Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,130
rage rise inside India. Rage. She breathed through it.
“It’s really tempting to dream about inheriting all this someday,” Naina said in a voice that was as polished as the rest of her.
India started walking. Engaging with her was out of the question, not with the amount of anger inside her.
Naina followed, her hot pink chiffon sari moving gracefully with her. India was wearing a white-and-silver-embroidered kurta with churidar tights, so if she wanted she could easily outrun her. Actually, she could outrun most people in any clothing. It was an immodest thought, but she needed it right now.
“I can’t believe you had the guts to show up today,” Naina said. Obviously she knew who India was. Yash had probably told her because of the pictures.
“Nisha and I have been friends for a long time.” India kept walking, making her way into the house.
The sights and smells hit her like breaking water on a dive. The very texture of the air wrapped her in a full-bodied hug, a too-tangible reminder of the gray-eyed boy who had run through these halls as a child. He was everywhere. “And I was just leaving.”
Actually, who was she kidding? He was always everywhere. He was inside her.
“Did you want me to be grateful that you’re leaving?”
Among other things. At first India didn’t say it. Then she did.
Naina looked taken aback. “Like what? Having another woman steal what’s mine?”
India stopped and turned to her. Was she for real?
Don’t engage with her.
But the look on Naina’s face was too superior, too entitled. “If indeed one of us is stealing what’s not theirs, it isn’t me.”
That shocked Naina so much she froze. India took that chance to make her escape. She had to leave before the energy of this place seeped into her lungs even more than it already had. She could smell him. She could feel him smiling against her lips.
Where was her coat? When she’d arrived she’d gone straight to the backyard and someone had taken it. Her eyes fell on a sign on a door that said COATS. She ran into the room. It was beautiful. Lined with bookshelves and with a high-frescoed ceiling. A painting covered almost all of one wall: a man in regal finery of blue and gold. He had Yash’s stubborn jaw, Yash’s gentle eyes.
Ram.
The man smiled down at her, the challenge in his gaze boring into her. He’d fought for what he wanted, even when he knew he could hang for it. On a brass plaque in the wide carved gold frame were the words Victorious Through Truth.
He never told a lie in his life.
Hair fell across his forehead and an unholy urge to push it up moved inside India.
“You know Yash and I have been engaged for ten years, right?” Naina said, letting herself into the room. Thankfully there were no other people around.
“That’s a lie,” India said, and turned to the coat hangers on wheels lined up along one wall. She started searching for her jacket.
“Is that what he told you? Yash made a promise to me.”
India spotted her jacket. Take it and leave. Grabbing it, she walked past Naina without answering.
“God, you’re one of those quiet pushover types, aren’t you? Sometimes I just don’t understand Yash.”
India spun around, heart thumping.
“It’s obvious you don’t. If you understood Yash, this would be so much easier.”
That made Naina give a condescending laugh. It was obviously how she processed things, by looking down at them. The exact opposite of how Yash processed things, by coming eye to eye with them. “Yash and I aren’t exactly going for easy. We want to do hard things. World-changing things. It’s not something a yoga instructor would understand. If you don’t leave him alone, your selfishness is going to ruin everything.”
“My selfishness is going to ruin everything for you. That’s a really selfless sentiment.”
That stopped Naina. Suddenly the superiority in her gaze turned to something else. Fear? For the first time she looked like she saw India as more than just a yoga instructor.
“You and Yash have done great things with your life. You will continue to. But Yash also deserves to be happy.”
He deserved to be loved. He deserved not to live a lie.
“Yash loves me.”
India pressed the jacket to her chest. “Yes, he does. You’re family to him.”
That made Naina step back. “Don’t you dare patronize me. I don’t need you to tell me that. Yash’s happiness is in being governor of California. Then moving on to even bigger things. I’m the one