Great. Not only had Ajay slept late, but his brothers were now busting his balls and making a mess in his kitchen. He loved his family, but this was why he sometimes spent nights at his penthouse.

Grumbling to himself, he strained the chai into three cups and dumped the pot and strainer into the sink. His phone rang just as he finished wiping down the counter and grabbed his cup for his first blissful sip. Expecting Rafael, he answered.

“Sorry, I slept in.”

“Tsk-tsk, Ajay Singh.”

The warm rasp of Rajneet Kaur Hothi’s voice filled his ear and went straight to his gut. It heated his blood in a way that he hadn’t experienced in . . . god, he didn’t even know how long it had been since a woman had him so twisted. He shut that reaction down as quickly as it started.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Hothi?”

“Other than give my employees back?”

He chuckled. “Not a chance in hell.” Ajay looked at his brothers, Zail standing with his arms crossed, a thunderous look on his face, while Hem stayed suspended midair in a pull-up.

“Are we even then?”

“Hardly,” Ajay said. “How did you get this number?”

Her laugh twisted around him like a vise. “I have my ways. I was trying to get hold of your father, actually. I prefer to speak with the person in charge, but you’ll have to do.”

He wondered if she’d said that on purpose to rile him. If so, it was working. He was already dealing with pressure to be as great as the men who’d come before him. He didn’t need this stranger wondering if he was less of a leader, less of a man.

“You’re doing a piss-poor job of negotiating for whatever it is you called me for,” he said calmly.

“I want a meeting.”

“A . . . meeting. About what?”

“An opportunity to secure your spot as CEO.”

He jerked up in his seat. The fact that his brothers and he had just been talking about the same subject felt eerily like fate. Not that he believed in fate.

Much.

“You have my attention.”

“Not over the phone, darling. This is better in person. I’ll have my assistant reach out to yours to discuss the details. Then we’ll talk about how Bharat needs to spend some money.”

“I’m wrapped up for the next few weeks.”

He heard her sigh. It sounded practiced, as if she was expecting his hesitation. “Your patent needs to be filed by November, right?”

“How did you—”

“I deal in information, Ajay. I told you that already. If you want to be CEO, you need either a huge win for Bharat by securing that patent before WTA comes in and blocks you . . . or you need a backup plan. Not to sound juvenile, but that’s Corporate Maneuvers 101. I’ll have my assistant contact you next week.”