“What about you?”
Her expression shifted, the humor fading into something harder. “I need to go away for a bit.”
My stomach dropped. “Again? Why?”
“Intel,” she said simply. “There’s a dangerous man I’ve been hunting for a while now. He knows things that can impact us all.I might not have reception where I’m going, so if you call I might not answer in time.”
“But… Ajay?—”
“Remo won’t leave you with Ajay for long,” she interrupted, her voice certain. “He’s hunting. You just need to stay alive until he finds you. I’ve cleared the immediate threats, but I can’t be in two places at once.”
“When will you be back?”
“When I have what I need.” She turned around to climb out the window.
I stopped her. “What about me, sis?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “When you’re ready to claim him completely and unconditionally, I’ll walk away.”
I frowned. “Will it be that easy to?”
She studied me for a silent moment, then smiled. “He’s the light to your darkness, Ish, the elixir to your poison and the strength to your weakness, you just don’t know it yet.”
What darkness?
My jaw dropped. “Wait. How are you repeating the same…well, not same but similar words he used?” I asked instead, remembering Remo’s words in the car the first time he took me to his home.
“Maybe I heard him talk about you to someone else?” she chuckled.
“Who would he discuss me…” I had a moment of clarity. “Lorenzo.” The only person Remo would comfortably speak to about anything. It was easy to see the brothers shared an unsurpassed bond. “And what darkness? He’s the monster, not me,” I grumbled.
“When you’re ready to embrace it, you’ll see that I’m right. Don’t overthink it.” She blew me a kiss and disappeared down the side of the building, leaving me to ponder her words.
I stood there for a long time, staring at the empty window. The curtains fluttered in a breeze, cool against my skin. I was alone. Dia was gone, chasing ghosts, and I was trapped in a lion’s den with a target on my back.
I dressed quickly in the clothes I found neatly folded on a chair. My dress from dinner last night. The faint smell of softener suggested someone took the time to wash the dress and underwear. I inhaled deeply, smoothing my hair, stepped out into the hallway to find my shoes beside the door and slipped them on.
The house was quiet, but voices drifted up from the patio below. I followed the sound, my steps soft on the marble stairs, needing to know what I was walking into. Downstairs, I eyed the pitcher of what looked like freshly squeezed orange juice and poured myself a glass. Thirsty, the first few sips refreshed my dry throat.
“I heard Rossi survived the cartel ambush, how the fuck did that happen? Those men are brutal.”
Oh God!
The glass of juice slipped from my fingers, hitting the floor with a loud crash, interrupting the conversation between Ajay and his father, standing on the patio threshold. My thoughts scattered by their exchange, I didn’t dare look at them and instead glanced down at the broken glass.
“Everything all right, Ishika?” Mrs. Gupta’s stern voice penetrated my fog. Nodding nervously, I bent to pick up the shattered pieces. “Leave it,” she instructed, approaching me. “The maid will clean it up. Come.” She held my elbow, directing me toward the patio where Ajay and his father were taking their seats opposite each other.
Mrs. Gupta might possess a no-nonsense attitude, the austerity of a powerful woman and the undisguised maternal instincts of a doting mother, she was probably the reason Ihadn’t been violated yet. The night of the engagement, she warned Ajay to not force himself on me. He’d never go against her wishes.
How then would she react when she found out what he’d done last night, or did she already know? Walking up behind Ajay’s seat, she gestured for me to go sit, then slapped him hard across the back of his head.
“Ma.” He jumped up, scowling at her while rubbing the spot she’d smacked.
Rolling my lips to keep from smiling, I took the seat opposite Ajay’s father, meeting his narrowed eyes with an unwavering glare of my own.
“You stupid boy.” Mrs. Gupta’s reprimand broke my stare down with her husband, pulling my gaze. “Did I not warn you not to force yourself on the girl?” she asked, confirming she knew what he’d done last night.
Ajay gulped, flicked me a livid grimace then looked at his mother again. “I didn’t.”
