CHAPTER 39
C HAPTER 39
R ae and the others arrived back only a few minutes shy of their ten o’clock appointment. They were filthy, sweaty, exhausted, and so merry that it defied their physical state. Rae’s hair was plastered with sweat, her clothes a mess. It was a very odd way to enter a crucial meeting with her client’s number one opponent. She could not have cared less.
Elena rose from the Rover parked in the drive and asked, “Whose party did you destroy?”
Holden waved her over. He handed Elena a credit card and an address the construction watchman had given them. He carefully explained what they needed, and finished, “Go spend whatever it takes.” He turned to one of his grinning mates and added “Your job is to keep the lady’s purchases within screaming distance of reasonable.”
Elena started the car, gunned the engine, and said through the open window, “Boss, I was born for this gig.”
* * *
Jiyan waited for them by the front door. He smiled a welcome and almost formally ushered them inside. He gave no sign he noticed their state. “Ms. Amiya, please to come with me.” He closed and locked the front door. “Everyone else, wait here.”
Rae pointed to the wall clock. “The meeting—”
“All such matters must wait.” Jiyan started for the open rear doors. “Ms. Amiya, please.”
Rae stepped into the living-dining area, from where she had a clear view of the deck. The patio held an odd sort of tableau. The two men, Curtis and Kurien, were seated with their backs to the house.
They were holding hands.
Curtis leaned forward, so intent on what Kurien said that he was unaware of Amiya’s approach. She floated over, or so it seemed to Rae. Not so much walking as drifting, cloudlike.
Curtis jerked in surprise at her appearance. He rose to his feet and offered Amiya his chair. Kurien reached out one hand, welcoming his daughter. Smiling broadly.
Curtis knelt beside her.
Holden stepped up close to Rae and murmured, “This day just keeps getting better.”
“Quiet now,” Jiyan whispered.
Amiya flung herself into Curtis’s arms.