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“Go ahead. Whatever it is, it can’t be any worse than the Shah subject.”
The smirk on Nik’s face made it seem like I’d just thrown down a challenge, and he’d taken up the gauntlet. “It’s been a while since you’ve seen her. Are you ready to be in the same room with your Queen of Diamonds? Especially if the rumors are true and she is on her way to marrying the Joshi prince.”
“You really are a dick.”
3
Devani
“Remember,everything spoken from this point on is recorded,” I muttered as I approached Neil.
He stood next to his father, Arun Joshi, and Ashok Shah as they engaged in an animated conversation.
The knowledge Sam was Jesika’s date for tonight sat heavy in my stomach. When he’d said he planned to move on, I knew it would happen. I’d prepared myself. I hadn’t expected it to be within days of our last time together and not with someone from my world, someone I worked with closely.
I had to remember I’d done this to myself.
Focus on the end goal.
Everything was about the end goal.
Save Sam. Eliminate the Circle of Ten. Protect all those women and children, then get out.
I could do this, no matter how much it hurt.
I scanned the area and noticed neither Neil’s mother, Smita, nor his thirteen-year-old sister, Mia, were with the group.
This was just great. The two decent members of the family were nowhere around.
I adored Smita Joshi. Something about the former Bollywood actress and model made me want to protect her and hide her away. She still radiated a regal beauty beyond her years, as well as an aura of fragility.
Neil had told me his father had barely spoken or engaged with his mother after Mia’s birth. They lived completely separate lives and only came out in public as a couple for functions. Joshi had expected all of his children to be male, and having a female lowered his stock.
In fact, Neil’s mother and sister lived in a house he’d built for them and not in one of the many properties under the Joshi portfolio.
I’d hoped tonight would have been one evening where I could spend some time with the ladies. Their presence would have allowed me to move about more freely.
Oh, well. I guessed I’d have to play arm candy.
I stepped in next to Neil, and Arun Joshi’s face lit up in a calculating way that seemed way too friendly for a potential father-in-law.
The fucker honestly thought he’d won the lottery with me.
Yep, that’s what I was. Every-fucking-body’s golden ticket. I’d burn it all to the ground before producing the next generation for any of these fuckers.
God. I sounded bitchy as hell.
Poor little rich girl. No parents. No one to love her but literal mines and mines of jewels.
Okay, enough pity-partying. Focus, asshole.
“Ahh. There you are, Devani,”Ashok Shah said in Gujarati, the native language from India spoken in both of our family homes.
His eyes lit up as he scanned me in a way that made me want to throat-punch him. What was with these two?
“Neil, you are a lucky man to have such a jewel on your arm.”Shah winked at Neil.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
