He had never talked about his work in his texts. Another red flag she’d ignored. “Different in a bad way?”
“I’m not sure yet. Just different.”
She nodded. “I liked your soap.”
“You watched it?”
“I’d watch it occasionally, yes, over the past year. I don’t speak Hindi, so I had to hunt down subtitled episodes.”
He rested his arms on the table. The candlelight on the table reflected against his eyeglasses. “What did you think?”
“They were entertaining. I don’t know how you kept a straight face for some of those story lines.”
He angled his face, and within a blink, he became Raj, his character, complete with haughty sniff. “I think my evil twin trapping me in a cave for two months so he can take over my life is quite serious actually.”
She chuckled.
He dropped the act and his eyes warmed. “You look lovely tonight, by the way.”
His voice was low and intimate and it sent goose bumps across her arms. “Thanks.” Mentally, she slapped herself. What was she doing here, chatting with him like everything was fine? Those goose bumps were far too unnerving. Enough small talk. “Can we... can we talk about the incident?”
Dev nodded, but paused while their drinks arrived. He twirled the stem of the wineglass between his fingers. “I don’t quite know how to say this, Jia, except to note that I am deeply sorry. I have never contacted you, not from my social media, not via text.”
“You already said that.” And it hurt just as much, hearing it now, as it had then. “So who was it?”
“I believe... my brother and my cousin may have worked in concert to send the messages.”
Who knew it was possible to choke on air? She inhaled so sharply her lungs contracted and she started coughing. It took her a second to get over her fit.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she wheezed. “I’m sorry, did you say... your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have another brother who is alive?”
“No.”
That was a tasteless way to remind him of his brother’s death, Jia, her inner mom scolded. “I mean... what?”
“There is some strong evidence my brother may have contacted you, a year ago, before he passed away. My cousin has his phone. I believe he started messaging you a couple months ago when you reached out again.”
She cradled her head in her hands. “This is some bananas level stuff.”
“I am aware.”
“And your cousin confessed all this to you?”
“Not in so many words, but I could read between thelines. He won’t answer my calls now.”
“What did I do to make them hate me?”
Dev’s fingers tightened around his glass. “I don’t think they hate you. I think it was a prank aimed at me. You simply were the vehicle for the prank.”
“Oh cool. That makes me feel great.” She jabbed her finger against her chest. “I’m the one who got hurt here.”
“I agree. I’m sorry you were placed in the middle of this.”
