Fury and passion

The silence that followed was thick, charged with the weight of an impending storm.

Aksh's gaze locked onto her first-wild, frantic, his dark eyes burning with a bury that sent a shiver down her spine. Then, slowly, his attention shifted to the men holding her.

His grip on the gun tightened. "Let. Her. Go."

The man with the knife at her throat smirked, tilting his head slightly, as if amused. "Or what? You'll shoot and risk hitting your little flower?" His blade pressed harder against her skin, enough that she felt the sting, a warning. "Put the gun down, Aksh. You don't want her blood on your hands, do you?"

Her heart pounded. No. He couldn't lower the gun. If he did, they would kill him.

Aksh didn't move.

Instead, a slow, dangerous smile curved his lips.

"Do you know what happens to people who threaten what's mine?" His voice was soft, eerily calm. A lethal kind of promise.

The man holding her faltered just slightly, his grip tightening in response. But Aksh saw it. And in that heartbeat of hesitation-he moved.

A single gunshot cracked through the air.

The man beside them crumpled, blood blooming across his chest before he even had a chance to react.

The one holding her cursed, jerking her back like a shield, his hand shaking as he pressed the knife deeper against her skin. "You-"

He didn't get to finish.

Because Aksh was already there.

A blur of movement-fast, precise, merciless.

He grabbed the man's wrist, twisting it with a sickening snap. The knife clattered to the floor. The man howled in pain, but Aksh wasn't done. A brutal punch to his jaw sent him stumbling back, releasing her in the process.

She gasped, staggering away, but Aksh caught her before she could fall. His touch was brief-just enough to steady her before he stepped forward again, his fury unchecked.

The man spit blood, his cocky smirk long gone.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance," he snarled.

Aksh cocked his gun, pressing the barrel against the man's forehead.

"I still can."

Silence.

A tense, suffocating moment stretched between them.

Then, the man did something unexpected. He laughed.

A slow, wheezing chuckle as blood dripped from his mouth.

"You think this is over?" he rasped. "You have no idea what's coming."

Aksh's finger twitched on the trigger.

For a second, she thought he would pull it. End it right here.

But then-sirens.

Faint, but drawing closer.

Aksh cursed under his breath. He turned, grabbing her hand. "We need to go."

She barely had time to process before he was leading her out, stepping over the bodies without a second glance.

Her hands trembled, adrenaline still coursing through her veins. "Aksh-"

He pulled her into his arms so suddenly, so fiercely, that the rest of her words caught in her throat.

His grip was unyielding, his breathing harsh against her hair.

"You're okay," he murmured, like he was trying to convince himself.

She exhaled shakily, her fingers fisting into his jacket. "I knew you'd come."

His jaw tightened. "They won't touch you again."

It wasn't a promise.

It was a vow.

The elevator doors slid open, and Aksh pulled her inside, his grip firm but not painful. His body was tense, radiating a barely contained fury that made the air around them feel suffocating.

She swallowed, stealing a glance at him. His face was set in stone-sharp jaw clenched, dark eyes burning with the kind of rage that promised retribution.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Aksh didn't answer immediately. The metallic walls of the elevator reflected his stormy expression as he finally spoke.

"Somewhere safe."

She wanted to ask more, to demand answers, but the weight of everything that had just happened sat heavy on her chest. The call, The attack, The knife at her throat.

Aksh had arrived a second later...

She shuddered.

His hand squeezed hers, drawing her back from the spiral of bear clawing at her mind.

"I should've never left you alone," he muttered, his voice laced with frustration. "I should've known they'd come for you."

She shook her head. "You couldn't have known."

His jaw ticked.

He didn't agree.

The elevator came to a stop, and he led her through a dimly lit underground parking garage. A sleek black car was already waiting.

The moment they stepped inside, he pulled out his phone.

"Find out who the hell leaked her location," he barked into it. "And clean up the mess."

He ended the call before she could process his words.

Her fingers curled into her lap. "Aksh..."

He exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face before turning to her. His anger hadn't faded, but now there was something else beneath it. Worry.

His thumb brushed her chin, tilting her face up to his. His touch was gentle, but his eyes were anything but. "Did he hurt you?"

She hesitated. "No," she whispered, though the phantom sensation of cold steel against her throat still lingered.

Aksh's expression darkened. "I should've killed him."

She reached for his hand before he could disappear into the darkness of his own thoughts. "You came for me. That's what matters."

His fingers curled around hers. His voice was low, raw. "I'll always come for you."

The weight of his words settled between them, heavy with unspoken truths.

But before she could say anything else, the car started moving, taking them into the unknown.

And for the first time, she realized-this wasn't just about her safety anymore.

It was about the war Aksh was fighting.

And she was now in the middle of it.