31
ONE WEEK LATER
Rihaan
UNLOCKING THE FRONT DOOR of the townhouse, something in me had already gone quiet in a way I didn’t like.
Not calm.
Not settled.
Just…shut off.
I pushed the key into the lock harder than necessary and let myself in.
Milo was the first to acknowledge I existed, as I dumped my bag on the floor and removed my shoes.
He appeared from the hallway like he owned the place—which, to be fair, he did now more than ever—tail high, eyes unimpressed, pausing just long enough to judge me before brushing against my leg.
Something in my chest loosened slightly.
“Missed me?” He didn’t even blink. “Thought so.”
I crouched anyway, scratching behind his ears.
He tolerated it.
Barely.
Then he walked off like I was a mildly inconvenient piece of furniture.
I exhaled through my nose, straightened, and dropped my keys into the bowl.
The house was too still.
Too clean.
Too normal.
Then I heard the clicking of keyboard from the living space.
Raina.
A strange relief flickered through me before I could stop it as I walked in to the open space.
She was curled into the corner of the sofa, laptop balanced on her legs, hair tied back, face lit in that soft glow that made her look more tired than she probably was.
For a second, I just watched her. Happy to see my sister. There had been a time that sentence would’ve felt fiction more than reality.
Something in my chest tightened without permission.
She looked up, and her entire expression changed.
Not fear.
Not worry.
Just surprise. “You’re back.”
The words hit me harder than they should have.
I frowned automatically, because that was easier than acknowledging anything else. “Obviously.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I didn’t know when you were coming.”
“Neither did I.”
“Come sit.” She patted the sofa. “On the other end though. I know you’re coming off living alone. But you were in the woods, so I can’t risk it. Especially now.”
I shook my head before I dropped onto the other end of the sofa, suddenly aware of how heavy my body felt.
How loud my thoughts were.
Raina studied me for a second too long.
That was never a good sign.
“So.”
I didn’t look at her. “So?”
“How was Maeve?”
My head snapped up.
There was a beat where my brain refused to process the question.
Then another.
“Maeve?”
She nodded, too casually.
“Yeah.”
I stared at her.
“You went to her place to give her, her suitcase, remember?”
“Oh. That? Yeah. She’s…actually, she wasn’t fine. Someone broke into her flat”
“What?”
I nodded, giving her a mini recap of what had happened, before I relented with the truth. “I ended up taking her with me.”
“Oh, really.” She said. “And how did that go?”
“Well, considering she left in the middle of it—I’m talking hopped on a plane and flew away—whilst I was in the shower. Not so great.”
Raina paused, her jaw dropping open. “Why did she do that?”
“Who knows? I turned my phone off when I realised. Gave myself the time to do what I went there to do.”
“Is that why I couldn’t reach you? Dev said the network sometimes drops whilst you’re there. I didn’t realise it was because you’d turned it off.”
“It was a necessary personal choice.”
“I’m sorry.” She replied, clearly upset for me.
“Why were you trying to reach me?”
She paused. “I want Ollie here when I tell you.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because he should be here when we tell you big stuff.”
“Just tell me.”
She shook her head.
“He’s gone to get me something. He’ll be back soon.”
I sighed.
“So you want me to sit here and wait?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I want you to go and take a shower.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because you’ve been on the road for who knows how long.”
“That is unbelievably rude.”
“Just fulfilling my sisterly duties.”
“I've showered recently.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Before you drove down for almost eight or nine hours?” She pointed towards the stairs. “If you freshen up, I might even let you hug me properly. Go.”
I sighed dramatically.
“Fine.”
She smiled.
“That's better.”
I took my bag upstairs.
The shower helped.
Hot water loosened the tension that had settled across my shoulders during the flight, and for a few minutes I could forget the fact that I'd spent the entire journey thinking about a woman I was apparently trying very hard not to think about.
When I came back downstairs, Raina was sitting with her laptop closed.
Ollie had returned.
He stood beside her with a small shopping bag in one hand, looking far too pleased with himself.
I stopped.
“What did I miss?”
Raina grinned.
“Sit.”
I did.
She looked at Oliver.
Then at me.
Then back at Oliver.
I frowned.
“Why are you both looking at me like that?”
“We have news,” Raina said.
I looked between them.
“Good news?”
“The best.”
Something in her smile made my chest warm, and like I was expecting for her to drop the news about their engagement, I leaned forward. “Okay, what is it?”
Oliver smiled, reaching for Raina’s hand.
She matched his smile before speaking. “We're having a boy.”
For a second, my brain simply refused to process the sentence.
Then it did.
My entire face broke into a grin.
“A boy?”
She nodded.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,”
I laughed before I stood and walked over to where they sat and pulled them into a hug.
“That’s brilliant.”
I looked at Oliver.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Is that what your big news is?” I asked settling back into the sofa.
“That, and,” Raina lifted her hand then, a ring now present on her finger. “He proposed.”
“Where was that before?” I narrowed my eyes.
“I took it off when I heard you come in. We told everyone together, so I wanted to do it with Ollie here.”
“Well, I actually already knew before he did that.”
“You did?”
I gave her a nod. “I asked him about his plans before I left.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that Oliver had somewhat involved me in his plans, or that it was just her hormones, but Raina was already crying.
“Gorgeous,” Oliver whispered, like it was a common thing before he pulled her into a careful hug.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you got his permission,” She paused in horror.
“No way. Told him they weren’t protective enough for that.”
Raina laughed, and something in Oliver calmed.
Finally, she looked at me with softened eyes as she asked. “Maeve aside, was the trip worth it?”
I nodded. “I think so. I feel a lot lighter in lots of aspects.”
“That’s good.”
“It is,” I replied. “And I think this party has one thing missing.”
“What’s that?”
“Our brothers.”
“The twins? Dev told me you asked them come over once they’re back from Vedant’s race week.”
“And Ishaan.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.”
My sister moved then, pulling me into a hug on her own.
“Proud of you.”
“Thanks, Rai.”
And just when I thought she was done, she whispered softly. “And I know Ma would’ve been too. Regardless of this decision. We do less to remind each of that.”
I nodded, my throat burning with a range of emotions as I hugged her tighter.