Married Love: Curvy & Decadent, #6

By Dee James

Jhanavi

The first time I saw Dev Singh, I fell for him. Three years later, I was only falling harder. What started as a marriage of convenience threatened to break my heart. That's why I left. To seek some peace and anonymity in a romance-only bookstore. If Dev could only offer me platonic indifference, perhaps I was better off without him. Why then did I agree to staying with him when he chased me down? I wondered if he wanted more when he kissed me.

 

Dev

Jhanavi Malhotra was barely twenty when I was forced to marry her. Her grandfather, a shrewd businessman, saved my family's business. In return for my soul. Unwilling to make this arranged marriage a real one, I suppressed my needs for my innocent wife. Until she left me. As I fought for my marriage, I wondered if I've misjudged my wife all along.

 

Married Love is an age gap, arranged marriage billionaire romance where she falls first, but he falls harder. The last book in the Curvy & Decadent series, this marriage of convenience romance is filled with tender and spicy moments and a guaranteed HEA. No cheating or cliffhangers!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dee James
• Release date: Feb 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224046997

Dee James

Dee James is a contemporary romance author whose books have consistently featured in the Bestseller Lists on Amazon India. Dee writes quirky, innocent, and curvy heroines who find their happily ever after with sinful-looking, growly billionaires.  Sweet and steamy, her romance novellas are peppered with passionate, swoon-worthy moments along with a guaranteed fairy tale ending. If you're looking for a low-angst, feel-good romantic read with a guaranteed HEA, you're in the right place! Newsletter: https://authordeejames.substack.com/subscribe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordeejames/ Facebook Readers' Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/authordeejames

Book preview

#1

Dev

Interruptions during meetings, especially important ones, infuriated me. Time was a limited commodity I couldn’t afford to waste. Yet here I was, walking out of an important investor meeting to speak to the head of my security, Adit.

This better be good, I snapped, ready to tear Adit into pieces. After all, it had been two months, and I was no closer to finding...

I’m sorry to interrupt your day, but this is urgent and I know you wouldn’t want to miss this update. We’ve located her. She has been working in a bookstore all this while. A small, quaint place that’s hardly a blip on the map. Here, look at these photos. Adit passed on a few blurry photos.

I stilled, my body and heart coming alive for the first time in two months. Although the images were blurred, I could identify those curves even with my eyes closed. With her hair loose and those generous curves outlined by a simple dress, my body reminded me painfully that indeed was my wife.

Fucking finally! I snarled, baring my teeth. Get my jet ready. I want to leave immediately, I growled, eager to get to Jhanavi before she ran from me again.

Mr. Singh, I assure you my team is doing their best. My best guys are already securing her area. And the jet is on standby. Adit reassured me hastily.

Your men better not lose her this time. Or they can kiss their fucking lives goodbye, I seethed, my voice cold with disgust and disappointment at the time it had taken to locate my runaway wife.

Adit nodded, his eyes grave. I’ll bring the car around.

Not bothering with a reply, I walked back to the meeting that I now had to cancel. Barely a few minutes later, I strode out of the conference room, leaving behind my executive assistant to deal with the hassle of a sudden cancellation.

Without looking back, I stepped into the elevator to get into my waiting car. Looking at my Rolex, I noticed it was nearly five in the evening. Damn! God knows how long the journey from Mumbai to Bangalore would take. A few more hours until I could see Jhanavi for myself. After two fucking months.

Suppressing the taunting voice that asked me why I was all too eager to see my wife who’d run away from me, I looked out of the window of my car instead. Preferring to strategize and plan instead of wasting my energy and thoughts on useless emotions. Like rage. Relief. And the annoying desire that I couldn’t shake off.

Thirty minutes later, my car stopped directly in front of the VIP entrance at the Mumbai Airport. Ignoring the paparazzi who were all too eager to capture celebrities, I stepped out, immediately walking through the guarded entrance. Another ten minutes later, I fastened the seat belt before opening the latest report that had just landed in my inbox.

I didn’t believe in wasting time and now was as good as any other time to catch up with the reports that were to be presented earlier. Unlike any other day, I couldn’t focus on the reports. Cursing the restlessness, I put away my device, leaning back against the seat and closing my eyes in weariness.

My thoughts drifted to the first time I met Jhanavi Malhotra. She’d been nearly twenty, young and naïve compared to my thirty-one years. Her grandfather, a powerful entrepreneur, had invited me to his place for dinner. When I’d found a young girl with huge, huge eyes standing next to the older man, throwing me a shy glance, a warm feeling had washed over me.

The blue, green, and light specks of her eyes had mesmerized me. Her hesitant smile had pierced my hardened soul that night, the remembered feeling making me shift uncomfortably in my seat. Pushing away the past, I tried to understand when things had started going downhill. So much so that she’d fled from her life.

Two months. It had been two tortuous months since she’d left me. Ran away, to be more precise. I’d been married to Jhanavi for three years. It was a marriage of convenience, and I’d treated it exactly like that. Until this second, I couldn’t fathom what made her run away from the life we’d built together these three years. After all, it was one she wanted. She chose this life herself.

A familiar anger rose from within when I recalled how I’d had no choice but to agree to an arranged marriage. Unlike Jhanavi, who had willingly gotten into the marriage, I’d had to ease into the marriage with difficulty.

I’d pulled up my big guy pants and rebuild my family business. It had been a matter of pride at that point. Providing for my family and my new wife had been non-negotiable. And that’s exactly what I’d done these last few years. Worked my ass off to rebuild the empire my father’s untimely death had brought down.

Thinking about the twenty-year-old girl who’d had stars in her eyes, I tried not to wince. Perhaps I’d been a little too blunt in breaking her starry hero worship, but who could blame me? I’d been eleven years older than her, more experienced, and certainly wasn’t in any position to take advantage of a young girl’s crush. After all, both of us knew it had been nothing but a convenient arrangement.

I had to do what I had to do, and I don’t regret my actions. Not at all! Protection and money were all I could offer when I’d married her. Too bad if she’d assumed there had been more. I’d hoped we would eventually come to an understanding after she completed her graduation. What I hadn’t anticipated was her walking out of this life before we could have that conversation.

Tightening my hands on the armrest, I tried not to let the anger spoil my mood further. Grudgingly, I accepted that I had to bring her back to Mumbai willingly. Maybe it was time I focused on my personal life now that my business had stabilized. Just as I wondered how to do that, I heard the announcement that we were landing at the Bangalore airport. Fucking finally!

Thirty minutes later, I got into the back seat of the waiting Mercedes, keen to get to the little bookstore where my wife had been spotted. Adit was driving the car and had already keyed in the bookstore in the GPS. Time to get my wife back, I thought with a sick pleasure I couldn’t suppress any longer.

AFTER THE DAMNED TRAFFIC that had delayed my arrival, I should have marched into the little bookstore where my wife had been seen. Instead, here I was, dragging my feet after asking Adit to stop the car a few blocks away from the quaint little bookstore-cafe that looked warm and inviting from the outside. I stood deep in thought by the side of the bookstore when I heard a voice.

Mr. Singh? A tall man walked toward where I stood.

Yes? I frowned at the interruption, not wanting to deal with anything or anyone other than my wife.

Are you waiting for someone? Are they in? The gigantic man gestured at the bookstore.

You could say that. The man didn’t seem like a random stranger. Giving him a once-over, I wondered whether I’d seen him before. When his eyes narrowed slightly, the pieces of the puzzle fell together. This man was none other than Gautam, my wife’s half-brother. Now it all made sense.

I’m here to get my wife. If you like, you can come in and wait, he offered, clearly clueless about my connection with his half-sister.

We walked together, and the two of us entered the bookstore where a woman, presumably his wife and mine, were closing the store.

I watched Gautam’s wife smile when she noticed him before her curious gaze settled on me. That’s when Jhanavi looked up to see me for the first time in two months.

When her gaze hit mine, I felt the air whoosh in my ears. Everything around me seemed to come to a standstill before the entire world exploded into a plethora of bright colors and warmth. Her one glance made my heart stutter.