His Captive Indian Princess. Tanu Jain

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      Vikram’s father had also lived up to his family’s tarnished reputation. He had spent his entire life partying, hunting and having affairs, and his legacy to his heir after his death had been a mountain of debt which Vikram had cleared from the huge personal wealth he had accumulated.

      Vikram had experienced a disturbed and traumatic childhood. His father had been abusive and violent and highly critical of Vikram. He’d mocked Vikram’s deep attachment to his mother and jeered at him, telling him princes had to be strong and unemotional. He had subjected his long-suffering wife and son to harsh beatings.

      When he was eight, Vikram’s father had installed his mistress in his palace and Vikram’s frail and delicate mother, unable to bear the public humiliation, had shot herself.

      His callous and uncaring father had shunted off Vikram to boarding school, where he’d met Madhav.

      Madhav had befriended the grieving and morose Vikram and pulled him out of his depression. Vikram knew he was indebted to Madhav for having saved his sanity and in later years did his best to repay the debt.

      Two years ago, after receiving the news about Madhav’s death, it had been Vikram who had buried his own pain and stepped in to comfort Madhav’s distraught father, Maharaj Sambhaji Rao. The inconsolable, grieving Maharaj had turned to Vikram for emotional support and assistance in his business affairs.

      For the past two years Vikram had been managing Maharaj’s business affairs as well as looking after the expanding chain of luxury hotels which Madhav and he had jointly set up about five years ago. The additional load had meant that for the past two years he had been working his butt off and the last year had been even more frantic since Maharaj had suffered a stroke and gone into coma.

      Vikram had continued at the helm of Maharaj’s business affairs but things had become complicated when the husband of Maya—Madhav’s sister and Maharaj’s elder daughter—had started legal proceedings to try and wrest control of the family property from Vikram.

      But after Madhav’s accident, the Maharajah had written his will and had taken Vikram into his confidence. So Vikram knew that though the Maharajah had bequeathed considerable wealth to his legitimate daughter Maya, he had determinedly named Gauri, his illegitimate daughter, as his principal successor.

      Locating Gauri at this point of time was a stroke of luck. Her presence would untangle the legal mess of Maharaj’s property and enable him to safeguard Maharaj’s wealth until he recovered and assumed control for himself. Vikram glanced at the lying and cheating girl, who was even now sleeping the sleep of an innocent. Gauri hadn’t stirred even once on the way. The sedative had been very effective. And it had worked out for the best.

      The car purred to a stop in front of an imposing building. Vikram shook Gauri. She was in for a shock, he thought with grim satisfaction. But Gauri didn’t awaken.

      The sedative must have been really powerful, Vikram thought wryly. He got out of the car and lifted Gauri in his arms. Shaking his head at the durban who rushed to help him, he turned to go inside. He entered the lobby and turned towards an entrance marked ‘Private’ on the side of the reception hall. A waiting lackey produced a card and opened the door, which swung inside noiselessly to reveal a plush carpeted gallery which led to his suite of rooms.

      Soon he had deposited her on the bed and stood looking down at her sleeping form. In sleep she exhibited vulnerability and innocence, which he knew was deceptive. Women, he had learnt early on, were conniving and unscrupulous and his father’s numerous mistresses, Gauri’s mother and even a couple of his girlfriends had only reinforced his belief that they could cheat and deceive with ease for their own selfish interests.

      Gauri, too, had been adept at twisting people around her finger. He remembered sourly how she just had to look with her huge doe-like eyes at Madhav or Kaka Maharaj and they would be like putty in her hands. He, too, had not been immune to her wiles.

      Face tightening with displeasure, he turned away from her. He desperately needed a shower.

      Gauri rubbed her eyes sleepily and opened them slowly—they met unfamiliar surroundings. Suddenly, remembrance struck and she sat up with a jerk, unsure if the events of the night had been real or a nightmare.

      She looked around and saw that she was in a huge luxurious bedroom, on a king-size bed which had pristine white sheets. Vibrant silk curtains hung in front of what seemed huge French windows with a love seat placed in front of them.

      Filled with desperate panic, she walked out of the room, her feet sinking into the thick carpet on the floor. The room seemed to be part of a suite of rooms and opened into the sitting room. She looked around with foreboding and suddenly saw Vikram sprawled on a sofa. She encountered his hooded eyes. So it had been for real and not a nightmare.

      She looked at him in uneasy silence.

      Vikram broke the silence. ‘Well, you certainly slept soundly. How’s your head now?’

      Gauri didn’t answer his softly worded question. She couldn’t. Her throat seemed to be closing up. The knock she had suffered yesterday was the least of her fears. Her carefully ordered life seemed to be slipping out of her control.

      ‘Where have you brought me?’ she asked angrily, all her worry and frustration coming out.

      Vikram looked at her speculatively, deciding how to tell her. ‘Don’t you recognise where we are?’ he asked, eyes glinting with an unidentifiable emotion.

      ‘No,’ Gauri murmured, her dread increasing at the superior smirk on his handsome face.

      Vikram went towards the curtains in the sitting room and opened them with a flourish. They slid open to reveal achingly familiar acres of glorious green.

      ‘Mogragarh!’ she gasped. ‘You’ve brought me to Mogragarh!’ Her face blanched in horror. There was ringing in her ears and for a moment she feared she would faint again.

      She almost tottered. How could he do this to her? She had vowed never to return here and he had brought her back.

      Gut wrenching emotion filled her and she lashed out in anger. ‘How dare you bring me here? You took advantage of me and kidnapped me. I’ll die before I set a foot outside. Take me back or I’ll …’

      But she couldn’t complete her tirade because Vikram slowly sauntered towards her and said with soft menace, ‘Or what? What will you do? Don’t forget it’s me you are dealing with. Not your besotted father or brother! And you know how angry I can be if crossed. Now, just do as I say or I will not be responsible for the consequences.’

      But Gauri was not ready to obey his dictates. He had virtually kidnapped her and deceived her and brought her to Mogragarh and she would never forgive him.

      She looked around wildly, bent on escape, and rushed out of the room not knowing where she was going, intent on just running away from Vikram. Seeing her trying to escape, he cursed fluently and followed in hot pursuit. He would bring her to heel. She was too wilful and headstrong. But this time she wouldn’t have her own way.

      Gauri was running, trying to get her bearings, but the surroundings had changed beyond recognition. Unable to recognise which part of the palace she was in, she just kept on running, opening a succession of doors. She heard Vikram following swiftly and knew that this was her only СКАЧАТЬ