To distract her—to pull her mind away from the CCTV footage, the questions, the tiny crack of doubt he’d seen flicker in her eyes—Virat softened his hold on her waist. The shift was subtle, deliberate. One moment his grip was tight with feigned hurt; the next, it melted into something warmer, more inviting.

He leaned in, lips brushing the shell of her ear, voice dropping to that low, velvet murmur she could never resist.