Codename lotus, p.15
Codename Lotus, page 15
“Keep on it, Arjun. Any movement, any hint of an identity, I want to know immediately.”
“Understood. This guy’s a ghost, but I’ll find something.”
“Good. And Arjun, this is top priority. Absolute discretion. No one can trace what you are doing or know that you are doing it.”
“Of course, Naomi.”
I ended the call. The room felt suddenly colder, the sunset already casting long shadows across my desk.
I thought only of Saanya. I thought of her gentle insistence, her unwavering kindness. Someone who watches sunrises. What could a rapist and murderer possibly want with her if not vengeance?
Suddenly, I felt sick. I rubbed my scalp through my hair, elbows digging into the desk. “God, Saanya.”
But I couldn’t afford a breakdown. I needed to be strong, for Saanya’s sake, and for my own.
Suddenly, the deal seemed insignificant.
And I’d burn the bastard alive before I let him touch her.
15
FRIENDS ZONE?
SAANYA
These evening walks through the garden had become our new normal.
Naomi moved with purposeful grace, her long legs in designer trousers, taking strides both firm and light. All those morning Pilates sessions, surely. Her hands—usually commanding—now brushed the soft petals of roses, revealing a gentler side few ever witnessed. Lately, it felt like I was the only one.
We passed the spot of my panic attack, and I noticed new flowers blooming there.
“What are these?” I asked, admiring the delicate blood-red petals.
“Swiss Rose,” Naomi said.
I inhaled, recognizing the fragrance from the night of the thunderstorm. “I’m sorry you felt you had to remove the lavender because of me.”
“Nonsense. Besides, I never approved the lavender in the first place. Here, follow me,” she said, guiding me further into the garden.
Soon, we reached the gorgeous greenhouse we’d stumbled upon that same night. A timeless gazebo of frosted glass and cast iron—now clean, cared for, almost fully restored. The door sat slightly open, specks of red blooming inside.
Now that I knew what this place meant, the warmth sank deeper.
I could barely breathe. The place looked like a memory made flesh.
“Did you…arrange all of this for me?”
She must have tasked her gardener. There was no way Naomi would—
Then she nodded so slightly, her cheeks pinked.
I wanted to cry. “Oh, Naomi.”
If she was moved by my tears, she didn’t show it overtly. But her eyes held a depth of emotion I hadn’t seen before. She seemed about to apologize.
“Saanya, I—”
“It’s perfect—” I said. You’re perfect.
I was sure Naomi had let it fall into disrepair for that very reason: that almost selfish need to keep something so precious only for yourself. Not let anyone in. Somehow lock it away and hold on to those last moments with her mother. Naomi would do something like that.
I slipped off my shoes and felt the cool white stone beneath my feet, the breeze soft on my cheeks. Inside felt like a warm embrace—the scent of blooming jasmine and freshly watered earth. Sunlight pooled across the glass ceiling. Roses and ferns thrived, yet there was a quiet sadness in the way they reached for the light, as if remembering something irretrievable.
When I glanced back, Naomi stood barefoot on the threshold, fists clenched, shoulders tight. Her presence here—her willingness to stand with me in this moment—overwhelmed me.
“Come inside with me?” I murmured.
I suddenly felt her sadness—and also a flood of gratitude. Gratitude for my baby’s health, for this safe haven, for her. I couldn’t imagine leaving Geneva now, even though my departure date was fast approaching. The thought of leaving Naomi behind…it broke my heart.
I took her hands in mine. “This means more than you can imagine.”
I looked at our intertwined fingers and suddenly realized…
What are you doing?
I gently let go and found her gaze again.
She nodded. Naomi was so hard to read, but I was learning.
“I am honored that you shared this place with me. Thank you.”
“Places like this should never be abandoned. I…I was careless.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. You were a child—in terrible pain.”
She looked away.
I reached for her arm and gave it a small squeeze. “I’ll come every day I have left in Geneva and make up for lost time. I promise.”
When she looked at me again, her green eyes were open, no walls. She didn’t speak, but I felt it—the silent acknowledgment of our limited time together. Perhaps a blend of that gratitude and the same sadness that I felt.
Will you miss me? Because I will miss you.
“So, I was thinking,” I said. “Maybe we could take a day trip somewhere around here? The scenery is just too beautiful to ignore.”
I perched on the armrest of the sofa, flipping through a magazine. Naomi reclined with a cup of tea, more relaxed than I’d seen her in a while.
She cocked an eyebrow. “A day trip, huh? Any particular place in mind?” She was still her usual composed self, but there was a softness in her eyes that had become permanent.
“I heard the vineyards around here are spectacular. Maybe we could do a little wine tasting?”
Naomi chuckled. “Wine tasting? You do remember your condition, right?” She tipped her chin at my growing belly.
I rolled my eyes, smiling—definitely blushing. She was so damn good at getting those reactions out of me. “I can always indulge in grape juice while you drink the actual wine. It’s the experience that matters.”
The doorbell sounded.
Naomi stiffened. Her eyes cut to the foyer.
“Did you order something?” I asked. No one ever came up here besides Lea and her kids—or a delivery person.
“No,” she said, standing. She glanced back at me protectively but knew better than to ask me to stay behind.
One of her guards was already there. “Status check on gate,” he murmured into his earpiece, hand on his holster. He checked the peephole and relaxed. “All clear.”
When Holt opened the door, my brother walked in first, grinning. Ravi followed with a bouquet.
Ravi beamed. “Surprise!”
Sidharth’s smile vanished the second his gaze dropped to my belly. Ravi’s bouquet slipped from his fingers. Two pairs of wide brown eyes locked on me.
The silence that followed hit hard and strange, as if we’d all walked into the wrong house. My pulse stuttered.
I glanced at Naomi. Her lips parted—but no sound came out.
It was the obvious question.
I paced my bedroom, clasping my hands. “Sid, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Each day I’d delayed had knotted into massive guilt. “It was overwhelming at first. I wasn’t sure how to feel. If I wanted to—”
“Did you think I’d react badly?” His tone was gentle, but I sensed the hurt. “Saanya, I will always respect your choice. You know that, right?”
“I do.” I had to do a double take. I hadn’t seen him clean-shaven in years.
“Good. And if I’ve failed to make you feel it, I swear it won’t happen again.”
“No, not at all. I just needed time to come to terms with it.” My hand moved to my belly. “At first, I wasn’t sure. But now—this baby has been with me through all of this. He’s mine. He’s become my world.”
“He?” Sid stood, nearly grinning despite himself.
“I don’t know for sure, but for some reason I keep catching myself calling them that.”
He pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m going to be an uncle!” He rocked us back and forth, laughing into my shoulder.
“I’m happy you finally know,” I said, pulling back. His dimples finally appeared.
“You don’t have to worry about anything, Saanya,” he said it quickly, like he was trying to press it into place. “I’ve got this under control. The people following you, all of it.”
I wanted to believe him, but something felt off from the very moment I saw him. It all seemed too perfect, too simple. “Are you sure?”
“The problem isn’t gone, but I’m on top of it.” He sighed, as if starting anew. “You just focus on yourself and my nephew.” He smirked. “Or niece.”
I sat, covering his hands with mine. The armchair was still pulled close to the bed from the night of the blackout—when I’d sought comfort in Naomi. Now, that comfort felt distant. Alarms ticked up in my chest.
“Why are you really here, Sid?”
Sidharth hesitated, glancing briefly at the window before meeting my gaze again. “I came to check on you. Make sure everything’s secure…and to see you’re okay.”
God, he was such a terrible liar.
“And? Is everything as ‘secure’ as you hoped?”
“It is. You’re safe here with Naomi. That’s all that matters.”
“So that’s it?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
Hm. Did he truly expect me to buy this?
I sighed. “All right, and Mum and Baba? How are they handling my absence?”
“They’re good. Baba sends his blessings, and Mum keeps asking why you haven’t called. I told her your holiday cottage has terrible reception. Baba suspects something, but I derailed him. For now.”
“Sid, I feel dreadful lying to them. I miss them.”
“I know,” he said, squeezing my hands. “It’s just for now. I need you to trust me.”
“I do. But this…this isn’t just about me. What about you? You’ve put yourself in danger for me, and I don’t even know half of what’s going on.”
“It’s complicated, Saanya.” His smile flickered and fell away. “But I promise you, I’m doing everything I can. Give me a few more weeks—maybe a month.”
“What? Sid, what about Naomi?” Being with an unwilling host was no longer the issue, but I didn’t want to become a burden. And the danger lingering around me and my baby made me physically sick. I wanted that to be over. I didn’t necessarily want to leave Naomi behind.
“It’s just a precaution. I don’t want you to rush back into a situation that’s not completely safe yet. Even more now. I’ll speak to her.”
“Sid—”
Before I could argue further, he fixed his round brown eyes on me. “And I’m fine. I have some powerful contacts. Let me worry about that.”
“All right,” I said, but the knot in my chest didn’t loosen. The more I looked into my brother’s eyes, the more apparent it became that he was hiding something.
We hugged again. “Trust me. It’ll be all right.”
“Your face looks weird,” I said when we broke apart, unable to resist.
“What?” Sidharth looked at me innocently.
“You look so weird.” I tried to hold back laughter.
“Weird as in a James Bond kind of rare charm that you seldom find in the streets, or weird weird?”
“More like baby-faced,” I teased, tilting his chin.
“Priya asked me to shave.”
Of course. “Priya? Really, Sid?”
Priya Wentworth, Sidharth’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. Gorgeous, yes, but manipulative and distant. Despite that, she always held sway over him. It was as if my brother were drawn to the very things that made Priya so intimidating to others. Naomi used to be intimidating and aloof, too. And now she was wonderful and kind, so protective and caring. God, it was disarming when she showed it overtly. Perhaps Priya had a soft interior as well, one she was only protecting.
But they couldn’t be more different. Priya’s smiles were mannerly and far away, her conversation courteous without curiosity. Naomi could be aloof, but never fake.
“She says it makes me look younger and more approachable.”
“More approachable? Sid, you are a proper charmer. Please don’t let her make you doubt yourself.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. She’s such a—”
“Hey, be nice.”
“Fine. If you’re happy, that’s what matters. But I swear, if she breaks your heart again—”
“She won’t. Besides, the heart wants what it wants.”
Does it ever.
What would my brother think of me wanting his best friend? Sidharth knew I cared about Naomi, but I’d never had the guts to confess the truth. He always believed I wanted to be like her, not that I actually wanted her for myself.
“She better not. I have Naomi to back me up.”
His brows drew together. “Wait.” He shook his head and pointed at me. “You and Naomi?”
“Yes,” I said, and I couldn’t help smiling.
He gave me a baffled little laugh. “So you two have bonded over your mutual dislike of Priya?”
If only you knew, brother.
I wanted to tell him. I ached to. After all, Naomi was the most beautiful palette of emotions—how could I not want to share something so special? Shout it from the rooftops.
But I couldn’t. She was engaged, straight, and I—well, I was nothing but a broken widow. This would die with me. “You could say that.” I shrugged, and Sid shook his head.
“Oh God.”
We’d barely reached the bottom step when it happened.
Naomi finished a business call, Sid enveloped her in a hug, when a bundle of voices approached from the kitchen. Lea and Ravi—light and easy Ravi, of course—and now that he had found Geneva’s nicest human, the chatter had all but doubled.
Ravi spotted me and beamed. “My turn with Saanya!” He slipped his slightly sweaty hand into mine.
I laughed, then…saw it.
Naomi’s eyebrow lifted a fraction, and her mouth went flat. Her eyes flicked to our hands, then she gave him a deliberate once-over—cool as glass—before she looked away.
What the hell was that about?
“Let’s go,” Ravi insisted, pulling me along.
I looked back over my shoulder.
Naomi stood in her office doorway, chin tipped up, still watching.
Then Sid joined her, and she looked away and shut the door.
Outside, Ravi and I walked in the late morning air.
He turned to me. “How are you holding up?”
I touched my belly. “I’m happy. I have someone to live for now, aside from myself, of course.”
He beamed. His cheeks blushed as he dipped both hands in his pockets and lowered his head.
“What is it?” I smiled.
“Nothing. It’s a weird thought. Never mind.”
“Tell me.”
He sighed. “I wonder…what if it had been me and not him,” he said quietly. “But I’m really happy for you.”
“Aw, Ravi.” I turned to look at him as we walked. I couldn’t take it as anything but tender. It was Ravi. “I’ve told myself many times that I should have chosen you instead.”
His eyes lit up. “Seriously?”
“I am. But that would have also ruined our friendship, and I care far too much for you to lose that.”
His gaze dipped again. “I know. It’s not the same kind of love you need for a marriage.”
Heaven, it felt like kicking a puppy. The guy’s heart was far too pure.
Thankfully, Ravi’s smile returned to his eyes, a cheeky grin tugging at his mouth. “I don’t think you ever loved anyone like you loved her.”
My head shot up. “What?”
“I mean, I saw what happened that day. We all did. Your dad storming in, you and Pippa…” he trailed off. “I thought it was just a kiss. But weeks later, she told me the truth. That you two were really together. I couldn’t stand her back then.” He shrugged. “But it passed. Things just were how they were and I accepted it.”
So much for her promise not to tell—but honestly, Philippa couldn’t have chosen anyone safer than Ravi. Though now that I thought of it…did the entire school know? Not that it would matter anymore.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think she told anyone else.” Ravi kept walking alongside me, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. “After that, the way you always looked at Naomi made more sense.”
My cheeks felt so hot that I wanted to cover my face with both hands, but I let out a laugh instead. “Yes…that. I’ve heard all about my lingering looks.”
“She’s so imposing, so competent, you know? She still scares me—even more now! She’s such a...” He fumbled for the word.
“A grown woman?”
“Yes! Exactly that. Though she’s still so…”
“Quintessentially Naomi?”
“You know it well.”
After a few more laughs, our light moment quieted.
“So, how are you taking it, being here with her?” he asked.
How could I answer that? It’s been a quiet storm. A class-A experience only Naomi could offer, only she’d turned out to be so much more. A fierce protector and friend. The most wonderful…
“It’s been fine,” I said. “I’ve been—fine.”
“Just fine?” he teased.
“Yes. She’s almost married, Ravi. And she is straight. A most important point I keep drilling in. And now…she’s my friend.”
“You’re friends?”
“Yes. We have grown close. And I don’t want to mess that up for the world.”
“I bet.”
Then the thought of Sidharth finding out the truth stunned me frozen. “Wait. You haven’t mentioned to Sid that I—”
“Love his best friend?” He grinned, then sobered. “Never. Or that you fancy girls.”
I sighed with relief. I knew he wouldn’t, but Ravi could be clumsy sometimes.
He glanced at my belly. “Do you think I could—” He extended his hand cautiously. “May I?”
“Of course,” I said gently, guiding his hand.
The moment he touched me, his whole face lit up.
“Oh, wow. This is real, isn’t it?”
My baby wasn’t kicking yet—there was no movement. Just warmth. Pressure. The quiet thrum of life under his palm.
