Nandini's Pov

It's been three days. Three days since I first entered this room and have not been let out since. Manik Malhotra  hadn't dared to show his face to me, or decided not to grace me with his entertaining presence. Please note my sarcasm here, folks. Alia came in everyday with more food than I could eat, trying cheer me up. She really was a wonderful person and it amazed me that her brother was a member of the mafia. If I had met her under any other circumstances, I would have sworn that she came from a very respectable family that had nothing to do with drugs, murder or organized crime.

After my talk with Manik a few days ago, Alia had been tight-lipped regarding her family and their business dealings. My guess was that Manik told her not to open up to me in case I got away. Which, right now, seemed completely impossible. It was astounding how much security they had in the house. I asked Alia about it once, but she gave a vague answer about how more success meant more enemies. I didn't push it.

Alia had gone shopping to get me even more clothes, so now my closet was filled with more Chanel, Gucci and Prada than I had ever owned before. And that was saying something. Alia was in my room showing me all the new things she got from a sample sale.

"And see this one, Nandu, it's a Hermes silk scarf...I bet it would look wonderful in Navya's hair. I'll bring her over today to meet you," she said.

"Oh! I'd love to meet her. Did you guys figure out anything about the wedding?"

"Yeah. We just decided to have it here. All the guests have been notified about the change in venue, and most of them have RSVP'd."

"That's good. So Navya's getting married, and Manik is set on killing half the human population before he's forty, so what about you? Any career plans? Any boyfriends?" I asked, smiling at her cheekily, and to my surprise, she blushed.

"I don't have a boyfriend," she said.

"Alia! Stop lying to me. Now come on, tell me. Who is it?" She shook her head at me and denied it once again. After a lot of persuasion, she finally caved.

"Okay! I'll tell you! But you have to promise not to tell Manik because he would get really mad if he found out I was going behind his back," she said, nervously.

"Okay. I promise. Now go on! Spill!"

"Well, Dhruv and I have been seeing eachother for about 4 months now, and oh, Nandu! He's perfect!"

My definition of the perfect man didn't include a criminal record, but obviously I didn't say that to Alia. "That's wonderful Alia! But why can't you tell Dhruv? Navya and Cabir seem to have fared well against him since they're getting married now."

"Well, uhm, you see Navya isn't exactly our biological sister," she said, wringing her hands. "So she didn't really get any inheritance from our parents. She had a trust fund, however, so she's good for now. I, on the other hand, am not adopted and I'll get my inheritance on my 21st birthday, which is just a few months away. Manik wasn't happy with Navya's and Cabir's relationship either, but there was nothing he could do to keep them apart. When you meet Navya, you'll understand what I mean. She can hold her own against anyone."

I nodded sympathetically as she continued. "Since Manik's the oldest out of all of us, he controls the finances. He said that he doesn't want me to marry a criminal like Navya. He's being a hypocrite, I know, but he only has my best interests at heart. He hasn't said it in so many words, but he has implied that if I get married to someone he doesn't approve of, I shouldn't expect him to be at my wedding. Dhruv and I aren't that serious yet, and it's a miracle we've been able to keep this a secret from Manik for so long. We only meet up when Manik's either not home or out of the country, and only for brief periods of time at a private place. I'm Manik's sister, so atleast I have the assurance that he won't kill me, but that's not the case with Dhruv."

"Do you love him, Alia?" I asked seriously.

She blushed again, a deeper red than before. "I think I do, but I'm not so sure about him. He doesn't want to lose his job or his life. If it comes to it, I will break it off to save him. I care for him enough to do that."

I had tears in my eyes now, a product of sympathy for Alia's situation and rage at her brother's controlling ways. "If you love him as much as I think you do, tell him, Alia. He deserves to know."

"Do you think I should do that?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I do. You love him, and if he's willing to risk his life by being with you, I bet he loves you too," I said, smiling at her.

She started jumping up and down in excitement. I laughed at her enthusiasm and started putting all her shopping back in the bags so she could take them to her room. As I was putting the Christian Louboutin's back in their box, Alia flopped down next to me and asked, "I told you my story Nandu, but what about you?"

Now it was my turn to blush. "I was dating someone a while ago, but we broke up. The good thing is I didn't lose him as a friend. He's more of the brotherly type, you know?"

"Oh! Yeah, I get that. What was his name?"

"Aryaman. He works with my dad. He's the youngest person in the entire bureau to achieve the detective post," I said proudly. Alia's face however, was completely ashen.

"What's his full name?" she asked, her voice low.

"Aryaman Khurana. Why?"

"Because he's the agent on Manik's case. Oh crap! Nandu, whatever you do, don't let Manik know about your friendship with him. He just might change his mind about not killing you."

"He's not going to kill me?" I asked, surprised.

"Trust me, Nandu, if he wanted you dead, we would be having this conversation with 6 feet of vertical distance between us," she said, giving me a small smile.

"Well, uhm, what does he want then?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't think he's figured that out yet. Maybe he'll ask for a ransom from your dad. Sometimes, my brother can be very hard to read."

"My dad would never pay the ransom, Alia. He has some very firm rules about that. He never gives in to criminals."

"Nandu, he has to. I don't know what Manik would do if he doesn't. Is it weird that I can't predict what my own brother is going to do?" she asked, her eyes sad.

"Awww Alia! It's okay. It happens," I said, hugging her. "Brothers can be...difficult at times. Don't be sad Alia, I can't bear to see you like this."

She wiped a tear away and gave me a watery smile. "Thanks, Nandu. I'm gonna go talk to Dhruv." As she was getting up to go however, there was three sharp knocks on the door.

"Come in," I called out, hoping that no-one had heard my conversation with Alia. Manik walked in the door, a stony expression on his face.

"Alia, I need a word with Nandini," he said.

"Well hello to you, too," I mumbled. Alia gave me a tight hug and left. Manik waited for the door to close and then turned to face me.

"Here's what we're going to do, Murthy. You are going to sit in front of a camera and state my demands to your father in exchange for your life."

I stared at him in astonishment. "There is no effing way I'm doing that! And just so you know, my father will never cave in to your demands."

Manik's expression grew furious. "This is not a choice, Murthy. You either do it, or you die."

"Fine, then kill me," I challenged him. "Because I know for a fact that the Chief will not give you what you want. My life's not that precious to him." I couldn't help the bitterness that leaked into my voice at the end.

"You think your father doesn't care about you?" he said, coldly. "The sacrifices that a parent makes for their child seem inconsequential to you, don't they?"

"The only thing my father ever gave up was his family for his career. Getting ahead was more important to him than the fact that his wife was so depressed that she was seeing a shrink everyday for six months," I said, wondering why all our conversations ended up like this. "And you have no right to judge me. You don't know me."

"So you blame your father for your mother's death? How infantile!"

"Screw you, Manik Malhitra. Now I won't do what you're telling me to do, so either you kill me or you let me go back to my University, and complete the rest of my studies in peace."

"As I told you before, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Get up and come with me. You will make that video," he said, grabbing me roughly by the arm and dragging me out of the room. My protests fell on deaf ears as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. We went through a winding hallway and down three flights of stairs to a basement. There was a video camera on a tripod and Cabir was standing behind it setting it up. There was a large white tarp covering the wall behind the stool on which I assumed I would sit. Manik gave me a paper and said, "Here's what you'll say."

I read through it and shook my head.

"You're not getting out of this room until you've said that, Nandini," he whispered in my ear. For some reason, despite the fact that he was holding my arm so tightly that I knew it would leave a bruise, his proximity caused my stomach to flutter. I told myself it was just fear, but I had given up on fear a long time back.

"Fine," I whispered, and he drew back, letting go of my arm as if it was a hot coal. I sat down on the stool and waited for Cabir to start the camera.

"You're on," he said. I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face.

"Hey, dad. I know you're worried about me but please don't be. I'm completely fine. I hope you're not too stressed out." Manik motioned at me to get on with it. I gave him a sour look and continued. "So the jackasses who have me want something from you in return for my freedom. They want five million dollars along with a free pass for drug and weapon trafficking. I know, they're as moronic as they sound, so do whatever you like dad. I miss our movie nights when we used to watch Beauty and the Beast. Goodbye dad."

"Finally," Manik sighed. "I thought you'd turn into a pile of mushy goo."

"Yeah, right. Get a life Manik. Maybe then you'd stop interfering in others." I got off the stool, and made my way towards the stairs leading to the door. Manik however, grabbed my arm again and led me back to my room, not saying a single word.

He came in with me and sat on the loveseat again. "Thank you for doing that," he said unexpectedly.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "Did you just thank me? For making a ransom video?"

He gave me a small, lopsided smile. I had to admit, he looked almost human when he did that. "Yes, as twisted as it may sound. You're not at all what I expected Nandini Murthy. If we had met in another world, where I wasn't the leader of the mafia and you weren't the daughter of the head of the FBI, we might have been friends. Maybe we would have even dated."

"Please," I snorted. "I have better sense than to fall in love with someone as malignant as you."

He grinned, stood up and said, "Who said anything about falling in love? Ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome, my dear?" Then he left, leaving me more confused and irritated than I had ever been in my entire life.

FBI headquarters, 24 hours later:

Raman Murthy and Aryaman Khurana were sitting in the Chief's office, discussing where Nandini could be when a delivery boy came in a package. It was addressed to Raman Murthy.

"Whose it from?" Aryaman asked.

"It doesn't say," Raman said, tearing open the brown paper to reveal a mini-disk. He put it in his laptop and it started playing.

Aryaman's hands curled into fists as he saw Nandini's face. She looked like her usual, pink-cheeked self so he could see that she wasn't being mistreated physically, but the thought of her well-being at someone else's mercy caused his temper to flare. She deserved so much better. He almost laughed when she called her captors insulting names, although he was sure it wasn't wise. The impossible demands made by the criminals were incredible. There was no way the bureau would allow it. Did the people who had her know that? He was confused about the last thing she said though. From what he remembered, Nandini and Raman hadn't watched TV together since, well, ever.

Raman's face was bone-white when Aryaman turned to look at him. "What?" he asked.

"It's the mafia," he said. "I designed a code system for Nandu when she was ten, and had her memorize it. It had specific names for every crime organization which could have been a threat. Beauty and the Beast was code for the mafia. Find out which known mafia members have left the country since Nandu got kidnapped. Use the new facial recognition software in all the airports. I want these people caught now."

Aryaman was extremely worried now. He knew what the mafia was capable of, and if he took too long in finding Nandu, it would be too late.

To be continued....