cream too. And she still dove in with a big spoon, without a hint of regret.

Maybe this was just that… a reckless, sweet feeling that was entirely inevitable. And she was an idiot to give in, but she didn’t care.

∞∞∞

Vikram stared at his wife, unable to shake thoughts of how insane the past few months had been. It wasn’t the chaos or the quiet, not even the petty arguments that kept replaying in his mind. It was the sex. It was unreal. Mind-numbing. Powerful enough to break through every last bit of control he thought he had. He could barely keep his hands off her. Every room in the house had felt their hunger. And somehow… that wasn’t enough.

He stared at her unabashedly… her hair a little wild, her lips soft and tempting, her cheeks still pink. Her skin glowed in that way no luxury treatment could ever replicate.

She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly, irrevocably claimed, and he was the one who owned every part of her.

She glanced up at him, and the look in her eyes made something in his chest tighten. Whatever this was between them felt dangerous, and he could feel that she felt it too. Just then, a sudden noise pulled him from his thoughts. The front door swung open and slammed shut.

Before either of them could move, Suraj walked in mid-sentence, with Ishika right behind him. Mohit entered last, dragging a suitcase and rubbing sleep from his eyes as if he’d just stepped off a red-eye flight.

They were all laughing at something, until their eyes landed on Vikram and Mahika. The laughter died in an instant, and silence enveloped the kitchen.