“Me?” Daksh asked surprised. “What about me?”
“How are you? Last time I checked, you were part of your family too.”
“Am I?” Daksh laughed humourlessly. “I’m more family adjacent than family.”
Kabir watched him, his perceptive gaze making Daksh feel uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat, looking around the large flat. It was done up tastefully, an understated luxury to it that still yielded centre stage to comfort. “You have a nice place here.”
“Not mine,” Kabir replied, allowing him to change the topic. “My parent’s. They’re out on date night tonight.”
“Date night?” Daksh grinned. “Seriously? Do old people still do that?”
“Call them old to their face, I dare you.” Kabir laughed. “I’ll stand by as my dad whoops your arse.”
A door slammed down the hall and a pretty, angry, teenager stormed into view. She grabbed an iPad from the console table and walked away without acknowledging either of them.
“Zara!” Kabir’s voice rose in warning. “Tani’s sleeping.”
She scowled at him but Daksh noted that when she disappeared into her bedroom, the door shut a lot more quietly.
“There goes trouble,” Daksh laughed under his breath.
Kabir groaned. “Don’t even get me started. Thanks for joining me tonight for a drink. I needed to unwind a bit.”
And he’d needed to be Vedika adjacent, Daksh thought, studying the amber liquid in his glass. Even if there was no chance she’d ever be here, in the same space as him, breathing the same air…it felt like he breathed easier knowing he was somewhere in her orbit.
“How’s your sister?” he asked now, working to keep his voice casual.
“Kimaya?” Kabir asked, taking another small sip of his beer. “She’s fine.”
Daksh looked up from his drink, noted Kabir’s shit stirring grin and glowered. “Fuck you man. You’re ruining our friendship before it even gets started.”
Kabir chuckled. “Just wanted to see if you’d pull your head out of your arse long enough to say it.”
“Say what?” Daksh put his glass down so he didn’t give in to the urge to throw it.
“That there is something between Vedu and you.”
Something. A nameless, faceless something. But itwassomething.
“Something that shouldn’t be there,” Daksh said quietly, meeting Kabir’s understanding gaze.
“We can’t control how we feel,” Kabir said now.
“But we can control what we do about it,” Daksh returned. Before he could say anything else, Kabir’s phone rang.
“I should get this,” he said, excusing himself from their conversation and stepping to a corner of the room. “Kim, what’s up?”
A second later, his shoulders tensed, his smile slipping away. “I’m on my way,” he said tersely.
“What’s wrong?” Daksh was on his feet in an instant.
“The girls need a pick up.” The worried look on Kabir’s face didn’t go away even as they made their way out of the house.
The girls…Daksh’s stomach did a weird dip. “Vedika is there too?” he asked and Kabir nodded as they stepped into the basement parking and walked towards a Mercedes sedan.
“The last time I had to pick up my siblings,” Kabir said, stalking over to the car, “it was from a police station.”
Fuck, Daksh thought. But out loud, all he said was, “I’ll drive.”
