The Billionaire's Game(75)

“Yep. I would have hounded you until you said yes. I never give up.”

She smiled at him, her love shining from her eyes. Kade’s tenacity was one of the things she loved about him, and she was pretty sure he would have done just that.

He lifted himself off her and slid out of bed, coming back with a velvet box. He sat naked on the side of the bed and flipped the lid open. “You deserve a real proposal with flowers, candlelight, and a romantic dinner. And I’ll give you all of that. But for now, could you just say you’ll marry me one more time?”

Asha gaped at the ring in the box, the gems nestled in the gold nearly blinding her.

“I looked at plain solitaires, but they weren’t you. I know you like color, so I decided on this.” Kade pulled the ring from the box and reached for her hand.

Asha’s hand trembled as Kade pushed the ring over her finger. It was so incredible that she was speechless. The middle was a huge diamond, but the surrounding stones were a perfusion of color, each one a different hue. “I’m Indian. My love for color is in my genes,” she replied with a tremulous voice. “It’s beautiful.”

“When did you get these?” Kade fingered the thin, gold bangles on her wrist.

Asha explained how she’d always wanted bangles but had never been allowed to wear any. “So it was my one indulgence,” she explained, her finger still moving over her engagement ring in awe. “Bangles are important to an Indian woman.”

“I’ll get you a new one to add to your collection every week,” Kade told her huskily. “You’ll never want for anything again, Asha. I swear.”

Asha looked up from her ring and her eyes met Kade’s. How lucky could a woman possibly be? He was everything she’d ever wanted and more. She’d gone from a lonely victim of domestic violence to the fiancée of a man who would do anything not to hurt her. Kade would give her everything she wanted, but she saw everything she needed reflected in his gaze.

“I don’t want for a thing anymore,” she answered honestly.

Asha wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, proving to him without words that his love would always be more than enough.





“I think what Devi was trying to make me understand is that what happened with Ravi went beyond culture,” Asha told Maddie as they sat at Maddie’s kitchen table talking one morning. It had been two weeks since Kade had asked her to marry him, and she still rubbed her ring every few minutes, unable to believe she was actually going to marry a man like Kade Harrison.

Asha took a sip of her chai latte, while Maddie drank lemonade. Maddie looked across at Asha, answering, “You do understand that, don’t you? Your foster parents and Ravi both had issues that went deeper than culture. And Ravi had a drinking problem.”

Asha paused as she absorbed what Maddie had just said, and then continued, nodding. “Kade’s taking me to India. I want to learn more about my father’s country firsthand so I can contribute to the foundation and help out there, too. I know that India has gender inequality and a very high rate of domestic violence and that there are laws to protect women, but they’re rarely enforced. I think some women just accept it as their lot in life. That many years of brainwashing is going to be hard to overcome, but I know it can be done.”

“It’s because they don’t know anything different,” Maddie injected softly. “I see a little of the same mentality here in the United States, too, in domestic abuse issues. Too many women accept it because their self-esteem has been undermined and manipulated by the man or men in their life. Unfortunately, it’s more the norm and more common in India than it is here in the US.”

Asha’s enthusiasm for her newfound cause was evident. “I think the younger generation is starting to move for gender equality, but there’s still a long way to go. Devi does some work over there to help women fighting for equality and I want to be part of it. There are also some beautiful things I’d like to see in my father’s country.”

“I think your dad would be proud that you want to continue his legacy,” Maddie said gently.

Asha nodded. “I think so, too. But it’s not just for him. It’s for me, too. I know what it’s like to be held back and punished just because I was born female. I’m lucky enough to be free of that now. I’m still a work in progress when it comes to getting rid of my old baggage, but I’m working on it.”

“And Kade?” Maddie prompted.

“Is so incredibly supportive that he makes me cry almost daily.” Asha finished her sister’s thought with a smile.