Even when Mishti was marrying another man, Ronobir Chatterjee wouldn't stop staring at her with that look in his eyes. Every glance he'd spared her since they'd met on her eighteenth birthday had been an invitation into his bed. Even now, as her father walked her down the aisle towards Rajdeep D Costa, Rono was looking at her like he wanted to eat her.

You'd think he would have given up on her after almost four years.

Almost four years of rebuffs and scorn and scathing remarks, and still, he was staring at her.

Mishti shuddered as her father deposited her hand in Rajdeep's. As far as possible marriages arranged by her father, this one was better than she'd anticipated. She had long feared that her father would try to curry favor with the Verma family by trying to marry her off to one of the sons. She wasn't sure which was worse between the sociopath elder brother Vishal and the unstable younger brother Pratik.

Rajdeep was...okay. He had a bit of a temper problem, but he wasn't likely to hit her either. He wasn't exactly clever, but that was all the better for her planned manipulations. His mother was an overbearing bitch, but that was hardly his fault. At least he was handsome.

For a moment, she considered glancing back at Rono, who no doubt hid in the shadows as he watched her wedding. There was no way he would have missed this, even if he hadn't been invited. Mishti had picked this dress with Rono in mind. She knew the church well and knew Ronobir Chatterjee even better. She knew he was settled in one of the small alcoves of the church where devout parishioners could offer their prayers. The dress gave him—and the other attendees, she supposed—the view of her back that he so loved. Every chance he had, at every social event in Kolkata, Rono had his hand on the small of her back, his thumb rubbing circles through thin layers of fabric. That back he was so fond of touching was barely covered in a thin layer of fine lace, with tiny buttons all down the back.

When picking it out, she'd tried to imagine her husband-to-be slowly unbuttoning the dress one by one, kissing and caressing her skin as he went. Though the image of Rajdeep doing so was quickly replaced with Rono, his dark curls and that stupid smirk completely crowding out any fantasy of Rajdeep she could muster.

She glanced down at her engagement ring rather than turn and meet Rono's gaze. It wasn't an ugly ring, but it wasn't particularly pretty or elegant either. The diamond was an expression of D Costa's wealth, and it made Mishti feel like a whore to have a diamond that big.

But that's what she was to her father—an asset to sell to the most advantageous bidder. Of course, it was to Kunal Malhotra's detriment that Mishti was a lot smarter than she gave her credit for. She was a lot smarter than most people gave her credit for. Ronobir Chatterjee was the only one to see past her innocent face and beautiful smile. He'd seen her and guessed at most of her plots and schemes mere hours after they'd unfolded.

Well...when Mishti was done, everyone would see her. Not just Ronobir Chatterjee and his no-good, devilish smirk.

Dancing with another man at her wedding reception was probably frowned upon, especially when said man hadn't even been invited to the wedding. But...what Ronobir Chatterjee wanted he usually got. Besides, no one wanted to get into a firefight. And it would be especially hard to shoot Rono while Mishti was carefully putting herself in the way of most fatal shots.

"I thought I made my intentions clear, Mish," Rono murmured in a low whisper as they spun around the dance floor.

"I thought I made myself clear," she countered with a smirk. "I told you to prove that you were worthy of me, and you failed to follow through." He shot her a look and opened his mouth to protest, but Mishti cut him off. "Threatening my father to cancel the wedding with D Costa's does not count. If anything, you made this happen sooner than it would have."

"I'm curious, sweety. How does marrying into the D Costa play into your plans?"

"It's advantageous for now," she said. "Besides, I expected it to happen later. I had been hoping to have a different offer before walking down the aisle."

"I thought I made my intentions clear, Mishti," he repeated.

She scoffed. "Threatening to kill my other suitors does not make you a suitor, Rono. I expect the two of us to be partners. Either be upfront with me, or stop wasting my time. I won't waste time second-guessing your meaning or doubting my interpretation of your actions. You don't win a woman by making yourself her only choice."

Her grip on her waist tightened, and his thumb rubbed her back through the lace of her dress just as Mishti had imagined. "That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. I intend to ruin you so wholly for any other man that there will be no choice for you other than me."

"Again, that's different than just killing anyone you think may gain my favor. I won't play your games, not for something as important as this." The song was coming to a close, and Mishti dreaded having to return to her husband.

"Don't go home with Rajdeep tonight."

"He's my husband, I have to."

Rono squeezed her hand. "I may not be Catholic, but I've done my research. If the marriage is never consummated, then that's grounds for annulment."

"What's in it for me?"

"Me. I'll give you everything I have. I'll be your partner in everything. Together, Mishti, we can reign over Kolkata as no one has before."

"You can take over Kolkata just fine without me."

"Perhaps. But it would be only half as fun, and worth next to nothing without you by my side to share in it." He pulled her even more closely against him. "Please, Mish. I know you picked that dress with me in mind. I can appreciate it and you far better than D Costa ever could."

She stared at him for a long moment. His green eyes were more earnest than she'd ever seen before. There was nothing calculated in this move, nothing cold or manipulative. This was the warm Rono she'd always wanted, the one who revealed himself in dark corners of high society gatherings. The one who teased her even as they argued and battled. "We'd better leave before the poison kicks in."

"Poison?"

She wrinkled her nose. "You didn't think I'd let Rajdeep D Costa take me to his bed, did you? I planned to fake the wedding suite like it'd been consummated and then blame his death on the maid, who was working for the Verma family. They're put out that dad didn't marry me off to one of the sons, you know."

"My clever, clever bride." Rono spun them towards the edge of the dancefloor just as the song ended. They hesitated on the dancefloor until the next song started, and made sure to get lost among the couples. Or...as well as a bride could get lost in a sea of non-white dresses. "Just promise you won't poison me on our wedding night."

She winked. "Depends. Do you plan on keeping your promises?"

"All of them, sweety."

"Then I think you'll be safe."

Mishti and Rono slipped out of her wedding reception with only her gaudy engagement and wedding rings as evidence she had ever been there. Rajdeep D Costa gorged himself on alcohol which had been sent from the Verma family as a present to the newlyweds. It was only when he collapsed that anyone noticed Mishti had even been missing.

And by then, it was already too late.