Nope, dammit, Danika. Don’t go there. Put him back in that box of impossibilities. Well, at least for a little longer.
Maybe one day I could allow myself a taste, or if I was lucky, a night to indulge.
“What are you looking at? Oh.” Jayna nudged me, snapping my attention back to her. “Are you sure you don’t want Nik to be a bigger part of your plan than these games from afar?”
I swallowed, pushing down my thought from moments earlier, and said, “He’s a complication I can’t afford right now.”
2
Nik
I inhaled deep, trying to control my body’s reaction from the moment Danika Dayal’s gaze landed on me.
I’d watched the gorgeous brunette socializing with New York City’s elite as if she were born into it for the better part of the evening.
But I knew the truth.
She was a very good actress though, a chameleon, a woman who’d learned the hard way to navigate this new path and use it to her advantage. She played the game better than those born into it. All the while hiding the cunning intelligence underneath. A genius that had come to her naturally, something that wasn’t cultivated in her new life but cast in the poverty-stricken neighborhood where we’d met.
She’d shed the taint of the dark streets and created a new life, whereas I used it to my advantage and wore it like a well-worn-in suit.
The one thing that had never changed in all the years was the way she looked at me.
It wouldn’t matter if I was wearing a tux or a beat-up hoodie, heat would fill her hazel eyes for a few seconds before she schooled it away. It was a pattern we repeated over and over for too many years to count.
There was no doubt Shah had warned her away from anything and everything associated with the old neighborhood, especially me.
Shah had to have known what she meant to me when he’d taken her.
And for her sake, I’d stayed away. It had all but killed me. But what could a seventeen-year-old street kid with one foot away from jail or the grave give a brilliant girl who deserved so much more than the neighborhood she should never have stepped foot into in the first place?
Soon. Very soon. The waiting would be over. There was no doubt, and from the need staring at me, she knew it too.
Danika shifted her attention away as Jayna said something and then a group of people approached them.
“She’s off-limits, Nik. Don’t forget it,” my brother Kiran warned through my phone, drawing my attention back to him while I kept my gaze on the goddess.
“Getting threats from a dead man isn’t going to change something that was set in motion fifteen years ago. Besides, aren’t you the one who said I had to make an appearance tonight? If it wasn’t for you, I’d have stayed home and played poker with our crew.”
I took a glass of champagne from a passing server. The last thing I wanted to do was attend an event at any of the Andhi properties. Ashok Shah, who’d taken more from my brothers and me than anyone would ever know. Making an appearance at an event in his honor felt like wading through a pile of shit.
According to Kiran, an appearance at this gala would throw Shah off-kilter. Especially since I held information that could put a spotlight on some of his behind-the-scenes business dealings. And keeping Shah on his toes was a sadistic pleasure I couldn’t resist.
“If you fuck this up, you’re the one who’s going to be a dead man,” Kiran warned.
“No, I’m just letting a plan older than yours work its way to the forefront.” I downed the drink and set the flute on a nearby table.
“Six more months shouldn’t make a difference.”
“Danika’s the key to everything. You know it as much as I do.”
“And what about my wife? Have you thought about her safety?”
The corners of my lips lifted and I shook my head. Jayna looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but here. She never tried to hide her dislike of her father. This was her first formal appearance at one of his events in years.
Seeing her walk in with Danika had been an unexpected surprise. As far as I’d known, she wasn’t due back in the States for another few weeks.
I planned to stop by her place tomorrow and have a discussion about keeping us informed of her whereabouts. She’d probably tell me to fuck off since she was as stubborn as her cousin, but it was my duty to keep her safe.
“She’s stronger than you think, Kir. In fact, I’m staring at her right now.”
Overall, she looked better than she had in a long time, and makeup made her look flawless, but there was still an air of sadness hidden underneath the elegant trappings. As far as she and the world knew, Kiran had died in a car crash.
One orchestrated by her father, Ashok Shah.
Shah believed his word was law, and anyone who didn’t fall into line would suffer the consequences. Deep pockets could cover up the greatest of crimes.
What the bastard hadn’t yet realized was that some of us had more than he could ever dream of achieving.
“What the hell is she doing there? She’s supposed to be in Greece.”
“How the fuck would I know? She’s your wife.”
“Dammit, she knows better. Is her security there?”
I scanned the area and found three of my men who worked as Jayna’s personal protection scattered around the ballroom.
“Yes, she’s not stupid,” I responded, before asking, “Are you sure you don’t want to tell her the truth?”
“No. I’m not ready for her to see me like this.”
Kiran’s crash had left him with scars on his face and along the left side of his back. Of my three brothers, Kiran had been known for his striking good looks. His unique Indian and Puerto Rican genetics had given him a baby face we’d loved to tease him about when we were kids. Now I’d love to go back to those days instead of having to keep every reflective surface away from him for fear of him breaking it.
“She gave up a giant inheritance to be with you. Have faith in her. She loves you. If she didn’t, she’d have moved on by now.”
Outside of her art gallery and the nightclubs she’d started as a fuck-you to her father, she had no life.
Not once in the nearly two years since Kiran’s accident had she dated anyone.
“How does she look?” The longing in his voice whenever he spoke about her always hit me in the gut.
The tough-as-nails street kid who’d helped me run our scams to survive had fallen for the pampered princess harder than anyone could ever have imagined.
I just couldn’t understand what made him believe his girl wouldn’t be able to look at him without flinching.
“Good.”
It was a half-truth but something that was necessary. I couldn’t tell him that Jayna had lost the spark of joy that used to follow her whenever she entered a room.
Then I decided to add, “She’d look even better if you stopped hiding and trusted her.”
“Let it go, asshole. Focus on the reason you’re there.”
“I am.” My gaze went back to Danika. “Believe me, I am.”
“Nik, I mean it. Don’t use Dani to get to her uncle. She hates him as much as we do.”
Something told me her hatred for Ashok was ten times deeper than any of us knew.