Chapter One
Rajneet
Rajneet Kaur Hothi was eighteen the last time she was played for a fool.
She’d just stepped onto American soil at JFK Airport with a freshly stamped F-student visa and all of her belongings in two large suitcases. Her new roommate, a girl she met on an apartment listing site, was supposed to pick her up.
But Kelly never showed. Raj had waited for five hours at the baggage terminal, the last two in terror, before realizing she was completely on her own. She couldn’t call her parents in Punjab. Her father had already been so angry with her for wanting to study in America. He wouldn’t even take her to the airport. Her mother had been quiet and reserved during their goodbyes. Raj had sworn that she’d never go running back to them because that would give them even more power over her. Instead she’d wiped her eyes of shame, squared her shoulders, and spoke to security. They’d taken pity on her and directed her to the nearest, most affordable hotel.
The next day, Raj had discovered the apartment she’d paid a deposit for didn’t exist, and Kelly’s number was no longer in service.
Since that moment twelve years ago, she’d trusted a very small, vetted group of people. She’d carefully screened and cultivated that group and protected them as fiercely as if they were family.
That short list used to include Robert, the man she’d married right after her college graduation ceremony.
She never thought he’d betray her.
In the shadowed backseat of the car, with New York City sidewalks passing by outside her windows, Raj looked at her phone to read the new message from Mina.
MINA: DIVORCED? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE GETTING DIVORCED?
RAJ: We’ll meet next week. I promise I’ll explain everything.
MINA: I’m so mad at you for keeping secrets. I need to know everything.
RAJ: I promise.
After the last text, Raj tucked her cell back into the square gold clutch in her lap. She wiggled the fingers of her bare left hand, then addressed her soon-to-be ex-husband who sat on the limo bench across from her.
“Mina knows about our divorce now.”
Robert glanced up, then back at his phone. “Did you tell her?”
“I had to. She learned today that you took a job with WTA.”
“Why does that matter?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, darling. Maybe because it’s the conglomerate that made a hostile takeover attempt for her boyfriend’s family business?”
“Raj . . .”
“I can’t believe I was dumb enough to think that my husband, a man I’ve known since college, could do this to me. What’s even more astounding is that right under my nose you used that information against me and jeopardized Mina’s happiness. Here I thought Mina has been just as important in your life as she has been in mine.”
Robert’s stony expression started to slip, and Raj felt black joy spark to life inside of her. Focusing on him with her usual intensity always made him uncomfortable.
Good, she thought.
Other than the stress lines around his mouth, though, Robert appeared polished in his custom-fit tuxedo. His nails were neatly manicured and diamond cufflinks winked at his wrists. His angular jaw was clean-shaven, and he appeared the epitome of a wealthy gentleman.
“Did you really expect me to continue acting as your chief legal officer after you served me with divorce papers?”
“Of course not. I also didn’t expect you to stab me—your friend, wife, and colleague—in the back. How could you do this after all we’ve been through together? How could you steal information from my office and purposely use it to hurt me?”
He rolled his eyes, something that Raj knew he did to piss her off. “You mean how could I go to the biggest technology company in the world, a company that would pay me twice what your midsize security staffing company is paying me, and accept a position?”
Raj crossed her legs and the slit in her black velvet gown parted to reveal bronzed, shimmering skin exposed to midthigh. Her hair was styled in barrel curls that draped over one bare shoulder, to match the vintage Dolce. She worked hard to show everyone that she was okay. That she was better than okay. Then she received Mina’s text.
And damn Robert for shaking her cool right before she had to make a public appearance.
“You’re a thief and a liar,” she said as calmly as she could. “And I would make you suffer, if that didn’t mean spending more time in your presence during a drawn-out divorce.”
Robert pressed a button on the panel above his head and the privacy glass quietly raised behind him to block out their driver. “You know I hate threats. Raj, you’d do the same exact thing in my position. You keep secrets all the time. Hell, how long did it take you to confess to Mina about my new job? See? You even lie to her.”
Because his accusation hit home, Raj felt herself stiffen even more. “I keep secrets because I’m in the business of keeping secrets. But I don’t tell lies. Especially to those people in my life who have my loyalty. That used to include you.”
“You’re the one who asked for a divorce, and you’re talking loyalty?”
She scrambled forward until she was practically nose to nose with him, breathing the same fire. “I asked for a divorce because you wanted to have a baby and you know I don’t want one,” she bit out. “At least, not right now, and definitely not with my business partner.”
“And that’s the real reason, isn’t it?” His face turned a molten red. “Even though we’ve been together for so long, you don’t want a kid with me. Because your maternal instincts are fine, dammit. You’re always volunteering at that animal shelter and raising money for them.”
“Oh my god.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “A dog is not a child, Robert.”
“It’s pretty much the same thing, Raj.”
“I can’t believe you’re—You know what? Never mind. I gave you an out so you can have that family you want. And then you screwed me. You fucking screwed me.”
He jabbed a finger at her. “No, what I did was waste years of my life with a woman who never wanted me to be anything but the convenient partner in a contract that wasn’t in my best interests.”
The limo slowed to a stop in front of Lincoln Center. Raj straightened in her seat and adjusted her sweetheart neckline as the driver rounded the car to open her door.
“I won’t waste my time telling you that you knew what you were getting into when you signed that contract. And luckily, the agreement is now broken. You can have a child with a woman who shares your vision for your future and work wherever you want. Don’t slouch tonight, darling. It’s the last time we do this as a couple. Let’s try to make it memorable, okay?”
The door opened, and floodlights temporarily blinded her. Lincoln Center glowed at the top of the broad expanse of steps that were blanketed in a vibrant red carpet.
The fundraiser for the Gen One Foundation was nothing like the scene at the Met Gala every year, but that was to be expected. The public never understood that business could be more entertaining, cutthroat, and sexy than Hollywood glam.
Raj adjusted the slit in her gown again so her shoes and then her legs made an entrance first. She grabbed her driver’s hand, winked at him in thanks, and waited for Robert to step out behind her. They moved in sync, like they’d done for years. She slid to the left just as he lifted her hand, kissed her knuckles, and tucked it under his arm. His blotchy skin had returned to its smooth, pale complexion and he had an unimpressed expression on his face now.