Now that he was fully in the right mind to work, he looked at the time and decided to take a chance and call his brother. He let out a deep breath and pressed the phone to his ear. It was two thirty in the morning in California. Zail would be up.
The ringing stopped and a gruff grunt was the only answer he received.
“I wanted to check to see how you’re doing.”
“You mean after you cut off the call yesterday because you didn’t like what I had to say?”
“Zail, you wouldn’t listen to anyone.”
“That’s because you have lost your mind and have decided to actually buy the company that started this whole mess in the first place!”
“You heard from the data team yourself. The information was fed to the security consultants we hired.”
“That just makes her incompetent.”
“No more than we are.” Ajay heard the sound of a car door slam. “Are you going somewhere?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Zail replied. He had a sharp bite in his voice. “My team has been effectively shut down since last night, so I’m coming back to the East Coast. I’m taking the family jet, so I should be there before noon. Someone needs to convince you and everyone else in that office that you’re thinking with your dick and that there hasn’t been a single thing of value she’s brought to the table.”
“I’ve only wanted what’s best for this company,” Ajay responded. “And it’s fucking pissing me off that you’re accusing me of putting my personal feelings in front of a solid business decision. I need you to get yourself together and support this purchase, Zail.”
“No.” The sound was final and had a hint of bite to it. “And if you go through with this purchase, next month at the board meeting and quarterly shareholders’ meeting, I’ll fight you.”
Ajay felt his stomach pitch, and his coffee sloshed over the rim of its cup and splattered onto the floor. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, bhai, that I’m going to vote against you as CEO and call into question your decision-making capacity. I won’t let you screw all of us.”
Ajay felt as if his brother had just driven a knife into his back and twisted the handle. The hurt from Zail’s accusation was strong enough to bleed. He placed the cup on the nearest table, taking a moment to get his breath back.
“You’d jeopardize the future of Bharat, Dad’s dream, because of your hurt feelings? You’re the only one acting this way, Zail. Papa and Hem are on board. So is Bhram.”
“And none of them are thinking clearly. Or maybe none of them know about Rajneet Kaur Hothi’s background.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I spoke to Sri myself. He said you had a little research project that I should know about. He told me everything. Hothi’s father’s opium operation, their drug-trafficking connections. All of it. How could you be with someone whose family is in the same business that almost killed our uncle?”
Ajay had completely forgotten that he’d asked Sri to look into Raj’s story. But that had been before. Before he spent time with her and slept with her.
Before he trusted her.
His blood began to boil. Sri was under strict instructions that the information was for him only. He had no right to share any of that intel with anyone but him. Ajay knew now that it was time for his head of security to go.
He’d have to take care of that later.
“Zail,” he said, cutting off his brother. “Fighting me and my CEO nomination is going to create tension with the board, uncertainty with our shareholders, and potentially jeopardize our clients. Think about what you’d be doing.”
“You think I give a shit?” Zail yelled back. “This woman cost me Sahar.”
“I think you’re shifting the blame there, brother. You cost yourself Sahar, and now you’re not thinking about the repercussions for the rest of us.”
“I’ve had hours to think,” Zail replied. “I’ll be seeing you real soon, bhai.”
Zail hung up the phone, and the rage, the feeling of betrayal, had him hurling his phone across the room.
He’d whirled toward the kitchen, and that’s when he saw Raj, dressed in the same clothes she’d worn the day before, standing on the staircase. She didn’t have her mask on, the one that hid her so well from everyone, including him.
“I think I’ll call myself a car.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s not my place to be here right now, I think.”
It took him a moment to realize that she was telling him she was leaving. He was breathless from the one-two blow. His brother had just pulled his support for Ajay’s CEO position, and Raj, the reason for Zail’s animosity, was going to leave him to deal with it on his own.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m going back into the city in a little bit. Let me get dressed and I’ll take you.”
She shook her head. “It’s out of your way. And it’s better if you stay here and I go back alone. I heard some of that conversation. One-sided, of course, but I knew what was happening.”
“Zail’s temper is getting the best of him right now. He’ll come for a visit and we’ll talk it out. That’s what family does.”
She gave him a wide berth as she went over to the dining table and started gathering her things. That distance only angered him more. He knew that he was spoiling for a fight. He felt it bubbling inside of him.
Let her go. Let her go so that you can breathe. Then talk to Hem.
He didn’t need the complication of a woman in his life, even though that woman was better than anyone he’d ever been with before.
She gave him a serene smile. “It’s been an enlightening weekend, darling.”
He ground his teeth at the endearment.
“So that’s it? You’re going to leave when something gets a little uncomfortable? I thought you stopped being so afraid of us, Raj.”
He saw the flicker in her eyes. The brief flash of guilt that told him more than he wanted to know. “It’s a family matter, Ajay. You have a lot of family. I don’t want to get in the way . . .”
“Too late.”
She looked up from where she was sliding her laptop and files back into her bag. “Excuse me?”
“Too late. Zail found out about your family’s poppy farms and their connection to drug trafficking in Punjab.”
“What? How?”
“I had asked Sri to look into your background. He told Zail.”
“You had that son-of-a-bitch do recon on me? Who else is he going to tell? I told you that he’s a problem!”
“Yeah, well, he’s not my only one. Zail is pulling his support for my CEO nomination, which will cost me the seat because he thinks I should not acquire your company and I definitely shouldn’t be involved with you. I think that means you’re very involved. Instead of standing your ground, defending yourself by my side, you’re leaving.”
“It’s just business, Ajay.”
“It’s not just business to me. It’s family. It’s my goddamn life. It’s our life.”
Raj swung her bag over one shoulder and gave him that same infuriatingly serene look. “I didn’t realize when we started sleeping together that my obligations included making your brothers happy, too. Was that in the fine print?”