KISSED BY A CRIMINAL

Chapter 28

Isha's POV

"Hang up the phone, Vedant!"

My voice cracked, the sound of it raw and desperate in the quiet bedroom. My fingers were locked in the fabric of his dark shirt, my knuckles turning white. The steady, low drone of Siddharth’s voice from his receiver was still buzzing in the space between us, talking about old files, missing traces, and things I wasn't supposed to understand.

"Why are you doing all this?" I demanded, the tears I’d been holding back all day finally burning the rims of my eyes. "Why is Kabir in police custody? Why are they questioning my friends, Vedant? What does my mother’s death have to do with the people I know?"

Vedant’s mismatched eyes didn't waver. For a second, he just looked down at my hands clutching his chest, his breathing slow and even. Without breaking his gaze, his thumb slid across the screen of his phone, cutting the call. The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.

Slowly, his large hands came up. He didn't pull away from my grip. Instead, his palms cradled my cheeks, his long, warm fingers framing my face with a gentle, firm pressure that instantly sent a tremor straight down my spine. The heat of his skin was a stark contrast to my freezing cheeks.

"Listen to me," Vedant said, his voice dropping into that deep, gravelly register that always seemed to quiet the noise in my head. "The inquiry into your mother's case isn't just a routine check anymore. When an old file is ripped open, the authorities don't look at things selectively. They trace every single branch. They are going to question everyone. Every contact, every colleague, and every single person who has crossed your path."

"But Kabir?" My voice shook as I looked up at him, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I met Kabir and the others long after the accident. They have nothing to do with what happened Seven years ago years ago. They are just my friends. They're innocent."

"In an investigation of this scale, innocence is something you prove, not something they assume," Vedant murmured, his thumb lightly brushing a tear from the corner of my eye. His gaze was intense, holding me captive. "They are holding him for questioning because his name appeared on a shared server log. It’s safety protocol, Isha. If we don't let them follow the thread, the people who actually silenced your mother will know we are shielding someone."

"I'm tired, Vedant," I whispered, the anger draining out of me as quickly as it had come, leaving behind a hollow, aching exhaustion. "Every time I think I'm getting closer to the truth, the circle just gets smaller and darker. I feel like everyone around me is paying the price for my questions."

He didn't say anything to that. Instead, his hands slid from my face down to my shoulders, and with a slow, deliberate movement, he pulled me forward.

My forehead hit his chest. His strong arms wrapped securely around my waist, pulling me flush against his solid frame. I froze for a fraction of a second, my hands still clutching his shirt, before the sheer weight of the day took over. I let my head rest against his shoulder, closing my eyes as his chin rested lightly against my hair.

He didn't offer empty words. He just held me, his broad chest rising and falling in a steady, calming rhythm that slowly, piece by piece, quieted my racing pulse. The faint scent of sandalwood and clean linen wrapped around me, creating a strange, impenetrable boundary between us and the rest of the world.

After what felt like hours, my breathing finally slowed. I pulled back slightly, looking up at him in the dim, shadowed room.

"Let's get some air," I murmured.

Vedant nodded once, letting his arm slip down to rest lightly against the small of my back, guiding me toward the balcony doors.

Leaving the bedroom lights completely turned off, he slid the heavy glass door open. The cool, night air of Delhi swept over us, carrying the distant, muted hum of the city below. We stepped out onto the wide, dark terrace, leaning our arms against the cold railing. The sky above was a deep, velvet indigo, dotted with faint stars that seemed too far away to matter.

"Do you think she knew?" I asked softly, my eyes fixed on the distant yellow headlights crawling along the highway in the distance. "Do you think my mother knew how deep this ran before she... before they took her away?"

Vedant leaned his hip against the railing, turning slightly so he could look at me. In the dark, the white of his right eye seemed to catch the faint moonlight. "She was a brilliant woman, Isha. She knew exactly what she was uncovering. That’s why she hid the data where she did. She knew the only way to keep it safe was to make sure it couldn't be easily reached."

"And now I've brought that danger into your house," I said, looking down at my hands resting on the railing. "Your mother... she was so happy at the temple today. She looked so peaceful. If anything happens because of me..."

"Nothing is going to happen to her, and nothing is going to happen to you," Vedant interrupted, his voice absolute and unyielding. He reached out, his hand covering mine on the cold metal, his warmth instantly seeping into my skin. "The security on this estate isn't just for show. You are under my roof, Isha. As long as you are here, the outside world doesn't get to touch you."

"You sound very sure of yourself," I murmured, a faint, small smile finally touching my lips as I looked at our joined hands.

"I am sure of my parameters," he replied smoothly, a trace of his usual dry humor returning to his tone. "And right now, your parameter is to go inside, get some sleep, and let me handle the details."

"Only if you promise to stop sleeping on the floor," I countered, looking up at him through my lashes. "It makes me feel like a tyrant."

Vedant let out a low, near silent chuckle, his eyes gleaming in the dark. "We'll negotiate the territory inside, princess. Come on."

Before I could even formulate a retort to his negotiation clause, Vedant moved.

He didn’t give me a warning. In one swift, incredibly smooth motion, his large arm hooked right behind my knees, and his other hand wrapped securely around my upper back. My breath caught in my throat as he lifted me effortlessly off the cold stone floor of the balcony, gathering me against his chest as if I weighed nothing at all.

"Vedant!" I gasped, my hands instantly flying up to lock around his neck for balance.

"You talk too much when you're tired," he murmured, his deep, gravelly voice vibrating straight through my palms.

He stepped out of the cool night air and back into the pitch grey black bedroom, sliding the glass door shut with his heel. The room was entirely dark, save for the faint, ambient silver of the moonlight cutting through the sheer curtains. He walked over to the dry side of the large bed and lowered me onto the crisp, clean sheets with an uncharacteristic, slow gentleness.

But as my back hit the mattress, he didn’t pull away.

His hands shifted, planting themselves firmly on the mattress on either side of my shoulders, pinning me beneath the heavy, dark shadow of his frame. He hovered just inches above me, his chest rising and falling in deep, heavy rhythms that mirrored the sudden, erratic racing of my own heart.

The air between us turned thick, suffocating, and instantly electric.

In the dim light, his mismatched eyes were entirely hypnotic the deep midnight of his left eye holding me captive, while the striking white of his right eye seemed to burn through the darkness. The playful, childish bickering of the afternoon dissolved, replaced by a raw, heavy tension that pulled at my core.

As his gaze dropped to my lips, a violent, blinding rush of memory from last night crashed through my mind.

The fierce, unyielding heat of his mouth pressing against mine in the dark. The way his fingers had tangled into my hair, pulling me into a kiss so deep and demanding it had entirely consumed my senses. The way he pressed himself there at my....ufff...this man made lose my sense...my boobs were displayed...pillow pressed beneath me....i couldn't look at the pillow same anymore...The raw, desperate edge of his touch that had left my skin tingling and my lips bruised.

The memory alone made my blood run hot, a soft, involuntary sigh escaping my throat. My grip on his shoulders tightened, my fingers digging into the smooth charcoal fabric of his shirt, pulling him a fraction of a fraction closer.

Sensing the shift in my breathing, Vedant’s eyes darkened. A low, ragged exhale left his lips, his head tilting as he descended into my space, his jaw brushing against the sensitive skin of my cheek before his lips found the shell of my ear.

"You're not pulling away tonight, princess," he whispered, his voice a rough, heated caress that sent a violent shiver straight down my spine.

"I don't think I can," I breathed out, the absolute honesty of the confession leaving me completely defenseless beneath him.

His hand moved from the mattress, his long, warm fingers sliding up the curve of my neck, his thumb resting right over the frantic, pulsing beat of my jugular. He tilted my chin up, his face moving so close I could feel the scorching heat of his breath against my lips. The touch was slow, deliberate, and fiercely passionate an unuttered vow of absolute possession that made the entire world outside the walls of this bedroom completely cease to exist.

He leaned in, his lips brushing mine in a agonizingly slow, teasing friction that made my eyes close instinctively, ready to drown in the absolute chaos of him all over again.

"You know..I just can't control when I am arround you..these lips are my favourite sweet dish" he said in deep husky voice

His lips met mine, and the tease vanished.

The kiss was deep, heavy, and intensely demanding, instantly consuming the quiet space of the room. It wasn’t the panicked of last night... this was a slow, deliberate claim. He tasted like the cool night air and the dark, dangerous undertone of everything he kept hidden. My fingers tangled into the soft hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him down, desperate to lose myself in the solid, unyielding weight of him.

A low, ragged growl vibrated in his chest as he felt my surrender. His hand slid from my jaw down to my waist, his large palm burning through the fabric of my clothes, lifting me closer until there was no space left between us. Every touch felt magnified in the dark the friction of his linen shirt against my skin, the frantic rush of our breathing, the raw heat of his mouth moving against mine with an intoxicating, possessive hunger.

He kissed me until my head spun, until the memories of the day, the looming threats, and the dark shadows of the city faded into absolute nothingness. There was only the weight of his body, the scent of sandalwood, and the fierce, protective fire of his touch.

Slowly, agonizingly, Vedant pulled back just a fraction of an inch. His forehead rested against mine, his breath coming in shallow, hot rasps that fanned across my wet lips. In the faint moonlight, his eyes were incredibly dark, holding a silent, fierce promise that went far beyond any signed contract.

"Sleep, Isha," he murmured, his voice a rough, gravelly whisper against my mouth.

He shifted, rolling to the side but keeping his strong arm securely wrapped around my waist, pulling my back flush against his chest. Wrapped in his warmth, protected by the absolute wall of his frame, the exhaustion finally claimed me, and for the first time in days, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Author’s POV

While the newlyweds slept in a cocoon of quiet intensity, another storm was breaking on the ground floor of the Chauhan mansion.

In his private, soundproof study, Raghav Chauhan sat behind his massive glass desk, the glow of a single tablet illuminating the deep, harsh lines of his face. For hours, he had been using his own back channel lawyer to dig into the leaked autopsy reports of Kesar Malhotra. As the head of Chauhan Industries, he had a legacy to protect, and he had assumed this was merely a competitor trying to smear his family name.

But the deeper his analysts had dug into the offshore shell companies funding the illegal organ syndicate, the more the digital trail began to loop back.

Finally, a decrypted transaction ledger not from three years but seven years ago flashed on his screen. Raghav’s eyes scanned the recipient accounts, then froze. His breath hitched in his throat. The names, the private server signatures, the routed funds they all pointed to one single, highly influential identity.

A man Raghav had trusted..not just trusted..but very close. A man who sat in the same elite circles as him."No..." Raghav whispered, his voice cracking in the empty, silent room. "This is impossible."

His hands shook as he grabbed his secure personal phone. Without wasting a single second, he dialed the private, number....which was saved already in his contact...

The connection went live. For a long, agonizing beat, there was only the sound of smooth, calm breathing on the other end.

"Oh,"a familiar, low voice suddenly chuckled through the speaker, dripping with an unsettling, casual warmth. "You finally got to know about me,..F*****? I must say, your team is slightly slower than I anticipated."

Raghav’s grip on the phone tightened until his knuckles turned white, his heart hammering violently against his ribs. "Why?" Raghav demanded, his voice a harsh, strangled whisper. "Why did you do this? The organ trafficking... Kesar's murder... why?"

The man on the other end let out a rich, dark laugh that sounded entirely psychotic.

"Why? Because of your son..." the voice replied, the casual tone suddenly dropping into a chilling, razor-sharp edge. "Vedant shouldn't have come in between...., that meddling woman Isha’s mother managed to get her hands on the registry. She was about to expose my entire global transit pipeline. I had no choice but to clean the slate."

Raghav’s entire body started to shake, a cold, paralyzing sweat breaking out across his forehead. He looked at the family photographs on his desk, then back to the glowing screen of his tablet.

"You... you are not the person I know," Raghav breathed, his voice trembling with a mixture of raw terror and disbelief. "All these years... you played us."

"Business is business...," the man murmured smoothly. Then, he let out another soft, mocking chuckle. "By the way, my apologies. I couldn't make it to Vedant's wedding. Though, I am planning to pay the happy couple a little visit very soon."

Raghav froze, the air leaving his lungs. "Stay away from my family."

"I hear his new wife is incredibly desperate to win her mother's case,"the voice whispered, carrying a sickening, lethal promise that sliced through the telephone line. "I’d hate to keep a lady waiting. If she wants her mother's files so badly... I might just arrange for her to meet her mother.... Permanently."

The line went dead.

Raghav slowly lowered the phone, his face completely pale, staring blankly into the dark corners of his study as the terrifying realization set in the monster wasn't just coming for his empire it was already standing at their doorstep.