Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage(5)

                His eyes narrowed as he watched her create more distance with another cautious step. “I didn’t think I would see you again,” Dev admitted.

                “I know,” she whispered. That had been her plan.

                “Where have you been?” he asked rawly.

                Oh, she wasn’t revealing that. That would give him far too much ammunition. “Apparently I’ve been on vacation for months.”

                Dev frowned. “What could I say?” He raked his hand through his short black hair. “I didn’t know where you were or if you were coming back.”

                If? “I walked out. I left you. I don’t know how I could have made it clearer.”

                He placed his hands on his hips and glared at her. She knew her words were too abrupt. Too antagonistic, but it was necessary. This wasn’t a ploy or a maneuver. She had walked out of her marriage.

                “Where did you go?” he said in a low voice that belied his anger.

                Tina jutted her chin out with defiance. “That’s none of your concern.”

                “How can you say that?” Dev stared at her with a dark intensity that made her shiver. “You are my wife. I’ve been looking for you.”

                That didn’t make any sense. He had abandoned the marriage long before she’d had the courage to leave. “Why?”

                “Why?” His voice cracked like a whip as the tension vibrated in the shadowy garden.

                Her heart pounded in her ears but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her nervous. Tina gave a careless shrug. “Yes, why? You got what you wanted all along. Or were you concerned that I would pop up at the most inconvenient moment?”

                Dev’s jaw clenched. “You have no idea what I want.”

                “You don’t want a wife,” Tina said as she held her purse tightly against her chest as if it were a shield.

                Black fury darkened his eyes. “Tina—”

                “And tonight,” Tina said, “I’m going to grant you that wish.”





                                      CHAPTER TWO

                TINA COULDN’T DRAG her gaze away from Dev. She saw the storm in his eyes but he didn’t move. The air between them crackled. A tremor swept through Dev’s body as he forcibly restrained his anger. “You’re not thinking straight,” he said hoarsely.

                How many times had she heard him say that? “So you’re going to do it for me? No thanks.” He had tried to take over her life. And for a while he had succeeded. She had been too grief-stricken, in too much in pain, to care.

                Dev closed his eyes. “I never should have taken you to Los Angeles.”

                “Why did you?” She refused to respond to the agony in his voice. Although she had felt too weak to travel, Dev had insisted she accompany him to the United States while he filmed several scenes for his blockbuster movie. She’d like to think Dev had been so in love with her that he couldn’t imagine spending a night apart. Instead, she’d barely seen him. She had been alone and isolated. At times she’d felt like she was being punished for some unknown reason.