Chapter 18: chapter 18

SRUTHIMy heart is racing faster as I look at the man before me. Everything about him screams danger. Madhav Gajendran is known for his violent temper. He has a reputation for winning any fights that break out with him. I am not sure how I feel about anything now. In a day, my whole life is turned upside down. I am in a state of confusion and shock still. I have no idea what I must do with my life. I am not in the mindset to accept anything. I need time to process things. “Sure,” Madhav answers to the question I asked. He is still standing out of my room and I move away from the door to let him inside. I wait for him to get inside but he still lingers outside. “Come inside and we will talk,” I say. His eyebrows rise in surprise at my invitation to enter my room but he is wise to keep his mouth shut and walks inside. I close the door partially. I still don’t trust Madhav to be in a room with the door fully closed. He has a reputation as a playboy. I was uncomfortable with kissing him. I was prepared for the worst fate as I waited for him to kiss me. I was sure that my acting was fooling everyone but I didn’t expect Madhav to find out my real feelings about the kiss. Neither did I expect him to place his thumb on our lips and kiss it. Our wedding was telecasted in the news and I watched the video. To the viewers, it looks like we both are kissing but only I and Madhav know the truth.The media says he is a man who can’t control his anger and desires. It portrays him as a man who scums to his impulses. Yet, this morning, he was the perfect gentleman. Consider me floored when he talked about consent. But now that I think about it I have never seen him misbehave with a woman in real life but the media is always talking about how he had one-night stands and dates with models. Madhav takes in my room slowly. His eyes scan each nook and corner and it is like he is memorising each of the detail. I take that moment to notice small details about him that I missed earlier. He is wearing a shirt and jeans. The shirt isn’t tucked in and the sleeves are rolled up revealing his muscles. I know he goes to the gym with my brother. He has a little scar just above his left eyebrow. Though his posture is relaxed, his eyes are sharp. His gaze roams over my room before finally settling on my bed. “I don’t want to consummate this marriage,” I blurt out. Madhav’s eyes find me and they aren’t filled with anger like I expected. Neither are they disappointed. Nope! He looks like he is on the verge of laughing. His eyes crinkle in the corner and his lips curl in an amused smile.“What makes you think that I want to have sex with you?” he asks.“Uh…I…ah, yes, my fault,” I stammer as I realise the type of woman he should have met. Embarrassed, I look at the floor. Why did I say those words? If what the media says is true then Madhav has experience with women and I am not his type. “Of course, I am not the type of woman you want to spend the night with but I am sorry that you had to marry me because of my brother. I never expected Praveen…” My voice breaks and a wave of emotions consumes me as I utter the name of my ex-fiancée.  Madhav steps forward eliminating the small distance of space between us. I look up at him in fear. He raises his hand for—I don’t know what but a flinch escapes me and he lowers his hand with a look of frustration in his eyes.“Contrary to what you think, I am not a monster,” he says in the gentlest tone I have ever heard him use. The only tone Madhav usually uses with me is the one filled with teasing and loathing. “How do you know what I am thinking?” I ask wanting to think about something other than my ex-fiancée. “I don’t know. I just guessed from the way you behave around me.”“And how exactly do I behave around you?” “Like a scared kitten trying to act like a fierce tiger.”“That is because I am scared of you,” I admit meeting his eyes.“And why exactly are you scared of me?” he asks arching his brow.“You are violent. I hate violence and I am scared of injuries and blood,” I confess looking away from his eyes. Madhav lets out a soft chuckle, which surprises me. I expected him to be offended or angry at my confession, but instead, he seems almost amused."Violent, huh?" he muses, his tone light. "I won't deny that. But, I don’t go around looking for a fight. It finds me and I give people what they deserve. I understand your fear, Sruthi. But, there is more to me than the violent man you believe me to be.”I feel a mix of emotions swirl inside me-fear, uncertainty and a small glimmer of hope. He is right. I always judged him based on that one fight I witnessed him fight seven years ago. I never bothered to learn why he punched that man. Maybe that man who was punched truly deserved it. I have been judging him based on one fight but maybe I should know about him a little more before making another assumption about him.“I still don’t know what work you do for my brother,” I say. He smells so good that it makes me heady. So, I take a step back.  Frankly, I was always curious about the business my brother and Madhav had between them. Vikram always calls Madhav whenever he was distressed about some situation. They both would go to some secret place for discussions. Vikram never discussed politics with anyone except Madhav. I want to know why my brother has this man in his special regard.Madhav stares at me as I wait for his answer. “Why do you ask all of a sudden? It is not like it was only yesterday, that I started working for Vikram.”“I never cared about you before today,” I reply.Madhav smirks, “Does that mean you care about me now?”“No, that is not why I am asking,” I answer thinking how to phrase the question in a manner that won’t offend him if my suspicions about him are wrong. But screw subtlety. I suck at being discreet. My approach is always straightforward, “I want to be prepared in case police come knocking on the door for a murder you committed.”I meant it as a joke. But, the tightening of Madhav’s jaw and the disappearance of the smile on his face confirms my worst fears. I suck in a sharp breath as Madhav takes a step back. “The police would never come knocking on the door,” he replies.“Why? Because you don’t commit murders?”  I ask with a glimmer of hope in my heart turning into a small flame. Maybe, after all, this marriage isn’t going to be as terrible as I imagined it to be.“No, Sruthi. Because I am so good at my job as assassin that not even the cleverest brain of the country can find me,” he says in an emotionless tone dousing all my hopes.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥