Chapter Twenty-One Rajneet

Raj didn’t know if practical advice or continuous sex would be enough to soothe the hurt in Ajay’s eyes, but hopefully her listening would.

And food. After all, food worked for her.

She poured two cups of masala ginger chai and set them on the dining table. The smell of frying bature and simmering chole filled the house. Khunda chewed on a small hank of rope in her plush, custom-designed chesterfield dog bed. The scene was unusually domestic, but it felt comfortable to Raj. It felt right.

“What are you thinking?” she asked as she stood next to Ajay’s chair, stroking his back.

He pulled her close, wrapping one arm around her hips even as he continued to read through emails on his phone.

“I should’ve asked Rafael to drop off my laptop and work clothes with my overnight bag yesterday,” he mused. “I could’ve gone straight to the office from here.”

“Well, hopefully when Khunda and I move, we’ll be close enough that it won’t be too difficult to get clothes anymore.”

His head jerked up. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to sell the brownstone,” she said. She’d slowly come to the decision over the last few weeks. “It’s a part of my old life, and honestly, it makes me nervous that Khunda is so small and could get lost in all the space.”

“Where do you think you’re going to move?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to do a real estate analysis and determine which neighborhood is the best investment.” Raj’s plan was to find a location closer to her office, wherever that office would be. As for her proximity to Ajay... well, she wasn’t going to deny the fact that he was a consideration, too.

Ajay pulled her firmly between his knees. “Raj?”

“Yes?”

“Would you consider moving into the penthouse with me?”

Yes, she wanted to say. Yes to everything. But she hadn’t gotten to where she was in life by acting impulsively. No matter what she was feeling for him, she had to still be careful.

If she was careful with her heart, then she was being careful of her life and those she loved.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea under the current circumstances. Our business agreement, and your brother—”

“My brother is going to have to deal with our relationship.”

She ran her thumb over the days-old faded bruise at the corner of his mouth and cupped his face.

“How about we wait for the acquisition to end,” she said. “By then my divorce will be over, and hopefully, I’ll have a start date at the foundation. If that’s where I want to be. I honestly haven’t decided yet. Let’s keep the pretense of discretion going for a little bit longer.”

“Okay, but the offer is open. I want more firsts with you, Raj.”

“Me, too.”

“Garam, garam chole bature,” Kaka called out from the kitchen. “Fresh and hot!” He carried dishes heaped with food to the table, along with utensils and bowls.

“Kaka, I’ve never seen you this happy.”

Kaka’s smile was bright and toothy. “That’s because you’re finally seeing a nice Punjabi boy who can take care of you. Enough with these gora men. Now eat. Ajay, you need food.” He left the room with a bounce in his step.

“I can’t believe Kaka just said that,” Raj said. She sat down in front of one of the plates.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m glad I have his approval. He’s the closest thing to a father figure you have here.”

“That he is.” She propped her chin on a fist. “You know, I have to wonder—how is it that you aren’t married and settled yet?”

His slow, boyish grin had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “Because I’ve been waiting for you?”

“I won’t even bless you with a response to that.”

He shoved chole and yeasted puffed bread into his mouth. Raj raised a brow, then took a sip of her chai as she waited.

“You’re not going to drop this,” he said after swallowing.

“No way, Singh.”

He wiped his fingers, twisting the napkin between them as he spoke. “I dated on and off in college and grad school. When I worked at Bharat, too. But since Hem left Bharat and I’ve assumed more responsibility, my relationships have been more like brief connections instead.”

Raj kicked him lightly under the table. “You’re giving me the summary when I want the whole memo.”

“It’s not that exciting, Raj,” he said. He dropped his napkin and reached for her hand. “Truthfully, I expected to have an arranged marriage, so getting serious with someone was just never in the cards for me. I love the relationship my parents have. There was so much love in our house growing up. I wanted that, too.”

“That’s admirable,” she said, and took another sip of chai. She thought of the pictures sitting on his mantel at the bungalow in New Jersey. She couldn’t imagine wedding photos of Ajay and some other woman squeezed between his brothers and his parents.

Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She knew that she was being possessive, just like she’d experienced right after Ajay had committed to buying her out. This time she was serious, though.

Her poor, poor man had no idea what was coming.

“My parents wanted an arranged marriage for me when I returned from school, too. I had other plans for myself.”

“I can see that.”

“All I’m saying is that sometimes things happen for a reason.”

“What’s the reason for us happening?” Ajay asked.

Raj leaned over and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Maybe we’ll have to keep going until we find out.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” he murmured against her mouth.

Raj leaned into the kiss and was enjoying the smooth feel of his lips and the way they tasted her when they were interrupted by a vibrating phone.

Ajay pulled away and looked at his cell. “It’s Hem. And since it’s not even seven a.m. yet, he must need something. Okay to get it?”

“Sure,” she said.

“Bhai,” Ajay said as he picked up. “What’s up?”

Raj watched as Ajay’s face morphed into shock, then fury. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m sitting with her right now. Let me put you on speakerphone.”

Hem’s voice came through the speaker a moment later. “Okay. Hey, Raj.”

“Hem. What’s going on?” Her senses were on high alert because of the stress in his voice. “What happened?”

“I’m so sorry to be the one to break this to you, but it looks like an exposé was just published about your life and RKH Collective.”

“An exposé?”

“First thing this morning. It appeared in the Financial Times, and it’s already gotten a ton of views. Ajay, you may want to see what you can do to stop this train.”

Raj’s heart pounded as hard and fast as a freight train. “Can you forward us the article? We need to see what we’re dealing with.”

“Sure. Texting it to Ajay’s number now.”

“Thanks, Hem,” Ajay said and hung up.

They waited for the link to come in, then Raj took the phone with steady hands and began to read.

Married for a green card...

Cheated on her spouse with hookups at the Ice Palace...

Uses information to bribe...

Daughter of a drug dealer...

Cutthroat... ruthless... cold-hearted...

Sleeping her way to a sale with Bharat...

Illicit affair...

Raj vaulted out of her chair. Her pulse raced as the words went around and around in her head like a carousel.

There were the ugly truths of her life written for everyone to read, for everyone to judge her. Her whole office would know her life and would now think that she was a corrupt sycophant willing to do anything to make money.

Ajay jabbed a number on the phone she’d dropped. “Rafael? I need you to do damage control right now.” He barked into the phone, his words clipped and full of malice. “Communications needs to put out a statement. Put together a task force. I want this shut down. No, I don’t care about timing, Rafe. This story dies.”

He tossed the phone aside and reached for her, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“I am so sorry, baby,” he whispered. His hands fisted at his sides. “I’m so sorry I brought you into this mess. This is probably Sri’s leak. I’ll get him, though. I should’ve listened to you from the beginning.”

“This has Robert written all over it,” she said, surprising herself at how calm she sounded. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips against her lids. “I need to stop this before it gets traction.”

“This is going to get some press. It’s better if you stay out of sight until you have a game plan, and wait until I can confirm how much of this came from Bharat. You might want to get—”

“Legal and Communications on the line. Yes, I know. And you should probably call—”

“Tushar and my father. Yup. I’m on it.”

This time when he reached for her, she let him wrap her in his arms. “I’m so sorry. I know how much your privacy and your secrets mean to you. We’ll figure this out.”

“I can’t believe he’d do this to me,” she whispered. Tears clogged her throat, and a vague part of her brain was horrified that it was the second time in two weeks that she’d cracked in front of this man. It was the most she’d cried in years.

Squeezing Ajay, knowing that he was giving her strength, she pulled back, wiping at her cheek. “I’m going to have to work from home.”

She’d sacrificed so much and worked too hard for her life to watch it crumble like a house of cards. She’d lock up her shame, her fear of rejection, and her sadness later. Right now, she had to focus on damage control.

“Raj?” Kaka entered the room a moment later. He looked baffled. “There are a few people outside the front door.”

“Shit,” she hissed. “Ajay, get your stuff and get out of here. You can leave through the basement apartment exit, which is farther down the left side of the building. Robert probably gave up my location, too.”

“I’m not going to leave you here for the vultures to start congregating.”

“I can take care of them.”

“I know you can, but you don’t have to.” He turned to Kaka. “Can you pack Khunda’s things for a week? Raj, go upstairs, get ready, and call a car. We’ll get your attorney on the line to help clear the sidewalk in front of your house, too. Then go to my penthouse. You can work from there.”

Raj saw the reason in Ajay’s logic. She would be trapped like a sitting duck at the brownstone.

With a quick gesture at Kaka, Ajay scooped up Khunda and passed the dog over. “What else can I do to help you get your things?”

“Nothing,” she said. “You need to get out of here. I’ll go to your penthouse, but it’s already looking bad for us with the way this article has positioned our relationship.”

“Ask me how much I care about what other people think.”

“Sometimes you have to so that you can protect the people you love.”

He cupped her face and leaned his forehead against hers. She breathed in his clean, masculine scent and let out a breath.

“There is nothing,” he said softly, “that could make me ashamed of being with you. I know your secrets like you know mine. And remember what I said?”

She nodded, her heart clenching with fresh, new love. “We’re partners.”

“That’s right. We’re partners, Raj. We’ll handle this.”

“Together,” she said.

His phone buzzed again, and this time he didn’t hesitate in answering it. “Rafael.”

Raj watched his face morph from determination to surprise and then to anger. “Fine. Set up the meeting for two o’clock today. I’ll be in the office soon.”

He hung up and reached for her again. “The board has called an emergency meeting. Those who can’t make it have assigned Frankie as their proxy.”

“They’re going to try to block your father from naming you the next CEO of Bharat because of this,” she said, already knowing the outcome of the call. “I am so, so sorry.” This was all her fault. Her secrets were hurting him.

“Raj, don’t even think about blaming yourself,” he said. “Come on. We don’t have time. We need to get ahead of this.”

She nodded and followed him upstairs. Her anger mounted like a horse trapped in a pen, ready to race.

Whoever had decided to mess with her life, whether it was Robert, Sri, or some other idiot, they were going to find out exactly how she dealt with her enemies. How dare someone use her secrets against her? How dare they try to hurt Ajay?

As a plan began to form in her mind, she knew that she was about to play the biggest game she’d played in business and in her life. She just hoped that Ajay’s promise for partnership would stay steadfast when it was all over.

Fifteen minutes later, Ajay slipped out the basement apartment exit, and Raj put in a call to Harnette.

“I need to know what your email inbox looks like.”

Harnette let out a whoosh of air. “Let’s just say that the sales team is getting a few calls from our clients, and that’s the good news.”

Raj’s heart clenched, and she hated herself for it. She lived her life according to her own terms, and no one had the right to judge her.

“I need you to set up a press conference.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Harnette?”

“Raj, you don’t even agree to interviews. You’re going to do a press conference?”

She looked at the half-empty bag packed and sitting on her bed. “Yes,” she said. “Today. This evening.”

“Okay, then. I trust you, boss. I’ll make it happen.”