Manan:To kill or not to kill{Mafia Love Story}

Chapter 5

1 week later

NPOV:

My last meeting with Manik had left me shaken. What he said seemed a little too true. Alia hadn't been up to my room as often because she was spending some much needed time with Dhruv. She couldn't even bring Navya to meet me because her and Cabir had decided to take a vacation together. Alia said that she would tell Dhruv how much she loved him today, so I was waiting for her to come up and tell me how it went. I was flipping through channels on the flatscreen in my room, and ironically, 'Donnie Brasco' was on. I started watching it, comparing everything in the movie to what I had seen in my past 10 days here. Manik had definitely been less violent since the night at the Khurana's , and he seemed nothing like the slick gangbangers in the movie. I was still drawing parallels between Al Pacino and Manik Malhotra when the man in question came to my room.

He had that smooth, indecipherable expression on his face again. He didn't say hello, he just came forward and sat on the bed next to me.

I looked at him, waiting for him to begin the conversation. "I think common courtesy dictates that you begin by saying hello," I said. "Especially if you haven't talked to the person in a week."

"I apologize, Nandini," he said, still not looking at me. "I just had a bit of a mess to clean up."

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. "I'm guessing you weren't spring cleaning," I said, swallowing hard.

He gave a short laugh. "It's not what you think. No lives were lost. There might have been some guns but they were just to scare people off. Your little tip off to your father has every cop in the country hunting down mafia members and asking them where we are. We had to make sure that no-one would give us up. It's a good thing I've kept myself off the radar for quite some time. Even that over-achiever Aarya couldn't implicate me in any of the crimes."

My hands were shaking slightly now. I never thought he'd be able to figure that one out. "So if even Aryaman couldn't keep you in prison, that makes me the only person who actually can," I said, smugly.

Manik's expression went from calm to furious in a split second and he grabbed my already bruised arm in a death-grip. "You know Arya?"

Oh crap! I'd forgotten what Alia had told me. I tried to salvage the situation and said, "Everyone knows  Aryman. He brought down one of the most corrupt politicians in the White House when he was barely 25. He's a popular guy in the bureau's circle."

He looked at me trying to tell if I was lying or not. He seemed satisfied and let go of my arm. I rubbed it, knowing that the previously fading bruise would now be purple again. He saw my grimace and he looked shocked. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Dude, you clocked me at the back of the head at the Khurana's ', remember? I don't think a bruise would be that much of a big deal after that," I said, disbelief clear on my face.

His face, on the other hand, was horrified. He took my arm gently and pushed up my cashmere sweater sleeve, revealing the large bruise. "Nandini, I apologize. I didn't know I hurt you so badly. I'm so incredibly sorry. I never meant to do that."

I had never seen the caring side to Manik Malhotra, and it confused me more than anything else. I thought he'd be mad about the message to Raman thing, but instead here he was apologizing for a bruise. I suddenly felt a rush of unexplainable sympathy for him. My feelings weren't making any sense anymore, so I quite trying to figure them out. Why was I feeling sympathy for the person who had killed so many people, two of which I knew, and not to mention, he had kidnapped me? I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"It's okay, Manik. You didn't mean to," I said, pulling my sleeve back down and pulling back my hand. He had a smile on his face when I called him by his first name. "And you can call me Nandu."