Royal with Rebel (Royal #2: Book 2)

9

-• a revelation •-

Yuvraaj Singh Chauhan

I return home to my four brothers waiting for me in the living room. I know what those faces are saying, I can hear them inside my head, and I'm not looking forward to sitting through the painfully awkward conversation waiting for me. So I swing my discarded jacket over my shoulder and make my way towards the bedroom, ignoring the four rearing heads expecting my attention.

"How is she? Fine?" Vivaan breaks the silence, stopping me behind the sofa chair.

I hum.

"You dropped her home?" Yuvaan questions.

"Yeah, just an hour ago." I mutter, scratching my brow with the index. "I'm really tired. Let's skip the dinner tonight. You can eat in your own rooms. And welcome home, twins. Stay for the night." I quickly turn to escape.

"Oh, we're not skipping dinner tonight." Vivaan gets up, shaking his head, looking like a strict version of himself, looking like me. "I've invited Rudra, Taranya and Janet over tonight. We're having dinner together. Like the old times." He grins, slapping his hands together, "Excited boys?" He looks down at the remaining three men, his eyes gravitating towards me pointedly, "It's a get together. We're going to have some fun conversations!"

"And I suppose some scandalous revelations?" Yuvaan pops a grape in his mouth, leaning back in the sofa with his arms folding behind his head, regarding me with a cocky smile.

I blanch. Is this what they used to feel when I used sarcasm to straighten them up? But these boys have always been naughty. I don't remember doing anything dishonourable to invite this to myself.

"Agastya isn't here." The excuse is pathetic and I know it. But it's my last resort to evade this catastrophe. I'm not willing to share the details of my love life-- or the lack there to my family. "Do you think it's fair to him?"

"Mighty fair!" Yuvaan exclaims. "He used to skip dinners often when we were kids. He deserves this."

"I have an important meeting-"

"Zoya cancelled your schedule for today."

"I'm really exhausted." I enunciate. "What if I faint-"

"Two doctors here," Vivaan and Ayush raise their hands. "I'm sure we'll take care of you if something goes wrong, which it won't, but still, we're here for you."

"You guys are grown up, huh, ordering me around and all?" I plaster a wide grin on my face, not at all happy with the power dynamics in the room. Where's Dad when I need him? His obligation towards my decisions always made these boys know who rules the damn place. Now here I am, getting cornered by the boys I raised. So ungrateful.

"Yeah, time flies." Vivaan copies my smile, boasting a fake one himself. "Alright, enough of the chat. You said you gotta rest? You go rest until the time of dinner. We still have five hours before seven." He says after glancing at his wrist watch.

"I might fall asleep and not wake up. I've been running around like a mad man-"

"Trying to find your ex-wife who you're madly in love with-"

"I'll see you guys at seven." I nod, cutting off Yuvaan mid-sentence because I cannot stand that atrocious truth being thrown in my face without a heads-up. Striding to my room, I slam the door close and slump against it.

"This is so embarrassing." I drop my face in the cup of my palms. Taking my phone out of the pocket, I throw the jacket on the bed and call Zoya. Loosening my tie with the free hand, I walk up to the window. "Zoya," I address sternly after she picks up on the third ring. "Did you clear my schedule entirely? I'm home now. If there's anything you cannot reschedule on the to-do list, we can do it now."