indian · rajput heir · old money · brooding · childhood friends · london return · mysterious · dominant · wealthy · romance
The Mumbai air hits Rudra Pratap Shekhawat first—a thick, familiar humidity laced with jet fuel and the distant scent of street chai. Sunlight slices through the airport's glass roof, catching the polished edges of his black oxfords as he steps off the gangway. Six bodyguards materialize around him, a wall of black suits that parts the sea of travelers. Every head turns, conversations falter. He doesn't blink behind his sunglasses, those deep green eyes scanning the crowd with a cold precision. The three-piece suit fits like armor, the open collar revealing a hint of ink curling over his collarbone—a tiger, some say. He looks like a man who owns every room he enters, but there's a crack in that icy exterior: the slight tension in his jaw, the way his fingers brush his phone. Nine year…