Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(91)

“What is it?” he asked, keeping an ear open for the rest of the household.

He had a gut feeling this was a private discussion he didn’t want anyone else to overhear.

“Son,” his father said, “I hope this is all wrong information, but Komal has a friend, and this friend said she saw Madhuri holding hands with another man on the beach.”

For God’s sake, that beach had been on the edge of nowhere. “Where is Komal?” He had to initiate damage control, stop his sister-in-law and her friend from spreading the news. The resulting gossip and whispers would hurt too many people, most of all his Nayna.

“Your brother took her out.” His mother, always the diplomat, didn’t add anything further, but it was obvious to Raj that his parents had made the suggestion and Navin had taken the hint.

“There’s no problem,” Raj said. “Sandesh and Madhuri are together right now.”

His mother put a hand to her chest and exhaled. “Oh, I’m happy to hear that. I was worrying so much about Shilpa and Gaurav.” A shake of her head. “Your Nayna is a lovely girl. Her sister though… But it’s all fine, and we can focus on the wedding again.”

Raj looked from one parent to the other, his chest yet cold. “What if everyone finds out?” he asked. “What if Komal spreads the gossip?”

“That girl won’t say a word.” His mother’s voice, sterner than he’d heard it since he was ten and decided to climb up to the roof. “I told her not to say a word, because this is about family, and we don’t bring down family.”

Rising to his feet, Raj lifted her up off her feet and gave her a huge kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Ma. Dad.” He knew his father would’ve been right there, backing his mother.

His father smiled and waved off his words. “Turn on the TV, Geeta. We can catch up.”

“Raj! Your aji made your favorite green pumpkin curry,” his mother called out as his father went for the remote. “You better eat some or you know she’ll singe your ears.”

He could just hear his grandmother’s voice: Oho! My food is no longer good enough for Mr. Big Construction Boss? I see. Now you only eat in fancy restaurants. And to think I went to the vegetable store especially to get this for you. How quickly children forget what we do for them.

His lips curved. “I’ll raid the kitchen after my shower.”

Leaving his parents watching their show, he headed out the back door and toward his flat. He decided to call Nayna along the way, relay the Komal situation and that it had been handled by his mother. The phone rang and rang on the other end without an answer. He left a voice mail, then sent her a text. At the last minute, he attached a picture of his chest from back when they’d first been flirting.

Nayna could never resist replying to those, not even if she was mad at him.

But when he left the shower ten minutes later, his phone remained dark. Telling himself not to worry—she was probably finishing up some work and had her phone on silent—he got dressed and walked up to the kitchen of the main house.

Despite the name, pumpkin curry as his grandmother made it had no curry powder in it. The unripe young pumpkin was washed, then cut and cored without removing the thin green skin, before being gently sautéed until it softened. Other than a tiny bit of oil to brown the onions at the start of the process, the only other things involved were fresh chopped chili, crushed garlic, fenugreek seeds, and mustard seeds.

It was a simple dish, to be eaten with rice or roti, and one Raj had always loved.

But when he entered the kitchen, it was to the sound of a furious conversation in the main lounge. Not shouting, just hissed and angry voices. Frowning, he walked down the hall and looked in to see his grandparents sitting stiff-backed on the sofa while his mother paced the room and his father sat grim-jawed in his armchair.

Komal stood behind his grandparents, Navin beside her.

His brother had a sickened look on his face while Komal was smirking.

“What’s going on?” Raj’s voice brought everything to a halt.

“Your grandparents didn’t understand the situation,” his mother said at last.

The cold returned. “Tell me.”

“Komal spoke to us,” his grandfather said, his voice as stern as always, as stern as the lines on the dark brown of his skin. “She told us how disgracefully your betrothed’s sister is acting.”

Raj couldn’t look at either his brother or his wife. He wasn’t in enough control. How the fuck had Navin let this happen? And why would Komal go out of her way to throw dirt on Nayna?

“Dad,” he said quietly, “why isn’t Nayna answering my phone calls?”

His father’s eyes snapped, nothing of weakness in him. “Ma and Pitaji and Komal went to her and told her about that new contract you’re vying for, the multimillion-dollar one with Hari Shankar.”

Hari Shankar was a major developer, the project on offer enough to triple their turnover. “What’s that got to do with anything?” Raj asked, utterly in the dark.

“You know how conservative Hari is,” his father reminded him. “Your grandparents told Nayna that we’d lose all hope of gaining the contract if it came out that your future sister-in-law was going around with other men. Worse, they said Hari would spread it around that we aren’t the right kind of family to do business with and we’d lose everything.”