“Okay,” Bikram interjected. “Let’s all calm down.”
“I will not.” Andrés threw his napkin on top of his plate. “I have given you everything you could have ever wanted. Every advantage. A company, land, business. And you have done nothing but throw it away, time and again.”
“Andrés,” Daisy implored. “Enough.”
His grandfather shot to his feet. “Don’t come to the parade. Embarrass me in front of everyone. But understand this: if you are not there, I will consider it a sign that you do not wish to be a part of this family.”
Chapter Nineteen
AFTERANDRÉS STORMEDoff, Daisy corralled Katrina into the kitchen with the excuse of showing her some cookware she’d just bought. Jas suspected it was a ruse so he and his brother could be alone.
So it was no surprise when Bikram came outside, to where he was leaning against the car. His brother had always come to console him after a fight and plead their grandfather’s case.
Bikram’s words were blunt when he sidled up next to Jas. “You have to come to this ceremony.”
Jas rolled his lips in. “I can’t.”
“Listen, I know he’s stubborn, and you two are like hissing cats the second you get in the same room together.” Bikram leaned against the car as well. “Which I don’t get at all. Grandpa’s so easygoing with me and the staff and everyone else, and you keep your cool with everyone but him. Why can’t you two chill with each other? This has been going on for as long as I’ve been alive.”
Jas grunted. Their sniping had been going on for as long asJaswas alive. “You’re more his grandson than I’ll ever be.”
“Ah, but that’s not true, is it?” Bikram squinted at the trees that surrounded the paved driveway. “I’m not his grandsonby blood. You are.”
Jas’s teeth almost cracked, he ground them so hard. There was no bitterness in Bikram’s tone—he was merely stating a fact. Grandpa adored Bikram, he mentored him, loved that the younger man appreciated the land as much as he did.
But Jas was the one who was supposed to have been the heir apparent to the peach throne. He was the one who had chosen to enlist, and, in doing so, betrayed their great peach legacy.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Bikram knocked his shoulder against Jas’s. “I’m fine with not being the heir. Relax.”
“Easier said than done,” he muttered.
Bikram sighed. “I’m scared he means what he says, Jas. That was harsh. Come to the parade.”
He rubbed his hand over his chest. It ached at the thought of his grandfather considering them to no longer be family. “I can’t come.”
“I don’t get this at all.” Bikram’s frustration was evident. “You were so willing to smooth things over with me when I was cranky with you. Why not him?”
Jas lowered his head. Because he didn’t know how to tell his grandfather why he couldn’t come to the big, noisy, crowded event. The words were there in his head, he simply didn’t know how to force them past his lips.
Bikram pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and offered it to Jas.
“Telling me my breath stinks?” Jas tried, a rough attempt at a joke.
“Nah, it’s not too bad, but it could be better. Especially if you find yourself in close quarters with someone you want to kiss.”
Jas froze.
That was his mistake.
Like a predator scenting prey, Bikram faced him. “Oh my God. You kissed someone.”
“I did not.”
“Who?”
“No one.” Too quick, damn it. He had answered too quick!
His brother nearly bounced on his toes. “It was Katrina, right? I knew she wasn’t just a client!”
