Falling For Her Bad Boy Boss (Island Girls: 3 Sisters In Mauritius)

by Zee Monodee

  Neha. He rubbed his stubbly jaw. He hadn’t seen her since that dreadful Monday. She’d called in sick, and though he’d wondered if she were possibly faking it and throwing a sickie, the progress report he’d received from Suzanne when he’d called had reassured him Neha had really fallen ill. Apparently, she had the dreaded lurgy and needed to be monitored because her asthma could cause problems.

  He’d been relieved to hear a bug had made her sick. It had crossed his mind, and stayed there, how she may have gotten sick from an asthma attack after their encounter during their last night, when he had been so hard on her in his office. He couldn’t help it, exactly like he hadn’t been able to bear the sight of her, having her so close and not able to take her in his arms and reassure himself she was there and alive and with him.

  That’s what killed him most; to know Neha lived on, continued existing, but no longer brought anything in his life but misery and a debilitating sense of loss. He hadn’t realized how much she’d worked her way under his skin, into every particle of his being.

  To have lost her ate away at every cell inside his body.

  He’d so had to restrain himself from jumping up from his seat and grabbing her and crushing her to him. Throughout their encounter, her feelings had swum in her eyes. She had wrung her hands in her lap, parted her lips as if unconsciously begging to be kissed.

  He’d observed it all and tamped down every urge of his instincts to answer the call of her body. For she may have sent such signals, but what about the blows she could’ve delivered with her carefully chosen words? She wished to do the ‘right’ thing, and their respective idea of ‘right’ differed significantly.

  So he’d simply looked, assessed, burnt the sight of her even more into his brain.

  It’s how he also hadn’t missed how her breath had become laboured, how her face had paled, how the dark circles had appeared as ghostly shadows under her eyes. An asthma attack did this to her usually, and concern had flooded through him.

  He had followed her all the way until sure she’d reached home safely. He’d remained at a distance on the road, crawling along at an agonizing pace that had made him wonder why she drove so slowly. Had she been sick? He’d breathed a huge sigh of relief when she had gotten into her driveway. Thank goodness it hadn’t rained, or she could’ve been in an accident, for sure.

  He wasn’t so lucky when he set out today, for it rained in sheets on Curepipe by the time he got to the town. Slowing the car into the parking spot in front of the gym, Logan froze.

  You’re here to see your protégé. Kunal was nothing more than a kickboxer in training he mentored. Simply an athlete.

  Not Neha’s son.

  With a groan, he opened the door and stepped out of the car. Locking it through a press of the fob, he then dashed under the awning and into the darkened interior of the gym.

  The atmosphere hung different, he couldn’t help but feel as he shook his already-rain-slicked jacket off him. An edge in the air, and he caught the shifty glances of the men in the room.

  It seemed like all looks zero-ed on him when he entered, and then, the other blokes glanced in the opposite direction. Logan swore under his breath.

  There, in the corner, stood a starkly ravishing young creature dressed in skinny jeans, a skimpy white top, and a long black coat. Next to her hovered a tall, well-built young man with long black hair tied back in a low ponytail.

  Suzanne and Kunal Kiran.

  The lad was at his place in the gym, but what could she be doing here?

  He tore his gaze from them to find Marc standing a few feet away near the door to his office. Logan nodded in acknowledgement at his friend and started to walk towards Neha’s kids.

  As soon as she saw him, Suzanne broke away from her brother and swooped down on him, the click clack of her high heels making sharp sounds echo in the concrete setting.

  “How could you do this?” she asked when she’d reached within hearing distance.

  “Suzie,” he said, and stopped when she clasped the front of his shirt in her clenched fists.

  “You let me down, Logan. I thought I could trust you.”

  She tried, unsuccessfully, to shake him.

  All eyes focused on them. Silence thrummed in the gym as everyone waited with baited breaths as to the denouement of this soapie-like episode taking place.

  He brought his hands up and clasped hers.

  “Listen to me,” he said softly, but in a tone brooking no argument. “This is not the place to talk about whatever you want us to talk about.”

  Her big eyes threw daggers at him, and he sent silent thanks out he wasn’t the man in her life. The poor soul would be in for a lot of drama and emotional turmoil with her.

  “Let’s go out, to my car. We can talk there,” he said.

  She opened her mouth as if to retort back, then closed it and released his shirt.

  Placing his arm across her shoulders, he turned them towards the door. As he did so, his gaze landed on Kunal, who watched them with a frown.

  “You, back to practice. I’ll be in shortly,” Logan told the youth.

  Leading Suzanne out, they stopped under the awning right outside the door. Unlocking the X6 with a press of the fob again, he and Suzanne dashed to the car and made it into the dry and warm interior.

  Suzanne lowered her head when they settled in, and he turned towards her.

  “Now, what was that about?” he asked.

  She remained silent, and he sighed. So she’d give him the cold shoulder after the volcanic eruption inside the gym?

  “Suzanne,” he said, a clear growl of warning in the word.

  Without glancing up, she shifted in her seat. “Mum’s been sick for a week. You two haven’t seen each other in all those days, and you didn’t call her to enquire about her health.”

  “Your mother has no voice, remember? How would I have spoken with her?”

  She peered up, her dark eyes burning into him. “Or better to say, how could you have spoken to your ex-girlfriend?”

  Bugger, it came down to this. Suzanne knew. “Yes, we broke up. What else do you want me to say?”

  She bunched her hands into tight fists. “How could you let this happen? I thought you loved her!”

  “I do,” he said softly.

  At his admission, all the sass and fire seemed to leave her, and she sagged in the seat, suddenly looking like a lost little girl in a woman’s body. Tears glimmered in her eyes, and he shook his head. Another woman he’d hurt. Bloody hell.

  “Suzie,” he said as he reached out and hugged her.

  She held his shoulders tight, bunched her fingers into his damp shirt, then she pulled away.

  “What happened?” she asked in a small voice. “I thought everything would work out for you two. Why did you let this happen?”

  “I had no choice,” he said in admission.

  And that was nothing but the truth. How did one go up against an unbreakable brick wall? Yes, he would risk everything for Neha, but it didn’t mean he had to be point-blank stupid, too, in the process. Neha lived in her world, in her impenetrable bubble. Rather than look on through the clear barrier, he’d preferred to turn away and move ahead with his life.

  Like she had.

  “You have to do something.” Suzanne pleaded with him.

  Bringing his hands up, he placed them on her shoulders. “Honeybun, it’s over. I’m sorry.”

  “No!”

  “I was prepared to give your mother a lot, but she didn’t want any of it.”

  “Don’t say this.” She hiccupped on a sob.

  The sight and the sounds tore at his heart, leaving him at a loss. Not knowing what to do, he switched onto whatever semblance of automatic pilot he could find. Releasing her, he started the engine. “I better take you back home.”

  She didn’t reply, and a quick glance told him she sat huddled in a corner, recoiling from him and from everything around her.

  The ten minutes it took to drive to he
r house turned into the longest of his life. He refrained from hitting a fist into the dashboard every time she sniffled.

  He had hardly slowed in the driveway when she threw the door open and scrambled out of the car. She teetered on her high heels on the gravel, but kept her back straight as she walked to the front door.

  Model’s training. Hopefully, she’d find the attitude needed to deal with this situation.

  Bloody hell, he swore as he put the car in reverse. He hadn’t wished to hurt anyone. What the hell had gotten over Neha, so she’d put him, and her daughter, too, through all this?

  And what about her other kids, one of whom waited for him back at the gym?

  Logan groaned. He didn’t need this. Not now, not ever.

  He bumped right into Marc when he re-entered the sporting hall. His friend gave him a long glare, and he squirmed.

  “Far from me to pry,” Marc said. “But isn’t she a bit young for you? As well as underage?”

  Oh, bugger. Did it get worse? Weariness crashing over him, Logan pressed his back against the wall and let himself sag.

  “I’m not robbing the cradle, mate,” he said. “No worries there.”

  Marc raised an eyebrow. “Looked like a lovers’ tiff to me.”

  And to everyone else here, he didn’t add, but Logan heard the words, nevertheless. What did he tell his friend? He hadn’t yet told anyone about him and Neha. Not even Griff had an inkling of their relationship. But Griff wasn’t neutral ground like Marc, who didn’t know Neha.

  “It’s her mother I’m going out with,” he said.

  “Madame Neha? Good one.” Marc whistled softly. “And the living doll doesn’t like this.”

  “She does. But we broke up.”

  Both eyebrows rose, and a frown marred Marc’s forehead. With a flick of his thumb, the bald man indicated towards the back of the room where Kunal would be practicing. “And since she’s his sister, what does this guy have to say about it?”

  A headache had started to thrum in Logan’s skull. He grimaced. Kunal. He had to go talk to him.

  “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes,” Marc said as he left, thumping Logan’s shoulder on the way.

  Believe me, I don’t wanna be in mine, either. With a sigh, he peeled himself from the wall and walked towards the rows of punching bags at the back of the room.

  He found Kunal there, in pretty much the same manner as when he’d first seen the boy. Dressed only in loose trousers, the kickboxer hit the heck out of a hanging bag with his shins.

  Let’s hope he’s not seeing me there instead of the bag.

  Kunal paused when he approached. “Where’s Suzanne?”

  “I dropped her at your place.”

  The youth nodded. “Did you go see Mum?”

  “No.” Logan croaked the word out. “Did Suzanne tell you?”

  “About you and Mum? Yeah.”

  “And?”

  Kunal turned to stand face to face with him. “Don’t hurt her. Don’t mess with her. Otherwise, none of my business.”

  Logan’s eyebrows shot up at the matter-of-fact statement. “This is your mother we’re talking about here.”

  “And she’s a grown woman. If you hurt her, I’ll bust your arse. But you’re a guy, I’m a guy, and I don’t like people telling me how to deal with my girl. Figure it’d be the same for you, too.”

  Well, that proved frank. What a crazy family. Drama on one side, no fuss on the other. And in the middle of it, a woman who didn’t know where she stood, or on what foot she should be standing. And he’d had to get involved with her.

  Outstanding. Logan shook his head and brought his mind back to the here and now. “So you got a girl, too, eh.”

  Kunal rolled his eyes, and he stifled a chuckle at how much the gesture looked similar to Suzanne’s.

  “’Course I do. Now, can we get on with this?”

  Logan really laughed this time. Trust youngsters to get to the heart of the matter. “Sure can, mate.”

  If only their mother, too, could think along the same lines.

  Chapter Fifteen

  From somewhere far away, the shrill ring of a phone burst through Logan’s hazy, sleep-filled mind.

  He’d been having a restless night—again—like every night since his last confrontation with Neha. He only found erratic slumber that barely refreshed and revitalized him. Consequently, he felt like a wrung tea towel half the time and like an angry, bite-the-head-off-everyone beast the other half.

  Reaching for the mobile phone he kept on the bed table, he turned over and forced his eyes to open. Who the hell would be calling at … midnight on a Saturday evening?

  The screen indicated a blocked number. Not pausing to think, he punched the answer button.

  “Yeah?” he barked in greeting.

  “G’day to you, too, bro,” a male voice said at the other end.

  Logan sat up with a start. Tyler.

  “Bugger, Ty. Where the hell are you?”

  His brother whistled. “Disturbed you, eh.”

  There hung a hint of humour in the tone, but at the same time, Tyler’s voice sounded weary rather than upbeat.

  Warning bells shot off in his head. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  The words felt strained. “Ty? You okay, bro?”

  “I’m good. How about you?”

  He was about to reply when he heard a commotion. Like a fight for the phone, and then, a woman’s voice resounded.

  “Hi,” she said. “What this dumb hick ain’t telling you is that he’s far from fine.”

  “What do you mean?” Logan threw the sheet off him and shot to his feet. “And who are you?”

  “Your sister-in-law.”

  “Say that again?”

  Tyler had gotten married, and hadn’t told him anything?

  “Anyway,” she said in a more sober tone. “Don’t panic, but he’s been hurt—”

  “What? What happened?”

  “Minor wounds. Took a bullet to his shoulder, and splintered his ankle in two places,” she said, before the phone got snatched from her hands and Tyler came back on the line.

  “She makes it sound worse than it really is,” Tyler said. “I’m doing fine.”

  “Bloody hell you are!” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where the hell are you? And what happened, you clown?”

  How could the idiot be so cool about this? He’d taken a bullet—a bullet!—to the shoulder.

  “It happened in Sri Lanka—”

  “And what in Heaven’s name were you doing in bloody Sri Lanka, Tyler?” he shouted into the receiver.

  Anger, worry, and the feeling he’d nearly lost his only brother rendered him an emotional mess, and he couldn’t control his reactions any longer.

  “Crikey dick, mate. No need to rark up so much.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “I’m back in Mumbai—”

  “And you’ll stay there until I can come see you!”

  “Bro—”

  “Take a hike, Ty.” He heaved a breath. “And you’re married?”

  “Since this morning.”

  “You,” he bit out, “deserve a knuckle sandwich. I’ll give you one when I see you.”

  “Logan, listen,” a serious-sounding Tyler said. “It’s no big deal. I didn’t even want to bother you with this.”

  “What planet are you living on? You’re my brother.”

  “Yeah … so you’ll be coming over?”

  “You bet. As soon as I get myself a ticket.”

  “It’ll be good to see you.”

  At the hushed tone, Logan softened. “You, too, bro. You’re okay, eh.”

  “Yeah.”

  He fought the lump suddenly clogging his throat as the full impact of what he’d heard hit him.

  “I’ll see you soon, mate. Promise.” He paused. “And Ty, congrats. What’s her name?”

  Tyler chuckled. “Tara.”

  “Well, congrats to you and Tara
. Guess I’ll be meeting her soon. Sewl, okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  He cut the call and let himself fall back into a sitting position on the bed. He’d nearly lost Ty, and then, so much had happened in his brother’s life. He’d been clueless about this recent marriage.

  Well, mate, figures your brother would be clueless about your love life, as well. With a groan, he reckoned he, too, had had a lot happen to him recently. A lot tied to a single person—Neha Hemant.

  His thoughts went to her. How was she doing? He hadn’t wanted to ring her place and run the risk of falling onto her. He also hadn’t dared call Suzanne, not after the last time they’d met. So, he remained in the dark. Would she be coming back to the station on Monday?

  Speaking of which, he wouldn’t be here on Monday. He’d be in Mumbai.

  If he managed to snag a ticket first. Standing up, he went to his computer and launched the Internet browser.

  A couple hours later, he closed the laptop with a knackered sigh and settled back against the chair. He’d booked himself a flight to Mumbai later in the afternoon. He’d have to deviate via Dubai first since all direct flights for Mumbai were booked solid until Tuesday. He couldn’t wait so long to see Tyler, so what if he piled another few hours of tiki tour onto this trip? He wouldn’t be saying this between connecting flights, but this was a luxury he could ill afford.

  He wouldn’t be able to go back to bed. Logan opened the computer again and logged onto the station’s Virtual Private Network. He wouldn’t be here for a few days, and thus had a lot of things to smooth out in preparation for his absence. He’d jump by the office on his way to the airport, to hand the reins to Griff who’d be in charge in his absence.

  What about Neha? Should he tell her he was leaving?

  No, absolutely no need. She could still be sick, not able to anchor this coming week, too. Also, Neha had made it clear she wished for the two of them to follow separate paths as from now.

  And if it’s what she asked for, well, she’d get it.

  Time away from her—that’s what he needed.

  ***

  Neha found no one around to answer the phone when it rang that afternoon. She trudged up to the screeching apparatus and picked up. Her voice still hadn’t come back fully, and she dreaded hearing a particular man’s voice at the other end.