The Billionaire's Hero

Persona

Chapter 7 - Persona

CALLUM MCCOY

" You known we could just go somewhere for a few days. The resort perhaps?" At Mon's glare Cal smiled.

"Fine then. Home it is."

"I've got to go my home today. The cleaners are coming "

For two whole days after the funeral cloth fiasco, Mon had refused to talk to him. She brooded, and brooded and brooded. And then brooded some more. Maybe a bit of sulking too. Probably because when she decided she needed to sulk in a room that they weren't sharing, she ended up on the couch.

Now Cal was a gentleman and he would have taken up the couch if it wasn't for her insistence that she take the couch. 

And well he had enough of his time in shitty places that the comfort of the bed was something he would never refuse. 

She had finally decided to not brood anymore and now stood in the kitchen while he cooked a very delicious lunch, which i his case was Mac and cheese. 

"We'll leave after the lunch and well I have to be there with the cleaners." 

Eating a spoonful of her food, she chewed for a minute and then gulped it down. Cal knew that she was taking some time before she could ask him her next question

"Where are you with your research on my brothers?" 

Before Cal had even opened his eyes, Mon had stepped in the bedroom and sat down on is bed. She had told him that killing people was something her brothers had learned since they were teens. They were bully. Bully who had a lot of backup from their father since they were kids. And everybody stayed away from them. 

Her three brothers, Kunwar, Deven and Anuj were egotistic bastards. And they always got what they wanted.

The moment she was done with her information on her brothers, Cal had done what a normal person did. He found their photos on Facebook and stalked them like a teenager stalks their crush. After enough of the information on them, Cal called up a couple of people that owed him favors. 

Something that he hadn't done in years. He had promised himself that he would never do this again. But the day his boss Tessa, now Tessa Miles the most sought after lawyer in New York, had hired him, something had made him keep an eye on all times. The ice queen persona that she projected hid a person who had been hurt, hurt big time. And that brought his protective instincts to the surface. 

After meeting Tess's family which included her sister a famous fashion designer, Alexis Beckett- Hunt, Cal had vowed to protect both the sisters. 

Being the mother hen that Alexis was, she had taken a couple of women under her wing which made them a part of family and included those women on Cal's to-protect list. 

Monisha was one of them and he would rather die first than let anyone hurt her. 

"Your brother Kunwar and Anuj flew here last week. Guess they don't think that anyone is going to hold them accountable for if anything happens to you."

"Its Kunwar, N is silent." 

"Kuuwar." he replied emphasizing on the u. "What does it even mean?" 

She rolled her eyes. " It means a prince. Which he is definitely not. Doesn't even look like one. Certainly behaves like everybody treats him like it but nobody does." she replied before she scooped some food on her spoon and ate it. 

"You think my brothers are smart to fly in the states under false names?" 

"Well you made them sound like the mafia." 

"Well they are. Kind of. But it's like, they are a big deal in the village. The cops don't even touch them. And they haven't done this fly out to kill someone thing ever. Not that I know of at least. Plus it makes complete sense for them not coming here under false identities because as far as the world knows,Monisha singh was an orphan. Now the people in my village they'll know it's an execution and they would even applaud my family for it." 

"Well that's shitty." 

Mon shrugged. 

"Why didn't you change your name?" 

"I did. Well I changed a syllable. But that was only because I saw this sitcom that did it and I incorporated it. But other than that i always knew I wanted to be in the movies and well when I ran away to Mumbai I did do some small ad shoots and whatnot that got my face on the screen. Even if I did change my name,someone or the other in my village would know it was me. SO why hide when I intended to be famous." 

"Why even change the syllabus then?" 

"Well Monisha sounds sophisticated then Manisha. Manisha is sooo middle class." She said in a snooty voice and then laughed at her own inside joke. 

Cal looked at her as if she had lost her mind. But her laughter mesmerized him. It was the first time he had seen her laugh so openly and freely.Well and he liked that she was comfortable enough to have a full belly laugh. 

"Well I like Manisha better." he blurted and she stopped laughing. 

"Nobody has called me that in forever and well, I don't like it. Every time some one says it, I can hear an echo of their condescending tone. "

"Do you hear it in my voice?" 

"Don't." she warned. 

"Don't what?" 

"Don't look all intense and stuff. Don't try to make this into something -" 

He leaned over the table, his eyes holding hers. "You tell me that you don't feel different with me and don't lie to me Mon. I was a mercenary and lies are something that's second nature to me. I can detect lies from a mile away." 

"This is not part of the deal." she murmured as he leaned even closer. 

Cal wrapped his hand around her wrist and ran his thumb over her vein. He could feel the pulsing of her vein. Felt it pulse faster, her breaths deeper, her eyes dilated as they slid down to his lips and then back to his own. 

"Who said that it has to be a part of the deal. What I feel, I haven't felt it before and I know that you feel it too." 

"Just because we had a couple round of-" 

Before he could bring up any more excuses, Cal kissed her and shut her up. 

At the moment he didn't want to know the hows and the whats and the whys of the emotions that was roiling in his tummy. All he knew that this woman made him feel different. Made him feel things that no amount of sex would flush her out of his system. 

Made him feel that this was more about sex. 

And for the first time he didn't mind it at all. 

********

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- Nami