Chapter 19 #2
Mina nodded. Never in a million years would she have thought that she shared something in common with Virat. “And Hem…is giving that to you?”
Virat nodded. “He’s going to buy the firm.
My father is already tempted. He needs a little push, and I think if I can get my mother on my side, both of us will be able to convince him.
Then…he’s going to sell it back to me. Same price.
I have more than enough from my trust to make it happen.
It’s a bit of a roundabout way of getting the business, but it won’t happen any other way, unfortunately. ”
“W-why would Hem do that?” Mina asked. The wine turned sour in her mouth.
Virat’s mouth curved at the corner. “He said as long as I stay away from you, he’ll uphold his end of the bargain.”
“Excuse me?”
Virat grinned. It was young. Boyish. “Yeah, I figured you didn’t know.”
Mina could feel the rage boiling inside her gut. She knew that Hem was going to make a play to buy the firm, but it was supposed to be a way to delay her uncle from forcing her hand and accepting a marriage proposal. He wasn’t supposed to actually go through with the buyout.
“I hope you told him to fuck himself,” Mina snapped.
“Nope.” He popped his P so hard that it took Mina minute to realize what he said.
“W-why?”
“Because,” Virat said. “If we’re being honest here, you weren’t going to accept my marriage proposal anyway, were you?”
Mina sunk back in her seat. No, she wasn’t. She’d come to that conclusion a while back.
“And,” Virat continued. “Hem told me that once his father paid off his fiancé to leave him. He swore he’d never put anyone else in the same situation that he’d been in when it happened to him.”
“Y-yes, that’s true, but?—”
“—But for you, he was willing to break all his rules, risk your anger, because that’s how much you meant to him.”
Well, shit.
Mina tipped back the wine glass until she drained it. “Well, shit.”
Virat grinned. “He loves you.”
She didn’t reply.
“Why were you entertaining the marriage proposition anyway?” Virat asked.
Since he’d been pulled into her mess, Mina knew that she owed him some type of explanation. She just wasn’t sure how much she could trust him. “I wanted to make equity partner, and the merger was the ticket to achieving my goal.”
“I wish you’d just told me,” he said quietly.
“You didn’t exactly seem very forthcoming yourself. You were going along with whatever your parents wanted for you.”
Virat nodded. Sipped. Nodded again. “I deserve that.” He pointed to his glass and ticked two fingers in the waitress’s direction. “I deserve that,” he repeated. “Sanjeev and my father are a lot alike, aren’t they?”
“I hope not,” Mina replied. “Because that would mean your father isn’t just ignorant, he’s a cruel bastard.”
Virat grunted. “Now that you’re with Hemdeep Singh, have you given up thoughts of becoming equity partner?”
“I have,” Mina said. “I don’t want anything to do with my mother’s firm .
. . no, with Sanjeev’s firm.” Her heart broke a little when she admitted the truth out loud.
With all the damage Sanjeev had done, it was hard to see Kohli & Associates as a representation of good or a representation of her mother’s work.
“That’s too bad,” Virat said. “Since I’m barred from seeing you socially, I was hoping we’d still get the chance to work out a partnership and do business together.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near Sanjeev’s firm, either.”
“What, why?”
His eyes had gone sharp. Shrewed, and Mina realized that she’d underestimated Virat.
She reached out and grabbed his hand. Trusting him could be dangerous, but at this point, they were kindred spirits.
“I’m about to tell you something in confidence.
It could cost me my license, and if that happens, I’ll have a few very angry Punjabi men looking for you.
Which, by the way, isn’t as scary as I can be. ”
His eyes widened. “Tell me.”
“Let’s say hypothetically there was a case I was working on for a company.
And hypothetically, a managing partner at my firm you may or may not know, has some inside knowledge about this case.
” She gave Virat the high- level overview of what her uncle was involved in.
Trusting him with any ammunition that her uncle could use against her was a risk, but it paid off when she saw the disgust in his face.
“What are you going to do?” he asked after she finished. “About this hypothetical case I mean.” He’d run his hands several times through his hair, contributing to a mussed look that was the antithesis of what he’d always presented himself.
“I’m still working on that. All I know is that I have to report Sanj— I mean this managing partner. I have a friend who offered to help, but even then, it could be weeks or months.”
“Wait a minute.” Virat sat up a little straighter, his eyebrows furrowing at a thought. “I know someone who can help you.”
“Help me with what?”
“With your report. She’s a friend at the economic espionage and trade secrets division of the FBI.
She transferred over there after she left USCIS a couple months ago.
I’m happy to share her contact information with you.
Honestly, I’m glad you told me what’s going on.
You saved my firm from what sounds like a terrible business deal.
Hypothetically of course. Let me help by giving you a contact. ”
“Y-yeah, I’ll take it.”
Virat smiled, and the genuine expression brightened his face. For the first time since Mina met him, she realized that he might be a short king after all.
When the waitress came over one last time, he asked for the check and discreetly slipped her his credit card.
When the waitress returned, he signed the check and then escorted Mina out of the wine bar and onto the sidewalk. The night air was chilly, but Mina didn’t seem to mind. She felt lighter and more at peace. One problem resolved, one more in the form of Bharat to go.
“I’m going to tell my father tomorrow about nixing the merger,” Virat said. “Let me get the ball rolling. In the meantime, I can connect you with Josette Hu. Josette will be able to expedite Sanjeev’s case.”
“Do you want to text her or call her so that she knows to expect me?”
“I can do that,” Virat said. He looked across the street at Mina’s building and back at her. “But I actually have a better plan?— ”
“I’m listening.”
“Invite me to your place.”
“What? Virat, didn’t we just go through this?”
He chuckled. “No, not for a romantic thing. If you have some whiskey, we can call Josette together. I’m intrigued about how she plans on dealing with your uncle’s fuckery.”
“Hypothetically,” they said in unison.
“Immigration law is never this exciting,” he added. “And truthfully? I could really use something stronger than wine.”
Mina laughed. “You have to get Josette on the phone to stay.”
“Yeah, she’ll pick up my calls,” Virat said with a smile.