“As I enter Aryan’s office, the vibes give me a notion that something not so good is occurring. Since I have unofficially joined his mafia world, I have become attuned to this malevolent feeling. Aryan impersonates himself as a full-fledged businessman, but I know in reality, he enjoys being the mafia king of this world more. Although he was not this perilous and bloodthirsty in his childhood, the betrayal of his stepfather and the upbringing by his foster mafia father made him like this. Now he can be easily compared to a naked weapon that can rip anyone apart and can vanish like an unstoppable and untrappable wind. I stop at the threshold of his room. The door is closed, and a gunman is guarding outside. His hawk eyes meet mine, and obedience replaces the deadpan emotion. I knock at the door lightly and step in without waiting for permission. My eyes fall on an expected sight. Aryan is torturing a man who is screaming like an animal that is being butchered mercilessly. Due to the soundproof walls, his screams can’t go outside. Arya looks at me. His eyes are brimmed with diabolic emotions. I look at the man tied to a chair. Most of his nails are plucked off by now, and Aryan has a plier in his hand. The man gazes at me as if I have come here to save him from this devil. But he doesn’t know that a devil always gets along only with a devil. However, right now, I have a more important discussion with my friend. This mundane work can wait for some time. I occupy a chair and curve my lips at Aryan.”

“Stop playing with this toy for a while. I have more important things to discuss.”

Aditya utters in a concerned tone. Aryan keeps the plier on the table and calls the guard who was waiting outside the room. Within a minute, the blood-soaked man is removed from the cabin. There are some blood stains on Aryan’s white shirt. He takes his shirt off and throws it on the floor. His ripped body is shining with sweat. He lights a cigar and sits on the table’s edge fairly close to my seat. Aditya’s eyes go down to his hand. His hand is bleeding, and he is oblivious to it.

“Your hand is bleeding. Get first aid.”

Aditya suggests. Aryan puffs some smoke and retorts,

“Is this your important talk?”

Aditya budges on his seat and replies,

“No…as I said, it is related to Nandana.”

He takes a few seconds to muster his thoughts.

“SP Bhosle is here, and he tried to blackmail me.”

Aditya mouths with an unshaken voice. Aryan folds his hands across his chest and puffs the smoke through his nostrils. His eyes are dark.

“Hmmmmm…I have some news too. He came here to investigate something. Some days ago, one of my consignments got caught in Mumbai port. He is here by sniffing out my name, and of course, you are the sitting duck who is associated with me. Vacation is just an eyewash.”

He mutters, staring at his wound. Aditya wobbles in denial,

“Uhu…here you are associated with me, unfortunately. His actual target is Aditya Oberoi, and he wants to reach me through you and Nandana. He threatened me by her name. You know what I meant. He just pressed the wrong chord by trying to blackmail me with Nandana’s matter. I won’t spare him, Aryan.”

Aditya bellows. Every line of his face hardens with suppressed rage. Aryan stands straight and walks towards a closet to take out a T-shirt. Slipping into it, he mouths in a casual tone,

“What will you do? Will you kill him?”

Aditya chuckles mischievously and hisses,

“No…that would be the last option. I have another interesting plan. I want you to introduce me openly in the Mafia world as your partner. This is the time to come into the daylight.”

A sarcastic cackle adorns his words.

“How will it help you to stop Bhosle?”

Aryan sounds curious. Aditya reclines in the chair and mouths with conviction,

“It won’t stop him, but it will divert him from Nandana to me. He is here to catch me, and I am giving him that opportunity. Mafia Aditya Oberoi is a more alluring catch than absconded Aditya Oberoi.”

His eyes are beaming with a sardonic smile. Aryan’s eyes flatten. He mouths in disbelief,

“And you are doing all these just to keep Nandana with you. Aditya, this is madness. You want to become a hardcore mafia just to be with her?”

“Forever….I want to be with her forever, and for that, I can be anything…a conman, a murderer or a hardcore mafia. You just arrange a meeting. I want to meet all your partners. They will be happy to see me…ha… ha.”

Aditya giggles dangerously. Aryan mutters concernedly,

“Aditya, this is not a simple friendship payoff where you can protect a person by putting yourself forward. Arjun did wrong with Mukti, and he should have been punished.”

“He had been punished, damn it! He lost his life for that mistake. You know very well that it was not an accident. Someone killed him for his prank.”

Aditya chides.

“Prank? Arjun deliberately made that video to take revenge on Mukti. Neither did he post it on social media, nor did Mukti commit suicide. Damn, Man, you are justifying his deed!”

Aryan chips in. Aditya gets up from his seat and yells,

“He didn’t post it anywhere. It was me. I circulated it. She killed herself because of me. Arjun shouldn’t have been punished.”

“Yes, that is what you always tried to make us believe. But we are your friends, Aditya. We know each of us in and out. Arjun proposed to Mukti, but she denied it as she loved someone else. In jealousy, he captured her private video and circulated it. As a repercussion, Mukti committed suicide, and most probably her love interest took revenge by planning that accident. How hard you tried to guard your friend; the actual truth took his life, and our bond broke. Did you succeed in saving our notorious 5's bond? Did you succeed in saving Arjun? Will you succeed in keeping Nandana with you by making yourself the target?”

Aryan eyes Aditya’s beaming orbs while facing him hostilely. They keep on staring at each other for some moments. Neither is ready to step down from their opinion. Aditya grits out,

“I can even destroy myself to keep her with me because, without her, this life doesn’t have any meaning. Either she will be with me, or I will be nowhere. Arrange the meeting. In any case, you were dying to get me along with you. Now, what happened? Brotherly love overpowers the mafia’s mind?”

Again, some moments of pin-drop silence engulf the surroundings, and then Aryan mutters without shifting his eyes from Aditya’s face,

“I knew that love is dangerous, but today I came to know that love is destructive. It will finish you one day. Welcome to my world. officially.”

................................

As Aditya drives out of Khurana office premises, a car stops his way with a loud screech. If Aditya had been in a full pickup, his car would have collided with it. Letting out an abuse, he peeks out of the car window,

“Hey, Dick head! Couldn’t you find any other car to get killed?”

In reply, the person from another car sticks his head out and retorts,

“I happily chose to get killed by my friend. But before that, let’s go for a coffee date.”

The smile of the person contagions Manik too. He mumbles with curved lips.

“Aarav!”

....................................

Half an hour passed, and they are sitting in a rooftop café sipping on hot coffee. Aditya’s eyes fall on Aarav’s hand. There is a bandage tied to it.

“What happened to your hand?”

Aditya asks. Aarav casually glances at it and mouths,

“Nothing…just tried to cut an apple, but I am really worthless.”

He giggles. Aditya replies absentmindedly,

“Hmmmm…even Aryan cut his hand. By the way, did you come to meet Aryan? Did I play the third wheel?”

He concludes with a pleasant smile. Aarav winks and retorts,

“Maybe…but never mind. I can catch up with him some other time.”

“Hmmmm…”

Aditya hums and adds after a brief pause,

“Aarav, will you give me a genuine answer?”

His eyes are narrowed with foreboding. Aarav nods with folded lips.

“Did you know that it was Arjun who spread that video of Mukti and not me?”

Aditya abruptly asks. Aarav sips his coffee and turns to look outside. After a few seconds, his reply comes,

“All 5 notorious knew it. You failed to guard Arjun.”