Chapter 15
Hem checked his watch again. Mina said she was on her way. At the most it should’ve taken her thirty minutes to get to the penthouse. It had already been an hour.
“She’ll be here soon.” Zail clapped Hem on the back before he picked up the cue chalk and tended to his pool stick. “Do you think she’s found our mole?”
“I don’t know,” Hem said as the sound of pool balls cracking echoed through the room. “I didn’t tell her that we knew there was one.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was hoping she’d discover something on her own instead of influencing the way she reviewed the evidence.” Hem knew that he was risking her trust by keeping that detail from her, but he also knew that she’d understand the importance of approaching the case with an unbiased eye.
“We’ve trusted her with quite a bit of information,” Ajay said. “I hope we don’t regret it.”
“We won’t,” Hem said firmly. The longer he’d gotten to know Mina personally, the more he’d been sure that she was a good person all the way through. “She’s sharper than any attorney I’ve met before. She can digest information within minutes, and she has an intuition about what to look for.”
“Hopefully she has some good news then,” Ajay said. “Dad can’t take much more disappointment.”
Hem’s mouth set in a grim line. They’d finally told their father what was happening with Bharat’s profits. Deepak didn’t react the way they expected. Their proud, strong dad looked pale. His wide shoulders slumped under the weight of the news Ajay delivered with diplomacy.
“The company I built, the people I took care of, have betrayed my heart,” he said in gruff Punjabi. “I have failed my sons and the legacy I’ve left behind.”
This was Deepak Singh. Billionaire, philanthropist, and former CEO of one of the world’s most prestigious tech companies. He was a man who commanded an entire room, and he had to retire for the rest of the night with defeat painted across his face.
Hem was left feeling like he’d let his father down. He’d returned in an effort to save his brothers and his family’s company, but instead, he was as helpless.
A part of him felt guilty for the amount of time he’d spent focused on Mina when he should’ve been at Bharat, but he couldn’t regret being with her.
Not when she was quickly becoming an important fixture in his life.
Not when he knew that he could count on her to understand the importance of family.
The private elevator rang and he nearly vaulted over the railing that sectioned off the gaming area from the rest of the room.
Ajay beat Hem to the vestibule, and when the doors slid open, Mina stood in the car with her hair pulled back in a French braid.
She still wore the heels that she loved so much, but instead of a purse, she carried a large brown paper bag and a backpack.
“I stopped by my place to pick up some things, including takeout,” she said. “Hopefully it’s enough of a peace offering that you won’t kick me out after I tell you what I know.”
Ajay took the food from her and motioned her into the house. She looked around, eyes rounding at the expansive kitchen that took up most of the main floor. There was a small living space to the right and a dining table that seated twelve near the windows.
“The Singhs know their real estate,” she mused as she kicked off her heels, dropped her pack, and headed straight for the view of the East River. It was different from Hem’s place, but just as stunning.
“I need to get me one of these,” she said, motioning to the two- story windows. “My condo is nothing compared to the digs that you rich munday have.”
“Well, us Punjabi boys won’t be rich for much longer if we don’t figure out what’s happening with our company,” Ajay said as he began unpacking the food. “Where did you order from?”
“There’s a Thai place near my apartment. I picked up a few options. Go ahead and eat whatever you want.”
Hem couldn’t wait to touch her any longer. He crossed to her, ignoring her startled expression, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Hem.”
“Mina,” he whispered against her ear. “You think they don’t know about us already?”
Mina stiffened for a moment, before returning the embrace and leaning her head against his shoulder. The heat from her touch was the sweetest pleasure after such a long week.
“Shit day, huh?” he murmured in her hair. It smelled like kiwi and papaya, the same as the shampoo she’d left in his shower.
“You have no idea.”
“Why don’t you tell us about it?” Zail called out. He started digging through the plastic takeout containers until he settled on one that looked like green curry with jasmine rice. Ajay handed him a set of chopsticks and a spoon.
Mina pulled away from Hem’s embrace. She faced the youngest Singh. “Out of all three of you, you’re the first one who should sit down, Zail.”
He froze. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Come on,” Hem said as he nudged Mina towards the table and into an empty chair. “Let’s get you some food, and then you can start from the beginning.”
“Okay, but first, before I tell you anything, I’m going to call in my favor.”
“Your favor?” Ajay asked.
Mina accepted one of the plastic containers that Zail held out to her.
“You promised me that you’ll return the favor when I agreed to keep your father’s health a secret.
No matter how you feel about me when I’m finished, I need your word that you’ll help me find a way to hold Sanjeev accountable for what he’s done.
I may need support because chances are, I’ll be out of a job when this is over. ”
“Okay, that’s…serious,” Hem said. “But you have our word. I don’t like that bastard.”
“He has something to do with the shit that’s happening at Bharat?” Zail asked as he combed his fingers through his thick beard.
Mina remained quiet at first as she separated her chop sticks and removed the lid from her takeout container. “I promise you I had no intention of helping my uncle with his plans for Bharat,” she started. Her voice was steady, strong even, with an underlying tone of anger.
“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” Ajay said.
She glanced at Hem, and when he nodded, she began. “My mother died when I was twelve.” She told them about the accident, her uncles taking over the firm, and her promise to take it back. Then she mentioned the meeting she’d had with Sanjeev when she learned about her due diligence assignment.
“I had every intention of remaining unbiased,” she said. “But I was going to find out why Sanjeev was so invested in this comp committee decision, hold it over his head and force Sanjeev out of his current position. He has a mole in your company.”
Hem glanced at Zail, then Ajay. They remained silent.
Mina caught the look and let out a long sigh. “I should’ve known that you all knew about the mole already.”
“Not at first,” Ajay said. “Hem found out after the first week of coming back to the company.”
Hem rubbed a hand over Mina’s back. “Don’t be mad, but I knew it was important for you to remain unbiased which is why I didn’t tell you.”
“I get that,” Mina said. She accepted his reasoning as easy as he had given it.
“So, what changed?” Zail asked.
She swallowed audibly. “I found the mole. Or at least their department.” Her gaze shifted to Hem, Ajay, then landed on Zail.
“When Sanjeev gave me the assignment, he told me about some new technology that you were developing. I had a meeting with Sahar today, and the information Sanjeev told me was supposed to be restricted to the R&D team. The mole is in your department, Zail.”
His jaw slackened. He collapsed back against the seat. “No. That’s not…that’s not possible.”
“We were so sure it was in finance,” Ajay mused. “Because of our proposals and rate sheets. Are you sure?”
Mina nodded. “I told Sahar that one of you told me about the technology, but she was nervous that I knew something that was supposed to be restricted to her team.”
Zail grabbed his phone. “I’m going to reach out to our tech security team now. Sri may be able to trace whose removing information off our servers.”
“There’s more…I went to see Sanjeev,” she continued.
Hem swore. “What the hell, Mina?”
“I had enough to confront him about extorting information from Bharat,” she replied.
Her fingers shook as she set the chopsticks down.
“My first priority has always been to ensure that I took back my mother’s law firm, but during the cab ride to the office, I knew that I wasn’t going to jeopardize Bharat in the process.
More importantly, there was no way to hold Sanjeev accountable without destroying Kohli & Associate’s reputation. ”
She turned to Hem and smiled ruefully. “I realized…some things are more important.”
His heart clenched as he cupped the back of her neck to give her some comfort.
“What else did you discover?” Ajay said, oblivious to the way Hem was glaring at him.
Mina took a minute to respond. “A lot of things. He claims that half the board is dirty. He was also going to pin the whole thing on me. Once I found the mole, he’d point fingers in my direction before influencing the rest of the board to vote in favor of WTA’s offer.
Sanjeev’s entire plan was to screw me over.
There was never a chance in hell that I was going to be selected for equity partner after all.
He said that I was my mother’s spawn, and I swear it sounded like he had something to do with her death, too. ”
Hem could see the sheen of tears in her eyes, and he wanted to go over to Sanjeev Kohli’s place right then and there to destroy him. “You should’ve never gone to his office today. Your safety is now at issue.”