The phone stopped. “No, I—” When it started buzzing again, he took it out and read his brother’s name on the screen. “Yeah, actually, give me a second.” He didn’t spare Faisal another look as he stood from the small table they’d occupied and walked a few feet away for some privacy.

“Ajay, what is it?”

His brother’s gruff voice answered immediately. “I’m calling in the troops, brother.”

“I’ll be back in New York in two days.”

“No, you have to come home now.”

Hem snorted. “Home? Like the estate? It’s better if I keep my distance for a little while longer. Dad still shits himself every time I’m around.”

“I’m not fucking around, Hem.”

Something in Ajay’s voice drained Hem’s humor. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you checked your email yet?”

“No, was I supposed to?”

“Do it.”

Hem opened up his email and saw a message forwarded from his brother. The original message came from Hans Fineburg, CEO of WTA Digital.

TO THE CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND LEADERSHIP COUNCIL OF BHARAT, INC.

This missive, adherent to SEC guidelines, constitutes a formal offer of purchase . . .

“What the fuck is this?” Hem snapped.

“That’s not all of it,” Ajay said. “Dad had a heart attack after the letter hit our inboxes this morning.”

Hem felt as if Ajay had sucked all the air out of his lungs. “Is Dad . . . Is he okay?”

“He’s in the hospital, but stable. We haven’t told any of the extended family or staff yet. We’re keeping it quiet. How soon can you be stateside?”

Hem didn’t see eye to eye with his father, but they were still family, and he would do anything for family. He checked his Rolex. “It’ll take me at least a day. I’m in fucking Manila, Ajay. It’s not like they have hourly flights to the US.”

“Didn’t you take your jet?”

“No, I sold it to pay for overhead costs on my firm.”

“Damned inconvenient, Hem.”

“I didn’t want to dip into my earnings from Bharat or my trust to raise the money.”

“It’s still inconvenient. I’ll check with a supplier to see if we can borrow one of their jets for now. If not, I don’t know, chopper to the next largest international airport and book a private jet from there. There is a board meeting in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Did Dad make that decision?”

“No, the fucking board chatted with each other like a bunch of aunties and decided to establish a compensation committee immediately to address the offer. They’re restless since we haven’t met sales targets after we went public. We’ve got to get them in line before they try to oust Dad.”