“If you mention that fucking ape again, Iwillmurder you,” Aakash snapped.
Daksh grinned, the pain inside him sharpening to a knife’s edge. “What do you know, Sir?”
“I know Prasun Mathur isn’t your father.”
Daksh froze, his foggy, alcohol sodden brain slowly churning over the innumerable facets to that statement. His entire life, wrapped in secrets, summed up in one line.
“Wow,” he said finally. “When you go digging, you go deep.”
A faint smile touched Aakash’s face. “I don’t pick up a shovel unless it’s necessary. So may as well make it worthwhile.”
When Daksh finally spoke, all he said was, “My mother doesn’t deserve to be collateral damage in all this.”
“And she won’t be,” Aakash replied. “I don’t go after the helpless.”
“What do you want? Whatever your price for keeping this quiet, I’ll pay it.” He would have paid it anyway, for Vedika, for every tear she’d shed on his behalf.
“I know what your father did to you,” Aakash said quietly. “I think you’ve paid enough, son.”
Son. The words made Daksh’s eyes sting. He blinked them back. Had anyone called him that before this moment?
“What do you want from me, Sir?”
“I want you to cancel your ticket,” Aakash replied. “It’s time to stop running, Daksh.”
CHAPTER 43
VEDIKA
Pa,are you back?
Vedika gnawed on her lower lip as she stared at the message she’d sent her father. A message he hadn’t even seen as yet. She’d tried calling him and the call had gone to voicemail. She’d called her mother but she’d been in a meeting which left Vedika restlessly pacing her room as her cousins debated world affairs like seasoned politicians while casting, concerned, sideways glances at her.
Her heart started an anxious thrumming echoed by a familiar twisting in her stomach. Combined with her sleepless night, she was starting to feel lightheaded. Another knock sounded on her bedroom door and one of their helpers came in to say someone was waiting to meet her.
“Me?” she asked, thoroughly confused. She’d called in sick from work today and none of her friends had mentioned coming over.
“I’ll come with you,” Vikram said, getting up from where he was sitting on the beanbag in the corner.
“Who could it be?” she asked.
He shrugged. “We won’t know until we go and see.”
Was it Daksh? A different thrumming took up residence in the pit of her stomach as she walked down the two flights of stairs with her brother. Vikram didn’t say anything but she could sense his tension ratcheting up in response to her own.
But when they finally entered the formal living room, it wasn’t Daksh waiting for them. It was Ashish. Disappointment had Vedika’s stomach plummeting even as her brother muttered a curse.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Vikram asked.
“I’d just like a few moments with Vedika,” Ashish said quietly. He looked at her, met her gaze and added, “Please?”
He looked like shit, she thought dispassionately. His hair looked greasy and unwashed, his clothes rumpled and grimy. In all the time they’d been together, Ashish had never turned up looking anything short of immaculate. For some reason, knowing he suffered did nothing for her. All she felt in this moment, buried under the acute disappointment of knowing Daksh hadn’t come was exhaustion.
She felt Vikram shift beside her and caught his sleeve with her hand. “I’ll talk to him,” she said. “Give us a moment.”
Vikram searched her face and seemingly happy with whatever he saw, he nodded. “I’ll wait outside,” he said, giving Ashish one last glare before walking out.
Vedika took her seat opposite Ashish and waited for him to take his. He did, perching uncomfortably on the edge of the chair.
