Chapter 13
Their date was magical. Effortless and filled with giddy anticipation and need.
So was the following weekend when Hem showed up at her apartment again.
Then came the weeknight dinners at hole-in-the-wall restaurants where no one would recognize them, or a quiet night at either of their apartments.
Every date was followed by slow kisses in doorways or on city sidewalks.
What wasn’t so magical was her sexual frustration. No matter how many clues Mina gave Hem that she wanted more, needed his touch, his mouth on her, that she was willing to risk her uncles finding out if they could be together, he’d leave her breathless and aching.
That bastard.
Mina knew that the moment they had sex, they’d have to keep it secret. Something that didn’t interfere with their work. And Hem being Hem, probably wanted more.
He always wanted more.
Another week had passed, and working hours only made the sexual frustration worse.
The eldest Singh would show up with her latte, wink, and then saunter off whistling.
It was as if he was telling her without words, he knew what she tasted like, he knew what she wanted, and he wasn’t going to give it to her yet.
Her new involvement with Hem was probably why it took her so long to notice the lack of text messages from Raj. Halfway through the first extension week she’d asked for at Bharat, Mina met her best friend for lunch.
Knowing Raj was going to grill her the minute they saw each other, Mina arrived at the trendy downtown Indian gastropub five minutes early. She ordered a mango lassi with pistachio brittle and relaxed against the plush royal blue booth.
The gastropub was a new edition to the restaurant scene, and the atmosphere screamed 1970s India glamour. From the pendant lights to the copper dishes, there wasn’t a single detail that hadn’t been taken into account.
She was about to text Raj to let her know she was already seated when she heard the whoosh of the front door.
Her best friend stepped through the entrance turning every head in the restaurant.
Raj paused, hip cocked, hair blown out and draped elegantly over her shoulders, as if waiting for people to admire her.
Mina raised her hand and waved. “Right here!”
Raj tore off her sunglasses as she made the slow runway walk to the tiny table in the back.
It wasn’t until she was close that Mina started to notice that something was wrong.
Instead of Manolos or Louboutins, Raj had swapped her glam heels for a pair of white sneakers.
When she unbuttoned her trench coat, she revealed a white tailored button- down shirt tucked into a pair of dark blue jeans.
A slim Chanel belt glinted at her waist.
“Hey,” Mina said slowly.
“Hey.” Raj handed her coat to the waiter, who hung it on a hook next to a teal antique mirror. “I wasn’t at the office if that’s why you’re staring at me.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Everything okay?”
Raj sighed. “I’ve been with my attorneys for the last week. We’re . . . working on something that I don’t want my husband to see.”
“Oh? Is there anything I can help with? You know, as your attorney best friend.”
“I wish. I’d trust you more than anything, but I don’t want to put you in the middle.”
Mina leaned forward and touched Raj’s hand. It was devoid of the blood-red polish she was so fond of. “Raj, what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you just yet.”
Her voice broke, and when Raj’s eyes met Mina’s, Mina saw the dark circles. Raj looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Her skin was also noticeably ashen under a mismatched shade of beige foundation.
“Oh, honey.”
“I promise that when it’s all done, you’ll be the first person I’ll celebrate with, but for now, it’s better if I keep all the cards to myself.”
Mina pushed her mango lassi forward. “I think you need this more than I do.”
Raj didn’t argue and took a healthy gulp from the glass. “Please distract me. Tell me about your sardar, and if he’s as dominating in bed as I imagine.”
She wanted to push, wanted to make sure Raj was okay, the same way Raj always checked up on her. It was so strange seeing her vibrant, capable friend looking haggard and . . . normal.
“Raj, I’m here for you. Please talk to me.”
She reached out again and gripped Mina’s hand this time. “I promise everything is okay. I’m in the middle of a hasty . . . dispute. It’s big and it’ll affect my life in a significant way.”
“Then let me help.”
“I will. Not yet. Please.”
Mina sighed but made a mental note to check in on Raj more often. “Fine. But I can’t be distracted for long.”
“Don’t I know it,” Raj said with a laugh. “Come on. How is he in bed?”
“Well, we haven’t exactly been there yet.”
Raj’s eyebrow arched in a perfectly smooth lift that helped Mina relax. The waiter came at that moment, and they paused to order.
“Why haven’t you taken advantage of him?” Raj asked when they were left alone again.
“And do what, have sex and tell him we can’t be anything serious right now? The one thing I’ve learned about Hem is that as easy going as he seems on the surface, he is a deeply serious person when it comes to relationships.”
“What’s the harm in seeing where things are going?” Raj asked.
Mina pressed her fingertips to her eyes as she voiced the first, most logical reason as to why they shouldn’t even be seen having dinner together, let alone get romantically involved.
“We’re trying to avoid any complications with his father’s company.
If my uncles find out we’re involved, my recommendation as lead on this compensation committee is useless.
I’ll be challenged as an impartial voice and whatever Sanjeev is trying to do…
well, I don’t know yet but my fuck up will be in his favor.
Having dinner together, being so close in the office, we’re already walking a dangerous tight rope. ”
Raj had been running a finger down the list of menu items. She froze at the sound of my uncle’s name. “What are you talking about? What’s this about Sanjeev?”
It really had been too long since Mina had met her best friend. After ordering food, she rambled for almost fifteen minutes until she told Raj about the fight she’d had with her uncles during the dinner party, and the resulting night with Hem.
She didn’t mention Hem’s father’s health, nor did she share any details the Singh brothers had shared in confidence, but Raj was scary good at her job. She made it her business to know everything about everyone, especially if they possessed a lot of power in New York.
“I feel like Sanjeev is starting to realize I’m spending too much time on the Bharat project and I don’t want him to pull me as punishment.
Not just because I like being with Hem, but I also think there is something there, and I’m determined to find it.
This could be my way of taking back the firm, too. ”
Raj tapped her lower lip as she finished chewing her pappadum coated in cheese fondue. “I’m still stuck on how Sanjeev knows so much about Bharat technology. I may be naturally suspicious of men, but that’s where I would focus.”
“I am. Or I was. I’m not coming up with any leads.”
“Start looking in the unexpected places. You need to find out what Sanjeev wants more and dangle that in front of his face so he forgets the rest.”
Mina nodded. “I’m meeting with Bharat’s head of research and development today. She flew in from California.”
“She?”
“Yes. Zail knew her at MIT. Since Sanjeev’s lead has to do with new technology, I’m hoping that this director is my ticket to understanding what’s going on at Bharat.”
Raj leaned back in her chair. She opened her mouth to speak when her phone buzzed next to her empty thali. “Shit, yaar,” she said. “Can I take this?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Mina took a moment to pick up her phone and check her messages as well. She heard Raj mention something about a dissolution, but her attention was immediately diverted to the text from Hem.
HEM: Are you coming into the office today?
MINA: Yes. Finishing up lunch with Raj.
Mina began to exit out of her messenger app when Hem responded.
HEM: Come home with me afterwards.
MINA: I shouldn’t. We’ve been together practically every day, and I need to clock a few more hours on this project than what I’ve been able to accomplish.
HEM: Work with me at my house. Then lets spend the weekend together. Just you and me. No, I need more than a weekend. This is driving me crazy.
MINA: Me, too. But you’re the jackass who keeps walking away at the end of the night.
HEM: That’s because I want you to choose me. I want you to say the words. To beg. Meanwhile, I’ll fondly remember the feel of your heels pressing into my back as I taste you.
MINA: Maybe we need like a fixed sex date. After the quarterly board review?
HEM: That’s too far away. Tell me you want me now, and I’ll stop the sex embargo.
“That must be a damn good text,” Raj said. Mina looked up, surprised to see her friend smirking behind her glass.
“I’m in trouble,” Mina replied. She let out a ragged breath as the truth of her words hit her like a semi. “Damn it, I’m in real trouble.”
She’d never felt the way that Hem made her feel.
She’d never been sucked in with so much intensity.
She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to handle him or if she could handle him at all.
It scared her, because what if he became her whole world, and she wasn’t able to fulfill her one promise to her mother?
“He’s different, Mina. I can see it on your face. Do you want my company to do a discreet background check? It’s not exactly ethical, but I can get you history on finances, any gambling issues, drinking issues, drugs, secret women, you name it.”
Mina laughed. “I’ve spent enough time with him to know that Hem doesn’t do secrets well. He’s an open book.”
“That kind of guy, huh?”
She thought about how he had initiated a buyout offer for Virat’s family law firm to give her some time with her uncles.
He told her, point blank, that he wasn’t going to stand by while she was cornered.
He also told her repeatedly since that he’d fight her battles with her because he wanted them to be together.
She covered her face with her hands. “This can’t go on for much longer. I need that equity partner position otherwise my uncles will think of another way to control me and I may lose the best relationship I’ve ever been in.”
Raj leaned forward and touched Mina’s hand. “I know taking back your mother’s company is important to you. You’ve told me no, but I’m going to ask again. Let me do some digging for you. These aren’t good people. You shouldn’t feel like you have to follow some code of ethics because they won’t.”
Mina sighed. “You know any dirt or evidence I collect will be inadmissible if it comes from you.”
“But it’ll give you leverage,” Raj insisted. “And leverage is power.”
Mina shook her head. “It’s too risky. I’m fighting Sanjeev and Nakul because my mother can’t anymore. I only have one shot at taking him down.”
Raj leaned across the table. “You know I love you, right? So what I’m about to say is coming from a place of love.”
Mina braced herself. She knew she was not going to like what Raj was about to say.
“What if…and just keep an open mind, what if your mother wouldn’t have cared if you won this battle against Sanjeev or not? What if she just wants her daughter happy? Isn’t sticking up to Sanjeev enough?”
Revenge had been her only solution for so long, she didn’t think there was another option. “I have to try it this way. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll do something else, but for right now, this is the best option for me.”
Raj let out a sigh. “Fine. If you think so, then I’ll support you.”
“Thank you.”
Their lunches were deposited at their table moments later, and the gorgeous smell of Indian food perfumed the air.
“Why can’t life be as simple as a good fucking meal?” Mina said.
The corners of Raj’s mouth tightened as she said, “Because life isn’t about simplicity or happiness. Sometimes, it’s a straight up fucking tragedy, and we have to deal with it.”
The words were so harsh, so different than what Mina was used to, that she reached out and squeezed her best friend’s hand.
Raj squeezed back before cupping her fingers around her water glass.
“I’m giving you a couple weeks,” Mina said. “Then I’m going to start harassing you on a daily basis to find out what’s happening.”
“I need a month and then I’ll share everything.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Lunch was quiet after that. They talked about restaurants and the news but work and men were off the table. When they finished, Mina watched as her friend slipped into the back of her private vehicle and drove away before calling a car to take her to Bharat’s offices.
Raj was never cagey, or secretive about projects she was working on. Whatever was happening was causing her a significant amount of pain.
She was so lost in thought that Mina jolted when her phone buzzed in her hand.
“Mina Kohli speaking.”
“Hi, Mina, it’s Virat Aulakh. How are you today?”
Mina pulled the phone away from her ear so she could take a deep breath for patience. “Hi, Virat, how can I help you?”
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in meeting with me for dinner tomorrow night? Six thirty? I’m in New York and I can meet you at a place close to your offices.”
This had to be about the buyout that Hem initiated, Mina thought. Maybe if she could get Virat on her side, then she wouldn’t have to worry about Sanjeev for a while. “I can’t meet for dinner, but I can do a quick drink. There’s a restaurant in my building. I’ll meet you outside.”
“Wonderful,” he said. His voice softened.
“Looking forward to celebrating with you.”
“Celebrating? Celebrate what?”
When silence greeted her, she realized that he’d already hung up the phone. Moments later, her car arrived, she slid into the back seat with thoughts of Virat’s cryptic message on her mind.