FF ||Renewed Ties|| Updated Last Part Page 20

Renewed Ties

Chapter 1

Maan stood across the street watching the office. He was here because he had to. He was the only one who could stop a criminal from creating havoc on his country. He was here because he needed a particular woman to help him. She worked inside that building and she was the one who had a key to the man's heart. The man being Dev - a criminal with links to the terrorists. Maan thrust his hands deep into his pockets to keep himself warm from the cold that was enveloping the city on that late January evening. The trouble was, she was the one who had a key to his own heart. And Dev had already destroyed him once because of that.

Maan had only six days - six days to convince Geet to help him prove that Dev is guilty, six days to save the nation and six days to be with Geet - the one and only love of his life, six days of being in heaven and then back to his life without her.

It was an year since he last saw her. How should he bridge that gap? Especially when the woman he was waiting for had once been his fiancee and he was supposed to be dead.

He checked his watch. She should have come out by now. Did he miss her? He didn't think so. He was sure he wouldn't miss the person who was haunting him every second for the past year. Did she use the other gate? Was she working late? Another thought crossed his mind that he dreaded even thinking about it. Did Dev get to Geet before he could warn her? Maan was getting restless and the cold winds were not helping.

Then, suddenly, she was there. Recognition slammed through him. It was as if his entire being focused on only thing - one person. Geet. The wind blew her hair over her face. She tried very hard to keep the strands away from her eyes. She had cut her hair. The sensation of his fingers combing through her black lustre waves clawed at his memory. Maan inhaled sharply.

Maan swore softly. He saw Dev walk over to Geet signaling her to stop. He knew that Dev was interested in Geet. He'd been obsessed by one particular image of Dev touching her arm and indulging Geet in a conversation. But Maan didn't anticipate how much it would hurt him seeing Geet with Dev. He had underestimated the hold that Geet had over him. He had misjudged the rawness of his latent passion, his buried anger, his violent resentment. He had refused to acknowledge the need for revenge. Until this moment.

Maan remembered the day of his supposed death. The bomb blast. The terrible sights around him. Him waking up on a hospital bed after a week. Trying to reach his family and Geet to tell them that he was ok. But as fate would have it, he was unable to contact his family. And then he did one of the fatal mistakes of his life. He called Dev. Dev was working in his office as his assistant. He came across as a very honest and hard working guy. He was very nice to his family.

But what Maan didn't realise then was that Dev was a manipulator. Dev promised Maan that he would tell his family to contact him and then called in a press meeting to say that Maan was killed in the bomb blast. He took over the business by saying that he was giving time for the family to grieve. The family considered him their lost son. Dev even recorded a CD in Maan's voice urging Geet to get along with her life and get married. He pretended to be a friend to Geet, a brother to Adi, a grandson to Dadima. On the whole, he tried to become Maan.

Maan confronted Dev one day. Dev told Maan that he was doing him a favour by telling the family he was dead as Maan was suffering from a fatal disease and didn't have much time to live. He convinced Maan that the family was recovering and when Maan dies again, they will be shattered. Maan was very happy that Dev was taking care of his family and Geet. That is, until a few weeks back. When Maan realized that Dev had played him and there was nothing wrong with him, he was consumed with rage. Dev had been obsessed with Geet and the bomb blast had given him a way to get rid of Maan. When the Defence Secretary gave Maan his new assignment of finding the criminal with links to terrorists, he

now had a mission. Dev was carrying out illegal activities and funding terrorist organizations using his own company. Maan now wanted to take revenge and he needed Geet to help him find the proofs.

Geet reached the house. It was late and everyone was resting for the day. She walked to her room - the room wherein she had sweet memories of Maan. Geet paused. Something didn't feel right. It was as if there was a subtle shift in the chemistry of the air. She leaned towards the door, listened, but could hear nothing. It was her; it had to be. Her whole world had shifted on its axis about a year ago and she was feeling under the weather today, thats all. She pushed the door open, stepped into her room and reached for the hall light switch-----

A hand grabbed hers. She started to scream but another hand clamped hard over her lips. The door slammed shut and all was dark. Panic set it. She struggled but the grip on her hand only tightened. Her attacker was male and incredibly strong. His limbs felt like iron.

"It's all right, Geet", he whispered against her ear, "hold still, I am not going to hurt you."

She froze. Geet? Only one person in this world called her like that, and he was dead.

"Relax." He spoke low, quietly, his breath warm against her neck. "Promise me you won't scream, okay?"

There was something familiar about the timbre of that voice, the way it curdled through her,

stirring something dark and forbidden in the depths of her soul. Her chest constricted like a vise over her lungs. She could not breathe. Her vision blurred.

He released her mouth cautiously. He turned her slowly round to face him, and he flicked the light on. Her heart stopped. She looked up into his eyes - unmistakable eyes - pitch black and crystal clear. They sliced into her like a laser, flying her open right down to her soul. No other eyes could do that to her. She'd never, ever seen eyes quite like this.

It was Maan. Her Maan. Alive.

to be continued...

Index:

Chapter 2 - Page 3
Chapter 3 - Page 6
Chapter 4 - Page 8
Chapter 5 - Page 10
Chapter 6 - Page 13
Chapter 7 - Page 16
Chapter 8 - Page 17
Chapter 9 - Page 20