by Nalini Singh
The main downstairs lounge was where his parents watched their television shows and hosted guests, but there was another, more casual space that flowed off the kitchen and was the lounge Raj and Navin had used most often when growing up. Navin’s game system still sat in one corner, dusted off occasionally by Aditi and her friends.
So it wasn’t as if this was a small house with people on top of one another. And yet Navin and Komal had managed to permeate the entire house with their dislike of one another.
When he knocked lightly on the door of their suite, conscious of not waking his parents, it was wrenched open from the inside.
“Where the f—” Komal bit off her words when she saw Raj supporting Navin.
Stepping aside with her lips compressed tightly together, she let Raj bring his brother inside and drop him on the bed. Not sure Komal would bother, Raj took off his brother’s shoes.
Navin, meanwhile, smiled drunkenly at Komal. “Pretty girl,” he slurred. “C’mere.”
“Not while you have eau de beer coming out of your pores,” Komal muttered before glancing at Raj. “Thank you.”
“He should be fine, but just keep an eye on him.” Raj went to step outside.
A hand on his forearm, Komal’s nails cut short as befit a nurse but her face fully made up despite the late hour. “You’re a good man, Raj.” Her smile was warm, far softer than he’d seen her direct Navin’s way over the past couple of years. “Any woman would be lucky to have you.”
Raj broke the physical contact at once. “Good night, Komal.”
But she followed him to the door. “If Nayna Sharma’s still dangling you like a fish on a hook, she doesn’t deserve you. You need to move on before you waste your life waiting for her to make up her mind.”
Ignoring the words and glad the commotion of bringing Navin home hadn’t woken anyone else, Raj made his way down the stairs and out the back door. He shrugged off Komal’s poisonous words as he walked; he understood his Nayna in a way Komal never could. The idea of clipping her wings… No, Raj would never do it.
No matter how much he hurt.
Opening the front door of his flat, he glanced left. A smile formed on his face when he spotted his sister’s curls peeking out from under the thick blanket she’d pulled up over herself despite the summer warmth. Walking over, he tucked the blanket in more neatly and wondered what Komal had done that had driven Aditi out here today.
His sister-in-law was still on his mind when he walked into his bedroom and began to prepare for bed. Not in the way she wanted to be, however. In Navin and Komal, he had a graphic example that people changed.
Emotions changed.
Raj knew his stubbornness could be both a gift and a curse. When he claimed people, he held on. Love for him had never been a simple matter. He would love Nayna Sharma always.
“Bhaiya?”
Hearing the sleepy call, Raj pulled on a T-shirt over his sweatpants and wandered out to see Aditi sitting up in bed. “Did I wake you, Monkey?”
A yawning nod. “It’s okay. I went to bed at grandma hours.” She rubbed at her face. “Want to watch TV and eat ice cream?”
Raj had an early start the next day, needed to get some sleep. However, with his mind tangled up in thoughts of a woman with hair of silk whose body welcomed him with tight heat but who wouldn’t wear his ring, he didn’t think he’d be sleeping anytime soon. “Sure. You can pick the show.”
Aditi chose a baking show. Halfway through her bowl of ice cream, she leaned her head on his shoulder and began to tell him about how Harlow had built her a village. It took him a while to figure out that Harlow had built that village in a game the two played online. “I lost a level because of a dumb mistake and couldn’t make my village, so he stayed up like five hours one night to gain the points to gift me the village.”
Raj was only half listening to his sister, but when he did finally go to bed, he dreamed of building Nayna a village full of adventures and wonder and showing her that life with him wouldn’t be tedium, tradition, and rules.
The problem was, Raj wasn’t sure he could pull it off.
As with Mr. Darcy, tradition was woven into his bones.
35
Nayna Unbuttons Her Shirt
Two days after the erotic encounter with Raj in her office—she still blushed thinking about it—Nayna had to admit he’d been right. Douglas was hitting on her. Nothing creepy or crossing the line, but when he asked her out to dinner while they were both working late, she knew she had to put a stop to it right then.
“Raj and I, we’re serious, Doug,” she said, calm but firm. “Exclusive.”
Unabashed, Douglas kicked back in the chair across from her. “You never talk about him. Can’t be that serious.”
“I’m not the kind of woman who spreads her private life around,” Nayna said, annoyed. “I’d appreciate it if you dropped this. It’s making me uncomfortable.”
He held up his hands, smile fading. “Hey, sorry. I just… You’ve changed somehow, Nayna. There’s a new brightness to you, and it’s attractive as hell. But I won’t push where I’m not wanted.”
Afterward, back in her office, Nayna found herself annoyed all over again at the memory of what Douglas had said. But what turned her irritation into worry was the memory of Raj’s words.
I don’t think he knew I existed until I walked in.
She’d taken that as an indication of jealousy, but what if it was worse? What if Raj thought she was deliberately pushing him to the periphery of her world? Was that why he hadn’t been in touch since? Was she beginning to lose Raj?
The idea of it caused a deep pain in her stomach, made her breath knot.
Picking up her phone, she called him. “I miss you,” she said when he picked up. “Are you working late today?”
A pause before he said, “I can change my plans if you’re free.”
Her toes curled, but the spreadsheet in front of her mocked her hunger to hold him. “I can’t if I want to have any of the weekend free.” She had to catch up after her unscheduled time off. “Saturday?”
“Done.”
Nayna hung up with her nerves in a knot. Raj was never voluble on the phone, but he’d sounded even more curt than usual. Maybe it was just her imagination and it was only tiredness on his part. He was working long hours too after three of his crew came down with the same cold that had hit her grandmother.
Thankfully, Aji had only had a mild case and was all but fully recovered—helped along by many cups of ginger chai and hours of Indian television dramas. Spoiler: the evil sister-in-law was still trying to cause trouble, and now she was trying to make it look like the younger, innocent sister-in-law was having an affair with the milkman.
But even the thought of that never-ending plotline wasn’t enough to distract Nayna from her worry about what was going on with Raj. He hadn’t even sent her an ab selfie for days. She picked up her phone to look through her private Raj folder… and felt a stir of wickedness. Not giving herself time to chicken out, she made sure her office door was firmly shut, then quickly undid several extra buttons on her shirt and fluffed at her hair.
It stayed dead straight.
Ugh.
She took the shot regardless, a selfie of her blowing him a kiss while her cleavage was teasing shadows between the sides of her shirt. Only when it was too late did she wonder if Raj would find the shot shocking rather than enticing.
* * *
Raj was just about to turn on the rotating saw when his phone buzzed with an incoming message. Still in a good mood from Nayna’s “I miss you,” he pulled it out… and was damn glad he hadn’t turned on the saw or he might’ve sliced off a valuable body part.
Her lips were soft and luscious as she blew him a kiss, her barely buttoned shirt taunting him with the secrets hidden within while her shining black hair flirted with the darkness of her skin. Blowing out a long breath and happy no one was close enough to have picked up on his immediate physical reaction, he saved the ima
ge in a private folder.
Part of him was fighting a tinge of heat on his cheekbones at being so sensually teased by the woman he loved, but he wasn’t an idiot. If Nayna wanted to send him sexy selfies, he wasn’t going to tell her no. What he wrote back was: One more button.
Her response was: You can undo that one on your own. xx
Entire body hot with need, he slid away his phone. And told himself that a ring on her finger didn’t matter, not so long as she thought of herself as his. He had to get over that, or he’d wreck what they had between them.
When his parents cornered him that night and asked what was going on with Nayna, Raj said, “We’re together.”
His mother shared a speaking look with his father before putting a hand on his. “Raj, beta, you know we won’t force you into anything, but you’ve always wanted to get married, set up a family, have children.” Worry in every word. “Will this kind of a relationship make you happy?”
“It’s Nayna,” Raj said simply. “She makes me happy.”
His parents didn’t appear convinced, but they let it go, and the conversation drifted to Madhuri Sharma’s wedding, to which Raj’s entire family had been invited. Komal wandered in partway through, dressed in scrubs for a night shift.
After drinking half a cup of tea and listening to the conversation, she said, “You know Madhuri has a history?” An arch tone. “The Sharmas tried to bury it, but I have a friend who—”
“Komal.” Raj’s father spoke before Raj gave in to his temper. “Madhuri is Nayna’s sister, and Nayna is with Raj. The Sharmas are like family. We don’t talk about them behind their backs.”
Komal’s face hardened. Putting down her mug, she said, “Sure” and left.
Raj narrowed his eyes, not trusting her instant capitulation. He’d have to watch her, make sure she didn’t try to foment trouble for Madhuri in the lead-up to her wedding. “Where’s Navin?” he asked his parents.
His mother winced. “Out again.”
“It’s his fault she’s like this,” Jitesh Sen muttered. “This is what happens when you neglect your wife.”
“She was never exactly sunshine,” Aditi said, having obviously overheard the last comment as she walked into the kitchen. “But Navin bhaiya isn’t helping.” She hugged Raj from behind. “Ma, are there any cookies left? I’m legit starving.”
“Show me your leg again,” their mother demanded. “It’s definitely hollow.”
Aditi laughed and banged at her leg with a hand while making echoing sounds.
As his family moved around him, conversation ebbing and flowing, Raj felt a true hollow inside him. Nayna might never be a part of such conversations, might never sit around a table of an evening with his parents and sister—and possibly Navin and Komal, if the two didn’t implode.
That too was a truth he had to accept.
* * *
Things came to a head with Navin and Komal the next night, when they had a screaming fight just after Raj pulled into the drive. Aditi waved at him frantically from the front door, and he headed her way instead of back to his flat.
“What’s wrong?” he began, then heard the yelling and screaming.
“You’re such a mama’s boy!” Komal cried. “Anytime anything happens, you run to your ma! No fucking spine!”
“At least she cares about me instead of being a coldhearted bitch!”
“Go to my place,” Raj told Aditi.
His baby sister didn’t argue. She just grabbed the spare key to his place from the kitchen drawer, picked up her phone and her math textbook, and hauled ass. Raj, meanwhile, took the stairs up to Komal and Navin two at a time. He found his parents already there, his mother looking shell-shocked and his father pale.
“You bastard!” a sobbing Komal cried. “You slept with that whore!”
“I’m not the one who’s cheating!” cried a Navin with scratches on his face. “And even if I was, who’d blame me with such a bitch for a—”
“Shut up, both of you!” Raj’s voice cut through the caustic mix of rage and pain in the air. “Ma, Dad, why don’t you go for a walk?”
When his parents accepted his suggestion in silence, Raj realized exactly how shaken they were. “This is enough,” he said quietly to his brother and sister-in-law after the three of them were alone. “I don’t care what the problem is between the two of you. You do not do this in front of our parents and Aditi.”
Navin flushed and Komal wouldn’t meet Raj’s eyes.
“In fact,” he added, “I think you two need to think about finding your own place. Clearly living here isn’t working for you.” Not if Komal was accusing Navin of being a mama’s boy when Sangeeta Sen made a point of staying out of the married couple’s problems.
Komal looked up, glanced at Navin. “I’m okay with moving out,” she said, and her tone was relatively calm.
“Why don’t you move in with your boyfriend?” Navin said before twisting on his heel and slamming his way down the stairs.
Tears shimmered in Komal’s eyes, and when his sister-in-law started crying, Raj could do nothing but hold her. She sobbed against him for a long time before he pulled away.
“I should’ve married you,” she whispered, her eyes red and swollen.
Shrugging away the statement—given Komal’s emotional meltdown, she couldn’t know what she was saying—Raj nonetheless took another step back. “Do you want me to call your sister?” Komal had stayed with her sibling on more than one occasion when she and Navin had a tiff.
She rubbed off her tears. “No. I have a night shift. Navin will be gone by the time I get home, so I have time to think about what I want.” Turning, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Navin and I aren’t suited, were never really suited. But we thought we could make it work. You should think about that.”
The bullet hit home, but Raj kept his face expressionless as he turned to leave.
“Raj?” Komal’s voice halted him, her next words sharp. “Love marriage or arranged marriage, the commitment has to come from both sides.”
Raj left without listening any further. Komal could stir trouble elsewhere. Raj had made his decision and he’d see it through.
He was halfway down the path to his flat when his phone rang with an unfamiliar number. “This is Raj,” he answered, figuring it might be a client who hadn’t previously called him.
“Raj beta,” said an elderly female voice. “It’s Nayna’s aji. Mr. Hohepa fell on our walk. Can you come drive him home?”
And that was how Raj found himself playing wingman to a dapper sixty-seven-year-old. “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” he asked Tawhiri Hohepa after successfully getting him inside his home and all set up in bed.
“No, no. It’s just a turned ankle. Old rugby injury—a good night’s rest and I’ll be back up and around.” He winced. “Sure wish Heera hadn’t seen me fall though.”
Nayna’s grandmother bustled in then, a mug in hand. “Your favorite herbal tea,” she said with a smile. “Let me tuck you in.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Raj got himself out of the room and hoped Nayna’s aji couldn’t tell he was blushing. She came out only minutes later, gave him one look, and laughed. “You young people. Where do you think you came from, huh?”
“I arrived by stork,” Raj said seriously. “My brother and sister by magic.”
Tucking an arm through his, Nayna’s aji patted at his arm. “You’re a good boy to come. I didn’t want to call Nayna out so late, and she wouldn’t have been strong enough anyway.” She beamed up at him. “It’s a smart thing I memorized your number from Nayna’s phone.”
Raj didn’t want to ask why. He really didn’t. “The back door, Aji?” he said instead, after they were out of Mr. Hohepa’s house.
“Let’s walk to the park and back,” she said, and so they walked under the quiet night sky. “I wanted to talk to you,” Nayna’s grandmother told him on their journey back. “My Nayna, she’s flowering, but some things have alwa
ys mattered to her. Family, love, a place to call home.”
Raj frowned but didn’t interrupt.
Aji patted his forearm again. “Before Madhuri did her silly running away, Nayna would talk about traveling and seeing wild places, but she also looked at bridal magazines and planned her own wedding as girls often do.”
“People change,” Raj said, thinking once again of Navin and Komal.
“Yes. Look at me with a boyfriend at my age.” Delight in every word. “But I’m still the Heera my husband married too. Just because we grow doesn’t mean we forget our old selves. We are all created of many skins.” Waving him down when they reached the back door, she kissed his cheek. “You love her as my Nayna deserves to be loved. Don’t lose faith in your own ability to grow.”
Raj stared down at the seamed lines of her face, feeling the sense of tightness around his chest snap. “Midnight walks and shared secrets?”
Aji’s smile was luminous. “See? You understand.” She opened the back door. “Love grows when it is tended.”
36
Aji Interference Is Good Interference
Nayna’s mouth fell open. She’d dropped by her parents’ early morning on Saturday to say hello before she went in to work for a few hours to wrap things up. Only Aji was up. “You called Raj?” she squeaked, wondering what her traditional lover had made of her grandmother having a boyfriend.
“Of course I did.” Having boiled up the milk and sugar, Aji added the rolled oats. Watery oatmeal was not the done thing in the Sharma household; it was proper milk porridge, thick and rich, or it was nothing. “I think I shocked him, but he walked me back and told me to call him anytime I needed him—he also said Tawhiri and I need to walk on better lit pathways.”
