Page 59 of Empowered
I found a spot outside of the library nearby and took a seat on the steps. I scrolled through my phone, looking for the contact information of the only person who could understand the complicated man who had just waltzed back into my life.
“Hi, doll. Long time, no hear.” Jai’s smooth and easy-going tone provided me with the sibling comfort I desperately needed right now.
I smiled into the phone, glad to hear his cheerful voice. “Hi, Jai. How are you?”
“Probably better than you. I assume if you’re calling me, then my brother paid you a visit?”
I sighed heavily into the phone. “You assume correctly.”
“By the way, he told me about your new job. Congratulations, boss lady.”
“I should be congratulating you,bossman.” I was still surprised that Jai had taken over the Sethi empire. He was more than capable of running it, but his brother was the one who had considered it his life’s mission.
“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it,” he said, as if running the biggest drug cartel in the world was no big deal. “Shyam try to convince you to take over as CTO?”
I was sure he knew of his brother’s motives for coming to New York, so I didn’t have to explain any of it to him. “Among other things.”
Jai sucked in a breath over the line. “I think you should give him a chance. You don’t understand what he went through these past months.”
The anger started to rise in me again. “How about what I went through?” I raised my voice in frustration, causing passers-by to look over at me with more interest than I needed right now.
“He didn’t have much of a choice. He had to send you away.”
“Why?” I demanded.
His voice was quiet to counter my heated emotions. “You should let him explain it to you. It’s not my place.”
“No. I’m fed up with everyone keeping things from me. Both of you treat me like I’m a fragile doll who can’t handle anything. Neither of you went through the shit I went through in India and survived to talk about it.”
“Amelia, we were desperate.” His tone indicated that I needed to hear him out. “Tarun was involved in some deep shit when he took you.” His voice had grown quieter, probably to avoid anyone overhearing him.
“Like what?”
“Human trafficking. He was planning to sell you to the Russian mafia.”
My gut churned and I let out an audible gasp.
“And when Tarun died, they still wanted what was promised to them. The Brotherhood don’t let things like death terminate contracts that were made with them. They’re some twisted-ass motherfuckers who make me look like a saint.”
Oh God, all this time, I’d had a bounty over my head, and I didn’t even know. Was it safe now? Was Mom safe? My heart stopped, thinking that someone could kidnap her at any moment. “Are they still after me?” I asked, panic rising in my voice.
“No. We struck a deal with them. They wanted to make sure we were good on our word for nine months before dropping the outstanding deal.”
Relief took hold of me.
“But do you get why Shyam had to send you away? You were safer away from him. If they had known he cared for you, you’d had a bigger target on your head.”
God, I had been oblivious to the stress he had been experiencing since I left, while I was free to live my life without looking over shoulder every day. He was the one who was doing it for me.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I was frustrated that they had kept this from me. I should have been the first person to know.
“And have you live out the rest of your life in fear? Would you have been able to sleep or leave your house if you knew that there were men out there planning to whore you out in exchange for money?” My gut twisted from the seriousness of Jai’s tone. He had a point.
“Even if you couldn’t be with him, he wanted you to have a chance at happiness. And look at how you’ve thrived in Seattle.”
Shyam had done all of this for me. He always said he couldn’t tell me because it wasn’t safe, but I just thought he didn’t trust me to make the right decision. This must really have been the only way to throw them off my scent.
“Did you have men keeping an eye on me this whole time?” I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway.
