Chapter 5
Mina had met her fair share of beautiful men, but the Singh brothers were in a whole different league.
They were like the Punjabis her mother warned her about when she was a child.
Their edges weren’t just rough, they were serrated.
Built, with smooth dark skin and light brown eyes, their masculinity was barely restrained in custom- fit suits.
Especially Hemdeep Singh.
It had been a few days since she’d seen him, but in that time, she’d done nothing but obsess about the way she reacted in the boardroom. Clammy hands, word-vomiting, hair tossing like she wanted his attention.
What was wrong with her? It’s not like they hadn’t met before.
He’d always been tall.
And handsome.
From what she remembered, he flirted with everyone who had a midriff and spoke two words to him, aunties included.
And even if she had paid attention to Hem, who was to say that he would’ve done the same?
She’d been the tallest girl in the room, even as a child.
A Sardarni with long frizzy hair that made boys her age feel insecure.
Now she was a tall woman, and she knew that tall men preferred petite women, too.
There was something intimidating about a Sardarni who could look them in the eye at six feet.
But she’d stood next to Hem, and he didn’t seem to share that same insecurity.
By Monday, she had convinced herself that she was overthinking any chemistry that she felt. After taking much longer than necessary to sign all of the appropriate committee formation documents and NDAs, Mina was supposed to go to Bharat’s offices to start her work on the compensation committee.
From the moment her alarm went off, she gave herself countless lectures on how to avoid focusing on the oldest Singh. That didn’t stop her from spending extra time on her appearance.
Just in case.
Mina had barely leashed her wayward thoughts by the time she arrived at Bharat.
The receptionist greeted her when she was buzzed into the lobby.
While she waited for Ajay’s assistant to come out to retrieve her, she walked over to the framed magazine covers that hung on the wall.
All of them featured Deepak Singh’s brilliance and the legacy that he was leaving behind, but not one mentioned his sons.
Although Hem, Ajay, and Zail had periodically made it into conference or business news, she couldn’t find much about their private lives.
Not one had a social media account or even a company distributed headshot.
The most current article she found was of Zail’s attendance at a Hollywood fundraiser with an actress, but the piece was focused more on the actress than Zail.
“Ms. Kohli?” a voice said from behind her. She turned to see a young, fresh- faced man holding an iPad in one hand and a temporary badge in the other. “I’m Mr. Singh’s assistant, Rafael. If you’ll follow me, he and his brothers are waiting for you.”
He led the way down the hall and turned into a corner office.
Mina paused at the entrance. The wall of windows overlooked expansive water and cityscape.
In front of the windows was a mahogany desk with a high- back leather chair.
Clustered in the center of the room were a leather couch and two armchairs surrounding a glass- top coffee table.
Ajay sat behind the desk, Zail sprawled over the couch, and Hem stood. Did they know they looked like three hungry tigers? Lucky for her, she wasn’t intimidated by beasts.
Well, not really.
“Gentlemen,” she said.
“Mina,” Hem replied. “Welcome back.”
Mina heard the door close quietly behind her. Within moments, a privacy screen lowered to block out the clear windows and glass door.
“It’s good to see you again,” Zail said. He stood and motioned to a chair. “The last time was that fundraiser at what, Cipriani’s?”
“I honestly don’t remember. They all run together.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s you that we’re working with,” Ajay said. His tone was grim, his mouth pursed.
“Please contain your excitement.” She lowered into the vacant client chair.
“We’ll cut the cake later,” Hem added with a low, rumbling laugh.
Mina’s gaze met his. Held.
There was a sound of someone clearing their throat and she shook her head as she gripped the straps of her tote.
“I need to develop a process for our due diligence report, and a list of the documents for each member reviewing your company files. Although I’ll only be hands- on with the patent documents and patent applications in progress, I’ll still review all of the financials and market share analysis reports completed by the other committee members. ”
“You’ll have access to whatever you need, but you’ll go through Hem,” Ajay said.
“That’s fine.” She paused, debating whether or not she should ask her question. When Hem arched one bold brow in her direction, she said, “I’m just curious…this can’t be the first time you’ve been approached with a buyout.”
All three Singh brothers shook their heads.
“Then why is this one getting the red-carpet treatment? Why are you actually considering this one?”
There was a long silence before Ajay responded. “They’re trying to force our hand.”
“How so?”
“They’ve already approached a few of our major shareholders. We discovered that they’re aquiring shares quietly. We’re trying to do the same to maintain control, but we’re behind in the game.”
Mina let out a low whistle. “Hostile takeover?”
“Looks like it,” Hem said grimly.
“But why? WTA is worth more, has more resources, clients, connections than Bharat. They’re a household name.”
“It has to do with government contracts they would like to fulfill,” Zail replied. “Our technology is…powerful.”
“You have to give me more than that,” she said. “For this to work, you have to be honest with me.”
Hem inched closer. “That is the honest answer. WTA wants to use Bharat’s patented software for their military contracts.
We found out from our father that WTA approached him in a preliminary meeting he had with WTA’s CEO a few months ago.
A one- off encounter where they tried to force his hand.
It left a bad taste in Dad’s mouth. We don’t have any more specifics than that. ”
Mina thought about what her uncle had told her and realized that Sanjeev’s intel was correct. Once she got more involved in due diligence, she’d be able to find out the specific software WTA wanted, but for now, Hem’s explanation was enough to get her started.
“Okay, then I guess the next thing to take care of is meeting your father. When is Mr. Singh coming back from California?”
The brothers looked at each other again, filling the room with silence.
“This is not a trick question,” she said as she set her tote bag next to her feet.
“My father is . . . unavailable,” Hem replied. “For an undetermined period of time.”
“What does that mean? He knows that he has a fiduciary duty to the board in seeing this through, right?”
“He suffered from a heart attack five days ago, and he’s on bed rest,” Zail added.
Mina gasped. “What? Oh my god.”
“We’re asking you to keep that information to yourself,” Ajay said.
“If he doesn’t improve at the rate his doctors expect, then Hem, Zail, and I will report to the board and the shareholders.
But for now, we’re not telling anyone. It’s too much stress for him and he needs to focus on getting better. ”
Mina realized the implications of what they were telling her. Shit. They’d put her in a position and they knew it. “Why are you telling me the truth?”
“Because Hem said that we should,” Ajay replied. “And Hem is almost never wrong.”
“I technically have a duty to the board?— ”
“You have a duty to the board to review WTA’s offer and that’s it,” Hem said. “We’re working together here. We don’t know each other right now, don’t trust each other, but we have to start somewhere, and this is the first step we’re taking with you.”
He reached out as if he was about to touch her hand. His fingers were long, with the appearance of calloused tips that Mina was itching to feel. Even though he pulled back, the thought of his nearness had her scrambling to her feet.
“Everyone knows your father is the company,” she said as she tried to regain control of the flush creeping up her neck. “Do you have any idea what his recovery looks like?”
The Singh brothers shook their heads again.
“You’re asking me to cover for you,” she said, stiffly. She was already kept on a short leash because of her uncle. This would only complicate her already complicated life.
“Give us the time it takes for you to review the patents and the applications in progress,” Hem said. “If he isn’t back in the office by then, we’ll report his absence to the board ourselves.”
That’s why they looked so determined, so vicious when she saw them for the first time. Their father’s heart attack was probably directly related to the offer from WTA. Mina pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to work through the worst- case scenario.
“I . . . appreciate that you trusted me with this information, but you’ve put me in a difficult position, and you know it. For now, I’ll keep quiet, but I need you to let me know the minute something changes. This could affect . . . everything.”
“Done,” Hem said. He stood as well and motioned to the door.
“Oh, and one more thing. This calls for a favor,” Mina said.
“A favor?” Ajay said.
“Yes. I’m doing you a favor. When the time comes, I’m going to call in a favor of my own. If we’re going to trust each other, this is me trusting you to give me your word.”
“What kind of favor?” Zail asked.
“Who knows? After this I could need a job, and you’ll have to hire me.”
Her request was more of a gut reaction. All she truly understood was that when it came time to do a takeover of her own, it wouldn’t hurt to have the Singhs on her side.
The brothers looked at each other before they all nodded.
“I’ll show you to the conference room,” Hem said. “Our CFO, Damany Gordon, will show you the breadth of material to review before and after going public. You’ll be alone with him for most of the morning, but I’ll sit in to field any questions during the afternoon.”
Mina shot him a narrowed look. “Your supervision is not just an attempt to get me to eat Indian food with you, is it?”
Hem grinned. “You’re the only one missing out. Not only would I be paying, but we’d get Moghul Express.”
“You drive a hard bargain.”
“Am I wearing you down?”
“I’ll let you know.” She brushed past him and nearly flushed when he pressed his large hand on the small of her back to escort her out. She felt the familiar rush of desire, and she had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, just to get out of the office without stumbling.
When they stepped into the hallway, her phone rang in her hand. Mina paused when she saw the name on the screen.
“Need to get that?” Hem said.
“Yeah, give me a moment,” Mina said absently and answered. “Hello?”
The rich, husky sound of her friend’s voice filtered through the phone. “Happy belated birthday, dost.”
“Thanks, friend,” Mina said. “For a second I thought there was something wrong for you to be calling in the middle of your incredibly busy workday.” She stepped to the side of the hallway and faced the wall as she spoke. Hem, gratefully, moved a few feet away to give her some privacy.
“Running a company does have its perks. Like I’m the boss and can do what I want.”
Rajneet Hothi and Mina met at a professional minority women’s organization when they were fresh out of college. Raj went on to own a multimillion- dollar company, even though not many people knew she was the brains behind her organization.
“I hope I can be in your shoes one day.”
“Don’t worry, you will. Listen, what’s this I hear about you getting engaged?”
“What?” She drew a blank before remembering the immigration law firm merger. “I’m not. It’s a lie. How did you?— ?”
“I have sources and I need the details. Can I buy you birthday drinks Friday night? We’ll go to The Ice Palace.”
“The Ice Palace? I don’t know . . .”
“I could use some time off with everything going on right now. Come out with me. Let me treat you and we’ll kill two birds with one stone and all that.”
She sighed. “Fine. But only because it’s my— ” She turned to Hem who continued to openly stare at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She hung up and turned away from the wall. “Sorry about that. I thought it might have been an emergency. Shall we?—”
“Figuring out your Friday night plans?” he asked when she hung up the phone. They continued walking down the hallway.
“No . . . not really. It was a friend and mentor of mine.”
“The Ice Palace, huh?”
“Yes.” Mina smiled at the way he’d openly eavesdropped on her conversation. “It’s a place where hundred- thousand- dollar suits like to go. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of it.”
Hem shrugged, and his expression became solemn. “I started working here before college and continued for a while after. Then I started my own place. Working a lot has its disadvantages. I usually spend my Friday nights reviewing documents.”
“So there isn’t anything that could tempt you into going out instead of working?”
Mina regretted the question the moment it popped out of her mouth. Damn it, she wasn’t supposed to flirt with him! She had a job to do, and even though he?—
“It depends if you’re the one tempting me to go.” He gave her a heated expression that had her mouth going dry.
“Would you go if I asked?”
Shut up, Mina. Shut. Up.
“If I say yes, do I get brownie points for honesty?”
“No.” She motioned to the empty room. She felt flushed and that only meant that she needed to get some space, some clarity away from this man. “As fun as this banter has been, in here we are strictly professionals. We have a job to do.”
“Professionals. You’ve used that word before. Is it a personal favorite?”
“Mr. Singh.”
“Hem. We’re way past formalities and you know it.” He hadn’t moved any closer, but his intense scrutiny had Mina growing impossibly warm.
“Damn it, Hem.”
“Let’s get started, Mina. We’ll keep it, as you like to say, professional. You let me know when that changes for you.”