Accidentally Engaged(71)
“So…” Saira’s gaze shifted down to their locked hands. “Then we’re good, right? I want you to be my maid of honor.”
Wow. Could she do that? She wanted things to be good with her sister. Wanted to let go of the resentment she’d felt for the last year—longer, if she was honest. But could she just take all that bitterness and resentment and boil it off, leaving nothing behind but the sweet sisterly bond she always wanted? Maybe, with work. Doing this for her sister could be the first step. She could face it, instead of deflecting. She squeezed her sister’s hands again before letting it go. “I’d be honored to stand with you. What did Dad say?”
“Not much.” Saira shrugged. “He’s in a pissy mood about something to do with his project. As usual, business first, family later.” She turned toward Ashraf, who was standing quietly behind her. “Don’t ever be like that.”
He shook his head. “You know I wouldn’t.”
Saira smiled widely, pulled him back into the house. “Let’s go face the wolves.”
They went inside to find Mum and Dad at the table.
“Reena! Did you hear your sister’s news! Ashraf, sit…” Mum motioned to the seat near hers.
Mum’s and Saira’s happiness were infectious, and Reena couldn’t help but soak it in as Saira told the story of Ashraf surprising her in her favorite sushi restaurant.
Dad sat quietly while the three women in the family gushed over Saira’s ring, talked about wedding clothes, and made plans for bridal sari shopping. Finally, Reena looked at her father. She would have thought he would at least be a little happy his youngest daughter was engaged, and to a good Muslim man this time. A nice, sensible, management-type. Really everything Dad wanted in a son-in-law.
“What’s going on, Dad?” Reena asked him. “Saira said you have a work issue?”
“Yes. A disaster, really.” He sighed. “We can’t trust anyone these days. I hate being lied to.”
Shit. Had someone swindled Dad again? “Who lied to you?”
“Shiroz, Nadim’s father. Seems the rumors I heard about Nadim were true.”
Oh, shit. Dad found out about the yacht people.
Reena bit her lip. She needed to minimize this. She decided to tell the truth, or what she knew to be true, at least. She wanted a future with Nadim, and a future should only start with honesty. “Yeah, I know, Dad. He hung out with a bad crowd in London. But it’s no big deal. I mean, who cares who his old friends were?”
“What!” Dad yelled. “You knew about his connection to Jasmine Shah and you didn’t tell me?”
“It’s not my place to tell someone else’s business.”
“This is our business!” Dad said, still extremely agitated. “You know my feelings about that family, and I specifically asked you who he was connected with. I am disappointed that Shiroz kept this from me, but my own daughter?”
“Jesus, Dad.” She shook her head. “You need to let go of your obsession with the Shahs. Yeah, he was at a party with Jasmine Shah, but that doesn’t mean he can never work for you.”
Dad gritted his teeth. “If that’s all you think his relationship with the Shahs was, then he’s been lying to you, too. Nadim wasn’t just at a party with the Shahs, he worked for Salim Shah. The new Shah project that failed spectacularly? It was because of Nadim. And Nadim Remtulla has been engaged to marry Jasmine Shah for a year, at least.”
Engaged? Marry?
The walls of her parents’ dining room closed in on her as all the air seemed to be sucked out of her lungs.
Her Nadim…engaged…
“Oh, shit,” Saira said.
“Saira! Language!” Mum snapped.
Engaged, engaged, engaged. Planning to wed. Betrothed. To the daughter of her father’s rival. The daughter of his previous boss, it seemed. Nadim was a fraud. The worst kind of player. She was nothing to him.
“Reena, you okay?” someone said.
Saira stood over her, hand heavy on Reena’s shoulder.
Was she okay?
“Why would Reena be upset?” Mum asked. “You should be worried about your father, not her.”
Saira stood up. “Of course Reena’s upset! You just told her that her boyfriend is engaged to someone else!”
“What?” Dad bellowed, standing. “Nadim is not your boyfriend! You said you wouldn’t marry him!”
“How can he marry Reena if he’s engaged to Jasmine Shah?” Mum asked.
She wasn’t going to marry him. But she was in love with him. Reena blinked, not sure if any of this was really happening.
“Why the hell are you two ragging on her?” Saira said. “You’ve been pushing them together since he moved here! You practically demanded she marry the man, and now he turns out to be a wannabe polygamist, and you’re blaming Reena?”
Dad looked furious, but Reena didn’t care.
Engaged…
“Enough!” Dad slammed his fist on the table, making Ashraf and Mum jump backward. “I can’t have a man with Nadim’s reputation working for me, which means I will lose Shiroz’s investment in the Diamond project. Nadim betrayed my trust, and I will not have him anywhere near my company, or my family.”
“We are very disappointed in you, Reena,” Mum added. “Why would you take up with the boy behind our back? Why so many secrets? Don’t you care about this family?”