(Kabir's POV)
The office was unnaturally quiet. Most of the team had gone home, leaving Kabir to audit the final numbers alone, the faint hum of the AC and the flicker of fluorescent lights the only sound. And yet, he felt it immediately: Aryan's presence.
"You're still here," Aryan's voice was smooth, measured, but sharp. Not a greeting, not small talk — a warning. "Kabir."
He didn't look up. His mind was already cataloging possible motives. "Mehra."
Aryan stepped closer, slow, deliberate. "Don't drag her into your mess."
Kabir's jaw tightened. The warning was clear, but unnecessary. He had already calculated the variables: Anaya Kapoor's involvement wasn't collateral — it was controlled, intentional. Still, the words carried weight. Protective instinct, buried deep, flared within him.
"I decide what affects her," he said, voice low, precise. "Not you. Not anyone."
Aryan smirked, that subtle combination of amusement and menace. "Careful, brother. Lines are crossing. You don't want to push too far."
Kabir's gaze remained neutral. Inside, heat surged — the human side of him he rarely acknowledged. Control over data and systems was one thing. Control over those he cared for was entirely different.
"I've already calculated the consequences," Kabir replied evenly. "She will not be collateral."
Aryan's smirk faltered, just slightly. Kabir had established the boundary. It was silent, precise, non-negotiable. Yet the warning lingered, a needle in the system — a reminder that protective control had limits, even for him.
Aryan finally left, the echo of his presence fading. Kabir exhaled quietly, running through every contingency. His mind returned to Anaya, and the calculation he always made — she was not a variable. She was someone he would protect, precisely, without compromise.
But for the first time, he acknowledged an invisible truth: not all boundaries could be enforced by calculation alone. Some required confrontation, strategy — and the rare human awareness of when to act, and when to wait.