Page 78 of Yes Boss
“Information,” he repeated, incredulous.
“How you handle stress. Whether your public persona matches private behavior. If you respect boundaries.” Her voice softened. “What I didn’t account for was actually falling for you.”
The admission hung in the air.
Behind them, both mothers exchanged delighted glances. Vikram made a gagging sound.
“For my wealth?” Raghav challenged.
“I have wealth,” she reminded him. “No. I fell for your discipline. Your loyalty. The way you protect what’s yours.” Her eyes held his. “The man who stayed all night on the Jakarta proposal because jobs were at stake. The CEO who memorized every manufacturing employee’s name. The boss who quietly paid for Ansh’s mother’s surgery.”
Raghav stared at her, stunned.
She’d seen everything. Not just his flaws, but moments he thought private. Choices made when no power or profit was at stake.
She’d chosen him not despite knowing the real him, but because of it. Something shifted in his chest.
“I’d like a moment alone with Ishani,” he said, voice controlled but tight. He didn’t look away from her face as he addressed the room. “With your permission.”
Both sets of parents exchanged knowing glances. Gayatri’s smile widened as she rose to her feet. “Of course. The study is just through that door.” She gestured to a heavy wooden door off the main drawing room. “We’ll continue our tea. Take all the time you need.”
Pushkar cleared his throat. “Within reason,” he amended, though his eyes crinkled with amusement.
Raghav didn’t wait for further permission. His hand shifted to the small of Ishani’s back as he guided her toward the study. He felt the eyes of both families on them as they crossed the room. He didn’t care.
He needed to be alone with her. Needed to understand exactly what game they’d been playing and which rules still applied now that all masks had fallen away.
As the heavy door closed behind them, the last thing he heard was Vikram’s gleeful voice, “Ten bucks says he comes out with lipstick on his collar.”
Chapter 21
The door clicked shut. Raghav twisted the lock with decisive fingers. The sound—small, metallic, final—changed everything.
When he turned back to Ishani, the shocked heir was gone. In his place stood the man she’d watched for months through glass walls. The predator. The CEO.
His eyes fixed on her with an intensity that made the air thin.
“Don’t move,” he said, voice low.
Ishani stayed still, back against the mahogany wall. She didn’t look afraid. She looked alert, tracking every shift in his expression as he approached.
One step. Two. Three.
He moved with deliberate slowness. When he reached her, he planted his palms flat against the wall on either side of her head, caging her between his arms. Close enough for her to feel his heat. To catch his scent—rain and sandalwood and barely leashed emotion.
“Was it fun?” he asked, voice dangerously soft. “Making a fool of me all these months?”
Tension visible in every line of his body. Still, he didn’t touch her.
The restraint itself felt like a threat. Or a promise.
“I wasn’t making a fool of you,” Ishani replied, voice steady despite her racing pulse. “I was doing my research.”
“Research.” He practically spat the word. “Is that what you call it? Sitting across from me every day, watching me want you, fight it, hate myself for it—all while knowing exactly why you were there?”
His eyes dropped to her mouth, then lower, to where silk draped across her collarbone. The sight made something in him coil tight.
“You knew,” he continued, voice rougher. “Every time I closed those blinds. Every time I found excuses to keep you late. Every time I touched you. You knew.”
