Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,96

away from her. “You can still do the work you’re doing without Mehta. I can put you in touch with other philanthropists without an agenda.”

There was a moment when his friend flashed in her eyes behind this stranger he didn’t recognize, but it was barely a moment. Then she was angry again.

“If you dump me now, after you held my hand and pretended to love me on television, and go after another woman so close to the end of this race, the media will crucify you. You can forget about winning. You realize that, right?”

He did. That was why involving India in the mess was out of the question.

“And if I tell everyone that we lied for the past ten years about being a couple, your credibility will be entirely destroyed.”

He knew that too.

“I just can’t lie anymore, Nai.”

She made a sound of such frustration he almost felt bad for her. “It was an arrangement, not a lie. You turned it into a lie. This is on you. But I know you, and I know you’ll snap out of it when you realize what you have to lose. Now I’m going to go out there and tell our families that we need time. That you can’t do this during the campaign. And when you’ve pulled your head out of your ass I’m going to still be here helping you, because that’s what friends do.”

“No,” he said, because that much he knew for sure. “I’m done. We’re done. I can’t do it anymore.”

“You can. Because if you don’t set your head straight, let me remind you that Julia was sniffing around for revenge last year. Any scandal, and she’ll be back. And if we’re not together, don’t expect me to save you again.”

Chapter Twenty

India was helping China pack, while also avoiding China’s questions. China’s sister radar seemed to have finally kicked into gear. “Is Yash going to come back?”

India shoved a pair of sneakers into a shoe bag and pulled the cord tight. “What?”

What she was going for was distracted, but what came out was despondence, and China cocked her head.

Before India could say more, the doorbell rang, startling the sisters so much they burst into nervous giggles. Why had the doorbell suddenly become the focus of her life?

“Were you expecting someone?” India asked, absolutely refusing to let her mind consider any other possibility.

China clapped a hand to her forehead. “I totally forgot. I have a surprise for you.” She hurried down the stairs to open the studio door, India hot on her heels.

The last person India expected to see was standing at her door, and India’s heart soared. She clamped it down and smiled.

Brandy smiled back and threw an uncharacteristically tentative look at China. Then again, this was how she always looked at China, as though she couldn’t quite believe what was happening. “You sure about this?” Brandy asked.

India looked over Brandy’s shoulder, and instead of a thick head of salt-and-pepper hair with a golden aura, and eyes she missed more than she should, she found a beautiful young girl. An explosion of curls spilled from her ponytail and she had the loveliest eyes in the darkest brown. She was standing so close to Brandy that she was obviously nervous.

“Absolutely sure. Come on in,” China said, and didn’t add anything rude. When had this truce happened?

“This is Ellie, Brandy’s daughter,” China said, and India and China moved to let the two of them in. “This is my sister, India. She runs the studio.”

Ellie waved. Her smile was at once bright and shy. Her aura was a sunshiny yellow unique to the young, incipient and filled with untainted energy.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Ellie.”

Ellie took in the studio, her glance jumping from the giant Ganesha statue to the shoe racks, to the Buddha mural Tara was in the middle of creating, and her eyes went as round as saucers.

China explained how they had met at Ashna and Rico’s and Ellie had invited China to her school for Career Day to talk about being a TV Producer. Then Brandy had taken them out for dinner as a thank-you and given China the limited edition Laurel & Hardy case she’d somehow acquired to replace the one she’d broken when they’d first met.

“Ellie’s been looking for a job. She’s a gymnast and has been wanting to practice yoga. We need a receptionist for weekday evenings until Tomas gets back, and you’ve been working yourself to the bone. I thought she might be interested.” China