Chapter Twenty-Five #2
Krish took a sip of his now-cold chai, merely to have something to do. “Avi made mistakes. And he might have owned up to them,
too, if he hadn’t been so scared of how you and I would react to those mistakes.”
Aarthi’s mouth turned down. Clearly, she’d heard that part of Isha’s conversation. “I would have helped him, if he’d told
me.”
“Would you have? Or would you have been quick to believe the evidence—like you actually did?”
There was a long silence. Krish wondered if he’d gone too far.
Aarthi’s voice was raspy when she finally spoke. “You’re right. I suppose I was so quick to believe Avi did all the things
they accused him of because if he had been innocent, I would have felt terribly guilty. I know I pushed him into the FBI.
If his mere position there led to him being captured or killed, it—it was easier to believe he was corrupt than for me to
face any hint of failure on my part.”
“In this case, you and Krish were both right. Avi did some illegal stuff. He also didn’t do everything they said he did.”
Aarthi switched her attention to Sejal. “You’re not mad? Avi hurt you, too.”
“I’m mad. If I ever see him, I’ll tell him exactly how mad. But if he apologizes prettily, I might forgive him.” She shot
Krish a glance. “I actually don’t mind everything that came out of this whole experience.”
Krish’s smile was slow and came from his soul. He took Sejal’s hand in his. “This is a good lesson for us both to have some
grace with each other. And with ourselves. See things less black-and-white.”
Aarthi cleared her throat. “You’re right. Both of you.” She stood and swept up her disguise into her hat. “I have to go find
my son. I’ll be damned if my baby exiles himself while much more actively corrupt people run amok. He’ll face the music and
do something good in the process.”
Wait, what? “Mom. You’re not going to Mexico.”
“Krishna, please. If your brother was last seen in Mexico City, as this Isha has stated, then it’s because he wanted to be
seen in Mexico City. No child of mine would be so careless. Avi’s probably somewhere in Iceland by now.”
The last thing Krish wanted to do was chase his mom chasing his brother. In Iceland, no less. “Isha said she’d find him.”
“Then I guess we’ll see who’s faster. Don’t worry, Krish, I’m not going anywhere myself right away. All of these things are
done over the computer.”
Aarthi looked down her nose at Sejal. “May I give you some maternal advice, Sejal?”
“I suppose.” Sejal’s expression was wary, and Krish didn’t blame her.
“That was a nice trick you did, with the cards. I couldn’t see everything, but your audience seemed entertained. People need
to be entertained. You should consider thinking bigger than a hobby.” Aarthi made a face. “I can’t believe I just encouraged
someone to be a professional magician, of all things.”
“You’re becoming soft, Mother.”
“I hate it.”
“I’m definitely trying to think less short-term,” Sejal promised.
Does that mean she sees you in her long-term?
Patience. They’d talk about this soon.
His mother, however, had no patience. “When will you two figure out your . . . situation?”
“Not sure.” Sejal rested her elbows on the table. “We’ve got a lot more time to think about it now.”
“Well, do it fast. For what it’s worth, Sejal, I don’t love you as much as you do me, but I could see you growing on me.”
“You’re playing hard to get? Lady, that makes me love you more.”
By the way she pursed her lips, Krish knew his mom was trying not to smile. “Given your necklace, I suppose I shouldn’t be
surprised if you two end up together. It’s clearly meant to be.”
Sejal touched the infamous necklace that had gotten her out of more than one set of handcuffs. “What?”
“Your necklace. It’s abstract, but I believe that design is meant to depict Krishna’s flute.”
“Oh.” Sejal looked at Krish. “My aunt did seem amused when she found out your name was Krishna. How about that.”
“How about that,” Krish murmured.
Aarthi pulled a key card from her pocket and dropped it in front of him. “We’re staying at the Intercontinental. Downtown.
It’s a hike from here, but I got you a room, too. You both might enjoy it. It has a nice pool.”
He palmed the card. “Thanks, Mom.”
“I love you.” She swept away before he could respond.
Sejal lay her hand face up on the table, and he put his hand in it. They held hands for a long minute, until Krish stirred.
Where to start on this debrief? “How do you feel about Isha?”
“I kind of like her? She needs to grovel a bit more, to make up for strangling you.”
He massaged his throat. “Agreed, on both counts.”
“I need to talk to Mira about her. About everything, really.”
“Perhaps we can have dinner with Mira and Naveen before we leave California.”
“We?”
Oh fuck. Had he misread things? “No, I suppose it doesn’t have to be we.”
Her brow knitted. “After this week, it would be weird not to be a we.”
His heart lifted, as did his lips. Yeah, things were still kind of messy, but that was nice to hear. “I didn’t even like it
when we were separated so you could go to the storage unit,” he confessed, because why not lay it all bare?
She ran her thumb over his finger. “I bought you that salad because you saved my life and I felt grateful.”
Krish nodded. “Yes. I figured.”
“But also because I liked you.” She wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that annoying?”
He wasn’t a man who was given to smiling big, but his grin now split his cheeks. “I kept saying we were together.”
“Huh?”
“Whenever we had to pretend to be someone else, I could have easily said we were friends, or brother and sister. But I made
us a couple, every time. Dating, married, six kids. I suppose I’ve liked you from the start.” Even when he wasn’t supposed
to like her.
"For the record, I don’t know if I want one kid, let alone six.”
“I’m okay with that.” He leaned down. Their kiss was long and lingering.
“So what now?” she finally whispered.
“Um, excuse me?”
They looked up to find Nina standing in front of the booth. The waitress bit her lip. “Would you like to order anything else,
or . . . ?”
Krish tugged Sejal out of the booth. She grabbed the go-bag he’d bought her and slung it over her shoulder. “No, sorry. We
have an appointment.”
Krish was sure the food here was as great as the punny name promised, but they needed to be somewhere that wasn’t so tied
to their respective family dramas.
Time to start fresh.
Sejal waited until they were outside, on the sidewalk. “What appointment? Because I will be honest, I’m tired.”
“Tonight the appointment is with our hotel room, the shower, and room service.”
Her sigh came from her very soul. “Thank God. I’m too old for all this.”
No kidding. Let the youths drive cross-country while murderers chased them.
They came to stand next to their car. He opened the door for her, but stopped her when she was about to climb in. “I have
a question. You owe me one, remember?”
“What do you mean?”
“That game we played. Chance. I won a round.”
She leaned against the Escalade. “Oh. Right. Ask.”
He cleared his throat. Was he nervous? Why was he nervous? “Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow?”
Her smile was slow, but blinding. “Yes.”
“There’s a restaurant I like, in Santa Monica. And then we can go for a walk on the beach. I’ve really been thinking about
going to a beach lately.” Krish thought about lying out on the sand with Sejal, and it sounded better than anything else he
could imagine.
“Oh, hey. So have I. Except I had a dream the water swallowed me.”
“I’ll keep you safe. There’s a bar I like around there, too.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll hustle you?”
He batted his lashes. He might be too old to be fleeing for his life, but in this moment, he felt very young indeed. “Hustle
me out of . . . my heart?”
Sejal rolled her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder, but he caught the small smile on her lips. “Ew, gross.”
“No hustling. But we can jump into bed after, and you can show me all your tricks there.”
“Deal.” She put her hand out, and he took it. “Why do I feel like I’m always making deals with you?”
He pulled her in close and kissed her neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we both come out on top this time.”