--- 3 weeks ---
It was three weeks after returning home that Annika got the news.
Dead.
Harsh Trivedi had been shot point blank in the back of his head in broad daylight. His name was splashed over every news outlet in India, SUSPECTED MOB BOSS, HARSH TRIVEDI, MURDERED.
Annika's heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces when Gauri had called her with the news.
She ached for Jhanvi who loved her Granddad.
Her mother, who lost the love of her life.
Her siblings, who lost their dad.
For Siddharth, who would now, more than ever, be forced to step up.
For Shivaay, who lost another father figure.
For years the only person Annika had was Harsh. He was her only connection to the family she left behind, the only one she could talk to before she started building a life here, before she had friends and Harry.
Maybe he shouldn't have let her leave the way she did, sure there was a part of her now that wishes he had put his foot down one more time, but everything he did, he did because he loved her. He was trying to do right by her and now he was just gone. Taken from his family way too early, and way too quickly.
Annika thought back to her second conversation with Gauri. When Gauri had first called her, Annika nearly collapsed in grief, Harry only barely managing to catch her before she fell to the ground, he had finished talking to Gauri while Annika cried.
When Annika finally got herself together and realized she needed to talk to her sister, who was hurting too, she called her back.
Gauri answered immediately.
"Anns," Gauri said, her voice visibly hoarse from crying.
"Gauri," Annika inhaled sharply, trying to control her sobs, "What, what happened?"
Gauri cried as she told her sister what had happened. They had taken out 5 of the Bundela's closest members, outside of Rishi and Raman. The Bundela's knew they were closing in, they had to know, considering the extermination of their crew.
Harsh was downtown, stopping in to visit his associate at the District Attorney's office, he hadn't taken a driver with him, they found him laying next to his car in underground parking, with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Gauri told Annika how Shivaay and Siddharth were convinced it was Rishi himself, no one else would have been brave enough to attack someone in that parking garage - it was a part of the police department and the DA offices, the place was a vault, armed guards at all entrances, surveillance, you name it this parking garage had it.
Siddharth had managed to get the surveillance video, which only showed someone dressed in black, with a silencer on his weapon but they still don't know how he got in or out, unless he had someone on his payroll too.
Annika let Gauri finish before asking,
"How's mom?"
"She's a mess, Anns, she hasn't left her room, hasn't eaten. We aren't holding a funeral because of all the unrest; it would be too easy for our enemies to attack."
The thought of not holding a service to commemorate her Dad's life made her sick, but she knew it was the safest option. Anyone who was targeting their family, the Bundela's or the Bajaj's, could easily target house Trivedi and all loyal houses at a funeral.
Besides, he was already gone.
His life reduced to nothing more than gossip and rumors, he was just...
YOU ARE READING
SOMETHING (BEAUTIFUL) UNFINISHED
Romance"You can do this. You can do this. Repeated like a mantra the whole flight home. No, she's been repeating it for the last month, since she agreed to go home. Its only eleven days, eleven days & you'll be home, safe and with them. You can forget. Aga...
