Adil cleared his throat and launched into motion. “Come, Luna. Let us get ready.”
“But I don’t—”
“No. We must be quick, your uncle and aunt are correct. Come on.” Adil helped her down and shuffled her out.
With no witnesses in the room, Dev took a step toward his cousin and growled. Straight up growled.
Oh damn, that was sexy. She hadn’t known he could growl.
Dev said something in Hindi, and Arjun’s face fell. Though she knew he was an actor and probably a manipulative asshole, given what he’d done to her, she couldn’t help but feel a beat of compassion for him.
Jia gave a mental sigh. As far as logistics went, she couldn’t avoid Dev’s family member, not if they were going to be together. She took a step toward Arjun. “I presume you’re the cousin.”
The man shuffled his feet and put his head down. At least he had the grace to look shamefaced. “I am.”
“I changed my mind. I’d like an apology.”
He took a deep breath. “I am extremely sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Why did you do it?”
Arjun looked at Dev, as if to confirm that he could speak, and Jia snapped her fingers. “Look at me, please.”
He turned his gaze back to her. He really was a handsome guy, with his floofy hair and perfectly sculpted smooth face. She preferred Dev’s stern bearded look any day.
“It started off as a prank, with Rohan. And then, afterward, I think I thought I was helping Dev get a girl, because he needs to marry—”
“Enough,” Dev said quietly.
Arjun hung his head. “Anyway, there’s no excuse. I’m so sorry.”
Jia regarded him with frustration and annoyance. He sounded sincere, and matchmaking for Dev was a weirdly noble, if terribly misguided, act. When—if—she and Dev married, it wouldn’t make sense to hate his cousin. She had to somehow make peace with the guy, but she was still so angry with remembered mortification.
What would her sisters do? Her twin would forgive and forget. Noor and Zara would spend the next forty years passive aggressively poking at the guy. Sadia would quietly poison him and bury him in the ocean.
Jia had her own style, though, and she was learning how to embrace it. “Can I throw something at you?” Jia asked politely.
“I’m sorry?”
“I think I’d feel much better if I could throw something at you.”
Arjun looked at Dev askance, and Dev shrugged. If she hadn’t been standing so close to her fiancé, she might have missed the flash of impish glee in his eyes. Perhaps he also wanted someone to throw something at his handsome cousin. “I think that’s the least you owe her.”
“Fine,” he said. “But not the fac— Ugh.”
Jia put Luna’s now empty glass of milk back on the counter. “Sorry, did you say not the face?”
Arjun wiped the milk out of his eyes. “Yes. It’s okay, though.”
“Thank you, that was quite nice.” She paused. “I’d prefer it if you could stay away from dinner tonight while my family’s here, but I am willing to accept your presence in passing otherwise. But you need to be on your best behavior. Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you are never, ever to do something like this to another woman.”
“I promise, I will not.”
She waved her hand at him, as regal as any queen. “You may leave.”
