“There must be something we can do to help you,” insisted Shivina, as she dug into the succulent, melting piece of laal maas on her silver thali.
“There’s plenty you can do,” I replied. “You could help me spread the word about our safari, Royal Trails. If you’re game, I’ll tell Seema to get in touch with all your assistants and come up with a plan.”
“That’s all very well, but you need to be the face of the business,” said Diya.
“And you can’t do that if you’re hiding in your palace,” added Isha.
I gritted my teeth in anger at that word. Why did everyone have to keep saying it? Fine! I was hiding. So what? I had every right to turn my back on the world that rejected me. Sure, I needed royal clientele to make my business work, but I could woo them from a distance, right?Right?
The look on my friends’ faces told me I was wrong. The only way to fish was to get close to the water. And in this case, theonly way to fish was to throw a stick of dynamite in the water because those snobbish royal fish weren’t likely to nibble at my bait.
“All right,” I sighed in defeat. “I’ll show my face. But I’m telling you right now that will only drive people away. Nobody wants to be associated with the princess who shamed her whole bloodline in one night. We need to get creative.”
“Let’s first start with a party,” said Shivina gently.
I let out a loud snort of derision.
“Nobody’s coming to any of my parties, babe,” I pointed out.
“No, I don’t meanyoushould throw a party. I merely want you to attend one. At Mirpur Palace. My mother-in-law is hosting her annual mixer for young royals. You should attend that, Meher.”
“Do you mean the Mirpur Matrimonial Gala?” I asked in horror.
That was just a glorified marketplace for eligible royals to check out potential spouses. And it sounded like a complete nightmare. Ugh! I could imagine the snooty princesses whom I used to consider my friends stonewalling me the minute I stepped into the palace. And I could easily imagine their sleazy brothers and boyfriends trying to lure me into the stables for a quick, clandestine fuck because that’s what they thought of me. Double ugh!
“Well, the thing is…that mixer is for women who are looking for husbands,” I said tactfully. “I’m only looking for new guests for my safari.”
“Sweetie, you’re Meher Rathore. Princess, glam queen, and entrepreneur. You cannot run your business like Tulsi Travels from a small village in Jaipur. You’re not going to wait for referrals from your friends and hope someone comes to your safari,” said Shivina with a militant glint in her eyes that scared me a little.
“I’m not?” I asked uneasily.
“Nope! You’re going to face down all the people who shunned you earlier and show them what you’re made of, because you need them to flock to your palace in droves. Our goal is to make the very women who snubbed you covet an invite to the Royal Trails safari more than they covet the diamond Himalaya Birkin. You don’t want to beg anyone to come to Matta. You want them to fight each other for the invite,” replied Shivina. “And the first step to achieving that goal is to show up.”
CHAPTER 4
SAMRAT
Col. Bhagat gave me a thin smile as I sat down again and leaned across the table.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Do you want to catch Nadeem Qureshi? Do you want to avenge Mani’s death? Do you want to prove that you and your men were set up and ambushed that night?”
Did he even need to ask?
“Of course, I do! More than anything. But I can’t leave Navya and go off on a mission. I am all she has,” I snarled.
Why would Col. Bhagat dangle such a carrot before me when he knew my circumstances?
“That’s the beauty of this mission, Deora. You don’t need to go anywhere. This game is being played out right in your backyard, and all you have to do is join in and blow it to bits,” he replied.
I ran a hand across my weary face and wondered how I was going to get this wily old man to stop talking in circles and just get to the fucking point.
“What game would that be?” I bit out as politely as I could.
Col. Bhagat pulled out a Polaroid from his coat pocket and slammed it on the desk.
“Someone clicked this picture outside Amer Fort recently,” he said. “A random tourist. R&AW has a program that constantly scans social media pictures for images of people on our wanted list, and yesterday, they sent me an alert because this image showed up on their scan. Look at the man behind the tourist posing for the camera. The one in the black jeans and tee. His face is partly covered by his scarf, but look at it closely.”
