Page 137 of Since You Stole My Heart

Dhruv shrugged. ‘Dad made sure I learned how to fight through years of professional training so I could save him if he was ever in danger.’

‘You’re kidding!’ Kashvi exclaimed. ‘He genuinely thought he was important enough to get assassinated?’

Vihaan snorted. ‘I don’t think delusional even begins to cover it. He’s entitled on an entirely different dimension. But I’m thankful for it, because I got free lessons out of it after Dhruv dragged me along.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Dhruv chuckled. ‘Abhay was a very real threat to him back when he was blackmailing Siya. More than once, I’ve wondered if Abhay actually had a plan to take him out.’

‘I might have let him,’ Kashvi said bitterly. ‘Well, it’s good to know that if I ever decide I need bodyguards, I already have the two of you.’

‘Always,’ Dhruv said with a smile.

Kashvi squeezed his hand, smiling back. How had she gotten lucky enough to end up with not one, but two of these clowns in her life?

The sound of a lock clicking open drifted in from the living room, and Vihaan checked his watch. ‘That’ll be Prateek. It’s opening time already.’

The words snapped the world back into place for Kashvi, urgency threaded through her voice. ‘What time is it?’

‘Almost one,’ Vihaan called over his shoulder as he walked out.

It hit her like a jolt.

She cursed under her breath. Dhruv stepped forward and handed her the phone. ‘You left it on the table yesterday, so I kept it safe. Don’t worry, I told Siya you were busy with work and that you’d call her later.’

‘Oh thank God,’ Kashvi murmured, taking the phone. She instinctively pressed the button, only to find the screen still dark.

‘Siya sounded worried. She thought you were upset with her because she couldn’t talk to you on your birthday,’ Dhruv added.

Kashvi felt a pang of guilt at that. She sighed. ‘I’ll call her as soon as I get home.’

‘Can I say something as your big brother?’ he asked hesitantly.

Kashvi looked at him, amused. ‘You can, but I’m not promising I’ll listen.’

Dhruv held her gaze, leaving no room for her to hide. ‘I know you’re trying very hard to pretend you don’t feel anything for Swayam, and it’s hurting you a lot.’

‘That’s not...’ she trailed off, her gaze dropping to the floor. She was all out of lies.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Out of the three of us, Siya is the only one who managed to come out of our childhood with her sanity intact. Dad played with our heads, Kashu. He twisted our sense of self-perception until we only saw ourselves through his critical lens. I mean, how many of your fears, your choices, your pain trace back to our father?’

Too many to count.

Their daddy issues would have been funny if it weren’t so suffocating.

Kashvi admitted reluctantly, ‘He might not be wrong about everything, though.’

‘That’s not you talking. That’s the self-loathing garbage Dad shoved into our heads growing up,’ Dhruv corrected gently.

She shook her head, her gaze fixed on her pink toenails. ‘You wouldn’t say that if you knew... the things I’ve done.’

‘Do you mean the way you pushed Swayam away yesterday?’ he asked.

She gave a faint shrug. She wasn’t referring to that, but it was yet another weapon her guilt held against her.

He brushed away her tears. ‘Kashu, look at me. Being human means messing up. What matters is what you do after.’

‘But I don’t know if it’ll ever be enough,’ she admitted.

The words left her feeling raw.