Page 141 of Wasted Grace

I lost her.

And I don’t know which woman I’m thinking of.

??????

“There he is!”

I hear Advik’s annoying voice as I come to. The recent warping of my mind taking a silent backseat.

I groan as I force my body up. I notice I’m still on the floor—where she left me.Fucking hell—this is embarrassing.

My rage will have to wait. But it isn’t rage that’s driving me. It’s the sense of loss. Not because this... thiskidwon. BecauseI’m starting to think I’ve been losing for more than two and a half decades.

I shake my head, shoving the thought away.

Behenchod!This isn’t the time for stupid epiphanies. I just need to get this assignment done and be out of everyone’s hair. A few weeks ago—my goal had adifferentoutcome. Today, I’m not feeling as confident.

“Welcome back.” Greesha’s toneless voice hits me.

My body aches as I shift. I’m pretty sure Greesha’s grip was tighter and more ruthless than it usually is during sparring. I don’t blame her.

My head bows as I take a seat next to Dev on the couch. My eyes flitting about with embarrassment of the situation. I hadn’t expected to have an audience waiting for me when I willingly slipped into the dreaded darkness.

“Care to share your plan?” Advik asks, his demeanor a thousand times lighter than before. I don’t know why I hate this kid. He’s... nice. Loyal to his job. Probably evenactuallyloves Greesha.

It was precisely the reason I asked GenVault’s CEO to put him on this assignment. But I’m starting to think it was an inadvertenttestto see if I really everhadGreesha.

“I only got the tail-end of your plan. But I need to know how to prepare Madani Academy as the bait,” Dev chimes in.

Guilt hits hard. It’s not that I don’t care about the kids.I do.I was just blinded with this mission since I failed to take Mohan Bedi’s operations down—Mehul’s brother.

“Yeah...” I rasp, my throat clogging up. “I’ve steered Mehul and his team to keep an eye out for... someone from GenVault toouthim. It was easy when they realized that their latest shipment got caught.”

I keep my head uncharacteristically down, but I can still feel Greesha’s glare. I know what she’s thinking. That I planned thiswithout her knowledge. I can’t even refute her anger anymore. Iusedthe circumstances to keep her—not knowing I never fucking had her.

“And how long have you been...steeringthem in that direction?” Her voice is sharp, rigid.

I clear my throat. “About two weeks. When their shipment got caught. I made sure they suspected that some federal agency had an eye on them. When I overheard Mehul mention his previous run-ins with the CBI—I whipped up the plan.”

I discreetly wince as the words leave my mouth. The coldness of them.

“And what’s happening tomorrow?” I hear Dev ask—sitting right next to me.

“I arranged for a meeting with Anil Khurana—CBI—at the rooftop of Recycle Cafe in Hauz Khas. Open area. Busy...”

I finally look up and lock my eyes on Advik. “I’ve got three covert marksmen circling the area today and tomorrow. Aadya will be close range—disguised. I’ll be with Mehul in his compound. He has had two armed men on you, Advik. So far they’ve failed to locate you when you leave this apartment because we’ve been on top of that. So yes. I’m positive they’ll catch you meeting with Anil.”

Advik sighs, fidgeting mindlessly with his phone. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“But why—”

Dev’s voice is cut off sharply by Greesha. “You’ve been busy.”

I finally meet her narrowed eyes. She’s leaning forward, elbows on her knees. Watching me. Studying me with her calm, yet deadly gaze. It was something I always loved about her. Herfierceness. But ever since we took on this assignment, that gaze unnerves me more each day.

“Yep,” I say steadily. Nothing I say will undo the fact that this plan is sound yet dangerous.

Dev clears his throat. “I need to ask something. Why are we having Advik shoulder this trap and not me?I’mthe one Mehul has been working with ever since Advik got shot.”