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“Where are you?” he asked tersely.
“At home. Just leaving for dance practice,” she answered, knowing better than to delay the response with inane questions.
“Cancel it,” Ram said, the words clipped. “I don’t want you to leave the house.”
“Anna, I can’t do that. Guruma-“
“Fuck Guruma. Stay at home, Veda!”
Her heart started to thud, fear gripping her. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll come home and explain. For now, you need to do two things.”
“What?” Her hand vised on the car keys, unconsciously clenching. The sharp metal of the key ring cut into the soft flesh of her palm, but she barely noticed.
“One, don’t leave the house until I have a chance to talk to you. Two-“
Someone called out to Ram in the background, and he snarled a muffled reply back.
“Two?” Veda prompted.
“If Agastya Kodela calls you or tries to reach you in any way, do NOT answer. That goes for every member of the Kodela family, but especially him.”
Veda’s mouth went dry, her heart now a steady thrum of anxiety. “Why?”
“Do as I say,” Ram answered, his voice taut with tension. “I’ll come home and explain.”
The line went dead in her ear. She stared at the phone, her head feeling lightheaded and strange. What the hell was going on?
A second later, her phone rang, startling her. Veda jumped, almost dropping it. She fumbled around a bit but regained her grasp on the phone, turning it over to see who was calling.
Her blood iced over at the name that flashed on her display.
Agastya Kodela.
Five
AGASTYA
“Hello Veda.”
Dark pleasure slid through him as she answered his call on the second ring. He’d heard her brother instruct her not to pick up his call as he was walking out of their meeting. But he’d known she would. He’d known she wouldn’t be able to resist answering his call. He hadn’t been unaware of Veda Gadde all these years. He’d just worked on ignoring his awareness of her.
But he no longer had to.
“Hello?” Veda replied suspiciously.
He smiled as he slid into his car, his PA shutting the door behind him. She was right to be suspicious of him. Smart girl. A pang of guilt struck and he took a deep breath, squashing it. The greater good, he reminded himself. To do good on the larger scale, smaller sacrifices were necessary. And Agastya intended to do good on the largest scale, the biggest canvas, ever.
This was necessary.
“I was wondering if we could meet. Are you free?” he asked her now, glancing out of his window at the crowded roads. A police car, siren blazing, was clearing the way for them.
“Why? What do you want?” The bald question had him grinning.
Grinning? When was the last time he’d grinned.
“I want to talk to you. Is that a bad thing?”
