Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(42)

Her palms hit a wall.

She followed it, running now, only to hit an edge and another wall. Again and again.

Trapped. She was trapped in a box without light. And now the air was going.

Clutching at her chest, she continued to run, continued to search, but there was no way out and she was suffocating and she couldn’t breathe and—

Nayna jerked awake, her heart thumping a million miles an hour and her breath coming in harsh pants. She stared at the door she’d closed before she went to bed and her pulse spiked again. She barely stopped herself from getting up and wrenching it open.

That wouldn’t solve the problem.

Throat dry, she grabbed the bottle of water she kept on the bedside table and took a long gulp. Then she sat there and thought of that dark, airless room where she’d been trapped. Her skin grew taut and pinched as her breath began to turn shallow.

No, this wasn’t good.

Even the gorgeous photos that Raj kept sending her couldn’t help. Nayna’s memory of warmth and safety when he held her in his arms didn’t help. But she couldn’t say no when he asked her if she’d meet him at a café the day after the new year: My brother and sister-in-law would like to say hello. But Nayna, if you’re not comfortable, I’ll put them off.

Her throat got all tight, her eyes burning.

I’ll be there, she wrote back, because he was wonderful and siblings were different from parents.

She didn’t mention why she was going out when she left the house that afternoon, in no mood for the questions and speculation. When she arrived at the café, she found Raj waiting outside for her. He looked good enough to eat in those well-loved jeans he’d worn to the party, work boots, and a gray T-shirt that hugged his pecs.

He cupped her cheek with one hand when she reached him. “Thank you for coming.” Such serious words.

“It’s important to you.” And he was becoming terrifyingly important to her.

A brush of his thumb over her cheekbone, his gaze potent and unreadable. “Navin and Komal have grabbed a table inside.” Pulling open the door of the café, he placed his other hand on her lower back as they walked to the counter and ordered before joining his brother and sister-in-law.

Navin Sen was more slender than his brother and had a bit more curl in his hair as well as a pristinely clipped goatee. His smile was wide when he extended his hand toward Nayna. “It’s nice to meet you at last.”

“Same,” Nayna said, with a smile aimed at both him and his wife.

Komal Sen was… glossy. That was the perfect word. Lovely round face, pouty lips painted to perfection, sleek and shiny hair expertly colored in shades of bronze and brown. Her red dress fit like a glove when she rose to her feet and gave Nayna an air-kiss, and she had Madhuri’s kind of curves.

She engaged with the men like Madhuri too, flirtatious with Raj without crossing the line—though from their body language, she seemed to be having a tiff with her husband. The giggles and admiring glances were all shot Raj’s way, the curled lip and snarky comments her husband’s. Komal’s behavior would’ve been off-putting to many women, but Nayna had grown up with Madhuri.

Compared to Nayna’s sister, Komal was a novice when it came to capturing male attention. Nayna found her familiar in a way, and that relaxed her. “How was the party?” she asked after their drinks came.

“Oh, fantastic!” Komal stirred sugar into her coffee. “I danced my feet off.”

A tension at the corners of Navin’s mouth that told Nayna his wife hadn’t been dancing with him. She shot Raj a quick glance, not about to touch that with a barge pole. He gave the slightest shake of his head.

Taking the cue, she ignored the mounting evidence of marital discord as they continued to talk. Raj had his arm along the back of her chair again, his fingers occasionally brushing her upper arm, and Nayna didn’t want to be anywhere else. For a short while, she felt only like a young woman out with her man, the two of them getting to know each other.

No expectations.

No burden of tradition.

No tacit road for them to walk.

“Excuse me for a minute.” Rising, Navin headed off toward the restrooms.

Raj’s phone went seconds later. “It’s a client,” he said after a glance. “I’ll try to make it quick.” A brush of his hand over her ponytail before he stepped outside to take the call.

“Nice to see Raj find someone.” Komal’s voice dragged her back.

Nayna told herself she was imagining the sudden razored edge in it. “He’s an amazing man.”

“Yeah, I chose the wrong brother.”

Ohh-kay, now they were in incendiary territory.

Nayna took a sip of her mocha, mentally telling both men to hurry up.

“But wow, pretty big sacrifice for you to give up your career after all that work,” Komal murmured after another sip of her latte.

Nayna frowned. “Excuse me?”

Tilting her head to the side, Komal blinked innocently. “Oh, didn’t Raj tell you?” Syrupy voice, but the nastiness was there in the tilt of her lips. “Navin says his brother’s always been open about wanting the full traditional deal. Wife at home cooking the rotis and looking after the kiddies, man working.”

Churning in Nayna’s gut. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said, not about to let this woman judge Raj; Nayna understood where his desires had been born, why that was his dream.