Chapter 26: Seven Minutes

Desai leaned back in his chair, swirling his drink like a proper villain.

“You might as well take the deal,” he said, as if my cooperation were already decided. “It’s the only option you have.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

Rajesh shrugged. “No doubt you have more money than any of us, but you don’t have what it takes to do what needs doing. It requires more than a lot of money to succeed in this world.” He tilted his head thoughtfully, pausing before sipping his drink. “It takes intent.”

He drank slowly, staring at me over the rim of his glass—all of it, calculated theatrics used to keep the new kid flat-footed and afraid. Once he’d swallowed, he added, “And that, I’m afraid, you have in limited supply.”

I met his gaze without saying a word—afraid anything I did might betray just how much his words rattled me. I knew my start in this world had been rocky. I’d made mistakes, but hearing Rajesh say it like this? It struck home just how much I hadn’t even been playing the wrong game—this wasn’t just checkers vs chess. Despite everything I’d been through, it felt like I was playing tic-tac-toe while everyone else was playing Grand Theft Auto.

Desai sighed and looked around the rooftop, taking in the crowd of beautiful people enjoying my party.

“You know,” he said, “maybe you should think on it. Meanwhile, I’ll just enjoy myself. Sample more of that wonderful food.” He met my gaze again, his eyes glinting with malice. The kind of look predators gave prey before the final blow. “Or maybe I’ll sample one of the lovely ladies. How about Roger’s wife? She looks like a hot piece of ass.”

The thought of Rajesh Desai touching Helen was almost enough to make me snort in contemptuous laughter. I imagined Helen would make a meal out of him, and not the way he would have preferred. Her days of being passed around like a party favor were long behind her—it had been an unspoken promise that we’d shared when I put the collar on her. She was meant for me. Period. Hell, I wasn’t sure how she would react if I told her to be intimate with Desai.

Which was something that would never happen, no matter how much this guy tried to blackmail me. The mere idea of this snake touching Helen sent a sharp, rancid chill through me.

Despite my pulse pounding in my ears, I leaned back, elbow on the armrest, chin on my palm—casually defiant.

“Yeah. She’s good,” I said. “But you’ll never know.”

Desai blinked, clearly surprised. “Won’t I?” One corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk. “Such bravado from someone who knows he’s outmatched. If you had half a brain, you’d give me what I want.”

My heart was thundering, but I kept my voice calm. “I think I’m setting a record for being misread.”

Desai chuckled. “Roger VanCamp isn’t in our league. He’s a minnow in a very large pond.”

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, and called on every high school drama class, every late-night alibi spun to a parent, and every minute spent helping Emily rehearse lines—every acting muscle I had.

“I’m not talking about VanCamp,” I said. “I’m talking about Hiro Tanaka ... about using his wife to outmaneuver him. I’m talking about embarrassing him in the board room, and then fucking his wife after the fact. You think I just stumbled into his wife’s vagina? Tanaka backstabbed me.”

The smugness on Desai’s face cracked as I walked him through the supposed brilliance of what had really been dumb luck.

“Or maybe we talk about my brother ... how I threw him out of his own house. With his own bodyguard hauling him out. All his friends saw it, in case you want to fact-check.”

I held Desai’s gaze. “Or Ryo Tanaka. He tried to kill me. Now? He’s locked in a room answering my questions.”

“I’m aware,” Rajesh said flatly.

“Did you also know Tanaka’s kid is a worm with no pain tolerance? A couple of twists and he spills everything.”

His eye twitched.

“And this is interesting—Ryo’s a streamer. Had a full setup in that cabin. He cried when my guy started deleting save files.”

I stopped myself, now that I was starting to wander into improv territory. I didn’t know if Psalter had deleted data off Ryo’s computer as a means of getting him to talk, but it sounded cool.

Rajesh’s grip on his drink tightened, just enough to make the glass tremble.

“Tanaka was grooming him to take over. Imagine the kind of shit that kid has on that machine. Stuff even my grandfather wasn’t privy to. Pair that with my grandfather’s information my team has recovered...”

“You’re lying,” Desai said coldly.

Of course I was, but I was gambling on something: that Rajesh, who’d always had power, wealth, and prestige, was even more afraid of losing it than I was. I counted on that fear to do most of the heavy lifting. I didn’t need to convince him. Just sow enough doubt to make him hesitate.

I shrugged, keeping it light. “I’m not trying to start a war with you, but I’m not going to beg, either. I’ve lost my taste for getting kicked around by you guys a long time ago. You want to start something? Fine, but we’re done here.”

“You don’t have to be offended,” Desai said, his voice affecting a lighter tone. “I was just pointing out that if something were to happen to me, information about your family and company would go public. That’s not a threat.”

I rolled my eyes. “Bullshit! You just tried to extort me for a crack at Helen!”

“I wasn’t! I was just asking for details on Roger’s wife. I thought you’d want to gloat a little.”

He reminded me of a bully who threatened one moment, but then claimed it was just a joke the moment they received pushback. However, the bluff was working, and I didn’t see the need to press the issue while I had the high ground.

“I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Boring,” he muttered, taking a drink. Then he sighed. “What about Tanaka?”

“What about him?”

“His offer.”

“Oh,” I said. “He can make it to my face. I’m not dealing with an intermediary.”

Desai scowled. “You’re asking for serious trouble.”

“Serious trouble?” I echoed, laughing darkly. “I just got back from being hunted through the woods for a week! Trouble started a long time ago.”

He stared at me, and something about his expression suggested his presence here wasn’t just a favor for the elderly Japanese man. Maybe Tanaka had leverage on him—perhaps money or some kind of promised favor. Either way, Desai had skin in the game.

“Marcus—”

“I have guests,” I said, standing. “We’re done.”

He stood too. For a second, I thought he was going to take a swing at me.

“Everything all right, sir?”

Desai and I both flinched. Somehow, we’d missed Jon stepping within four feet of us. Calm but ready, one hand lightly resting on his sternum. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought Rajesh looked on the verge of choosing violence.

“All good,” I said, eyes still on Desai. “Think you could show Rajesh the exit, Jon?”

“Yes, sir.”

Desai looked spooked. Not just embarrassed—shaken.

“You’re making a big mistake.”

“Wouldn’t be my first,” I said. “Funny, though—I’m still here.”

“I’ll expose you,” he hissed.

Seeming to win with my bluff, my confidence surged. “Fine. I’ll tell everyone about Mumbai.”

I regretted it the second it left my mouth. What the fuck did that even mean? I knew he was from Mumbai and that he conducted a lot of business there, but I didn’t have a single shred of damning evidence that he was doing anything illicit there.

He stared at me for a long, unnerving moment, expression unreadable.

“We’re not through,” he said at last.

Then he turned and walked away, tossing his glass. It shattered at his feet.

“Rude,” I muttered.

As soon as he was gone, I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, downed the last of my drink and did the same thing Desai had done—tossed my glass to the ground and watched it shatter. Thanks to the music and general milling about, no one noticed.

Truth be told, I was scared. I thought my bluff had worked on Desai, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. What if he woke up tomorrow and decided to reveal everything? What could I do? Henry was working on Ryo, but I doubted the little toad had all that much information ... his father didn’t seem to trust him. I guess Desai could confirm with Tanaka, but would he want to let Hiro know that I’d threatened him like that? While Desai had come on the old man’s behalf, I didn’t have the impression that they were close friends. Even if Desai did tell Tanaka, what were the chances that they would know for sure what Ryo knew? The younger Tanaka hadn’t proven himself to be a straight-shooter to his old man; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone off-script and tried to kill me.

There were just too many variables to know anything for sure.

Hannon’s team had the laptop from my grandpa’s office for a month, but they hadn’t reported any breakthrough with data retrieval.

My grandpa had left me with untold wealth, sure, but he’d saddled me with a bomb—a lifetime of secrets and dealings that could go off in my face ... and I was starting to wonder whether its detonation was only a matter of time.

Surely, I couldn’t be sent to prison for decisions made decades ago, but that wasn’t my only concern—everything I’d enjoyed the past month could be taken away from me.

Losing it would suck, but I’d survived for twenty-eight years without extreme wealth. I could probably get used to living a normal life again, but I wasn’t the only one I had to consider. There was Bobbi. I was basically her meal ticket now. If my money were gone, whatever happened to her was on me. I’d taken her job and altered her life. She was free of drugs, but she was hardly free.

There was Helen to consider. Would she keep her position at YVP if I lost everything? Would she stay with me? Would she still be my ‘good girl?’

I’d just taken responsibility for Phoebe and Nate. What would happen if I could no longer provide for them?