Page 61 of Let's Start with Forever

After the last time in his office, he had made it clear to Raashi that he was coming after her. She belonged to him and he was going to claim her and soon. And that started tonight.

“You haven’t been hearing a word I have spoken,” the older man suddenly said.

Sameer gave him an apologetic look. “Oh, I am sorry. I’m just preoccupied.”

Jiten Arya nodded. “I wonder where all your focus is these days. On the villa next to The Marquis or on the woman who owns the villa now?”

Sameer frowned.

Jiten Arya rubbed his chin slowly. “Of course, I have heard. I make it my business to know what’s happening in the life of my future son-in-law. I know you want the villa. I know you’re meeting the woman who owns the villa often. It just makes me wonder if the girl is now a threat to our previous agreement.”

Sameer’s eyes widened. “Are you spying on me?”

Jiten Arya took his time to reply. “I will always watch out for the interest of my daughter.”

Either Natasha hadn’t spoken to her father about their last conversation or the old man was knowingly playing this out to ferret out Sameer’s reaction and intention. Sameer would bet on the latter. Being in the business for so long, he knew the games people played. And therefore he needed to ensure that Arya understood once and for all where Sameer stood with regards to his daughter.

“Mr. Arya, I was pretty clear to Natasha the last time I met her that nothing could happen between us and I am certain she has told you about it,” Sameer told the older man.

“My daughter considers it all a misunderstanding.”

“I meant it when I said it wasn’t going to work between us. She’s a great girl but she is not the one for me and I am definitely not the one for her. So, unfortunately I won’t be marrying her.”

“It’s quite surprising that the incentive of all the Arya Group Hotels hasn’t interested you enough to make it work with my daughter. Perhaps, you need time to rethink things through. After all, it definitely will not be in your best interest to antagonize me. Why be enemies when we can be friends, isn’t it?”

Was the man threatening him now? Sameer forced his clenched jaw to relax! Although furious by the older man’s words and tone, Sameer spoke to him in a calm yet firm tone.

“Look Mr. Arya, I don’t want your hotels nor do I need to rethink anything. However, considering our past, I will choose to ignore your not so subtle threat for now and hope that you will let this go graciously. But, anyone who comes after me and mine will definitely face consequences and I have the weight of the entire Sehgal Corporation behind me.”

Sameer glared at him for a second, ensuring his message was well received and then he stood up and left.

19

“Why are you two hovering around me? And why aren’t you two with your husbands?” Raashi asked Keya and Sheena suspiciously. They had left their husbands and had been by her side ever since she had entered Sheena’s party.

“Oh! We just want to spend time with you,” Keya stated simply and continued to converse with Sheena.

Raashi had seen the girls whispering in their husbands’ ears before they had drifted towards her. Beyond a doubt, they were itching to ask questions about Sameer and her. They had not brought up the topic as yet and she surely wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. Not when she was confused as hell. She loved these girls, she really did, but telling them that she had decided to get involved with Sameer and then hearing them debate the pros and cons of what would happen next was not something she wanted right now. She listened to them quietly as they carried on about...she sighed – she had no clue what they were talking about. She hadn’t been paying any attention to them. Her eyes strayed to the entrance once again.

Where was he? His last text message to her had been three hours back. Why wasn’t he here yet?

As if on cue, Sameer entered the party. Her heart did a little happy dance when she saw him. His eyes met hers, he grinned and he started towards her. A girl in a striking blue jumpsuit stopped him midstride. Raashi’s smile faded and a worried frown marred her face as she recognized the beautiful girl. Natasha!

“Raashi, you are not paying us any attention,” Keya complained.

Keya noticed Raashi staring at the entrance and turned to see what she was frowning at. “Hmm.”

Raashi reluctantly moved her eyes back to Keya, who raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

And then Sheena asked what Raashi was sure these two had been dying to ask her since the last half an hour.

“Incidentally, not that we want to pry or anything, but how is it working out with Sameer?”

Subtlety was surely not their strongest point. Since she had already informed them of her new venture with Sameer they were bound to be curious about her and him. But she hadn’t told them anything about the personal side of her relationship with Sameer and this was what her two best friends were dying to know and it was definitely not something she wished to discuss with them anytime soon. Not until she herself knew which way her newly budding relationship with him was going.

“It’s been good,” she said, keeping her tone casual, “very good, actually. I’m enjoying myself thoroughly and I am so excited about the restaurant.”

Raashi saw both the girls watching her and then they replied in unison.