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Rajan leaned against the counter and sipped a mango lassi, trying to cool down from helping sous chef in Sanyam's hot kitchen. It had been quite the eventful day, an attempted robbery that was quickly thwarted by Wolfgang threatening to chase the man across Mumbai—and possibly to the ends of the earth—only for Sanyam to trip him to save everyone the trouble. And the heatstroke.
To say Wolfgang was disappointed to miss out on hunting a new nemesis was an understatement, but Sanyam more than made up for it by calling him son. Still, the promise of violence brought out Wolfgang's feral side, which Rajan only further provoked by slapping him on the ass and claiming dominance over their father-in-law's affection because he was asked to help in the kitchen. If Rajan's conservative mother hadn't also been helping in the kitchen, Rajan might've been pounced on right then and there.
Instead, he felt Wolfgang's eyes on him the entire time he was chopping vegetables with a sense of impending doom. Kala remained at Wolfgang's side, the two of them silently conspiring against him and no doubt planning revenge. And now they approached, holding hands and grinning. Rajan gulped down his drink. "Uh oh."
"The chase is on," Kala said.
"You're the prey."
It was suddenly much warmer in the restaurant. Sanyam and Priya returned to the stove and minded their own business, while Daya and Auntie very much pretended to. Felix just laughed at his expense. Thankfully Rajan's mother had already gone home and wasn't there to witness her son reduced to a trembling mess before the chaos of his partners.
But someone had to be the sane one in their relationship and it seemed it was his turn. Again. "It's very hot out." It was very hot in as well. "The sun is—"
"I have sunscreen." Kala smiled.
"He's not on blockers," Rajan tried. Those were the main contributing factors for Sanyam to prevent Wolfgang from running out into the middle of Mumbai, unshielded from UV rays and the invasive eyes of other potential sensates.
"She has blockers," Wolfgang added.
"I'm not exactly dressed for it." Straight from work in shirtsleeves and slacks to the crisis that had already been handled by the time they arrived. Not that Wolfgang was dressed for it either, in his perpetual black and boots.
Wolfgang's pupils were dilated like a cat about to strike. "You should've thought of that before you challenged me."
Rajan whimpered. "So…am I actually supposed to run?" He was in better shape than he'd been prior to bringing Wolfgang to Mumbai, but that wasn't saying much as someone who spent his days behind a desk.
"Unless you want me to catch you."
He very much wanted Wolfgang to catch him, but at the same time that look on his face was extremely intimidating. "What happens if—when—you do?"
"Something that will get us both arrested."
Kala swallowed hard, then daintily huffed out a breath. Rajan handed her his drink before remembering it was empty. She and Wolfgang shared a knowing look.
"Daya, upstairs!" Auntie said, then grabbed her niece's arm and led the way. Felix laughed harder.
"I'll give you a head start."
"How…how much of a head start?"
He grinned and popped a blocker in his mouth, swallowing it dry. "As long as it takes for this to kick in."
Kala handed Rajan the sunblock. "You should put some on too."
Rajan hurriedly did as he was told to the best of his ability considering how much he was already sweating. Wolfgang started stretching, maintaining hard eye contact. There was no actual danger, and no one was really getting arrested…Rajan hoped. But somehow this was more stressful than taking over his father's company.
Sanyam came over carrying the Union Berlin hat Wolfgang had bought him to watch football matches together, removing any question over who was his favorite son-in-law as he tenderly placed it on Wolfgang's head. "Good luck, Rajan."
"Thank you, papaji."
"Thanks. Dad." Wolfgang smiled sweetly and leaned his sun-protected blond head on Sanyam's shoulder. "Rajan. Run."
"Oh God!" He gave Kala back the sunblock and briefly turned to Felix for help but Felix just shrugged and shook his head.
The last time Rajan ran, it was to save Kala's life. He barely remembered doing it, just that his wife was dying and a taser was not a gun and he had to do something. Before then, it was probably back in his university days to avoid being late for class. Never did he imagine he'd be running from a barely domesticated German former criminal because he dared to challenge him over the love of their wife's father. In thirty degrees Celsius with high humidity.
He made it to the end of the block before he had to stop to catch his breath, the throngs of Mumbai providing an unexpected respite since he could only push so fast against the tide of people.
Daring to look back, he caught sight of Wolfgang standing outside the restaurant. Just standing there. Watching him. "Why are you so scary?" he panted and started moving again.
Wolfgang was thankfully easy to spot in the crowd as the chase officially began, but his lack of camouflage amongst the generally more colorful clothing of the natives only made him that much more threatening. While Rajan desperately pressed forward, bumping shoulders and muttering apologies, Wolfgang's singular focus and intense demeanor caused the waves to part for him. He didn't even have to run.
This man had been kidnapped and tortured. His horrific childhood notwithstanding, why would anyone piss him off on purpose? Rajan had invited Wolfgang into his bed and they were only playing a game and he still wasn't sure whether he was more turned on or terrified.
Either way, Rajan was prepared to face his fear because his heart might explode if he didn't.
Collapsing into a chair under an umbrella at an outdoor cafe, he laughed as he fanned himself with a laminated menu. Hopefully Wolfgang hadn't given all his cash to Sanyam for his robbery-interrupted lunch because somewhere along the way Rajan had been pickpocketed. Between the two of them, they'd lost a great deal of money that day.
Wolfgang was only a minute behind, his smile genuine and gleeful as he approached. They were both dripping with sweat, their breathing heavy but in unison like it so often ended up when they were in bed together. He leaned over him as if he had any interest in the menu, the bill of his hat providing cover while he dragged his teeth across the side of Rajan's neck, giving him a much appreciated chill. Then he tossed Rajan's missing wallet on the table and sat down.
Rajan didn't even ask how or when that had happened. He rubbed the goosebumps Wolfgang's teeth had raised on his arms. "Are we going to prison?"
"Not prison. Jail."
They both laughed, and Rajan flagged down the waiter to bring some water. "You know, I keep going back and forth between which one of you is crazier."
"Kala," he said without missing a beat.
Rajan gave him a skeptical look, the two of them—hunter and prey—waiting for bottled water.
"You didn't see her shoot a gas tank. Or nearly light me on fire with champagne."
What Rajan wouldn't give to have seen that. And there was plenty of other insanity he'd missed. "Or use a rocket launcher in the middle of Berlin? Or the middle of Naples?"
Removing the hat to fan himself, Wolfgang shrugged.
Sanyam had possibly been happier to receive that hat as a gift for a holiday he didn't even celebrate than he'd been to grant Rajan permission to marry his daughter. "You are absolutely Sanyam's favorite."
"I am," he said proudly, resplendent in his victory over both the competition and the hunt.
Rajan took a moment to just admire him, this lunatic who'd gone one-man army against his family and BPO alike, relishing in love he'd once doubted he'd ever receive. "You called him Dad."
Wolfgang's cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pink, this time having nothing to do with the temperature outside. "That was Kala."
Rajan raised his eyebrows. "Uh huh."
He sneered over the legitimate accusations of sentimentality, refusing to give himself the slightest bit of credit for how far he'd come. Wolfgang had truly believed himself to be unlovable, rather than a welcome stray that would show up at your door and murder all your problems. "Und?"
"Und it was adorable. Und I've learned my lesson." He took the cash out of his wallet and handed it to Wolfgang, then put the wallet away. "I will not challenge your son-in-law supremacy again."
"That's unfortunate." Wolfgang slapped the cash on the table for the missing waiter. "I was really into this."
"Me too!" Rajan exclaimed. And here he was just starting to cool down. Where was their waiter? "Maybe I should start using that treadmill I bought you." They'd turned what would've been the perfect room for a nursery into a home gym for Wolfgang, with weights and a punching bag and would've constructed a climbing wall but Kala—and the building manager—said no. Rajan had bought the most expensive treadmill in existence in anticipation of the monsoon season, only to discover Wolfgang would enthusiastically run in a torrential downpour. Another point for him on the insanity scale. "Make it a little more challenging for you next time."
"Don't do that. I might have to quit smoking."
"If Kala gets wind of that she'll make us both run," he laughed. But if there was one thing he enjoyed more than Wolfgang getting aggressive with him, it was when Kala did. And he didn't need to share a psychic connection with Wolfgang to know he was thinking the same thing.
The waiter finally made his presence known and barely got out of the way in time to avoid getting splashed when Wolfgang swallowed a sip and poured the rest of his bottle over his head. God he was ridiculously hot. Rajan gulped down his own bottle. His poor feet in the wrong shoes for being chased weren't the only part of his body beginning to swell. "Now that you've had your fun, can I call the car to come pick us up so we can go home and get in the pool?"
It wasn't like Wolfgang could get much wetter, and his eyes lit up again the way they did when he was being challenged. He set his empty bottle on top of the money, and put Sanyam's hat back on. He smiled. "You can run."