The tension in the penthouse was thick enough to choke on, but Vihaan Roy was calm—too calm—as always.Rehaan, standing with clenched fists and a pounding heart, was ready to storm out, ready to shove the door open and disappear into the night—but Vihaan moved first."No need to panic," Vihaan said smoothly, his voice as velvety as the expensive wine he held.
He walked away from Rehaan, not toward the door, but toward the massive mahogany bookshelf that stretched floor to ceiling beside the dining table. The room was silent except for the subtle click of Vihaan unlocking a hidden panel.From inside, he pulled out a bunch of neatly arranged files—thick, heavy, and stamped with classified-looking labels. He returned and dropped them on the table with a soft thud."The full records," Vihaan said, eyes watching Rehaan like a hawk. "Every VIP client who's ever flown on Royic Airlines in the last six months. Passenger manifests. Plane details. Maintenance logs. Even crew schedules. All clear. All real."Rehaan stared at the files, startled.This wasn't expected.He'd anticipated manipulation, evasion, even seduction—but not cooperation. Not this openly.Vihaan caught his expression and smirked, handing him a glass of wine. "You came for this, right?" he said. "So relax. I won't tear you apart again… not tonight, at least."Rehaan didn't reach for the wine. Instead, he slowly opened the top file and scanned the first few pages—his sharp eyes already skimming through the names, numbers, route details. Everything was there.Too clean.Too perfect.Too willingly offered.Vihaan sat down across from him again, resting his chin lazily on one palm. "Go ahead, Agent. Check anything you want. Ask whatever you want. My table's open. And so am I."Rehaan finally looked up from the files. "Why are you giving this to me so easily?"Vihaan chuckled. "You think I'm hiding something?""I think you're a businessman who doesn't hand over his empire's insides without expecting something in return."Vihaan leaned forward, his voice dipping to something silkier. "What if I told you I already got something in return?"Rehaan narrowed his eyes.Vihaan took a sip from his own wine. "You walked in here tonight willingly. Sat across from me. That's more than any file. Because now I know your weakness."Rehaan's grip on the file stiffened.Vihaan tilted his head. "It's not fear. It's not ambition. It's curiosity." He smirked. "You're burning to know what I am. Who I really am behind the suits and the smirks."Rehaan didn't deny it.Because deep down, under the badge and rules, some part of him was intrigued—by this man who bit and whispered and watched like a beast with silk gloves.Vihaan stood, walking around the table again—but this time, he didn't come too close. He circled like a predator offering peace… for now."You know where the door is, Rehaan," he said. "Walk out anytime. Take those files, hand them to your captain. Be the good little agent.""But…"Rehaan looked up.Vihaan smiled again, slower this time. "Or you could stay a little longer. And ask me the questions you really want to ask."Rehaan stared at him for a moment… then quietly picked up the next file."I'm asking about the Tokyo flight last month. Business class manifest is missing one name."Vihaan's eyes lit up.There it was.
The spark.And in that moment, over wine, secrets, and unspoken tension, the game changed again.The weight of the file in Rehaan's hands felt heavier than paper and ink—it was laced with tension, truth, and a man's presence who refused to be ignored.
Rehaan flipped through page after page like his badge depended on it. But deep down, he knew—this wasn't about a file anymore.
It never was.Behind the crystal glass and manicured sophistication, Vihaan Roy watched silently from his place near the wine cabinet, his eyes never leaving the young CBI officer. Then his lips curled."There is no name missing in those records, Agent."
His voice broke the silence like a matchstick in gasoline."If anything's missing, it means someone entered using a forged identity. And you and I both know…"He paused, smirking."…that kind of entry won't be traceable in these tidy files you're clinging to."Rehaan shut the file slowly. "So you're admitting your airline has vulnerabilities?"
Vihaan laughed under his breath, walking closer. "Admitting? No. I'm simply saying—power always comes with cracks. And I know where mine are. That's the difference between me and the ones who fall."Rehaan stood up now, facing him directly. "And what about you? How many cracks are under your skin?"Vihaan's eyes darkened, intrigued. He stepped closer, just within Rehaan's space. "Aren't you curious?" he whispered. "About me? About the man you spent a night with… unknowingly?"Rehaan didn't look away. "I'm more curious why a man like you keeps talking instead of running—if you're so powerful, you wouldn't need to linger."
Vihaan's smile returned. "Touché."He leaned in again, but slower this time, as if confessing something not meant for the room."It wasn't my first night like that, Agent."His fingers grazed his own collar absentmindedly."But it was the last time I touched someone like that… without knowing their name. Because that night—"
He glanced down, eyes flicking to Rehaan's neck where the bite mark still lingered faintly.
"I hunted a feisty little cat down. And God, he scratched back."Rehaan felt his throat tighten for a second—but he held his ground.
"I didn't come here to be part of some twisted memory lane," he said.Vihaan chuckled. "No… you came here for truth."
He walked to the window, the city lights casting sharp silhouettes across his face.
"But truth isn't clean. It's layered. Just like chaos."He turned again."I've taken everything I ever wanted in life, Rehaan."
He was serious now."But wanting a CBI agent? That was the one chaos I never planned. Yet here we are."Silence.Then his voice dropped even lower—velvet coated in wildfire."And maybe, just maybe… I'm not chasing you because I already had you.
Maybe I'm watching you because I liked that you didn't break easily."Rehaan exhaled sharply. "And what makes you think I will now?"Vihaan stared.Then, calmly, he said—
"Because every night since that one… I haven't stopped thinking about how you looked under me.""And you haven't stopped wondering who I was until I told you tonight."
The wine sat untouched on the table between them.The files sat forgotten.And the game?The real game had just begun.
The air in the penthouse shifted.Not with a storm.But with the kind of silence that warned of one.Rehaan had barely turned after setting the last file down when Vihaan moved. Smooth, quiet, like a man who knew the exact moment his prey would stop pretending not to feel the hunt.Vihaan's hand slid around Rehaan's waist, fingers grazing the fabric of his black shirt—just enough for Rehaan to stiffen, just enough for the tension to coil through his body like a drawn wire. And then—he pressed, not rough, not forceful, but firm enough to guide.Rehaan's back hit the edge of the dining table.The polished glass surface behind him felt colder than Vihaan's touch… but not colder than the heat in his stare."Your heart's beating too fast, Agent."Vihaan's voice was low. Measured. Intimate."Too loud, too wild."
His hand didn't move up or down. It just stayed there—warm, resting on Rehaan's waist like it belonged."And your breathing…" Vihaan whispered, eyes narrowing slightly, "…you're barely keeping it steady."Rehaan said nothing, but Vihaan didn't need him to. He was watching the flicker in his throat as Rehaan swallowed. His Adam's apple moved, slow, betraying the calm that Rehaan wore like armor.Vihaan's eyes didn't flinch. They scanned every inch of Rehaan's face, not in hunger, but in calculation. In fascination. Like a man mapping out a constellation—one expression at a time.
"You're not pulling away," Vihaan murmured.
Still, he didn't move his hand. Still, he didn't kiss him. He didn't need to.Because Vihaan wasn't seducing Rehaan with touches.He was studying him.Reading the way Rehaan's lashes flickered.How he shifted his stance but didn't move out of Vihaan's grasp.
How his fingers twitched as if considering—just once—pushing the man back.But Rehaan didn't.Because somewhere inside this moment… was something terrifyingly intoxicating.And Vihaan felt it. Knew it. Let it simmer.Then, his lips curved into that signature smirk. "You're trying to figure out if I'll kiss you," he said casually. "Or if I'll handcuff you to that chair and ask you questions you're not ready to answer."
Rehaan finally exhaled. "Do you always mix flirtation with threats?"Vihaan leaned in closer, his breath grazing Rehaan's ear.
"No, Rehaan. I only do this with people who make me want to ruin my own rules."And then—he stepped back.Just like that. Releasing him.But the air between them didn't release anything.It tightened.The file was still there. The wine untouched. The food half-finished.But Rehaan's mind wasn't on the operation anymore.It was still on the way Vihaan looked at him without touching anything else.And how it felt more intimate than anything else ever had.