SALAAR- The devil's promise (Completed)

*8*

"Hi, task officer Rudra," Salaar introduced himself and took the handshake.

"Not everyone deserves respect Rudra," Vikram said and immediately pulled Rudra's hand away.

"I am assuming the reason behind your anger is my reputation," Rajkesh told Vikram.

"Criminal record," corrected Vikram, "What do you want?"

"I know you both are very desperate to catch Salaar," said Rajkesh, "and I think I might be able to help."

"You have our attention," said Rudra prompting Rajkesh to continue.

"The girl Amira who is currently under your custody is your secret weapon," said Rajkesh.

"How do you know about that?" asked Vikram surprised, "Even people in the department are unaware of it."

"You put too much trust in people, officer," smiled Rajkesh. "Anyway," he continued, "that girl Amira has Salaar's protection. If she is in danger, Salaar would be there no matter what. Right now, she is in Vikram's custody, so Salaar knows she is safe. What if she gets kidnapped by a heartless goon like me? Salaar will show up to save her and you can catch him by surprise and arrest him."

"So I let a criminal kidnap an innocent girl in order to catch another criminal?" asked Vikram.

"Think about it, officer," said Rajkesh, "Mumbai would be a better place without Salaar."

"And Kolar would be a better place without you," said Vikram pointing his gun at Rajkesh. Rajkesh's men stepped forward and so did the police around them.

Rudra slowly moved down Vikram's hand.

"Please leave," he told Rajkesh calmly.

"Contact me if you change your mind, officers," said Rajkesh and placed his phone number on the table before leaving.

"Vikram," Rudra tried to console.

"Stop it," Vikram said angrily pushing Rudra away and stormed out. "Get back to work," he told the other officers on his way out, "We need to let more criminals roam around the cities of Mumbai."

Rudra put the paper with the phone number into the shredder but not before memorizing it.

*** A few hours later ***

"I knew you are the smart one," Rajkesh told Rudra and extended his hand for a greeting but Rudra didn't respond.

"Nobody does anything for free," he said, "What's the catch?"

"We've heard Salaar is planning to expand his territory to South," said Rajkesh, "Just being cautious."

Rudra nodded.

"Some of our officers will be disguised as your goons," said Rudra, "and I need Amira to be returned safely as soon as we are done with the mission."

"As you say officer," said Rajesh.

"Amira has a quiz in the first week of December in Fullerton building," said Rudra, "Your people can take her from there."

"Thank you officer," said Rajkesh, "I'll never forget the help."

"Hopefully the help is mutual," said Rudra, "I need to leave before Vikram gets suspicious."

"One minute officer," said Rajkesh, "Why are you risking everything for Salaar? What's your catch?"

"I don't work for justice," said Rudra, "I work for revenge."

*** That night, dinner table ***

"Amira isn't here?" Salaar asked one of his men.

"She said she will eat later, sir," replied the man, "She is studying."

"Great," said Salaar and turned his attention to Haseena and Sandeep. "Where did you go this morning?" he asked.

"We.." Sandeep began to answer but Haseena raised her hand.

"Where did you go this morning?" she asked Salaar.

"None of your business," said Salaar.

"Exactly," countered Haseena.

"If you are working on some silly plan to stop me, then I assure you it's a waste of time," said Salaar.

"We'll see," Haseena said angrily. "Darling," she immediately added with a smile when she noticed Amira walking towards the table.

Salaar turned back and quickly understood what was going on.

"Hi didi, hi jijaaji," Amira greeted and walked towards them. She hesitated a little at the dining table. She wanted to sit beside Haseena but Sandeep was already sitting there and it wouldn't be polite to leave Salaar on one end and go sit on the other side of Haseena.

"Amira beta come sit here," said Sandeep about to exchange places with Amira.

"It's...okay Sandeep..bhaiyya," Amira said politely and sat beside Salaar.

"Is there anything I could do to make myself less intimidating," Salaar genuinely asked Amira.

"No jijaaji....you are...not intimidating at all..." said Amira nervoulsy tapping the spoon on the table.

"Right," said Salaar and held the spoon to stop the tapping and placed a glass of water beside Amira. Amira quickly drank the water to calm herself down.

"Why are you always so afraid?" asked Salaar.

"Because....because I saw you kill people," Amira said, "and everyone is afraid of you."

"Your sister is not," Salaar said immediately.

"And I don't know how," Amira replied, "You walk with guns, can kill people with bare hands, are unpredictable and you barely speak. I don't even know if you love my sister because I didn't even see you guys talking much. The more I think, the crazier it gets, and sometimes I feel maybe it's all a lie and I start overthinking. What if you've kidnapped us? What if my sister is also a gangster? What if nothing about my life is true and that's very very scary because..." Amira stopped regretting how much she has spoken.

"Because?" Salaar asked gently.

"I liked the life I was living," said Amira in a low voice, "It's not perfect but it's peaceful. I had friends, dreams, and above all assurance. Assurance that tomorrow will be the same as today. I don't have that anymore and I am not even sure about the reason behind it."

"The reason is simple," said Salaar, "Your sister loved the wrong guy and he brought his curse with him."

Amira listened in silence.

"I don't know what made you think I don't love your sister," said Salaar. "What is there to not love about her? She is the most beautiful women I've ever seen. She is strong enough to raise you all by herself, courageous enough to stand up to a gangster when needed, kind enough to understand people's needs from their silence, smart enough to predict their moves from their actions, and understanding enough to find love even in the quiteness of my words. She is so perfect that sometimes she doesn't even feel real and I feel truly honoured to have her in my life."

Amira didn't know what to say but from her smile Salaar understood that he was very convincing. He has to be because not everything he said is the lie and the little genuinety helped with the overall authenticity. 

On the opposite side, Haseena was equally surprised because she never took Salaar for the kind of person who would ever find good in someone else, and here he is describing her in the most beautiful way humanly possible. 

They didn't lie when they say every man is a poet for the women he loves!

Oh right, this is all a lie, just to convince Amira!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. How was the chapter? Do you like Salaar or Rudra? Any favorite scene from today's update?

Would love to get some feedback haha