by Sapna Bhog
His eyes are cold chips of ice.
“Are we going to talk on your doorstep or are you going to invite me in?”
Warning bells clang inside my brain. “Sorry.” I shake my head. “Please come in…”
My heart pounds in terror because I’ll have to tell him the truth right now. Rian’s in the next room and if he wakes up and cries then it will get frightfully awkward.
Damien walks past me and enters the living room. Gabe stands as he sees him and we both exchange a worried glance. Goose bumps erupt all over my skin because something’s not right about this situation and him being here.
“Aaliya, babe,” Jonathan calls out from the kitchen. “There’s no diet soda in the fridge. Do you have anything else to drink?”
Jonathan steps into the living room and pauses as he sees all of us. His gaze drifts from me to Gabe and then to Damien.
Damien narrows his eyes at me. “Is there a party going on here I haven’t been invited to?”
“Um…no, it’s…it’s not like that,” I stammer.
He watches all of us quietly and those few seconds of silence are deafening.
“Damien, we need to talk. All of us,” Gabe says, trying to control the situation because I honestly don’t know how to start at this point.
Damien raises a hand to stop him and turns to face me, his arms folded in front of him. “When did you return to London, Aaliya?”
His flat tone makes a shiver run down my spine as the warning bells continue to clang inside my head.
“I came last evening,” I reply as calmly as I can, while internally every bit of me is trembling. He throws a venomous glance at me and then at Gabe and Jonathan.
“So, you lied to me last night,” he declares. “It makes me question what else you’ve lied to me about.”
“Damien…” Gabe starts to say.
But Damien glares at him. “I’m not talking to you, Gabriel. I’m talking to her. This woman, whom I trusted and who I know has played me for a fool.”
I take a step towards him and grasp his arm. “Please, I can explain, Damien.”
He shrugs my hand off, recoiling. “Don’t touch me!” He backs a step away from me, making my heart sink. “Were you with Gabriel at Hyde park today?”
“What?” I sputter in shock. “How do you know this?”
“Your reaction answers my question. So, you have a son?”
“Yes…yes I do.”
“And it wasn’t important for you to tell me that?” Damien yells. “That night, when you received the phone call, it was your son. He was unwell, isn’t it? I was worried about you. I thought it was your father. And you never thought to tell me then that it was your son who was sick? What kind of a woman are you?”
Before I can reply, Gabe interjects. “Aaliya and I have something to talk to you about. You need to calm down first.”
Damien turns to Gabe, his eyes flashing. “I’m not done asking my questions, Gabriel. Remain silent or it will get ugly.” The threat of violence in his tone is unmistakable.
Jonathan takes a step towards Damien, but Damien halts him with a flick of his hand.
I move towards Damien. “I apologize for lying. I did return yesterday and I should have told you that. But I couldn’t because I brought my son back with me from India. I have my reasons to not tell you about him. If you could just let me explain…”
“Explain what?” he yells. “That you and my best friend were involved at some point in the last five years that I don’t remember. That you have a child from that affair? That he was okay with you fucking me when you are the mother of his child? That both of you lied to me?”
Tears pool in my eyes and my heart breaks at the bitterness in his words. But I have to make him understand.
“Damien that is not true. Gabe and I have never been involved. How could you think that of me after all I’ve shared with you?”
Gabe clears his throat. “Damien, you need to listen to her.”
His voice is deadly calm considering all the vile accusations his best friend is throwing at him.
“Listen to what? More lies,” Damien retorts. “I don’t know what kind of twisted relationship you two have or don’t have, but I want no part of it. You’re my best friend, Gabe. You’ve been more of a brother to me than David ever was. How could you have kept something like this from me?”
Gabe raises an angry fist in the air and lowers it with a shake of his head. “Damien, it’s not like that. Let Aaliya tell you the truth.”
“Damien, listen to them,” Jonathan speaks for the first time since Damien has entered.
Damien whirls to face Jonathan. “And how are you involved in this sordid mess? Have you been conspiring with them against me? Is that what this is about? I know you’ve resented me for a long while now. Is this payback?”
Jonathan stares at him and huffs out a breath. “You’re insane to even think that!”
“Really, Jonathan? I’m insane? Here you are, two of my closest friends and the woman I almost fell for, looking quite cozy together. Did you know about the kid?”
Jonathan’s face falls and he gives me a helpless look because he knows it and I know it that the entire thing does look like we are conspiring together. Finally, after an interminably long few seconds, Jonathan says, “Look, I know about the kid, but you ought to listen to the two of them.”
“And you need to bugger off, Jonathan,” Damien responds.
He faces Gabe and me and gives him an accusing look. “Celia showed me proof of the two of you together with a kid that looks like Aaliya, but has the same dark hair like yours. Is he yours, the child?”
“How can you trust her, Damien?” I ask, lowering my head. “She tried to offer me money that night in the club when I left for the ladies’ room. And now she’s trying to destroy us.”
“That sounds like a convenient lie, Aaliya. Celia has hardly any money of her own, so how is she going to offer any to you?”
“How the hell should I know that? She said she has access to money to make me go away from your life. Perhaps it was your mother who would have funded her! God knows she too dislikes me.”
“Enough!” Damien slices his hand through the air. “I’m not going to believe anything that comes out of your lying, deceiving mouth.”
“Celia is a bitch. You know it and I know it,” Gabe shouts. “So, stop listening to her lies and listen to Aaliya. Let her explain, Damien.”
Damien
Fury churns through my mind. “Celia may be a bitch, but photos do not lie. And I’ve seen photos of you together. The kid is yours, accept it Gabe,” I yell.
To see Gabe and Aaliya so cozy when I entered her house drove a dagger through me. And now they don’t even have the decency to acknowledge the truth when I have caught them red handed. Were they in an affair that resulted in a child? Have they broken up? Are they still involved? Is that why Gabe was always so protective of her? Where does Jonathan fit in? None of it makes any fucking sense to me.
“Damn you, Damien,” Gabriel roars in anger. “The kid is not mine. He is yours. Yours and Aaliya’s.”
I blink and stumble a step behind. But then I shake my head and laugh because it’s too absurd to be true. “Wow, Gabe! You are no longer the man I knew and respected.”
My sentence is met with silence as Aaliya and Gabe look from one to the other. Aaliya wipes a tear that has fallen from her eye.
“It is true,” she accepts, raising her chin. “I am your wife and you spent the last five years with me in India. And we have a son.”
“Fucking hell!” I yell, absolutely livid now.
“If what you say is true then why did you not tell me that the first time we met outside the coffee shop,” I ask her. “The two of you have lied to me about everything from that moment forward, especially you Aaliya. You’ve had ample opportunities to come out with the truth, but you haven’t. We were living together, for God’s sake!”
I take an angry step towards her, but Gabriel
steps in between us. “She didn’t tell you Damien, because I told her not to,” he says. “Aaliya was going to confront you that day outside the coffee shop. But I stopped her because you and I both know that your life is in danger. What if you hadn’t believed her? Reporters followed you everywhere in those days. What if someone heard her talk to you and you rejected her? What if all that got printed in the papers and the people after you found out about her and your child? Then what? I couldn’t take that chance. You told me in that phone message to protect someone.”
He splays a hand towards Aaliya. “Well, this is whom I was trying to protect, her and your son. Everything she has done is because I asked her to do it so that we could get her to be a part of your life once again so she could tell you the truth once you fully accepted her.”
I shake my head. “This is ridiculous!”
“It’s true,” Aaliya steps in front of me. The tears are freely flowing down her cheeks now. “I am your wife and we have a son. This exact reaction of yours is what I feared the most.”
“Fucking unbelievable. Two people who meant the world to me are fabricating this nonsense. I don’t even know how to respond to you both.”
Aaliya takes a step closer, but before she can say a word, there is a loud cry from the next room. A worried look crosses Aaliya’s face as her gaze meets mine. She wipes her cheeks and hurries inside. She returns a minute later with a toddler, his head tucked by the side of her neck. She whispers soothing words to the wailing kid. Something twists inside me at the sight of her holding a child in her arms. But I ignore it.
Gabriel is standing with his arms folded, searching my face, as I concentrate on Aaliya interacting with the child. He exchanges a glance with Jonathan before he says, “He is yours, Damien. Look at him.”
I laugh. “You are crazy if you think I’m going to believe you.”
Suddenly there is pin drop silence as the baby stops crying and lifts his head to look at me. His tear stained face watches me in silence for a few moments until he opens his mouth and says, “Papa.”
He pushes against Aaliya to be let down and she lowers him to the floor. He takes a tentative step towards me and my hands rush to my head. He may have looked like Aaliya from the photos taken from afar but in reality, he doesn’t look like her. He looks…just like me. Even his eyes are the same grey green like mine. And his hair, it’s darker but with the same honey gold streaks like mine.
He takes another step forward. He raises his little arms up in the air and walks right up to me.
“Papa,” he mumbles as he reaches my legs and his wide eyes look at me pleadingly.
My throat tightens as I lower myself at eye level with the kid. The reality of this unbelievable situation strikes me hard, right in the center of my chest.
I fall on my knees without any hesitation as the kid wraps his tiny arms around my neck. “Papapapapapa…” he sings, like it’s a melody.
I shut my eyes. My head begins to pound fiercely and images of the boy hit my brain like a storm.
A newborn baby in my arms...
A baby asleep in his cot...
A baby crawling towards me...
Me reading to the baby at night while he sleeps...
Me holding the baby on my shoulder next to a window in an apartment in a high rise in an unfamiliar city...
The images keep coming, one after the other, of moments I’ve shared with this little boy, and along with that come the emotions. Suddenly, my head clears, my heart filling with joy and overwhelming love for this little guy. He is mine and I remember him.
I pull my son into my arms and hold him close.
“Rian!” I say his name out loud.
The End
Damien & Aaliya’s journey continues in their next book…BEYOND THE TRUTH
Coming in August 2020
acknowledgements
There are a lot of people who make it possible for me to write and to continue writing.
Thanks to my husband, Romel, for being my constant rock and for listening to this story, encouraging me and reading it in its most basic form. I wouldn’t be here without you.
My trio of wonderful girls, my sister Kiara and my friends Shilpa and Navneet for reading every book of mine and giving feedback – you are my most precious gems.
Merril Anil who designed the wonderful cover and all the art-work associated with this book for social media.
Nikita Jhanglani, my editor on this journey – your insights are precious.
My fellow romance writers Aarti, Shilpa, Devika, Ruchi, Preethi and Sudeshna and so many others on social media who are my cheerleaders, like I am theirs. You girls are the best.
Aarti V Raman – I thank the day we were introduced, you have been a tremendous help all the time.
To all my readers – I couldn’t do this without you all. Thank you for reading my books and looking forward to them – you all are the best.
Like I say, let’s do this forever.
Also by sapna bhog
Book 1 in the Sehgal Family & Friends Saga (Kabier & Keya)
Take a Chance on Me
KABIER SEHGAL, scion of the Sehgal empire, has returned to India to take over the helm of his companies from his grandfather. His first mission is to find out who is selling his company's secrets. When the suspicion falls on KEYA KARIA, he decides to work closely with her to expose her fraud. He accuses her of something unspeakable. But has he made the biggest mistake of all?
Brilliant, bold & beautiful, KEYA KARIA is at the top of her career. Her past is one big, dead and buried secret and she has her eyes set only on her future. But her new boss, Kabier Sehgal is making her life a living nightmare. She is tough, but can Keya stand against an adversary like Kabier Sehgal? Especially when the laws of attraction decide otherwise?
Book 2 in The Sehgal Family & Friends Saga (Raashi & Sameer)
Let’s Start With Forever
Aperfect one-night stand is never supposed to mean more...But it did, for her!
RAASHI DEEWAN runs a successful chain of restaurants. Her recipe for life is simple – dream big and work hard. Growing her business is her sole focus until Sameer Sehgal walks back into her life. He had pursued her relentlessly, once. She had fallen for him, once, and then he had walked away. Now, she wants nothing to do with him.
Hotel magnate SAMEER SEHGAL always gets what he wants. He has a dream and Raashi Deewan holds the key to its success. Unfortunately for him, Raashi has no interest in helping him. Convincing her to work with him is a challenge, one he is more than happy to take on. But Raashi is difficult to impress and hard to convince. The more their paths cross, the more he realizes that maybe letting her go was the biggest mistake of his life.
Will Raashi forgive Sameer? Will Sameer fulfill his dream? Find out more in this book of love and second chances.
Book3 in Sehgal Family & friends saga(Rithwik & Aisha)
Breaking All The Rules
A workaholic by day, a playboy by night – that is the reputation which precedes RITHWIK BALI – India’s most eligible bachelor - he always manages to create a stir, no matter where he goes or what he does. Tired of his extravagant lifestyle, his father gives him an ultimatum –marry within six months or relinquish his position as the Managing Director of his company. However, Rithwik’s dilemma is that he’s not ready for marriage. Time is running out unless he comes up with a plan.
After surviving a dark tragedy, working as the personal assistant to the MD of Fortuna International is a dream job for AISHA SOLANKI, up until her boss proposes to her – a temporary engagement for six months. With her back against the wall and unable to decline all that Rithwik Bali has to offer, Aisha has a tough choice to make. Especially when, spending the next few months engaged in a mock courtship is not how Aisha envisioned her future particularly since she finds herself drawn to her dynamic, charismatic new boss.
Proposing their fictional engagement to Aisha was easy for Rithwik – after she proves her loyalty to him time and time
again, the plan just clicked into place. But when this game of deception unexpectedly changes to something more, then all bets are off and rules will be broken!
Is falling for your fake fiancé a happy ending or a recipe for disaster?
BOOK 4 in the Sehgal Family & friends saga (VJ & Diya)
Coming Soon…
Viraj Jaisinghania, better known as VJ Bellani, cop extraordinaire, has only one mission in life – Vengeance! Renouncing his birthright, he has vowed to bring to justice the perpetrators who destroyed his life at a young age. When circumstances force him to protect the enemy’s daughter, he takes up the assignment with an eye at finally laying the past to rest. What he did not expect was Diya Thakur!
Rebelling against her extremely conservative family, Diya Thakur moved to Mumbai to build a career in fashion design. Her dreams of finally being free are dashed when they hire a bodyguard to watch over her – to keep her safe, to spy on her for them, at least that’s what she suspects.
Forced to be together, 24X7, VJ and Diya make no effort to hide their contempt for one another.
The battle lines are drawn early but when raw animal magnetism is thrown into the mix; the future is full of treacherous twists and turns.
Can something as simple as Love change the game especially when revenge is the primary motive? Will VJ finally claim his legacy in order to claim her.
About the Author
Sapna Bhog grew up in Dubai at a time where there were hardly any channels to watch on TV but there were definitely many books to read.
A computer engineer by profession, she gave up her successful IT career to look after her children and decided to give her creative side a chance and wrote her first romance novel.
Writing is her passion but Sapna also likes to read, paint, travel and shop – not necessarily in that order.