“We know,” his father muttered from the other end of the room.
All eyes swung to Vikram who sat in a corner of the room, a glass of vodka in one hand. He shrugged, “I have two left feet. If a dance off was the only way to stay alive, I’d be dead and buried before they played the first note.”
“I have zero common sense,” Kanak announced, getting into the swing of things. “If I’d known better, I wouldn’t have married that one.” She pointed at Aakash who briefly looked amused.
Kanak looked at him, love lightening her features. “Come on Thakkar. Tell us your critical flaw.”
Aakash Thakkar shrugged, took a sip of his premium scotch. “What can I say? I’m perfect.”
The laughter and shouting that filled the room had Daksh fighting back a surge of emotion. Warmth flooded through him at the effort the others were making to smoothen over the awkward moment of his involuntary confession. He couldn’t remember a single time his own family had made any effort for him.
He glanced over to where Rehaan was staring into his beer like it held the secrets of the Universe. His shoulders sloped downwards, a vague sense of dejection enveloping him.
Daksh walked over and tapped his glass to Rehaan’s beer bottle to get his attention.
“I failed all the subjects and English too,” Daksh said quietly, grinning as Rehaan’s expression brightened. “Some of us are meant for more than the classroom, man.”
“And some of us don’t know our place.”
Daksh’s shoulders tightened as he turned to face Aakash. “I beg your pardon, Sir,” he said politely.
“I’m tolerating you for my daughter’s sake,” Aakash said, his voice cold as frost. “But don’t for one moment think I like you.”
“It would be hard for anyone to think you like them,” Daksh said dryly, “when you look like you want to impale them with a serrated sword.”
Rehaan’s gaze darted between the two of them. He looked equal parts fascinated and terrified.
“Academics may not have been my forte, Sir,” Daksh told Aakash now, “but I’m not stupid.”
“Then why the fuck are you still here?” Aakash bit out. “What’s your endgame?”
Daksh’s gaze went to where Vedika stood at the other end of the room, her anxious gaze on her father and him.
“I have no game,” Daksh said simply. “None that involves her or are any member of your family. Whether you believe me or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s the truth.”
Aakash’s lips tightened, his eyes sparkling with a rage that would have sent most men running for the hills.
“What do you want? Money? Connections? Revenge?” Aakash’s voice got deadly quiet, low enough for only their little group to hear.
“I already told you,” Daksh smiled, easily. Years of pissing in the face of his father’s fury held him in good stead. He wasn’t easily cowed by angry fathers.
“What?” Aakash looked briefly confused.
“The Hainan Gibbon transformation.” Daksh grinned. “Now, if you could pull that off…”
A strangled laugh escaped Rehaan even as he backed away a few feet. Daksh couldn’t blame him. It looked like Aakash Thakkar’shead was going to explode any minute now. He didn’t blame Rehaan for not wanting to get caught in the debris.
In the end, all Aakash said was, “Everyone has a price. Your brother certainly did. I’ll figure yours out eventually.”
Your daughter, Daksh wanted to tell him. Her heart, her spirit, her sweet soul…he wanted all of it. That was his price and one he knew Aakash Thakkar would never pay. Not to him.
And so, he stayed silent and did what he did best…pretended he didn’t care.
CHAPTER 35
VEDIKA
Vedika staredat the wreckage of her hotel room like it was the aftermath of someone else’s storm. Clothes lay strewn across the carpet and furniture, heels abandoned mid-step, dresses half turned inside out. In the bathroom, makeup and hair tools cluttered the counter like the debris after a small, very glamorous tornado.
