My Ruin (Bond of Brothers #1) by Sapna Bhog

 

 

The bonds of family are unbreakable.

From bestselling Author Sapna Bhog comes a new romance series of friendship, loyalty and betrayal.

He never expected to run into her…

SHAURYA RAJPOOT is a man of many secrets. A sudden meeting with Myra Gupta changes the course of his life. Bound by a vow to his family, Shaurya keeps her at a distance…until she shatters all the barriers between them. Staying away from her soon becomes impossible, resisting her…unimaginable. 

She wasn’t prepared for him…

After losing the only man she ever loved, MYRA GUPTA has gone through life barely living and merely surviving. But all that changes when she meets Shaurya Rajpoot. Fascinated and intrigued by him, Myra is drawn by his loyalty, silent strength and quiet reserve. She yearns to get to know him better. However his past, his family and their bitter history keeps getting in the way of them being together. 

But when the past collides with the present and secrets are revealed, will love be enough? Or will one lie—the biggest deception of all—destroy Shaurya and Myra forever?

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Read an Excerpt from My Ruin

Foolish.

It was nothing but foolishness to have been watching her for the last ten minutes. But the moment he’d spotted her on his iPad screen, he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He’d wanted to see her again.

God! She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Dark hair flowing down her back, the skin of one bare shoulder glistening like gold under the muted lights and those never-ending legs. His heart dipped. She was stunning. And then there were those red pouty lips. 

Fuck! Those red lips would be his undoing.

He’d been so busy taking her in that he hadn’t even realized she’d found him too. He backed away and then turned, heading towards the small private entrance that he and his brothers used to access the restaurant. He rounded a corner, heading towards a locked door.

Just as he put his finger on the keypad lock, he heard her soft voice.

“Wait, please,” she begged.

Cursing himself for his stupidity, he began to slowly turn. She took a tentative step towards him, staring at him like he was the answer to everything she’d ever desired. She halted less than a foot away, studying him, taking in every inch of him. She opened her mouth and closed it, unable to speak a word and then she wet her lips instead.

His eyes zeroed in on her mouth and his mind screamed with the urge to close the distance between them and pull her to him. To breathe her in. To taste those lips.

Fuck! Nothing in his life had prepared him for such madness. Such insanity. 

 Suddenly, the smoke alarm rang aloud and in the next second the lights went off.

She gasped.

There was nothing but pitch darkness everywhere and the smoke alarm blazing around him. He whipped his head around. What the fuck? Why had the backup generator not kicked in yet?

Something was seriously wrong. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be a fire. He couldn’t smell any smoke. However, for some bizarre reason the smoke detector had been activated and the lights had gone off. All this, he noted, had managed to incite fear and chaos among the people. In the distance he could hear someone screaming, glasses breaking and foots stomping as people rushed to the exit.

A second later the space around him was filled with the dull green light from the keypad of the security panel of the door beside him. Thankfully that was connected to another system. In the dim light, he caught the worry lining her face.

The door screeched. Heart thundering, he grabbed her arm and hauled her behind him, standing in front of her—alert and prepared to face whatever threat came his way. With the strange incident of the lights going off and then the backup not coming on, he didn’t trust who’d walk in through that door and he didn’t want to take any chances.

A bright white light shone on his face.

He raised his fists, ready to battle the intruder.

“Relax, brother,” Vihaan placated, sounding amused. He lowered his phone flash light. “It’s only me.”

Exhaling a harsh breath, Shaurya gave him a quiet nod. Vihaan angled his head and raised the phone to the woman standing silently behind Shaurya. Even in the shadows, Shaurya could make out the grimace on his brother’s face.

He would most certainly hear about this.

“I’ll check on what’s happening inside,” Vihaan finally said. “Join me when you’re done. It’s not a fire for sure.”

Relieved to hear that, Shaurya ushered her quickly outside the same door Vihaan had entered from. They crossed another dark corridor. Shaurya could navigate these hallways without a light, but he switched on his phone flash light, nonetheless. At the end of the passage, he opened another door and they stepped into the back alley of the building. Muted streetlights paved their way forward as he silently escorted Myra to the front of the building.

“Wait,” she said, halting. “Tiya, my friend, is inside. I need to make sure she’s safe.” 

She immediately removed her phone from her purse and called someone. He heard her speak in soft tones to her friend. And only once the two of them were convinced the other was safe, did Myra hang up.

“She’s fine,” Myra announced with a sigh. “She’s waiting outside the restaurant for me.”

Shaurya started in that direction, when he heard her say, “Wait, please.”

Frowning, he pivoted. 

 “I just…I just want to talk to you for a minute.” She took a step closer to him.  “Who…who are you?”

He remained silent, hating himself for being in this situation. He didn’t need any distractions at this point in life and this woman would become a major distraction if he allowed it. What was worse was that she was working for the enemy. And he couldn’t and wouldn’t betray his family by getting further entangled with her. 

Without replying he started forward again, but she caught his arm. Heat from her hand radiated right into his skin, leaving a trail of fire. She dropped her hand away, as if burnt.

She wet her lips. “Have we met before?”

God! She was relentless.

“We did meet briefly at the airport.” His lips curved. “Have you forgotten I helped you gather your stuff?”

Her cheeks pinkened. “Of course, I haven’t forgotten that. What I mean is…have we met prior to today?”

He stayed quiet assessing her while she too kept watching him in that deeply intense way of hers.

She tilted her head to the side. “You don’t talk much, do you?”

“Let’s go.” He splayed a hand out in the front. “You said your friend is waiting.”

“No, I just need a moment to figure out where I’ve met you before.”

“I assure you that we haven’t met...”

She chewed on her lower lip, thinking for a moment. “You feel so…so familiar.”

“You’re mistaken.”

“What is your name?” she pressed.

He looked heavenward. “Do you ever give up?”

She lifted her jaw, stubbornly.

He sighed. “Shaurya Rajpoot.”

“Shaurya,” she breathed out. And then she held her hand out. “Myra Gupta.”

Their hands touched and once again a spark flared on his skin. Her wide eyes rushed to his. It was clear that she had felt it too.

Removing his hand, he said, “Shall we?”

She fell into step with him.

“Are you single? Can we meet somewhere for coffee?” She soldiered on. “I mean not now, but tomorrow perhaps.”

His eyes rounded. “Are you always so direct?”

“When I need to be,” she stated.

They reached the end of the alley. Several people were crowded on the pavement outside the restaurant. 

Shaurya faced her. “I am single, but you seem to have forgotten that you aren’t.” He tipped his chin to her left hand. “And I don’t dally with engaged women.”

Her eyes flared with hurt. But it had to be said. He couldn’t meet her again, no matter how much he wished it so and the fact was that she was engaged. 

Without another word, she marched forward. He waited until she found her friend. The two of them hailed a passing cab. They climbed in and were soon out of his sight.

About the Author:
Sapna Bhog is an author from India who writes contemporary and historical romance novels. As a self-proclaimed die-hard romantic, her books are filled with swoon-worthy heroes and feisty heroines who clash all the time, but do get their happy ever after. Sapna has always surrounded herself with books and when she is not writing she is reading. Originally from Dubai, she now lives in Western India with her husband, kids and a Siberian Husky. Sapna gave up a successful IT career and took a foray into writing and has never looked back since. Her favourite pastimes are reading, writing, traveling and shopping—not necessarily in that order. She loves to hear from readers.

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