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“Sorry, I got stuck at work.”
“Don’t be busy tomorrow. You have to take me to the soccer academy in the evening, remember?”
“Uh, actually your mom’s taking you.”
“She is?” Neil asked.
“I am?” Avantika checked.
“Why? Soccer is our thing,” Neil insisted. “Yours and mine. I like it when you come watch me play and give me tips.”
Ever since Neil was born, Vihaan and Aaryan had both taken over the role of father figure for him. After Shaurya had come along, he had stepped in too. While Aaryan and Shaurya helped Neil with his studies, sports was Vihaan’s area. Vihaan took him to his football and tennis classes, and he also took him skiing atSnow Worldin Dubai. They were all doing their best to bring him up in the best way possible and to provide him with a stable environment.
“I know,” Vihaan grimaced. “But tomorrow, I can’t make it. In fact, your mom will take you for a few days now.”
Avi’s eyes rounded. “Few days?”
Vihaan nodded. He mouthedlaterto his sister.
Understanding him, Avi said, “Neil, why don’t you head downstairs to our home and finish your school work? I’ll come in an hour and kiss you goodnight.”
“I’ve finished my homework,” Neil grumbled.
Vihaan ruffled his hair. “Have you done it all?”
“I believe your chemistry project is due on Monday,” Shaurya said. He was seated on the sofa with Myra. They’d arrived straight fromKomobaywhile Vihaan had taken a few minutes to go to his own home and freshen up before meeting his family.
“Yes, it is,” Neil said. “Fine. I’ll be downstairs in my room.”
“Okay, give me a hug before you leave,” Avi said.
Vihaan watched his sister and her son. The two of them were the reason he would stand like a wall in front of Dev Luthra. Like his brothers, Vihaan would do anything, give up anything, to keep Avantika and Neil safe and away from that man. There was no other option.
“Vihaan, are you really fine, though?” Aaryan asked, once Neil had left. “For years, I’ve worried how you would react when you came face to face with him. I’ve always feared you’d end him the moment you saw him, no matter you’d promised Avi you wouldn’t. How does he still stand then?”
His twin was the other half of his soul. Aaryan understood him better than any other person, and he’d always suspected the violence that raged inside Vihaan with regards to Dev Luthra. Vihaan himself had underestimated it. Had it not been for Tiya, he would’ve acted on all that pent-up rage. But he hadn’t. She’d saved from him destroying Dev and thus himself in the process.
Vihaan sighed. “The impulse to kill him roared inside me the minute I laid eyes on him, but I…controlled it.”
“Thank God for that,” Aaryan murmured. Approaching Vihaan, he put a hand on his shoulder. “Just promise me right here, right now, that if you ever come face to face with Luthra again, you won’t kill him.”
“You’ve already pledged it once to me,” Avi added. “I want to hear you say it again, Vihaan.”
“I promise, I won’t kill him,” Vihaan said.
Luckily, neither Aaryan nor Avi probed more, and for the first time, Vihaan didn’t want to tell his twin about Tiya and how she’d helped him. What they’d shared had been special. She’d understood him in that moment and for some bizarre reason, Vihaan wanted to keep that knowledge to himself. She was…special.
Even thinking about her caused his chest to jolt.
Tiya—naughty, smiling, and cheeky. Her face, as she’d come apart in his arms, came to his mind and his heart lurched. Oh God! What had he been thinking? They’d gone too damn far.
Avi punched his chest, distracting him. “A few months ago, Shaurya decided on his own to go facehim. And now you did it too? Is Aaryan going to be next? Are we taking unilateral decisions in this family now? Am I to constantly worry about my brothers and what they’re planning to do next? Do I not have a say in any of this?”
Vihaan gave her a warm look. “Of course, you have a say.”
“You will always have a say,” Aaryan added, before facing Vihaan. “Why you did you do it, Vihaan? I assume you knew there’d be a possibility of him attending that function. Yet you went there. Why?”
“Because I wanted him to back off from Shaurya and Myra.”
