She’d sacrificed so much and worked too hard for her life to watch it crumble like a house of cards. She’d lock up her shame, her fear of rejection, and her sadness later. Right now, she had to focus on damage control.

“Raj?” Kaka entered the room a moment later. He looked baffled. “There are a few people outside the front door.”

“Shit,” she hissed. “Ajay, get your stuff and get out of here. You can leave through the basement apartment exit, which is farther down the left side of the building. Robert probably gave up my location, too.”

“I’m not going to leave you here for the vultures to start congregating.”

“I can take care of them.”

“I know you can, but you don’t have to.” He turned to Kaka. “Can you pack Khunda’s things for a week? Raj, go upstairs, get ready, and call a car. We’ll get your attorney on the line to help clear the sidewalk in front of your house, too. Then go to my penthouse. You can work from there.”

Raj saw the reason in Ajay’s logic. She would be trapped like a sitting duck at the brownstone.

With a quick gesture at Kaka, Ajay scooped up Khunda and passed the dog over. “What else can I do to help you get your things?”

“Nothing,” she said. “You need to get out of here. I’ll go to your penthouse, but it’s already looking bad for us with the way this article has positioned our relationship.”

“Ask me how much I care about what other people think.”

“Sometimes you have to so that you can protect the people you love.”

He cupped her face and leaned his forehead against hers. She breathed in his clean, masculine scent and let out a breath.

“There is nothing,” he said softly, “that could make me ashamed of being with you. I know your secrets like you know mine. And remember what I said?”

She nodded, her heart clenching with fresh, new love. “We’re partners.”

“That’s right. We’re partners, Raj. We’ll handle this.”

“Together,” she said.

His phone buzzed again, and this time he didn’t hesitate in answering it. “Rafael.”

Raj watched his face morph from determination to surprise and then to anger. “Fine. Set up the meeting for two o’clock today. I’ll be in the office soon.”

He hung up and reached for her again. “The board has called an emergency meeting. Those who can’t make it have assigned Frankie as their proxy.”

“They’re going to try to block your father from naming you the next CEO of Bharat because of this,” she said, already knowing the outcome of the call. “I am so, so sorry.” This was all her fault. Her secrets were hurting him.

“Raj, don’t even think about blaming yourself,” he said. “Come on. We don’t have time. We need to get ahead of this.”