And then it came to her almost immediately.
“You could break his heart,” she whispered to her reflection. “You could make him fall in love with you and wreak havoc on his life, just like he wreaked havoc on yours. You could teach him to never come after the Raos again.” Yes, she could certainly do that. The Emersons had shown her that emotional pain was infinitely worse than physical agony.
Now, as Jaya explored her new quarters, she thought about the decision she’d made. She felt a faint stirring of guilt, like leaves in a light breeze, at the thought of the extreme deception she’d be carrying out. But in the next instant, she pushed it away. An eye for an eye, that had always been her motto. She could let Grey Emerson believe she was the only one for him. She could pose as his perfect “other half.” She could be toxic and cancerous on the inside, but beautiful and serene on the outside. She could slowly infiltrate his life until he had no choice but to love her. And then she’d break his heart completely. Let Grey Emerson feel the torment of a shattered soul. Let him take it back to his father, to the entire Emerson clan—the Raos weren’t as meek or helpless as they seemed to think.
But… could she really pull this off?
Jaya walked to the dresser and ran a finger along its polished stone top, considering the enormous task before her, feeling the thrill of purpose, a twinge of anxiety at the unknown. Grey Emerson had to have a lot of poison in his heart for what he’d done to the Raos. But Jaya was certain that if she pretended she had no doubts about him, if she pretended to be suitably submissive and sweet and smitten, his giant male ego would have no hope but to fall for her.
But in order to get him to that place, Jaya would have to work extremely hard. And what did she know about love, really? Or how to make a boy fall? She was completely out of her depth, a gladiator hoping to disguise herself at a debutante’s ball.
Well, at the very least, this whole thing with Grey—pretending to be in love—could be practice for the real thing. Jaya had known from a very young age that she was meant to marry another Indian royal. Someone like Kiran Hegde. He knew what Jaya’s life was like, what was expected of her. The Raos and Hegdes had a good relationship, likely because the Rao dynasty was slightly bigger than the Hegde dynasty and they shared little competitive interest, being historical allies. There was no need to be unfriendly when you already had the better piece of pie.
And, of course, Kiran had proved himself to be a valued ally when he’d connected Jaya with the journalist to get to the bottom of who was behind the scandal. They had a lot in common. Tradition and decorum were important to the both of them, for instance. Kiran wanted to go to an engineering college, which was somewhat interesting. And they both… well…
Jaya bit her lip and regarded herself in the mirror. The truth was, she wasn’t exactly attracted to Kiran, not in the strictest sense of the word. Physically, he was gorgeous—tall enough, dark, and princely. But there was no emotional spark between them at all. According to Amma, that’d come later. What was important was that they had a solid foundation to build on.
Kiran had the same expectations for himself as she did for herself. To him, there was nothing more important than the Hegde line. He could wax on for hours about the strength and virility (that he’d want to talk about the latter Jaya found… baffling, but she let it slide) of the Hegdes and how they were meant for even bigger things. Kiran might even be more passionate than Jaya about his position, which she found rather pleasing. There was something that could bind the two of them together. After Isha’s scandal, things had gotten a little… quiet with Kiran. A little cooler, probably because he was worried how being scandal-adjacent might affect the Hegdes. But Jaya was confident she could bring things back on track.
Perhaps when she was done with Grey Emerson, Jaya would even be a master flirter (but still a subtle one, so as to not be gauche). She was okay at it, but she knew she had room to improve. If only that had been one of the courses she’d studied at any of the private schools she’d attended over the years.
Jaya sighed and turned away from the mirror, pacing restlessly back toward the window. She would’ve never guessed the first time she fell in love, it would be a lie. There would be no fairy-tale Prince Charming for Jaya. But that was exactly what had to happen. In order to weaken Grey Emerson, Jaya had to get him to be vulnerable with her. And what made boys more vulnerable than love?
* * *
But there was something missing. How could Jaya get close enough to Grey to make this work? She grasped her ruby pendant, remembering a perfect spring fragmenting into a vicious summer.
Appa had bought the necklace in Dubai in March. Before he’d left, he’d asked her what she wanted, and Jaya had said a red rose. Of course, Appa, being the generous, lavish man he was, had bought her a 24-karat gold-and-ruby rose pendant on a slender gold chain instead. It was stunning; eighteen rubies as big as her pinkie nail coiled in a tight spiral to the center, each ruby a cleverly stylized petal. Jaya had never seen anything like it. When Appa had handed it to her, nestled in its pale cream velvet box, she’d gasped. He’d smiled fondly. “Yes,” he’d said. “That was my precise reaction when I first saw it. A beautiful jewel for my beautiful gem of a daughter.” It had been an idyllic time, mild and slow and happy.
But then… then the earth shook. Grey Emerson had come after Isha for no reason at all. The maliciousness of the photos and rumors he’d fed to the press had taken them all by surprise. Never in recent memory had things been this ugly. What had he been doing in Mysuru that summer anyway? Had he gone there specifically to see how he could hurt the Raos? But why now, and why Isha?
Jaya took a deep breath, steadying herself. These were questions she’d get answers to one day soon. But for now, how was she going to make sure she had enough time to work on Grey Emerson? Yes, she was eating breakfast at his table on Thursday, but what after that? How could she ensure she was in his orbit enough to make him fall?
Something Dr. Waverly said flashed through her brain, a sudden firework of inspiration. The office has notified me that your uniforms are ready for pickup and they’re finalizing your schedules now.
Smiling, Jaya slipped her cell phone from her pocket and began to dial.
Outside her window, the grasses swayed gently in the summer mountain breeze. In the distance, a stone fountain gurgled happily, its water sparkling in the late-afternoon sunlight. It was peaceful and calm here. A haven.
Grey
For fuck’s sake. Couldn’t a guy just sit and read in peace?
Grey glanced over his shoulder. At the other end of the long room, the repellant Alaric Konig and his minions, Lachlan McCoy and that redheaded douchebag Martin Stromberg, rounded on a sophomore. Grey couldn’t remember the sophomore’s name, but then again, Grey didn’t want to remember his name.
“Nice uniform,” Alaric said, his blond hair carefully styled in a strange wave on his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s the one I donated to Goodwill last year.”
Martin snickered. “Yeah. And those shoes are the ones I donated.”
Nice one, Martin. Real original.
“Leave me alone,” the sophomore boy said. “I’m just trying to study.”