Her Deviant Husband | [✓]

Chapter 48

Reyansh's pov.

The moment Nyxhaven Isle left Athira's lips, my entire body stiffened beneath her.

My grip on her waist tightened, and for the first time in a long while, my mind faltered.

A rare thing for me.

Nyxhaven Isle?
Of all places?

The name sent a slow, creeping chill down my spine.

The room around me faded into the background. The murmurs, the shifting bodies of the men seated at the table, the heavy air of tension—it all dulled as my mind sharpened in on the implications.

Nyxhaven belonged to the Sehgals.
More precisely, it belonged to my mother.

After her death, most of her empire had passed to me. The businesses, the estates, the power. But there were exceptions—assets she had deliberately left untouched, passed on to the only person she had never truly trusted unconditionally.

My father.

But regardless, I had access to all the territories he owned as well.

A muscle ticked in my jaw.

My father had no use for an island like Nyxhaven. He had lived in Eastern Russia for years, far removed from this part of the world. He had no operations there. No reason to meddle in its affairs. So why—why—was a syndicate meeting taking place on Sehgal territory?

Was this a message? A taunt? Or worse... an invitation?

The possibilities churned in my head, each one more unsettling than the last.

A private island like Nyxhaven—it was of sorts a neutral ground.

Untouched by blood feuds, unaffiliated with any specific syndicate, making it the perfect place for clandestine deals. But if Manohar Shah was meeting the leader of the syndicate there, then this wasn't just a random sit-down.

This was calculated.

A long exhale left my lips, but my fingers stayed locked on Athira's waist.

Were they making a move against me?
If so, why choose a jurisdiction that clearly my territory?
Why now?
And more importantly... who else knew?

The Italians were neutral with us for what I am aware.
The Russians clearly support the Sehgals over the the Shekawats?

The Shekhawats mostly had deals with a few middle east mafia heads and a few asian ones.

I wrecked my brain, tearing through years of alliances, betrayals, whispered threats in darkened rooms. Assassinations and any and every possible scenario.

There had to be a missing piece.

Athira's fingers suddenly curled on my cheeks, warm and steady. She cupped my face, tilting my head up to meet her gaze.

"Reyansh," she murmured, her voice cutting through the noise in my head like a blade. "What's the matter?"

I blinked, momentarily thrown off by the softness in her eyes.

I knew that look. It was the same look she gave me when I disappeared too deep into my own thoughts, when I let the weight of this dark empire settle on my shoulders without complaint.

My lips parted slightly, but no words came out at first.
I wasn't even sure where to begin.

How did I explain that the island where a known enemy was planning a meeting should not have been available for this? That it was once under my mother's name, a place that had meant something—and now it was being used as a syndicate's playground?