Chapter 29 Kabir
KABIR
Karam was waiting for them on the front steps of Il Cuore, arms crossed over his chest, flinty gaze trained on their vehicle.
“Took you long enough to get here,” he said when they got out of the car and walked up to where he stood. His gaze roved over Tani, every muscle in his body relaxing once he verified for himself that she was unhurt.
Kabir stood to the side, silently, letting father and daughter have their moment.
“Dad, I’m sorry.” The words left her in an uncontrolled rush. “It was my fault. I was the one who organised everything and-“
“You were always a bad liar,” Karam replied. “Get inside.”
“I’m not lying, Dad!” she protested.
“I said, get inside.” The cold snap in his voice had even Kabir flinching.
Tears sprang up in Tani’s eyes but she blinked them back. “I’m not a child,” she said. “You don’t get to treat me like one.”
“You are my child,” Karam said, steely voiced. “And I will always look out for you. Now, get inside.”
“Dad-“
“Get the fuck inside!” The roar had Kabir taking a reflexive step forward but Karam halted him with a single look.
When Tani didn’t move, didn’t wipe her tears, didn’t look away, didn’t breathe, Karam exhaled hard and walked over to where she stood.
His steps were slow, heavy with a father’s disappointment and his love.
He stopped right in front of her, close enough that she had no choice but to feel the weight of his presence.
“You come home,” he began quietly, “and you announce you’re getting married.”
Her chin trembled. He didn’t let up.
“I say okay,” he continued, “because that’s what you claim makes you happy.” There was no accusation in his voice, just pain, confusion, and helplessness.
“You tell us you’re leaving New York. Moving back home.” He huffed a short, cracked laugh.
“And we’re thrilled for you even though it makes absolutely no sense to us, having raised a daughter who spoke of nothing but conquering Wall Street the day she graduated college.
At least, we’ll get to see our daughter more often.
She’ll be closer to us. But we didn’t know a stranger was coming home from New York. ”
Tani squeezed her eyes shut.
He wasn’t finished.
“You say you’re starting a new business,” he went on, voice tightening. “We’re so excited for you. We want to support you. But Tani… we see no sign of anything that needs support.”
He lifted a hand, counting each point off on his fingers, each one cutting a little deeper.
“No business plans. No investor meetings. No property viewings. No hiring. Nothing.”
She flinched with each blow.
“And then you ask for investment.” His eyes softened with something close to heartbreak.
“Again, we say yes. We set up a meeting. We clear our schedules. And then-”
He shook his head, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “You don’t show up.”
Tani’s breath hitched.
“And I find empty vodka bottles rolling out from under your bed,” he said quietly. “My daughter who hasn’t touched anything stronger than champagne at New Year’s is hiding bottles under her bed like a delinquent teenager.”
His voice cracked then. Just a little. Just enough for her to feel it in her bones.
“And still,” he whispered, “I say nothing.” He stepped closer, the gentleness in his face suddenly overwhelming. “Because your mother and I are trying so hard, so damn hard, to be supportive.”
His hand came up, rough and warm, curling beneath her chin. He tilted her face toward him, forcing her tear-filled eyes to meet his. “Of you, Tani.” His thumb brushed a tear from her cheek. “Always of you.”
“Chachu-“
Karam holds a hand up and Kabir’s automatic defence of her dries up.
“But that ends now, Tani.”
His voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to. The quiet firmness in it made her stomach drop.
“Being a good father doesn’t just mean standing by you,” he went on, every word steady and deliberate. “It means knowing when to step in, when to pull you back. When to knock some goddamn sense into you because you can’t see straight.”
Her breath caught.
“And right now,” he said softly, heartbreakingly, “you need it. God knows you need it. Now, for the last time, get inside.”
Tani walked past him without another word, her defiance a thing of the past.
Kabir watched Karam tip his head back and look to the sky, his gaze seeming to look for something or someone he couldn’t find. Karam wasn’t angry. He was worried. Terrified, even.
And somehow, that hurt more to see. Kabir swallowed hard. “Chachu, it was just a harebrained plan that went a little overboard.”
Karam sighed. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “For tonight. For being there for them.”
Kabir grinned weakly. “Well, it’s not my first night at a police station.” He walked over to where Karam stood and slung an arm over his shoulders. “If I remember right, you were always my first call, the one who arrived to bail me out.”
Karam cuffed him on the back of his head. “You keep that information to yourself. The kids don’t need to know about it. I told Ved you would be nothing but trouble from the day you came home.”
Kabir’s smile faded. “Truer words have never been spoken.”
Karam’s perceptive gaze took in the lines of strain on Kabir’s face.
“You are and always have been trouble, Kabir Kashyap. But you’re the best kind of trouble.
Your stupid father did very few things right in his life.
Adopting you sits right on top of that list along with marrying your mother and having your sister. ”
Kabir managed a small smile. “I love you too,” he crooned, holding his arms out for a hug.
Karam smacked him on the back of his head in response. “Like I said, trouble with a capital t,” Karam grumbled as he marched into the house. Kabir followed, laughing to himself.