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Imtiaz raises a brow but doesn’t press further. “Well, I guess as long as you’re okay,” he relents. “I’m just glad you’ve arrived before the nikkah.”
“You can be glad,” Ammi grumbles. “But now we have an even tighter schedule than before. There’s so much that needs to be done still!”
“Then let’s get inside and not delay any longer, yeah?” I suggest. I step toward the house, but at the last second, Imtiaz grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I frown at the action. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Ammi’s glare deepens, but now it’s directed at Imtiaz. “Tell her, Imtiaz.”
My stomach sinks. “Tell me what?”
Imtiaz scrunches his face. “Do you remember how my parents and I told you I was an only child?”
I bob my head suspiciously. “Yes.”
He focuses on my forehead so he’s not looking me directly in the eye. “It was a lie.”
My jaw drops. “What? You have a sibling?”
“Yes, he does,” Ammi answers for him. She sneers at Imtiaz. “An older half brother.”
“He’s not really a part of our family anymore,” Imtiaz cuts in before Ammi’s saltiness can leak any further. “He got into a huge fight with our father shortly after he got married, and they haven’t really spoken since then, so Dad pretends that I’m his only son. You know what it’s like—once you’re disowned, it’s like you never existed.”
Okay, while it wasn’t cool that his family lied about only having one son, I knew exactly what he meant. When people have too much pride, they say things they might not mean or might regret, but then because of that pride, they won’t apologize or acknowledge that they did anything wrong. “True,” I allow.
His back relaxes. “Thank God you understand,” he breathes. “I really wanted my brother to be at my wedding, so I asked him to come without my parents knowing. Remember that person I spoke to you on the phone about? The last-minute guest I wanted to add to our list?”
The memory vaguely prickles at the back of my mind, and the more I tug on it, the clearer the conversation in my kitchen becomes. I whistle low. “Yeah, I remember. But I didn’t realize you’d be going behind your parents’ backs in order to do it.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugs. “It’s not their decision. This is my wedding. He’s my brother, I love him, and I want him here. I broke down and told everyone yesterday that I invited him.”
“You see, this is the kind of drama you miss when your phone is constantly dead,” Hibba Baji teases.
“Sometimes it’s good to unplug,” I tease, trying to make light of the situation. I face Imtiaz again and delicately squeeze his arm. “If you need my support, you got it. Like I said on the phone—I’m cool with whoever you invite. It’s your wedding, too. And this guy is your brother. If you want him here, so do I.”
Imtiaz grins in relief. “It’s so good to hear you say that. He’ll be here any day now, and I wanted to tell everyone before he comes.” He peers over my shoulder, and his eyes light up. “Oh, here he comes now! You guys can meet.” He shouts, “Bhaiyya!”
I turn around so I can properly greet my future brother-in-law. When I do, my stomach twists like I’m going to puke, and my heart stops in my chest.
He steps through the gate, his hair ruffling in the light breeze, his eyes boring into me with the same intensity they had when he kissed me this morning.
24
Maya’s Law #24:
Always assume danger is lurking around the corner.
“Hi, Maya,” Sarfaraz says, standing at the threshold of the gate. After a few seconds of us staring intensely at each other, he turns to his brother.
I gape at him blankly. My fingers fly to my lips, my skin flaming. My mouth burns like I stuck a curling iron down my throat. Any words that escape me come out garbled, like I’d gargled them.
Imtiaz doesn’t seem to notice because he grins and gestures between us. “You two know each other?”
Oh, yeah. We’ve only spent the last seven days together, with him making me feel things that I’ve never felt toward you. Oh, and I kissed him.
Sarfaraz answers for the both of us, stopping next to his brother. “We met on the plane.”
He’s not shocked, not in the same way I am. Which means...he knew. He had to have known. There’s no way that he didn’t.
“Oh!” Imtiaz grins at me. “Maya, was Sarfaraz the guy you said you were traveling with?”
