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She stared at the small block of buildings in the Greens area of Dubai. “I am meeting your closest friends for the first time. What will they think of me?”
“They trust you, Sheena, when they don’t trust many. They will love you.”
They got out of the car, and Rajiv led her inside the small building to a ground floor apartment.
“They all live here?” Sheena asked. “Together?”
“As of now, yes,” Rajiv said. “But they are finding it hard, especially with Neil growing up. They hope to move into apartments of their own as soon as they are able to.”
He rang the bell.
The door was opened by Neil. They entered the small, but neat apartment.
“Neil,” Avantika appeared from behind her son. “How many times do I have to tell you that you are not allowed to open the main door?”
“Mom, you told me Uncle Rajiv was coming,” Neil protested.
Avantika ruffled his hair before looking at the two of them. “Come inside, please. This little guy has been waiting eagerly for the two of you to show up.”
“Hi, Neil,” Rajiv said. Neil raised his arms up, and Rajiv lifted him off the floor. “Oh my, have you grown bigger in a few hours? What did you eat for lunch?”
Neil laughed.
Sheena smiled. She turned to see that Avantika was watching her. Without warning, Avantika drew her in a hug. “I’m so glad to meet you. I’m so happy Rajiv realized you two belong together. My brothers have been talking about you all the time. And finally, I can have a female friend in this gang of men.”
Sheena was overwhelmed by the other woman’s warmth. “Thank you, Avantika. And happy birthday to you.”
“Thank you, and please call me Avi; that’s what my closest ones call me,” Avantika said. “I have a feeling you and I are going to be best friends.”
“Stop monopolizing her,” Vihaan came to them. “It’s my turn now.”
Vihaan took Avantika’s place and gave her a quick hug. “Well, Sheena, now you know my first name and last name. Dare I hope we can be friends now?”
Sheena beamed. He’d repeated the words she’d told him the first time she’d met him at Club Poseidon.
Aaryan came to her and hugged her as well.
“Now I get why you wouldn’t tell me your name that night,” Sheena told him.
“I find it hard to trust people. We all do,” Aaryan explained. “But we’d like to welcome you into our mad family. Come, sit.”
Sheena perched on the sofa and the siblings sat around her. Only Rajiv continued to stand in the corner, chatting with Neil, who was pointing to the small garden outside, telling him something.
“You know, Sheena,” Aaryan continued, “We’ve known for a long time that Rajiv felt something for you. And even though we didn’t know you and were sceptical of trusting you, we wanted him to be happy. But he refused to admit or accept what he felt for you.”
Vihaan took over. “And then, we saw you fight for Rajiv with Armaan Oshnov, and we knew at that moment that he wouldn’t be able to find anyone better than you. We understood then how much you loved him.”
“You saw me…” And then she remembered Rajiv had been looking up at the balcony. “You were up on the balcony watching, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Aaryan admitted. “We figured then and there that we’d have to ensure he didn’t do something stupid to push you away. That’s why I sent you those messages to get you to Komobay. We thought seeing you with us would push him to do the right thing and claim you, like he ought to.”
“And to stop feeling guilty because he thinks he owes us,” Vihaan said. “Idiot.”
“Language!” Avantika tipped her head at her son.
“I heard that.” Rajiv brought Neil to Sheena. She stood up.
“Sheena, I think this little boy is ready to meet you.”
