Page 13 of Entangled Vows

Vikram’s eyes darkened. “And yet here I am. Not running. Not hiding like your golden boy, Suraj.” Vikram laughed, low and bitter. “I may not be the perfect choice forher, you dumbass, but do you think she wants someone who disappears the second life gets hard? Wake the fuck up.”

Mohit swung again, this time landing a hit on Vikram’s ribs. A grunt tore from him, but Vikram grabbed Mohit’s arm and twisted it into a painful angle.

“Hit me all you want,” Vikram hissed into his ear. “But I’m not going anywhere. And if you think I’ll let you scare me off, you don’t know me at all.”

Mohit tore free, breathing hard, his eyes wild. “Stay the hell away from her, Vikram.”

Vikram’s gaze snapped to Mahika for a heartbeat before he looked back at Mohit. “Not happening.”

Mohit lunged again, fists raised, but Mahika threw herself between them.

“Enough!” she shouted, her voice cracking.

“Gentlemen, please—” Mr. Rao scrambled to his feet, alarmed, his voice cutting through the chaos for the first time. He had been trying to stop the fight for ten minutes, but no one had listened.

Mahika barely registered him.

“Just fucking stop it!” she screamed, her voice hoarse with panic.

She grabbed Mohit’s arm and tried to drag him back, but he was lost in his fury. And she understood it. That bone-deep desperation to protect the ones you loved, even if it meant drawing blood, was something she recognised.

Her pulse thundered as Vikram shoved Mohit back, making him stumble.

“You’ll hurt her, you dumbfuck,” his voice came low, lethal.

Then his eyes met hers. Stormy. Angry. Unreadable. His jaw was tight, split at the corner, with blood trickling slowly, yet didn’t flinch. Rage still simmered through every inch of him, but behind it, there was something else. Something she couldn’t understand.

And it hit her.

He let Mohit hit him.On purpose.

He’d stood there and taken the brunt.For her.

It was one thing to have someone ready to throw punches for you. But for someone totakepunches for you? That was something else entirely.

The realisation curled inside her, low and hot, twisting through her with a sharp ache. Her breath stuttered in her chest.

It shouldn’t have mattered to her.

But it did. Too damn much.

Seeing him bloodied, angry, yet still choosing to restrain his actions for her, made her insides turn soft and stupid. And she hated it. Hated the heat licking up her spine, the ache blooming in her chest.

This man. This damn moment.

Again, none of it was supposed to feel like this.

And yet, it did. Too much. Too fast. And the worst part?

She didn’t even realise how quickly this feeling would come crashing down like a wave and drown her before she had a chance to breathe.

5

Asharp pain shot across Vikram’s face and spread like wildfire down his neck. Bloody hell. His nose was likely broken. Fuck.

Mohit’s anger was expected, but he wasn’t expecting the punch. In all honesty, he’d assumed Mohit would keep his anger in check until they were by themselves, all alone. But no such luck. Mohit had started this here, in front of Mahika and Mr. Rao. And Vikram, the arrogant bastard that he was, just added fuel to the flame by being a defensive jerk.

He definitely wasn’t a dreamy romance novel hero. He was a successful no-frills businessman who understood the rules of real life. A man who lived life on his own terms. His reasons were his own. Deep, deliberate ones that were nobody’s damn business.