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He laughed a full-blown laugh. It lightened the heaviness around his mouth, and made the shadows disappear from his eyes. Her chest constricted. This man…his mere presence did something to her heart. Her heart had been dead for so long. For years, she’d been unable to feel any emotion for another man.
Attraction, anger, agitation, and lust—none of these she’d remotely felt in the presence of any other man, but him. Dev. And the more she saw him with her son, she was beginning to feel another poignant emotion—happiness.
He’d returned to her life and unlocked all her emotions. It was like he was the only one who’d held the key to all her feelings. While at one time, this very thought would have been so disturbing, now she welcomed it and embraced all the emotions flowing through her. As she turned to go to her room, Avantika finally acknowledged that her reality was changing, and along with it, she was too.
22
Dev’s car entered the gates of Aaryan’s house inArabian Greens. He still couldn’t believe he’d decided to come here to the party, knowing he wouldn’t be welcomed by most of the people present. However, his sister had invited him, and Avantika was right. He needed to talk to Sanjana. This forced separation from her was too disturbing. But more than that, he once again wanted to see the joy splash on his son’s face when he saw him.
Each time Neil woke up in the morning or returned home, his eyes lit up the moment he spotted Dev inside the house. It was as if he expected him to disappear any day, and Dev wanted to erase that fear from his son’s heart and mind forever. He was never leaving his son, and if Avantika agreed to marry him, he’d never leave her as well. She had to agree. He’d convince her once he was less mad at her, that is. So far, she’d deliberately kept away from discussing his marriage proposal.
In fact,hehadn’t even thought through it when the words had popped out of his mouth. But once he’d said the words, they’d settled in his chest like a certainty. Avantika and Neil belonged by his side. It was their future—a future which would have happened years back if things hadn’t gone so drastically wrong in the past. However, as of now, he was too hurt by her to discuss the past. Eventually, though, he’d have to. Especially now that she’d seen his scars. He couldn’t hold her off any longer.
He stared at the façade of the houses in front of him. While from the outside, the four villas in front of him looked to be individual with their own gates and boundaries, it was only when one drove inside either of their gates that one could see that they were all connected by a large driveway and garden in the front. His lips tipped. So cleverly, the Rajpoots had hidden themselves from him. He’d found them, nonetheless.
A few cars were already parked in the driveway. There was a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, an Audi Q8, a Range Rover, and also a Mercedes SUV, which he now knew belonged to Avantika.
His driver stopped his Rolls in front of the villa that had all the lights on, and Dev climbed outside. He followed the sounds of the party and paused at the foyer, looking around. His eyes coasted over the tastefully done house and landed on the massive grand piano. He smiled as he remembered Aaryan’s love for the piano and the music he used to play at one time. He was glad to know that Aaryan still played. A loud laugh brought his gaze to the whole group of people gathered in front of the dining table.
A white cake lit with tall black candles was in the center of the table, around which Aaryan and Vihaan stood with Sanjana and Tiya on either side of them. Shaurya and Myra were next to the dining table, along with a little boy of four or five, who Shaurya helped balance on top of the table. Rajiv Mehra stood beside them, carrying a little girl in his arms, and his wife, Sheena, by his side. The boy with Shaurya was obviously Rajiv’s. Avantika and Neil were nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, his heart squeezed in warning. He turned, and sure enough, Avantika was walking from the direction of the kitchen with Neil by her side. He thumped his chest. The past had changed so many things, but this one thing had never changed. He was always able to sense her before she appeared in front of him. She looked so pretty dressed in a short, red, sleeveless dress, all her tattoos on display.
Neil’s excited voice made him concentrate on the scene in front of him. Neil pushed his way between Aaryan and Vihaan and held a knife up to show them. The two of them put their hands around Neil’s, and all three of them blew the candles on the cake and cut it together, while a chorus ofHappy Birthdayerupted around them.
His lips curved as Aaryan and Vihaan both fed the cake to Neil first, allowing him to feed them each. His heart soared on seeing the utter love these two men had for his son. They’d looked after him for years, and he had to accept that his son was a good kid because of their parenting, and for that, he’d always be grateful to them.
His work done, Neil disappeared from between them in the direction of a room at the side. Dev focused on Aaryan and Vihaan. Aaryan lifted a spoon to feed the cake to Vihaan, but Vihaan kept goofing around, moving away, not allowing Aaryan to feed him, much to Aaryan’s displeasure.
A knot of emotion formed in Dev’s throat on seeing them like this. He remembered so many such scenes from the past, of Vihaan teasing Aaryan until Aaryan finally got his way through. And now was just the same.
Frustrated by his twin’s antics, Aaryan grabbed Vihaan’s white t-shirt, yanked him closer and stuffed the spoon in his mouth. Everyone around them laughed. Vihaan gave Aaryan a naughty wink and fed him the cake as well. The two men hugged before Sanjana and Tiya claimed their attention. Dev’s attention narrowed on his sister. Sanjana scraped a finger across the cake’s frosting and brought it to Aaryan’s mouth. A small smile curved Aaryan’s face as he took her finger and applied the frosting to Sanjana’s lips before he swooped down and claimed her mouth in a long kiss.
Dev’s jaw dropped. Aaryan had always been quiet and intense, never showing his emotions easily. Now to see him so openly expressing his love for Sanjana was quite shocking. Dev smiled. He was genuinely happy for the two of them. The rest of the crowd came forward to wish the twins. It was a scene of complete warmth and happiness, one which he hadn’t been a part of for years. His gut twisted on seeing his old friends interact with Rajiv and Shaurya. At one time, he’d been a part of Aaryan and Vihaan’s close circle. He’d been the one they’d turned to after each other. He’d been their backbone, as they’d been his.
For years, he’d searched for them. For years, he’d ached for any news on them. Now, he wondered if he’d ever fit in with them again.
“They make a happy bunch, don’t they?” A feminine voice spoke from beside him. He’d been so engrossed in the visual in front of him that he hadn’t even noticed Sheena approaching him.
She stood in the shadows next to him, staring at the group in front of them, a smile painted on her face.
“I used to be an outsider in this group once,” she said. “Until they accepted me with all their hearts.”
He didn’t reply.
Noting his lack of response, she turned to face him fully. “You don’t talk a lot, or is it just me?”
At his silence, she said, “I won’t leave you alone till you talk, so get on with it.”
Of course, Rajiv would have married a strong-willed woman.
“I’m not sure what to say to someone whose husband thinks I am his enemy,” Dev replied. “I believe anything I say would be used against me.”
Sheena flipped her hair to one side. “Do you even remember why you are enemies in the first place?”
Dev frowned. “I don’t recall a lot except some stupid football match in high school where he fouled me deliberately, and things got out of hand.”
“Hmm…” she tapped her lips. “Rajiv thinks you fouled him, and that’s why it went so badly. That and the fact that you made Aaryan and Vihaan choose you over him.”
