“I’m serious.”
“So am I,” Sanjay said.
She walked toward her brother and held out her hand.
Sanjay looked down at it.
“What?”
“Come.”
“Where?”
“Bedroom.”
His eyebrows shot upward.
“Absolutely not.”
Puja rolled her eyes.
“To talk, idiot.”
Raja nearly fell sideways laughing.
Sanjay glared at both of them.
“Nobody finds this funny.”
Everyone did.
Puja caught his wrist and pulled him a few steps toward the bedroom.
“Come on. All four of us need to decide what happens next.”
This time Sanjay followed.
Not because the strange plan from the night was continuing.
It wasn’t.
That plan was dead.
Inside the bedroom, Puja sat at the edge of the bed while the three men remained scattered around the room—Raja against the wardrobe, Vivek in the chair and Sanjay deliberately near the door.
Puja looked at them.
“New rules.”
Raja sighed. “Of course there are rules.”
“Rule one: nobody touches anybody unless they clearly want it.”
Vivek nodded.
“Rule two: nobody is doing anything because thirty thousand has already been paid.”
Another nod.
“Rule three…”
She looked directly at Sanjay.
“…my brother remains my brother.”
Sanjay raised both hands.
“That was never under negotiation.”
“Good.”
She turned toward Raja and Vivek.
“And rule four: tonight does not become some ridiculous story you tell your friends.”
Their expressions sobered.
Raja nodded first.
“Agreed.”
Vivek followed.
“Agreed.”
Puja relaxed.
For the first time since she had walked through the apartment door, the room felt less like the setting for something dangerous and more like four people finally establishing boundaries they should have discussed hours earlier.
Whatever happened next, the fantasy from the previous night was gone.
And perhaps that was for the best.
They were all still in jeans and T-shirts when it started.
Puja sat on the edge of the bed in a plain white tee that clung when she breathed and dark jeans that sat low on her hips. Raja and Vivek stood in front of her like they had forgotten how doors worked. Sanjay stayed a step back, arms folded, watching as if watching was safer than wanting.
Puja looked past the two in front of her and found Sanjay’s eyes.
“Still thinking, Bhaiya?”
He exhaled through his nose.
“Somebody has to.”
Raja leaned in first.
He kissed her.
Not polite. Mouth open, hand at the side of her neck, tasting her like he had been waiting the entire chapter for permission. Puja made a small sound and kissed him back. Vivek took her jaw and turned her face the moment Raja broke for air. Vivek kissed slower, deeper, lingering on her lower lip until she smiled into it.
Sanjay did not move.
Puja pulled off Vivek’s mouth and looked at him over Raja’s shoulder.
“You can watch, Bhaiya. You like watching.”
Raja laughed against her throat. Vivek’s hands were already under her T-shirt, palms sliding up her ribs. Puja lifted her arms. The shirt came off. Black bra. Simple. Raja’s mouth went to the strap. Vivek unhooked it from behind. Her breasts spilled into his hands and he made a noise he tried to swallow.
Sanjay’s jaw tightened.
Puja watched him while Vivek sucked her nipple into his mouth.
