AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course I do.”
Raashi exhaled hard, reminding Veda of her brother. She slid her glasses up her nose and looked at her siblings, a grim smile touching her lips.
“Then I guess I’m coming home.”
Eleven
AGASTYA
He stared out of his darkened car window and sighed. He really shouldn’t have let Priyanka bully him into this. In the week since his last meeting with Veda, their wedding plans had taken on the speed and impact of a rocket launching into space. Their formal engagement was scheduled for tomorrow evening.
He’d left it all to his mother and his team and buried himself in work. As expected, Chaitanya Gadde had backpedaled from the scandal, but Agastya had told his team that finding proof of their innocence was still their priority. It had been a week and he had gone from counting days to counting hours.
It wasn’t enough for them to deflect when it came to this. As far as Agastya was concerned, their party’s reputation should always be unimpeachable, or as close to it as was possible in politics. And the delay in producing documents refuting their involvement in this scam did not look good for them.
“Sir?” Naresh turned slightly in his seat to look at Agastya, a questioning look on his face. Beside him, Ganesh, his personal assistant shifted to hide his smile. Both men may have been employees, but they were the closest he had to friends and they knew exactly what had their boss skulking in the car.
“Sir, it’s eleven thirty,” Ganesh said, looking at Agastya after successfully erasing the smile from his face.
Right. Time to stop hiding in the car and to get out and join the rest of the party. The party, that his sister had informed him, would start at nine sharp. So, he was already late. Very late.
And still, he didn’t get out of the car. He sat there, watching an endless stream of people enter and leave the venue. Priyanka had booked the VIP area for their group, but he’d still have to walk through the general space to get to it.
He didn’t want to. He really didn’t want to do this. After a whole day of meetings and political schmoozing, he was all peopled out. He wanted to go home, sit down in his study and read a book. Preferably, the latest in crime fiction, the bloodier the better.
But if he didn’t go into the nightclub now, his sister was going to come after him with an axe. That would be bloody but definitely not fiction.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Let’s do this.”
Naresh jumped into action, the rest of the team fanning out behind him. Agastya exited the car, dimly aware of the murmurs that started up immediately from the people milling around on the pavement.
He smiled at everyone, registering no one and entered through the main door, flanked by his security detail. Ganesh stayed in the car to wind up a meeting with a potential political ally who was looking to jump parties.
The dimly lit, smoke filled interiors had him blinking a little even as he was herded towards the rear of the first floor where the VIP space was, cordoned off with red velvet. Bouncers lined the entire entrance to the area, a veritable wall of muscle.
They parted like the Red Sea did for Moses as Agastya approached, his gaze firmly focused on the space behind them.
A large group sat around on couches and bean bags, while some huddled at the large, well-stocked bar in the corner. His gaze scanned the area, clocking the exact location of all his loved ones and ensuring their security was exactly where they were supposed to be.
Priyanka was snuggling with Aarush on one of the bean bags, her tipsy giggle warming his heart. His sister hadn’t had much to laugh about for years and he was glad Aarush was ensuring she was making up for it.
Harsh stood by the bar, his leg propped on the bottom of a bar stool, an ever-present glass of alcohol in his hand. Agastya’s gut clenched as he scanned his brother’s expression for signs that he’d had too much, as was often the case. But for now, Harsh seemed completely in control, relaxed and happy, as he spoke to one of their cousins.
Agastya felt his own tension ease as he looked around at everyone having a good time. And then he heard it.
A light, tinkling laugh, a familiar sound that had the hair on the back of his neck rising. As it had for years now, his awareness of her flared the minute she was in the vicinity. He forced himself not to turn and look at her.
Agastya liked to believe he was not one of these people who were drunk on power. But if there was one thing in life he prided himself on, it was his control. Control over himself and over situations that life threw at him.
Another giggle and need spiked in his blood. He shut his eyes. Every time. Every single time. There was no one who tipped the scales of his control the way Veda did. There was nothing that undid his iron control like her laughter did. And he was marrying her in a month! God help him. God help them all.
He walked forward, aiming for Aarush and Priyanka. His sister saw him coming and her face lit up, just before a frown settled on to her face.
“You took so long!” she complained, climbing off her husband’s lap, and clambering to her feet to hug him.
Agastya wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. “Sorry, Chinna. Work ran over.”
Priyanka rolled her eyes at him. “You’re getting married. You’re going to have to try for some work life balance.”
