Chapter Twenty Ajay
Raj was adamant that her former employee, Roshan Patel, was trustworthy and could help uncover the additional security breaches at Bharat. Fifteen minutes into their meeting, Ajay knew that Raj had been right again.
“And this is all the information on Sri’s access history that you were able to get?” Ajay said to the video chat screen that he’d pulled up on his monitor.
“Yes,” Roshan said, his voice crystal clear through Ajay’s speakers. “I also sent you the information that he’d saved on Raj’s family. I’ve known her for years as my boss, and I have to say, it’s a pretty colorful file. Her family most definitely has a connection to an opium operation, but it looks like there is zero connection with your family in Punjab.”
“Roshan—”
“Don’t worry,” he said, holding up his hands. “I won’t tell a soul, including my grandmother. Not only for the sake of my job, but because I owe Raj. She’s good people.”
“That she is.”
“Anyway, if you need anything else let me know. I’m assuming that I’m reporting to you for the time being and Sri isn’t supposed to know that?”
“Yes. And if he gives you a problem, let me know and I’ll talk to him.”
“You got it, boss.”
Roshan waved, and Ajay closed the window.
“Ajay.”
He looked over his monitor to see Rafael standing in the doorway.
“I didn’t even see you come in. What’s up?”
Instead of sporting the cool, collected demeanor that was Rafael’s trademark, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. His face was painted with worry. “You have visitors. In the conference room.”
Ajay stood, dread sitting heavy in his stomach. “Who is it?”
“It’s your brother Zail and one of the board members. Your uncle Frankie.”
“Uncle Frankie? What the hell is he doing here?”
“It looks like your brother has gone to Uncle Frankie with some concerns. They’re here to talk about it. Hem and Bhram are on their way, as well. They were meeting for lunch nearby, so they shouldn’t be long. If you want to wait until they arrive...”
“No,” Ajay said. “I’ll go talk to Frankie and Zail now. Thanks, Rafael.”
“Ajay,” Rafael said after hesitating in the doorway. “Zail looks like he’s spoiling for a fight. He’s taking his frustration out on Raj and you. Wait for Hem and Zail.”
“No, I’m not going to do that.” Ajay straightened the cuff of his shirt so it covered his kara and crossed his office. “This has gone on too long. It’s about time people gave me the fucking respect I deserve.”
He took his time getting to their largest conference room. The pace gave him an opportunity to leash his temper.
Upon entering the room, he saw Frankie at the head of the table where his father was normally seated. Zail stood at the window in jeans and a suit jacket. Damn programmer couldn’t even put the whole suit on.
“I’ve been pulled away from my very busy schedule because I hear we have an issue,” he said to his visitors. “Uncle Frankie? I do believe you’re in my seat?”
Zail didn’t turn to look at him when he said, “Not yet, bhai.”
Ajay raised an eyebrow, and then motioned to his father’s friend. “I’m sorry you had to come all the way down here.”
“I’m not,” Frankie replied. He steepled his wrinkled fingers. “First, it’s quite unusual to hear about an acquisition of a company through an email, Ajay. The board needs to vote on major decisions like that.”
“You should know that an acquisition of this size doesn’t need board approval. Since the family is still the majority shareholder, we have the authority to make the decision. Out of respect, we’ll be presenting the acquisition for final review at next month’s meeting, but we’ll continue to pursue it.”
Ajay stood across the table from his brother, waiting for Zail to acknowledge that what he was doing could hurt their family.
Could hurt him.
“Puttar,” Frankie said, pursing his lips. “The next board meeting is critical. Your father was supposed to announce his retirement. It’s time. His health has expedited the decision.” Frankie took his time pushing to his feet. He adjusted his glasses, the same ones he’d been wearing for years. “I’m sorry, Ajay, but your brother has filled me in on his concerns about Ms. Hothi’s integrity—”
“There are no concerns—”
“There is also, of course, pending litigation that is troublesome.”
“You mean a divorce? How is a divorce troublesome? Or is that your bias, old man?”
Frankie made a settle down motion with both hands, which spiked Ajay’s temper even further. “You’re young and don’t have a lot of experience. Sometimes a pretty girl can get us a little caught up, right? Zail made the right decision coming to me. It’s obvious you’re not ready to lead Bharat. We can start looking for another CEO now, and in another ten years you can make your case to be CEO at that time.”
Zail whirled. “What the hell? That wasn’t what we discussed, Uncle Frankie.”
“What did you think was going to happen when you asked me to help in blocking the acquisition? This is proof that you boys need to grow up. I have a few great connections that would be more than qualified as CEO—”
“I need you to get out,” Ajay said.
Frankie goggled at him. “Excuse me?”
“I believe your hearing is still good.”
“Your father did not raise you to be like this, Ajay!”
“How he raised me is none of your concern. You are not welcome on Bharat’s premises without my express authorization. When the board meeting and shareholders meetings occur, you’ll be escorted in and escorted out. Do I make myself clear?”
“How dare you—”
“This meeting is over.” He opened the conference room door and spoke to the first employee who made eye contact. “Please get Rafael for me. Now. We need him to escort one of our board members out.”
Uncle Frankie scrambled forward, pushing Ajay out of his way. “Bharat is a symbol in the community, vital for our success. You’re a spoiled child who is running this company into the ground. On my word, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you don’t take your father’s position!”
He left, slamming the conference doors behind him.
Ajay turned on his brother. “Are you happy? Do you see what you’ve just done by bringing in Frankie, of all people?”
Zail rounded the conference table, his eyes bloodshot. “I had no choice. We’ve only had problems since you became COO. I won’t let you make our situation worse.”
The verbal blow was a staggering one. “Are you seriously blaming me for the attempted takeover? I never thought in a million years my brother would screw with our legacy, our family, because he’s angry over a woman.”
“It’s not just a woman!” Zail planted his hands on Ajay’s shoulders and shoved him two steps back. “Sahar is the key to us ever finishing this software.”
Ajay shoved him back. “You’re the head of the department, and it’s your responsibility to figure out how to fill her gap. If you can’t, then maybe someone should take over for you, too, because you’re just as much at fault.”
“I’m not the one who is sleeping with the enemy. And that makes me wonder how soon you’ll drive the company into the ground, because you just don’t have what it takes.”
The leash on Ajay’s anger snapped and he shoved Zail into the table. “Newsflash, dickhead. Sahar still hasn’t been cleared yet, so if you think I’m sleeping with the enemy, then so the fuck are you.”
Zail roared and tackled Ajay, and they both slammed against the wall. Conference chairs shot in every direction, while the awards on the walls rattled from the sheer force of impact.
His brother was built like a brick wall, Ajay thought as he took a punch to the gut. The pain was momentarily blinding, but he had adrenaline pumping through his body.
He did not have to defend himself to anyone, especially the little kid who used to look up to him and was now trying to undermine him in every way possible.
Ajay pulled his fist back and plowed it into his brother’s face. Zail’s head snapped back, then he retaliated by getting in a quick jab. Ajay tasted the blood, even as he shoved Zail against the windows. They rattled as the two men rolled on the floor.
Then someone looped an arm around Ajay’s neck and yanked him back. Zail was pulled out of his hold at the same time.
“Knock it off!” Hem snapped.
“Everyone can hear you two at it,” Bhram said sharply. “You’re both being bloody idiots right now. We’re not twelve anymore, dammit. You can’t punch each other to solve your issues.”
Ajay shrugged off his cousin’s hold and backed up. He wiped at the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, just as Zail stumbled away from Hem, cradling his cheekbone.
The quiet was as sharp as the sound of a gunshot. Zail didn’t bother waiting to talk about what happened. He rounded the conference table, giving Ajay plenty of room, and stormed out.
“What happened?” Hem asked as the door slammed.
Ajay waited until he caught his breath. “Zail brought in Uncle Frankie to pressure me into stopping the acquisition. With the board, and his vote, I think Zail expected me to give up Raj’s company so I could be CEO. It didn’t happen that way. Frankie started talking about how I wasn’t fit for CEO regardless of the acquisition and that he’s going to try to bring someone else in for the job.”
“Bullshit,” Hem and Bhram said at the same time.
“Exactly.”
“You have to resolve this soon, Ajay,” Hem said. “Otherwise it’s going to get uglier than it already is.”
“Don’t I know it.” He wanted to go home, to go to Raj’s house. But after the scene he’d just caused, he’d only make things worse by leaving. He had an office to run and people who depended on him. He’d do what he had to so that Bharat continued to rise.
“I’ll see you two later,” he said. He straightened his sleeves and ran his fingers through his hair. “I have meetings.” He turned on his heel and strode back to his office.
Ajay buried himself in work, but nothing he did took the edge off. His cousin and brother gave him a wide berth, and Rafael kept people away. He made one appearance in the break room on his floor to get himself some coffee, but he left when someone asked him if he needed ice for his bruised lip.
When he received an email request from Frankie and a few of the other board members to move up the end-of-year meeting, he shut down his computer and texted Raj.
AJAY:Where are you?
RAJ:Just got home with Khunda. Why?
AJAY:Your schedule clear tonight?
RAJ:I’ve just cleared it. See you soon.
When Ajay arrived at Raj’s brownstone, he got out of the car, well aware that he needed to purge his anger somehow before he could have a civilized discussion and evening.
He knocked, and when the woman who occupied so much of his thoughts opened her door, his anger morphed into bright, hot lust. Light filtered into the foyer and glinted along the edges of her hair. Her mouth was painted petal pink, and her feet were bare.
“Rafael called,” she said in greeting. “I heard you had a day.”
“Where is Khunda?”
“With Kaka. He took my baby for the night so you can have my full attention.”
“Good,” Ajay said. Then leaned down and scooped her up.
Raj looped her arms around his neck and raised a brow in that elegant, beautiful, regal way of hers. “Well, that’s one way to deal with work tension.”
He kicked her door closed behind him and waited for her to lock it before carrying her upstairs. Her short, manicured nails lightly scraped through his hair and across his scalp, igniting his nerve endings.
He entered her bedroom, kicked off his shoes, and laid her down on the bed. “You know what I realized?”
“Nope,” she said as she leaned back on her elbows. “Tell me.”
“That we haven’t gone slow, and I haven’t given you the attention that you deserve.” He removed his coat, his tie, his cufflinks, and then began unbuttoning his shirt.
She reached for the button of her jeans, but he shot her a glare that had her freezing. “That’s for me to do,” he said.
He stood in boxers, enjoying the way her eyes raked over his chest. After giving her another moment to appreciate him, he gripped her by the hips and scooted her farther up on the bed. The way that she spread her hair out and lay there waiting had Ajay instantly hard.
He picked up one foot at time, delighting in the peach nail polish on her toes, and kissed her ankles. “You have so many secret spots. Remember what I said?”
“That my secrets are safe with you,” she said with a sigh.
“That’s right.”
He stroked up her legs and moved so that he was able to kneel at her side and unbutton her waistband. Her breath hitched and he took a moment to kiss the slope of her stomach, nuzzling her there. Then, when he wanted more, he pulled her pants down, touching, licking, nipping, and kissing his way over every exposed inch.
Ajay purposely bypassed her beautiful plump pussy and smiled at Raj’s sound of distress.
“What’s that?”
“Too. Slow.”
“No, I don’t think so. I know my woman prefers fast, hard sex. I know she likes to order me to do things using her dirty words. But sometimes she needs to be worshipped like a goddess, too. It’s only right.”
He freed her legs, pushing her pants off the edge of the bed, then stroked up and under her thin cashmere sweater. She was wearing strings and skin. Her bra was barely there, and Ajay went a little delirious with the sensation. He fixed his mouth to hers, then reached up to squeeze her chin when she tried to rush him. He didn’t want to be rushed. He wanted every moment of this to be etched in his mind.
“Behave,” he whispered, and then pushed her sweater up and over her head. His assumption had been right. She was wearing small, sheer triangles that barely covered her dark brown nipples. The cups were secured by satin strips that were more for form than function.
“Did you wear this today hoping you’d get fucked?”
“Yes,” she sighed, writhing against him.
“Have you worn these before to seduce a man?”
Her eyes narrowed, and she tried to pull her arms free from her sweater, but he held her wrists captive with the fabric.
“I asked you a question,” he said as his free hand slipped under the band of her matching panties and gave her one long, wet stroke.
“N-No,” she choked. “They’re new.”
“A first for us.” He bit her nipple through her transparent bra and sucked even as she writhed under him. “Tell me,” he said as he continued to stroke and suck her between his words. “Have you ever made love?”
“Have you?” she snapped back.
“No. But I plan on it. Your turn.”
She let out a frustrated growl and pulled her hands free. In seconds she’d rolled over him and straddled his waist. “No. Happy?”
“Yes.” He sat up, unhooking her bra, and pressed a kiss between the curves of her breasts. “That means that we’re experiencing another first together.”
He flipped her over so that she was under him and saw the delighted glint in her expression. Raj liked those small displays of dominance, apparently.
And then he couldn’t think at all. Their mouths met, and his brain stuttered to a halt. His hands were full of Raj. Their fingers linked and they pressed together, chest to breast. They moved, stroking and sucking at each other until Ajay couldn’t think of anything else but being inside her, being a part of her.
With their lips still fused, he curled his fingers inside her soft pussy, rubbing the swollen nub of her clit as he felt her first trembling orgasm crest like a gasp and a sigh. She said his name, and the sound was like an embrace around his heart. With pleasure racing through him, he grabbed the condom from the bedside table she pointed to, put it on, then rolled on top of her again.
“Raj.” He settled between her legs, positioning himself. Time suspended as she wrapped her legs around his waist. With their eyes locked on each other, he entered her in one firm thrust.
“Ajay!”
“I’m making love to you,” he said in Punjabi, his voice hoarse, as he struggled to focus, to tell her this one thing that was so important. “I’m making love to only you. This is our first. Do you feel it? Do you feel me all the way inside you?”
“Tuhada piyar mera ata hona vala hai.”
Your love will be my end.
“No,” he said, struggling to speak now. “No, it’s our beginning.”
He began moving inside her now, keeping his thrusts slow and even. Raj pushed against him, demanding more, but he wouldn’t give it to her. He couldn’t. He wanted them to memorize every kiss, every lick, every pump of hips.
He felt his balls tighten even as she quivered with her rising orgasm.
And then she came, rolling her head back against the bed, reaching down to grip his hips and pull him flush against hers. He followed seconds later, roaring her name and feeling blinded by the joy between them.
When his brain started to clear, he took stock of what had happened. He knew he wouldn’t remember how long they lay together, or who helped who clean up the remnants of their lovemaking. What he would remember forever was resting his head against her breast and feeling her fingers run through his hair.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked into the silence.
He closed his eyes and sighed. “Yeah,” he replied. “Yeah, I do.”