Bound by Revenge (The Singham Bloodlines) Page 6

*****

  After several minutes, when she was sure he was gone, she stepped out of the bathroom. She pulled out the first things she could reach in her bags and threw them on quickly.

  Her stomach rumbled at the smell of food. She had no appetite due to her nervousness and fear. Then she reminded herself that she needed the energy for her brain to come up with a good plan.

  She followed the aroma of the food to a small dining nook within the suite. The food was placed on a wheeled cart. Wondering who had brought the cart in, she lifted the covers. Then without even noticing what the breakfast was, she devoured most of it.

  She also wondered why the person who had brought the food didn’t wait to introduce themselves. Maybe it was another warning for her to stay in the room, and not interact with anyone.

  The man had not only ordered her to stay, but also warned her of the consequences.

  What would he do if she broke his rules? Beat her? No, not beat her. She recalled his conversation with his brother about hitting a woman. He may not hit her, but he was not opposed to the idea of killing her if she disobeyed. Apparently, for the man she was married to, killing a woman was supposedly better than hurting her.

  She shuddered. She could not risk being killed, trying to escape, because that would risk the life of her loved ones.

  Feeling defeated, she stood up to explore the large master bedroom suite which was almost as big as her apartment back home.

  She walked around cautiously, noticing a corner with a sleek laptop. The man had spent time earlier that morning, typing something.

  She sat at the desk and turned on the laptop.

  She knew her aunt was probably watching her every move, and maybe even had spies at this place. And if she attempted to warn her family, Neelambari would know immediately.

  The laptop screen displayed a single profile. It simply said Abhay Singham. She clicked on it, but to her disappointment, it was password protected.

  Frustrated, she looked around the desk, and noticed a stack of books, lined neatly on a bookshelf on one side. She reached for one of them, hoping to find some solace within the pages.

  She was an avid reader, and could spend days reading just about anything if she had the time. But lately with her long shifts at the hospital, she missed reading.

  She picked out a few more books on random from the shelf and walked towards the balcony. Opening the door, she settled into one of the chairs, and delved into the book, hoping the book would take her mind off her reality.

  She heard the door of the suite open and realized it was lunch time. She placed the book on a side table and rushed into the suite. A woman was just about to leave after having placed a wheeled cart with dished on top.

  “Wait!”

  At her urgent voice, the woman stopped and turned. Seeing the look of utter loathing on the woman's face, Anika’s voice died. The woman turned away and left the room.

  The same woman brought in snacks and dinner later that day, and her expression and attitude remained the same.

  Each time Anika tried to make eye contact or greet her somehow, it was met with an angry silence. Dejected, she lost hope in making the woman her ally.

  Finishing her dinner early, she placed the books back in their original places. It was only eight in the evening, but she went to bed early, wanting to avoid any confrontation with the man who was supposedly her husband.

  CHAPTER 14

  Anika woke up slowly from a deep sleep. She was having a pleasant dream. An involuntary purr escaped her as she felt warmth envelop her. She heard a deep masculine groan under her, followed by calloused fingertips tracing the bare curve of her hips.

  Why were the fingertips calloused? Being a doctor, and having friends and family who were also mostly doctors, she always shook hands with people who had soft skilled hands that performed surgeries.

  She snapped her eyes open, and lifted her head, and then froze as soon as her eyes met with the darkly intense eyes of the man.

  She was lying on top of him.

  Long moments of silence passed between them as they looked at each other. Her eyes widened with shock and fear, while his were coolly contemplating. Frantically, she tried to move away from his body, but he held her in a firm grip.

  “Let me go,” she pleaded, her voice coming out hoarse.

  The man didn’t reply. His hand continued to stroke her back, causing tremors to run through her body. The tremors were due to fear, and also due to an unwanted ache deep inside, from the lingering dream.

  “I-I don’t want this. You know that and yet…”

  His large hand paused, and she felt the warmth of it seep deep inside making her body vibrate. His eyes flared, and she didn’t know whether it was with lust or anger or both.

  “What makes you think I would let anything, including you, stop me from claiming what is rightfully mine?” he inquired dispassionately.

  She drew in a long breath, trying to think through the panic that was threatening to take over. “I’m sure a man like you is too proud to force an unwilling woman.” She mentally crossed her fingers, desperately hoping her words would hit his ego.

  His large hand resumed with the stroking, making her belly quiver with fear, and something else she decided to analyze later.

  “Unwilling woman, yes, but not a willing one who crawled on top of me and began burrowing into my neck.”

  Her face heated in response to his words. She knew she was a restless sleeper and moved a lot during her sleep. “I’m unwilling,” she whispered.

  “Nothing about you seems unwilling, especially the way you moaned at my touch.” He stared at her in an unnerving manner. “I can make your body willing and begging for me in no time.”

  “That’ll still make it wrong because in my mind, I don’t want you.”

  His hands tightened on her hips, making her gasp. Then he moved his hands away from her, and folded them under his head. He stared at the ceiling. “Get off me,” he ordered quietly.

  Immediately, she scrambled away from him, and got off the bed, and ran into the large bathroom. She was out of breath when she shut the door.

  *****

  Abhay Singham watched his wife, as she ran away from him. She was breathtaking to look at and also touch, but she had the personality of a frightened deer. She was always trembling. She had been trembling when he had spoken to her for the first time in the Prajapati Estate. She had trembled while she sat next to him during their wedding, and then on the ride to the Singham Estate. She had also been trembling during the two nights while she slept next to him.

  Is that all she would do if I touched her the way I want to? Tremble?

  The thought filled him with an uncomfortable mix of hate and lust.

  *****

  Anika slowly looked towards the main bedroom area to check if the man had left. She had heard the sound of a door shut, but she didn’t want to take any chances. She had been hiding in the breakfast nook, keeping away from the man as he went about his morning routine.

  Taking small, tentative steps, she checked the balcony and then the bathroom.

  All clear.

  She sighed out a breath of relief, and sped towards the laptop. She tried a few more passwords, but none of them worked.

  Frustrated, she got up from the chair to pull out a few more books. The kind of books she had discovered the previous day was more than eclectic. She couldn’t figure out what kind of man she was dealing with simply based on those books.

  She ran her fingers along the spine of the books, reading the titles, checking to see which one could take her mind away from constant fear and worry. Her hand stopped when she encountered a soft, leather-bound book with no title. There was one other similar book right next to it.

  She pulled the first one out and opened it. She was taken aback when she saw a handwritten text, instead of the print. She held it closer, and squinted at the text, to confirm it was someone’s handwriting. The only thing that gave the beautiful calligraphy away was
the slightly yellowed pages, and the tiny ink blots.

  “…I stood in front of my brothers, holding the bloodied birds I had shot. I had proven to them that I was a proud Senani woman who is more than capable of accompanying them to the hunts…”

  Anika closed the book and bit her lip, feeling guilty. It was someone’s journal.

  But whose? And the name Senani sounded familiar. Feeling curious and equally guilty, she opened the journal again.

  “…mother was upset. She wanted me to spend more time learning about running a large estate to be a worthy bride to Abhimanyu Singham… ”

  Anika sucked in a breath. The word Singham jumped out at her, pushing away all the guilt. Her heart thudded as she decided to continue reading it. Holding the book carefully, she went to the balcony, and settled into one of the chairs.

  CHAPTER 15

  A television was playing in the background.

  Wait, there was no television in the room.

  It had been only a week since Anika arrived at the Singham Estate, but it felt more like eons. Over the week, she had become used to the bedroom suite. Even though the original building was probably built hundreds of years ago, the interiors kept up with the modern times. At least, the master bedroom suite appeared to have been updated in the recent times. The suite had a dedicated area for each function, giving her some space even when he was around.

  She opened her eyes as slits, and saw the man at his work desk with his headphones on. He appeared to be very involved in the telephone conversation. He didn’t bother turning towards her, when she got off the bed and walked right past him to the bathroom. She had found the phone call out of the ordinary, because for a change he was talking in long sentences. She had heard him speak on the phone, during the nights, with only single word or curt orders.

  She could hear him from the bathroom as he spoke in deep tones in what appeared to be a British accent. His language was fluent, and his tone was well modulated.

  Had he taught himself the language by listening to some videos and by reading the books she had found in his room? Or maybe he had a British tutor brought in.

  Stepping closer to the bathroom door, she tried to follow his conversation. It was a business conversation, and his voice held obvious authority. She stood close to the door, unable to contain her curiosity.

  He seemed to be talking about an agricultural process. Her ears perked up when she heard a few familiar terms. He was speaking about a prototype product he had planted.

  A few minutes into the conversation, she felt guilty for eavesdropping, but a moment later she brushed it off. This was for her survival and possibly her family’s survival, too.

  She couldn’t believe he kept her trapped in this room for more than a week. Each time he left for the day, she had to stop herself from getting out of the room.

  The strong push from the other side of the door brought her out of her thoughts. She almost fell on the bathroom floor when it opened suddenly. She stumbled but held the edge of a countertop on time. She shrunk away from him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked with a frown.

  Her mind went blank, and she didn’t know how to answer that question. “I-I…”

  He waited for her answer with an impatient look. And looking at his scowling face, she felt even more nervous, and cowered over the counter.

  “What is wrong with you?” he asked in disgust. “Why are you hiding inside the suite all day? There is a rumor floating around with the Prajapatis that I might have murdered you on our first night.”

  Her legs trembled when she heard the word murder. “B-but you told me I had to stay here in the room.”

  His frown deepened. “When?”

  “On the first night.”

  He stilled, and then shook his head briefly. “I have no time for this. Get out of the room and do whatever the hell you want within reason.”

  Her heart leaped, and she nodded her head. She slowly stood straight, calculating the path to escape from the bathroom without touching him.

  He stared at her for a few more moments, his eyes scanning her body like he was contemplating his next move. She caught her breath waiting for him to do something—like pounce on her or grab her. But he didn’t do any of those things. With another look of disgust, he turned away from her and went towards the exercise area.

  She began to hear the loud punching noises where he beat the crap out of a punching bag.

  *****

  Zipping through the shower, Anika pulled out a semi-traditional tunic and leggings for her first outing. Her mind was preoccupied with hundreds of thoughts bombarding her at the same time.

  Who else lived in the house?

  The only relative of his seemed to be his brother.

  But there were a lot of other people who had waited for them outside the main door of the Singham house on the wedding day.

  Was there at least one person out there who would help me?

  She recalled overhearing a conversation the man had on the phone, with his brother. The man was asking his brother to go back to the city. It wasn’t clear why the brother wanted to stay, even though the man had wanted him to leave immediately.

  Gathering up the courage she could muster, she opened the bedroom door to step outside. The only time she had wandered around the Singham Mansion was after the wedding. Now, she didn’t know where to go first.

  Just as she was about to close the door, her eyes fell on the finished breakfast that sat on the small dining table within the suite. She stepped back inside to gather the dishes, and carried them on the tray, on her way out.

  A long breath didn’t help, but she took her first step towards relative freedom.

  She was on the top level of the house. A circular corridor led to the stairs. She walked to the railing and looked up to see the source of light. There was a magnificent oil painting on the skylight that was large enough to illuminate the entire interior of the house.

  She slowly looked down and saw a couple of men stationed at the bottom of the staircase. Were they guarding her so she couldn’t escape? If only they knew that running away wasn’t an option for her. Her aunt wouldn’t think twice before harming her family the moment she found out.

  There were a few other people on the second floor, cleaning and polishing the marble floors. A few of them were moving around, holding things in their hands. She continued walking down the stairs tentatively smiling at every person she saw. They were all looking at her, but none of them returned her smile.

  Keeping her back straight, she reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “Which way to the kitchen?” she asked one of the men, her voice wobbling only slightly.

  One of the men reached out to take the tray of dishes from her, but she shook her head. “I’ll take it. The kitchen?”

  “Seventh door to the right.” The man pointed in the general direction.

  She walked along the corridor, drawing glances from people passing by.

  What if no one here ever likes me enough to help me?

  Her nervousness came back, and her palms started to get sweaty, making her worried about dropping the tray before she made it to the kitchen.

  She stepped into a large room, where over a dozen women were working. They were cutting, prepping the food, and even cooking on several burners of multiple stoves. Anika recognized the woman who usually brought her food up to the bedroom.

  When the women noticed her presence, no one uttered a word, filling the air with a tense silence. Fighting the instincts to run out of the room, Anika braced herself and kept walking.

  Her steps resounded in the over-sized kitchen. Slowly she placed the tray on a granite counter, before turning to look at the woman who brought her food each day.

  Anika smiled tentatively. “Thank you for bringing my meals to the room. I don’t need them brought in anymore. I’ll join everyone else.”

  The tense silence was getting thicker, and she didn’t know why everyone looked at her with cold, hos
tile faces.

  What had she done to anger them?

  Finally, a woman spoke. She came closer and gave a sweeping derisive look. “Look who decided to finally step out of her room!”

  Anika smiled uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. How was she supposed to tell them that she wasn’t staying in her room by choice? That would only make her sound like a liar. Based on what the man had said to her that morning, she realized she might have misunderstood his words.

  She cleared her throat. “I’m just here to see if I can help in any way.”

  “You think you can take over the house, and rule all of us, just because you are married to Abhay?” the woman hissed.

  Anika was taken aback by the sudden unwarranted attack. “I just wanted to drop off the dishes and meet the people here,” she answered quietly.

  “Don’t pretend. You are still a Prajapati woman. Abhay had to marry you for his people!”

  Anika frowned trying to process her words.

  “Don’t try to pretend as though you know nothing! You can’t fool us. We know how the Prajapatis are, and you are definitely one of them.” The woman spat out the words.

  Anika wanted to shout back at the woman, telling her that she didn't know anything about what went on between the Prajapatis and Singhams. But she held herself back because she was here to make allies, not enemies.

  However, everyone looked as though they couldn’t wait to see her suffer or just die.

  “I just wanted to meet everyone in the house,” she reiterated to their hostile faces.

  “Don’t try to fool us with your harmless demeanor. We know what the Prajapatis are capable of!” The woman’s voice held a lot of anger and also traces of hurt.

  Anika knew she wasn’t going to magically change people’s attitude towards her. So she didn’t waste her time or energy trying to make them understand that she was not out to harm them in any way.

  Her shoulders stooped in defeat as she walked out from the kitchen. She went towards the main door, determined to find someone outside, who was ready to speak to her in a friendly tone.