Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Maisey Yates (sad books to read .txt) 📖

She raised a brow but didn’t say anything. They retraced their steps back to Fifth Avenue and caught a taxi back to the hotel. They were at the lobby elevators when one of the front desk clerks came rushing up to them. “Miss Singh!”

“Yes?”

“Mr. Mehra needs to speak to you urgently. He’s on his way. Please wait right here.”

Rajiv appeared a few minutes later, his suit still perfectly pressed, despite the late hour. “Divya! I didn’t know how to reach you.” He sounded frantic.

“What’s happened?”

“The show you were at tonight, someone recognized Ethan.” His gaze flicked to Ethan. “Arjun is tracking all mentions of Ethan on social media. He and Vivek are on a plane from Vegas.”

“Vivek? Why is he coming?”

Rajiv shrugged. “Arjun didn’t get into the details, but I think Vivek wants to talk to you. Maybe he feels he can convince you to get married.”

Divya sighed. Rajiv gave Ethan a pointed look, then lowered his voice, as if doing so would exclude Ethan from the conversation. “I think you should be honest with your brother. Running away is not the way to handle things.”

Divya glanced at Ethan. He should nod, tell her Rajiv was right, because he was. She needed to confront her family, not hide from them. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to do more than blink at her.

“I can’t, Rajiv. I’m not ready to face my family yet.”

Rajiv pressed his fingers to his lips. “Then, I need you not to be here when Arjun arrives.”

Divya placed a hand on Rajiv’s arm. “I’m so sorry. Of course we’ll get out right away.”

“I’ve arranged a limo for you. A friend of mine has a house in the Hamptons where you can hang out until you’re ready to go home. I’ll arrange whatever you need.” Rajiv gave her a pointed look and it wasn’t hard to understand the subtext of his words. Divya didn’t need to rely on Ethan. There was no reason for him to hang around anymore.

Once again, Divya looked at Ethan. It was probably best that they parted ways. The more time he spent with her, the greater the chance that he would lose his heart to this girl who was very much unavailable.

“Thank you, Rajiv, but I don’t want to involve you more than you already are. I know your friendship with my brother is important.”

“Divya…”

Ethan took a step forward. “Don’t worry, Rajiv. I’ll take good care of her. I can have my jet ready to go in an hour.”

Rajiv looked between Divya and Ethan, then spread his hands. “Good luck to you.” Then he turned and said something to Divya in Hindi. Her eyes widened and Ethan could’ve sworn he saw her blush. She responded in Hindi, then hugged Rajiv. Without a glance at Ethan, she pressed the elevator button.

Ethan didn’t ask what Rajiv had said and Divya didn’t volunteer. They didn’t have a lot of stuff, so it didn’t take long to pack. Ethan made arrangements for the jet and called the valet to bring the Mercedes.

“Are you sure you want to keep running? I’d be happy to wait and take you wherever you want to go after you sort things out with your brother.”

Divya began shaking her head before he even finished the sentence. “I’m not ready for this to end yet. I’m enjoying my freedom.”

“Why does it have to be an all-or-nothing deal, Divya? Why can’t you tell your brother that you’re ready to be your own independent woman?”

“Because that’s not how things are done in my family.”

The valet brought the Mercedes, and he loaded the luggage and opened the door for her. The night was cold, so Ethan didn’t drop the top on the convertible. As he eased out of the hotel driveway, he turned toward her. “What’re you so afraid of?”

“I’m afraid of how much I love my family. Arjun has a way of convincing me that he’ll work something out to get me what I want. But it’s never exactly what I want.”

“What do you mean?”

“After I finished law school, I wanted a job. I was even offered this great position with a law firm, but my parents didn’t want me to take it. They didn’t understand why I wanted to work, given that we have plenty of money. My mom wanted me to be a socialite like her so I could find a nice husband. Arjun brokered a deal with my parents where I could work, but for the family firm. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it was a big battle for him to get me that concession, but the whole reason I wanted a job is to have some independence from the family.”

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t just take the law firm position. It’s not as if your family would’ve locked you at home.”

She blew out a breath, but Ethan wasn’t going to let her off the hook. Divya didn’t seem like the type of woman who had been cloistered all her life. She was confident and self-assured enough to get what she wanted. Including me. There was something she wasn’t telling him.

“No, of course not. We’re not that type of family. It’s more that they worry and care about me, and once I see my brother again, he’ll remind me of all the reasons why I should come home.” She looked out the passenger-side window, clearly hiding her face from him.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s complicated, and now’s not the time. Let’s discuss where we’re going.”

He wanted to know more, but clearly, she didn’t trust him enough to share what was really going on.

“I have something you should add to your bucket list.”

She grinned at him. “What do you have in mind?”

“Trust me?”

She leaned back in the car seat. “I’m all yours.”

If only that was true.

CHAPTER NINE

It was past midnight when they arrived at Teterboro, but Roda was waiting there. She handed Ethan several shopping bags and took the keys of the Mercedes.

Kathy greeted