I waited for one of the household staff who milled about the kitchen to interject, “Miss Joshi, it is just your overactive imagination. No one is watching you.” But they all remained quiet while discreetly passing glances at one another.
As with the staff of every affluent family, they knew every sordid detail of their employers and were well-versed in keeping quiet. Some out of loyalty to the family they served, and others out of fear, as in the case of Shah’s staff. I had a feeling the Joshi household ran things in a similar fashion.
“Maybe you can show me around later and point out where you think the eyes are,” I suggested, releasing her from the hug. “But first, I need coffee.”
I’d only had a handful of interactions with Mia, and each time, I noticed she only showed affection when she felt safe. She rarely hugged me, and it was only if her father or his friends weren’t around.
The fact she felt anything but protected under her father’s roof said Arun Joshi deserved every fucking thing we had planned for him
“They aren’t ready to bring up breakfast yet. So I usually grab something from the pantry.” Mia pointed to her bowl of cereal on the long farmhouse table in the back of the kitchen.
“I’ve got it. Everyone is used to my early-morning coffee runs.”
Mia took her seat on the bench by her food and watched me as if she expected me to tell the staff to serve me.
If she only knew. I’d grown up in a boarding school where my teachers taught me all the rules of polite society but never once served us anything.
Then I’d gone straight into Solon life. No one gave two shits if I was a pauper or the notorious New York Queen of Diamonds. The only things that mattered were whether I completed my assignment and accomplished my set goals.
I could go from one day trekking through the middle of a jungle to sitting with a prince at a European banquet where the food most likely was poisoned. If I wanted to eat and ensure its safety, I had to get it myself.
Walking over to the staff breakfast nook, I filled a coffee cup, chugged down the contents, refilled my mug, and then took a spot next to Mia at the table.
Mia sat quietly for a few moments, pushing the contents in her bowl around with her spoon, then whispered, “When you marry Neil, don’t live here. There are reasons why Mummy and I stay away.”
All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I leaned closer to her and responded in the same hushed tone. “What do you mean?”
“Things happen here.” Her gaze shifted, and her back straightened as a noise came from the hallway outside the kitchen, and then she lifted her spoon to her mouth.
Within the next ten seconds, Arun Joshi walked in. He came to an abrupt stop as he spotted me.
He wore slacks and a knit sweater, and his gray hair clung damp to his scalp, telling me he’d just showered. This casual side of him should have made him seem more approachable, except it only gave me the vibe this side was the actual predator, not the man who wore the suit.
“Why are you eating here? You should have called up, and they would serve you as is your station,”Arun Joshi said in Gujarati.
I almost heard Danika’s voice in my head, saying, “Station? What station, asshole? Gas Station, radio station. Fuck off with your station.”
“I’m happy here. Eating here allows me to get to know the staff. And I have had the amazing company of your beautiful daughter.”
“Ah yes, my daughter.”Joshi studied Mia with so much disdain it made me want to take her into my arms and shelter her from his hatred.
What could a thirteen-year-old child have done to garner such a reaction from her father?
After he finished his angry perusal of his daughter, Joshi shook his head and said,“Eating with servants is something you should get used to. You and your whore of a mother deserve nothing less.”
That had escalated quickly, and I’d barely taken a sip of my second cup of coffee.
Fuck.
Time to reevaluate my handling of this case. I’d heard too many similar things from my uncles in my youth.
Father or not, Joshi wouldn’t treat his daughter like crap in my presence.
Sorry, Neil, I’m about to make toast out of Daddy Dearest.
Before I could give Joshi a piece of my mind, Mia jumped up from her seat, rage and hatred on full display for her father.