It was hours before Varun was able to return to Niyati's office. He hit yet another dead-end. No clue was obtained from the note he took this morning. He had consulted Shane over the phone and they both agreed that it was best to keep close surveillance on Niyati, at home and in the office. He would talk to her before he finalized anything. He hoped she agreed to his plan.

He heard a heated conversation as he walked near her office and raised a questioning eyebrow at Niyati's secretary.

"They have been at it for hours now. She could use the break." Varun nodded his thanks then knocked on Niyati's office door gently then waited for her to respond before entering the office. He was glad he interrupted when he saw the frustration and fatigue on Niyati's face.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but I need to speak to you urgently regarding a matter at the other hotel." She gave him a thankful look and turned to her mother.

"Mother, as you can see I have to get to work. You need to sit down with Pooja and the wedding planner to iron out the final details and send me the bill." Mrs. Desai gave Varun a suspicious look and glared at Niyati.

"It's always about business with you. You don't care that your family needs you."

"As if my family was there when I needed them," She thought with bitterness but she didn't show it. It was best to remain calm and get her mother out of the office as soon as possible.

"Mother, I have bigger crisis on hand right now. If I don't take care of the hotel problems then we can forget this big wedding that you and Pooja both want." Niyati said calmly.

"Fine, I will go for now, we will talk about it later."

Varun closed the door then walked towards Niyati's desk. He waited for her to finish making notes in her planner, "More wedding issues?"

She pushed the book away and looked up at him, "It's never ending drama." She stood up and came around to stand in front of him.

"So what is the urgent matter?" She knew he had interrupted the meeting to get her mother out of the office but she asked anyway.

"It's not exactly urgent, but I figure if I made it sound like urgent you would have a good excuse to get away from all the wedding discussions." He took a step closer to her and raised her chin to look into her eyes. He couldn't help it. He needed to touch her just once. She tried to step away from him but he stopped her with a look.

"W-what are you doing?" Niyati wanted to curse herself for the slight trembling in her voice. One touch and he reduced her to stammering. She wanted to close her eyes and savor the moment but she knew if she did that all the memories of the past would return to make her more vulnerable to him and she couldn't afford to wear her heart on her sleeve again.

"I am looking for that sparkle that was always present in your eyes, but all I see is fatigue and frustration. What happened to the young Niyati who enjoyed life to the fullest and was always ready to share her smile with everyone?" He didn't miss the fleeting emotions in her eyes and wished he could go back five years and change things.

"That Niyati died five years ago. She was immature and naïve. This one is mature and has learned the ways of the world."

Varun gave into the need to hold her in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer to him, "I know that no explanation can take away the pain I caused you five years ago but just know that I did not cheat on you, not even once." The weary expression on her face told him she did not believe him but he will make her believe one day soon.

"What difference does it make now?" She tried to move away from him again but that only made him tighten his arms around her.

"It does make a difference because I want another chance. You can't deny that we are still attracted to each other but it's not only the physical attraction. It took me a long time, but I finally realized that I let the best thing that ever happened to me slip out of my hand." There was so much more he wanted to explain to her but now was not the time. She is not ready to listen to him, not yet.

He released her and took her hand to walk her towards the couch in her office, "Now let's talk about the latest development in your life." He didn't give her chance to protest or say anything and turned the conversation towards the two notes she received and her security.

One week later Niyati was still thinking about Varun's declaration and the conversation they had in her office as she drove out of Washington D.C. towards her home. She was tired and frustrated by his constant presence. He showed up at her house early morning to take her to work and brought her lunch from her favorite places in Baltimore. At least she had avoided spending evenings with him due to some late night work but he had insisted on driving her to work and back each day. She had finally put her foot down the day before and told him to back off and drove to work on her own.

It was taking all her will power to not fall for him all over again. It was hard to resist the new Varun. If he was indifferent in the past he is just as attentive now. He is convinced they belong together but she is weary of giving into her feelings for him. She paid a big price for loving him in the past and she is not sure she wants to go down that road again.

Admit it Niyati, at least to yourself that, you are ready to fall for him again. Her conscious mocked her and she sighed. The truth is her feeling for him never went away completely. He was her first love, the man who stole her heart and never completely returned it to her. Had he come to her five years ago she wouldn't have thought twice about giving him second chance but it's been five years now and she is not sure how he will take the things she has yet to reveal to him.

Her attraction to him is stronger than before and more than once this past week she was ready to throw her herself into his arms. It didn't help that he was always touching her in one way or another. She shook off her thoughts as she took the ramp to exit towards her home.

She had just taken the exit when she felt another vehicle ram into her from the back. She tightened her hands on the stirring wheel to keep the control of the car but the other car had hit her so hard that the air bag exploded in her face. She felt her car come to a sudden stop but she passed out and only thing she saw before everything went black was cloud of smoke.

Varun paced the length of Niyati's living room while he waited for her to come home. Thank god he had the presence mind to ask her for spare keys to her home to install new security system or else he would have been waiting for her outside in the cold. He checked the clock again and frowned. She should have been home by now. Her meeting at the D.C. hotel was to end at three o'clock and she was come straight home from there. It was almost seven and she still hasn't showed up. His worry was mounting because she was not answering her phone.

He should have never let her drive to D. C. on her but since no new note showed up all week he figure she would be safe on her own. He also knew he was adding to her stress and frustration by his persistent in pursing her so he decided to back off for a day. He knew he should let her get used to the idea of being together again but he couldn't help it. Now that she was here he didn't want to waste a moment to be with her. He wanted to make up for the lost time.

He was about to call her again when his phone rang. He immediately answered when he saw Shane's name flash across the screen, "Hey Shane."

He was out the door and running to his car before Shane finished talking. All he could think about is getting to Niyati as fast as possible. He should have gotten more details about the accident from Shane but he did not want to waste time talking. He needed to see her and touch her to make sure she is okay.

On the way to the hospital he prayed like he had never prayed before. He pulled up to the hospital within twenty minutes and rushed into the hospital towards the emergency room. He waited impatiently for the receptionist to look up from her computer. "Excuse me, can you tell me which room is Niyati Gupta in please?"

Before she could answer him he saw Shane come out of a room down the hall and rushed towards him, ignoring the receptionists. He stopped in front of Shane, "Where is she?"

He rushed into the room his friend gestured to, not caring what may be happening in the room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Niyati lying on a stretcher with her eyes closed. There was a huge bruise on her right temple and the doctor was stitching the big gash on her right arm. He went to her left side and took her hand in his, ignoring the frown that the nurse gave him.

Niyati opened her eyes when she felt someone take her hand. She knew who would be standing in front of her before she opened her eyes. She frowned when she saw Varun's fearful expression watching the doctor stitch her arm. She squeezed his hand to get his attention, "I am fine." She whispered when he turned towards her.

Varun lifted his other hand and moved a strand of hair out of her face then bent to place his lips on her forehead. He wanted to gather her in his arms to reassure himself but he settled for the small gesture. He was not at all surprised by her gesture of comfort. She had always been very sensitive to his needs and always worried for him more that he did for her. It was her caring nature that had changed the dynamics of their relationship five years ago.

Niyati didn't know what made her reassure him all she knew was that she couldn't stand to see him worried, most especially for her. She wished she could turn off her feelings for him but try as she might she can't stop caring for him. Besides Nidhi, he had been the first person to care for her unconditionally and that had made her fall for him hard. All she had ever wanted was for him to love her back.

They were both startled out of their thoughts when the doctor cleared his throat to gain their attention. "You just need to wait for the CT scan then we will see if we need to keep you overnight for observation."

Niyati was about to refuse but one look at Varun's worried face and she closed her mouth. It was no use arguing with him. She wouldn't have won the argument anyway.

It was hours before she was discharged home. She had a mild concussion and the doctor wanted to keep her overnight but she refused to stay and the only reason they discharged her was because Varun promised to stay with her overnight. She hadn't liked that idea any better but she was too tired to protest. All she wanted to do was to go home and sleep in her comfortable bed.

Varun stepped out of the room while they waited for the nurse to bring discharge papers. Now that he knew Niyati was going to be okay, he needed to find out what happened. He searched for Shane and spotted him near the nurse's station flirting with a pretty nurse.

He pulled his friend to the corner, "So, how did the accident happen? What about the other driver?"

He frowned when Shane shook his head, "The police said it was hit and run. Someone rammed her from the back making her lose control of the car and didn't stop. They found his car abandoned on a rural road not too far from where the accident happened. They ran the license plate but found that the car was stolen.

The hair on back of his neck rose. His instincts told him this had been not been an accident. Someone had deliberately caused Niyati to lose control of the car. Was this just to scare her off or was someone actually trying to kill her? He didn't know but he would make sure she is well protected from now on.

"Did you call her parents?" He asked Shane as another thought popped into his head.

"I did call them. Her father is out of town and her mother is busy with her daughter's in laws." Shane replied in disgust. He dismissed them with a gesture, "Why don't you take her home, I am going to go talk to the police again to see if they have more information."

Varun nodded his head then turned back towards Niyati's room.