The Captive (A Dark, Romantic Thriller set in India) Read online

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 52

  CHAPTER 53

  CHAPTER 54

  CHAPTER 55

  CHAPTER 56

  CHAPTER 57

  CHAPTER 58

  CHAPTER 59

  CHAPTER 60

  EPILOGUE

  The Captive

  by

  MV Kasi

  The Captive

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © 2018 by MV Kasi

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Disclaimer

  This is a fictional romance story. Please proceed with caution as the book contains sexual content and violence that are recommended for mature reading audiences.

  If you choose to proceed, it is suggested that you keep an open mind for the intended experience.

  Hope you enjoy the journey of the characters in this book.

  DEDICATION

  To all the survivors…

  And to ALL my readers and my VIPs!

  Thank you for everything.

  I love you all!

  DESCRIPTION

  Nina Bhupati was one lucky woman.

  Her husband, a political figure and a business tycoon, loved to keep her in a lap of luxury. Rich, handsome and caring, he was also what most women dreamed of as an ideal husband.

  But their fairytale life blew apart when Nina was kidnapped and held hostage.

  Between the distraught husband who badly wanted her back, and the brutal, determined man who was bent upon shattering her soul, Nina must survive her days and also the nights as—THE CAPTIVE.

  EXCERPT

  Nina hated the wait.

  She sat in the corner of the room with her back against the wall and her eyes trained on the door. She was sure her captor would return to torture her painfully for stabbing him in the arm.

  She felt a crippling exhaustion in her body due to lack of sleep during the past week of her captivity. Her head kept falling forward, trying to reach for the comfort of sleep. But each time it did, she jerked it back up, refusing to give in to sleep. Especially when she was at her most vulnerable.

  She didn’t know whether attacking him was a logical move. But when he had stalked her in a slow, unhurried manner, with menace radiating from his body, demanding his knife back, he had looked like a hunter who had cornered his prey. And she was his trembling, whimpering prey. Her mind had rebelled instantly at the comparison of herself with a prey.

  She wasn’t weak. She had never been weak. Even when the odds were stacked against her, she had always fought back. And so, not making this time any exception, she had sliced his arm.

  And now, the thought of what he could do to her was tearing her apart.

  Will he come to her room tonight? And if so, what will he do? Will he follow through his threats?

  She thought about the video taken to send it to Suraj. Her captor had spoken about the follow-up videos. She didn’t have to guess about his intentions of what the later videos would contain.

  Nina’s thoughts threatened to take her into darkness to escape into a place where there would be no worry or fear.

  Don’t you dare give up!

  She shivered and rubbed at her trembling arms as her mind ordered her not to give in to fear. But even as she talked herself into being brave, her heart almost stopped when the door to the room opened.

  Her captor entered the room once again.

  MV Kasi’s Books List

  The Revenge Games Series

  SOULLESS (Book #1)

  RUTHLESS (Book #2)

  The Singham Bloodlines Series

  BOUND BY REVENGE (Book #1)

  BOUND BY HATRED (Book #2)

  THAT SAME OLD LOVE

  THE HOLIDAY AFFAIR

  THE CAPTIVE

  PROLOGUE

  He got her. His prey.

  He had been hunting her for a while. Following and observing. Mostly observing.

  Months of detailed planning where he studied her daily schedule and pattern made it easy for him to get her. He didn’t think it would be this easy though. He had thought she would always be surrounded by at least one of her bodyguards that her husband hired.

  Even though he had drugged most of the bodyguards the previous night, he wasn’t too sure she would make the trip without one of them.

  He had definitely lucked out.

  The first part of his plan was a success. He was confident, the rest would soon follow.

  He wrapped an arm around Nina Bhupati’s limp body and held her close before covering her with the blanket he had around him. If any of the sleeping homeless people woke up, all they would see is a homeless couple huddling together in the morning chill.

  He had to hurry up before Nina Bhupati’s driver who was still waiting for her at the front of the building, sensed an unusual delay and came looking for her.

  His eyes lowered to the unconscious woman. She was surprisingly small and light. Over the years, he had watched her on the T.V and seen her pictures in the local newspapers and magazines. And for the past six months, he had been seeing her on his camera feeds as well. She had seemed more elegant, taller and also larger than life from a distance. She had also looked untouchable. But now, she simply looked tiny and helpless.

  He dragged his eyes from her to look at the white SUV parked on the backside of the building. He knew he had to hurry. Each passing minute was increasing the risk of discovery.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, he picked up the unconscious woman and carried her rest of the way.

  As soon as he neared the SUV, the door slid open automatically. He placed the unconscious woman on the floor of the SUV where a few blankets were laid before as preparation. Using the rop
es, he tied her hands and legs. But before he could place a gag on the mouth, the woman let out a soft moan.

  He knew that sometimes, despite being drugged, people did wake up in between.

  Nina Bhupati’s eyes fell open. He noticed that they were heavily glazed and her face had also paled considerably. Without wasting any time, he picked her up once again and took her out of the SUV. But before he could bend her forward, she threw up. Mostly on herself.

  She moaned softly and was panting heavily when she was done.

  And then, slowly, she looked up at him.

  The upper part of his face was still covered by a hood. “Who…” she began. But before she could ask her question, her body became slack and she passed out once again.

  He knew she wouldn’t be waking up any time soon. He took her back into the SUV and laid her on the floor before he slid into the seat next to her. “Let’s go,” he ordered softly.

  When the vehicle began to move, he cut through her soiled dress and pulled it off. He wrapped the dress in a newspaper and placed it in a plastic cover. The inner clothes were soiled as well, but he left them on for now. He removed the blanket he wore around him, and wrapped it around the unconscious woman. He didn’t place the gag on her. Instead, he simply taped her mouth shut.

  AN HOUR LATER, the SUV stopped on a busy street.

  “When will you be back, Gaurav?” the man who was driving the SUV asked.

  “Don’t use our names when she’s around. Not even when she’s unconscious.”

  The other man nodded.

  “I’ll be back in two days,” Gaurav replied, his eyes falling on the unconscious woman. “Meantime, secure the captive.”

  CHAPTER 1

  Darkness. Absolute and complete darkness.

  The first thought that occurred to Nina was that she wasn’t in her bedroom. Her head felt heavy and groggy with a dull ache thudding in the background. She felt dazed, and despite being incapacitated, she was sure it wasn’t her large bedroom suite. Because there was no way she would ever sleep in the dark. At least not willingly.

  The bed under her was hard. Not her expensive mattress topped by several layers of soft and high-thread-count bedding. The rough material rubbed against her bare shoulders and legs.

  Why are my shoulders and legs bare?

  Her breath began to hitch, and she rapidly blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark. But still, all she saw was darkness.

  Why am I not able to see anything!

  Her head began to throb, and she began to tremble as panic started to take root in her.

  It took her a few moments to realize she was blindfolded. She could feel the cloth against her lashes.

  She tried moving her hands to reach for the blindfold, but she couldn’t. Her hands were bound. And so were her feet. She tried to cry in frustration, but there was tape placed across her mouth.

  God, what had happened?

  She felt her lungs constrict, and her breaths came out noisy in the otherwise quiet room. A red haze appeared in front of her eyes, threatening to pull her back into unconscious while her panic turned into terror. She didn’t want to pass out in fear.

  Being alive is better. Being alive is better. Being alive is better.

  She kept repeating that as a mantra in her head. It was something she and her sister had said over the years whenever life threw curveballs at them.

  Nina had been through so much in her life, and she was finally beginning to get to a point where she was content with what she had. Then what went wrong? How did she end up bound and gagged in an unfamiliar dark room?

  A choked sob escaped her. Tears would have filled her eyes behind the blindfold, if they weren’t dry and scratchy due to dehydration. Her mouth felt dry, and her tongue felt thick and unwieldy inside her mouth.

  Nina took in slow, deep breaths through her nose as she tried to curb her panic and the nausea that was welling up within her.

  Being alive is better. Being alive is better. Being alive is better.

  She repeated that again as she curled her body into a fetal position.

  Several moments later, she felt the tightness in her chest decreasing slowly and the air move freely. Meantime, a strange feeling gnawed at her, while a memory struggled to form. She tried to reach it, but it kept slipping out of her head.

  Okay, think slowly and calmly. What the hell happened?

  All Nina recalled were sounds of a siren, hands lifting her and carrying her somewhere and her throat hurting after she threw up violently.

  Taking a deep breath, she tried to recall what happened much before that. How did she end up in the situation?

  Situation being, taken. Kidnapped.

  CHAPTER 2

  A day ago…

  “You look ravishing.”

  Nina raised her eyes to look at the reflection of her husband in the gold-plated mirror of the dresser.

  As soon as their eyes met, her husband smiled. “You know what would make you look even more breathtaking?”

  Before she could respond, he wrapped a necklace around her throat. “This.”

  The solitaires encased within a delicate gold chain felt cool on Nina’s skin. “Thank you,” she murmured with a smile as her eyes lowered to the sparkling diamonds. “What did I tell you about expensive gifts?” she gently admonished.

  Her husband let out a soft laugh. “I know, I know,” he said, pushing her long, wavy hair to the side before kissing her cheek. “But today is our wedding anniversary. I wanted to pamper my wife.”

  “When do you not want to pamper your wife? You always do.”

  There was a rich masculine chuckle. “What can I say? I have the most intelligent and beautiful wife there is.”

  “Flatterer.” Nina laughed at his exaggeration. She was done getting ready for the party being thrown in their honor.

  Getting up from the antique-tufted chair in front of the dresser, Nina stepped closer to her husband. She straightened the collar of his shirt. “You are not that bad to look at, Mr. Bhupati,” she said with a smile. “And if I recall, you were listed as India’s hottest upcoming politician and entrepreneur of the year. Again.”

  There was a mischievous grin on her husband’s handsome face. Before he could get back with a smart remark, there was a knock on the door. “Suraj. People are waiting for you both downstairs.”

  It was her husband’s PA.

  “Give us five minutes, Radha,” Nina answered. She reached for the small blue velvet box on the dresser and opened the lid. “Happy anniversary, Suraj,” she said softly.

  They were tiny cufflinks. They were not diamonds or gold or anywhere as expensive as what she was gifted, but as soon as Nina saw them, she fell in love with the antique silver and intricately carved pieces.

  Her husband gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. “Beautiful. I love them. Thank you so much, sweetheart. Put them on me.”

  Nina smiled and removed the gold ones he already wore to replace them with her gift. Like she had envisioned, they really suited her elegant, handsome husband.

  “Okay. Now we can go,” she said.

  They stepped out of their bedroom suite into a hallway where Radha was still waiting. Radha’s eyes were immediately drawn to the hand Suraj had placed on Nina’s waist, and then the diamond necklace, and then the cuff links.

  Something flashed in Radha’s eyes even though the face remained poised. “I received a call to inform you that your parents will be arriving a little later than scheduled, Suraj.”

  Suraj nodded in acknowledgement and then turned to look at Nina. “Ready, sweetheart?”

  Nina was already dressed, but she knew what her husband meant. He was asking if she was ready to put on her mask. This mask was of being a social butterfly.

  Nina didn’t exactly love socializing. However, she still did it for two major reasons.

  The first one was for Suraj’s sake.

  Suraj was a loving husband who always did whatever she had asked him for. In return, the mi
nimum she could do as his wife was to socialize with his political and business contacts.

  The second and the most important reason for socializing—was for her cause. The more she exposed herself to the public and expanded her social network, the more she could do well for her cause.

  “Ready as ever,” Nina replied before walking next to Suraj on the polished marble floors of their house.

  Since their marriage, this was the only house they have lived in.

  The house wasn’t overly large when compared to the standards of most people who ran in similar social circles. It was about ten thousand square feet and very tastefully furnished.

  But for someone like Nina, who had once lived on the streets, it was still quite overwhelming.

  Even though ten years had passed since one of the most eligible bachelors had married her and introduced her to a luxurious lifestyle, sometimes, Nina still felt like the fairytale life was just an illusion, and that she would wake up to a cold, damp and leaky room with a rotting, emancipated corpse.

  No, don’t go there, her mind warned.

  Nina shook away the dark memories and focused on the present.

  The loud hum and buzzing of conversations could be heard when Nina and Suraj walked towards the dramatically curved staircase.

  Nina knew that their formal living room was currently brimming with people.

  As soon as she and Suraj were visible at the top of the stairs, there were loud cheers and claps along with several camera flashes.

  “Mr and Mrs. Bhupati! Happy tenth anniversary!”

  “Nina, love your dress and hairstyle. You both look stunning as always.”

  “Nina, when are we going to hear the good news? We want to take pictures of your beautiful babies soon…”

  Nina smiled through it all, placing her French-manicured fingers on Suraj’s chest and posing for the pictures. No one except Suraj could feel the faintest of tremble in her hands.