His fingers twitched toward his talkie stashed at his waistband as he said, ‘I apologise but I’ll have to confirm it with Kartik sir.’
Her mind was racing through what she could say to appease him, when he relaxed and nodded to someone standing behind her. With a friendly smile, he said, ‘Oh, hello sir.’
For one sharp, disorienting moment, she thought she’d see her father standing behind her. She whirled around and let out an audible sigh of relief. It was only Dhruv.
Gone was the angry, vulnerable man she’d spoken to minutes before as he strolled casually toward them, wearing his signature carefree smirk. He looked so composed, so maddeningly at ease, she worried he’d rat her out.
‘Rajatbhai, call me Dhruv. It’s just my sister,’ Dhruv said, casually tossing an arm around her shoulder.
She stiffened, then put an effort to relax herself. The image of Rajat about to call her father was too fresh in her mind.
‘How are you? Haven’t seen you around in a while,’ he said, patting him on the back.
‘This is an exhausting time because of the exhibition, right Di?’ he asked her, lightly squeezing her shoulder.
She snorted at him. ‘You don’t have to tell me, I have a longer checklist.’
‘That’s what she said,’ Rajat quickly interjected, looking proud.
Dhruv chortled and said, ‘You’re learning, my boy. Anyway, I hope you weren’t threatening to call Dad, she would have kicked your ass. We’re planning a prank for Dad and she doesn’t want to ruin it.’
Rajat chuckled. ‘Prank, sir?’
‘Yeah,’ Dhruv said smoothly, glancing at Siya with a knowing look. ‘We’re staging an April Fool’s Day prank for dad in the vault. We just want to place the props inside before he checks it at the end of the day.’
He bounced the duffle bag in his hand to make his point.
Siya felt moved by his gesture. She hadn’t expected him to show up, not after the words they exchanged in the office. Yet, here he was, offering his help. Maybe, there was still hope for them.
Rajat gave a hesitant laugh. ‘Are you sure about messing with Kartik sir?’
Siya quickly jumped in. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take the blame right away and tell him we snuck in by lying to you about a fire upstairs. You won’t face any problems.’
‘Besides, isn’t it about time someone did?’ Dhruv winked at her, and a genuine smile overtook her face. This is something she’d never imagined, a fun and easy relationship with him, but she found she liked it.
He turned back to Rajat and said, ‘Just keep this between us, alright?’
Relived, he nodded, ‘Of course, of course. Go on.’
As he punched in the emergency security code, Siya said under her breath, ‘You didn’t have to do that.’
‘Yeah, well,’ Dhruv murmured as the vault door unlocked with a soft mechanical click, ‘I’ve done worse things than lie to a security guard.’
She heard what he didn’t say.For you.
Dhruv gestured toward it. ‘Shall we, Di?’
She gave a firm nod, and side by side, they stepped into the vault.
Chapter 30
The vault door clicked shut behind them, sealing them inside the brightly lit vault chamber. The soft hum of the lights above hummed faintly as Siya turned toward Dhruv.
‘Why did you bring a bag?’ she asked in a hushed tone.
He gave her a tired look, like she was missing something obvious. ‘Thought we might need it to stash whatever you’re planning to steal.’
She waited until Rajat’s footsteps faded into silence before asking, ‘Why would he do that for you?’
