Zeeshan's POV

“Welcome back, Zeeshan. I hope you are all set to rejoin work,” my senior said, giving a firm pat on my shoulder.

“Yes, sir,” I replied firmly, looking straight ahead.

“Good. Back to work, gentlemen,” he said before resuming his work. I nodded and quietly walked out of his cabin.

“Walk me through the investigation so far,” I said, taking a seat next to Naman. He nodded and filled me in on everything so far, along with Vidit, who briefed me about his part of the investigation.

For the next few hours, we conducted a detailed analysis of all the evidence so far, our assumptions, and what the trainees had told us from their perspectives.

“All set then?” Vidit asked, nodding at us. Naman and I responded in affirmation.

“Let’s go get something to drink,” Naman said. Vidit agreed with him.

“You guys go. I need to catch up,” I said, resuming my work and going through all the files. They sighed but left nonetheless, thankfully.

While checking the investigation files, I wrote down my observations in a separate notebook, looking for any clue.

After some time, Naman and Vidit returned too. Naman nodded at me before sitting at his desk and continuing his work. Vidit, on the other hand, placed a cup of tea along with some biscuits beside me.

“What?” I asked, glancing at him as he walked to the desk opposite mine.

“She sent it,” he replied, loud enough for me to hear.

Just then, a notification pinged on my phone from her.

“Eat what I sent with vidit bhai and have your meds after.”

Oh right. I forgot about my meds.

I dropped a quick text to her saying,

“Ji karlunga aur kuch?”
(Yes, I will. Anything else?)

I could feel heat rising up my neck. Rubbing my face to hide my flustered smile, I took a sip of tea and man, I just love…

Tea.

Yes. Tea.

“Swaad aagya?” Vidit appeared out of nowhere and muttered in my ear, startling the fuck out of me.
(Liked it?)

“Behen ke law-lawn mei mandrate hue machhar,” I muttered, giving him a gritty smile and looking around, because what I was about to say was definitely not friendly.
(Sister fu- A mosquito roaming on sister's lawn.)

“How sweet,” he said, pulling my cheeks so hard that I had to aim for his neck, obviously, which he obviously escaped, moving back to his place while laughing like a broken tape recorder.

Ignoring his tantrums, I focused on my tea and biscuits because I did not want her to shove them down my throat along with my medicines.

She won't even if she wants to, but a man should have survival instincts.

After finishing my tea and biscuits, I quickly took my meds and resumed working.

I barely had any chance to talk to her. Whenever she came to discuss something about the case, I would be busy with someone else. And whenever I got a chance to meet her in the name of work, she would be occupied with someone else.

But that did not mean I did not admire her from afar. I did. And she noticed it too, because every time I was in her vicinity, her cheeks would turn a beautiful crimson red, deepening every time our eyes met.

After work, I was waiting for Vidit, as my physiotherapist had strictly prohibited me from driving until my body was perfectly fine.

Just when I was about to call him, a car stopped in front of me. As the windows rolled down, her beautiful face came into view.

“Get in,” she said, opening the passenger seat door.

“Vidit…” I was about to say, but she honked, interrupting me.

“Get in. Baaki sab baad mei,” she said, pulling the window back up.
(Get in, we'll talk about everything else later.)

Sighing, I quickly got into the passenger seat, and she zoomed out of the parking lot even before I could put on my seatbelt.

“Calm down, woman. At least let me put on my seatbelt,” I said, quickly hooking my seatbelt on.

“Can’t let anyone at the office know about this,” she said, taking a sharp yet careful turn.

“Put in the address you sent yesterday for the meeting,” she added, glancing at the rear view mirror.

I nodded and punched in the address so she could follow the map. Then I leaned back against my seat, watching her drive so effortlessly.

It still felt like a dream that I could actually be in the same vicinity as her.

She used to be someone that even thinking about felt like a sin, to her, to her purity. But now? Now all I want to do is protect her, her purity, her heart, with everything I have.

And it can never be about physical purity, but the purity of her soul, her love. Because physical purity cannot be defined, it can only be felt through her aura, her eyes, and most importantly, through herself.

“Stop staring,” she said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Dekhne do,” I replied, tilting my head slightly.
(Let me see.)

She looked at me, confused, and asked, “kyu?”
(Why?)

“dekhne do, jin aankhon ki ibadat karta hu unhi mei aanson aane ki wjh bana hu, let me see how many times I was the reason behind those tearful eyes,” I replied, sharing my biggest regret and hoping she would understand how deeply I wanted to punish myself for being the reason behind her pain.
(Let me reflect on how I was the reason behind the tears in the eyes I worship, let me see how many times I was the reason behind those tearful eyes.)

“Zeeshan,” she said softly.

I hummed in response, waiting for her to continue.

“I forgave you the day you explained everything to me.”

“But I can’t forgive myself, aayat. aapko bohot dukh dia hai maine aur iske liye mai jo bhi kuch karu woh Kam hoga,” I said, hoping she would hear the sincerity in my voice.
(But I can't forgive myself, Aayat. I gave you so much pain and whatever I do will not be enough against all the pain I gave you.)

“I will not justify my actions because they were not justifiable. And I am ready to bear any punishment for that,” I said sincerely.

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Okay, I want you to have a boxing match with me,” she said, giving me a mischievous smile.

My eyes widened in horror. “Wh-what?”

“No?” she asked, making an innocent face, though mischief dripped from her eyes.

“I… okay,” I said, as the image of her boxing ruthlessly in that workout set flashed before my eyes.

Oh, that upcoming match is going to be the death of me.

“Great. I’ll let you know the date and time,” she said happily. I hummed in response with a soft chuckle.

Iss smile k liye toh mai mera muh bhi tudwa lu inse.
( I can even get my face broken by her if I get to see this beautiful smile.)

“Let’s go?” she asked, pulling up in the driveway of my team’s office and parking her car next to Vidit’s.

“Yes, let’s go,” I said, getting out and opening the door for her while she grabbed her bag from the backseat.

“Let me,” I said, pointing at her bag.

“Koolie ho aap mere?” she asked, looking at me with a stern expression.
(Are you my porter ?)

“Uh, no?” I replied, unsure of what to say that would not annoy her.

“So shove this chivalry down your ass and walk,” she said, moving ahead and muttering, “ek haath toota hai aur inko hulk bnna hai.”
(He's got a broken hand and he wants to act like a hulk.)

But I am a trained officer, and holding a barely one kilogram bag is not that hard for me?

...Never mind.

Sighing, I walked behind her quietly, letting her ring the doorbell. A guard opened the door and later took her bag, nodding at her.

“Let’s go in, shall we?” I said, offering my right hand to her. She intertwined her left hand with mine, nodding with a smile.

Together, we walked towards the round table where everyone was seated, my main team members and her main team members.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen,” I said, taking my seat after pulling out her chair. She sat down, nodding at me.

“I am sure we are all aware of the main reason we are here,” she said, looking around.

“I am Zeeshan Kapoor, the head of Team Snipers,” I said, nodding at everyone as they returned the gesture with smiles.

“I am Ayesha Mehra, the head of Team Grievers,” Ayesha said.

“Let’s start with introducing our members. This is Vidit, in charge of all major planning. Sitting next to him is his girlfriend Ritika, who is also in charge of female offenders.

Next to Ritika is Dev, my personal investigator, in charge of tracking his whereabouts. Then we have Ashish Sharma, who is in charge of the protection of the team. He is also an ex army officer who retired due to an injury to his left eye.

There’s Nishant Malwani, who is in charge of training the guards. That’s Rishi Nair, the sniper of our team. Then there’s Anirudh Pathak, who handles all dealings related to arms and ammunition.

And lastly, we have Abhinav Khurana, who is not present with us at the moment as he has been keeping an eye on him in Phuket and that's it. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Miss Ayesha, please go ahead.”

“So hi, team. Let me introduce the team Grievers to you. This right here is Ishika Jha, my private investigator. Then we have Savitri dadi, the eldest member of our team and a fantastic psychologist.

Next is Niharika. She is in charge of training our team and works alongside Ishika on investigations.

Then we have Devika, who is in charge of the protection of our team. This is Divisha, who is also in charge of protection and has good contacts with the government as well. And lastly, we have Abhirudh Ahuja, who is currently in Phuket working on his whereabouts.”

Ayesha finished introducing her team, and I nodded at them in acknowledgement.

“Now that we are done with the introductions, let’s start with the main goal,” I said, leaning back in my seat.

“I think we all know that we share the same enemy, the one responsible for our miseries. And I think it’s time we step forward and ruin him,” Ayesha said, standing up.

“Let’s start by going through all the evidence we have,” she said. One by one, all of us shared our inputs.

“So we have destroyed two of his shipments till now. Now it’s time to destroy his main and most important warehouse, which is located in Kerala. From that warehouse, all his shipments are sent to different parts of the world,” she said, looking around, waiting for objections. None came, because honestly, this was the perfect bait to lure him back to India.

“I support her idea. Destroying this warehouse will help us in two ways. First, it will temporarily stop his illegal business. Second, it will be the easiest bait to get him to come to India,” Dev said.

“Yes, and he will be forced to set up an immediate replacement warehouse for further dealings. That’s where we can plant our men close to him for more details,” Ishita said, raising her hand.

“We are forgetting something. He is a fugitive economic offender along with a runaway criminal. We need to reopen his case and get an arrest warrant before making a move,” Vidit said, standing up.

“But…”

“Vidit is right. We will not overlook laws or rules just to satisfy personal grievances,” I said firmly, my tone leaving no room for argument.

“lekin hum usme thoda sa twist de skte hai,” Ayesha said in a mischievous tone that was nothing but dangerous. Everyone looked at her, waiting.
(But we can bring some twists in it, can't we?)

And much to my pride, her plan was everything we could have asked for.

As Ayesha finished explaining, she looked at me nervously. I smiled at her, a smile that clearly said I am proud of you. In response, she winked at me sneakily, making my eyes widen.

“Alright, first we need to get him to India,” I said, clearing my throat to hide my flustered state, because the effect she has on me is obvious to everyone at this point, and I have no intention of hiding it.

Just like the promise band I decided not to hide from my family, which I had been wearing since morning. Unfortunately, no one had noticed it yet except Vidit, who gave me a soft pat on the shoulder.

“And how do you think we bring him back to India?” Vidit asked.

“We won’t. But those fireworks definitely will,” I replied. He chuckled, nodding along with the others.

“Let’s have an early new year celebration, shall we?” I said, raising my glass of water. The others cheered, clinking their glasses together.

“Shall we?” I whispered, taking the seat next to Ayesha, who had just returned to hers.

“We shall,” she replied with a soft chuckle, a faint red adorning her cheeks.

Haayee mai mar jawan.
(Damn, I might lose my mind.)

“So it’s a yes?” I asked, leaning slightly towards her.

“A yes for the fireworks or…” she said, leaning closer.

“For the fireworks AND a date,” I replied, emphasizing the word and.

“Why would I go on a date with you, Kapoor sahab?” she asked innocently, though her eyes betrayed her.

“Apne pati k saath date par nahi jaoge toh kiske saath jaoge aap?” I asked, bringing back the elephant in the room we had both avoided.
(If not with your husband, then who exactly are you planning to go on a date with?)

The others were busy among themselves, so it was the perfect moment.

“Pati? Woh toh ussi din call off hogya tha na,” she questioned, though her cheeks told a different story.
(Husband? But it was called off that day, wasn't it?)

“Aapke neck mei ye chain aur mere haath mei ye ring says otherwise, jaan,” I said softly.
(The chain in your neck and the ring in my hand says otherwise, jaan.)

Her eyes widened, and she quickly hid the chain beneath her clothes. It was the same chain I had made her wear.

“Chupne se nahi chupega, jaan,” I said, my gaze fixed on her flustered face.
(There's no point in hiding, jaan.)

“Shut up, Zeeshan. Not the time to talk,” she hissed, glaring at me. It was anything but scary with that cute, flustered face.

“So during our date?” I asked innocently, shrugging.

“Fine, you asshole. I’ll go on a date with you,” she muttered, giving me a gritty smile that clearly warned me to sleep with one eye open.

FUCK YES.

“I’ll pick you up at 9 tomorrow, after work?” I asked, forcing my inner bear to stay calm.

“Fine,” she sighed dramatically, though I caught her trying to hide a smile.

“See you tomorrow, wife,” I muttered in her ear, placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

Her eyes widened, her cheeks turning deep red as she glanced around to make sure no one noticed. Then she smacked my knee under the table, glaring at me, making me chuckle quietly.