The Doctor's One Night to Remember

‘So speak to your brother, Nikhil,’ she continued, and he would have given so much to erase that desolation from her voice. ‘Whatever he has to say, it can’t be any worse than this hell that you’ve put yourself in.’

Then she kissed him and walked out of the door. Out of his life.

And he tried not to wonder what the hell he’d just done.

* * *

So this was what the most exclusive hotel in Rotterdam looked like, Nikhil thought as he glanced around the elegant lobby that practically oozed money.

He could pretend that he wasn’t looking for answers that would make him the man Isla deserved. Maybe he should tell himself that he was here because the Captain had pulled him in less than twenty-four hours earlier to tell Nikhil that the promotion he’d been working towards for the better part of a decade was now his for the taking. Captain of his own ship.

But, on both counts, Nikhil knew he’d be lying to himself.

Moreover, he didn’t deserve a promotion any more than he deserved her. Isla.

These past ten days without her had been hell. His entire ten-week cruise had been a rollercoaster—like being on the swell, far out at sea—but the fun part had only started in that third week when he’d walked into that bar in Chile.

And as he’d walked out of the Captain’s office he’d found himself heading to the medical centre—instinctively wanting to share his news with Isla.

Nikhil still wasn’t sure how he’d stopped himself. He only remembered standing on the deck, on a mercifully cold, rainy sea day, which meant that only a handful of other, waterproof-clad souls had been out there, braving the bracing air. And he’d finally admitted that Isla had been right that his shattered relationship with his brother had been eating him up inside all these years.

In that instant he’d wondered what he had to lose.

Before he could talk himself out it, he’d hurried back to his cabin, conducted an internet search for DXD Industries and picked up his phone.

And then, suddenly, his brother had been at the end of the phone, and Nikhil knew he’d have recognised that voice in an instant.

He’d even imagined he’d heard Isla’s voice in his head, encouraging him, as he’d told his brother that their next port of call was going to be Rotterdam. And now here he was, sitting in the plush hotel lobby and waiting for the man he hadn’t seen since they’d both been kids.

And then Nikhil saw him.

There was no doubt that Daksh Dara had money. More than that—wealth. It was in every long line of his body, every expensive stitch of his tailored suit.

The two brothers eyed each other for several long moments—perhaps a lifetime—each on their own side of the room. And Nikhil could practically feel the storm of recrimination at the centre of it, cracking and sparking, as the two of them held their ground. As if neither wanted to be the first to make a move.

Eventually, however, to Nikhil’s shock, it was Daksh who began the approach—every long, powerful stride seeming to strike the ground with force—making Nikhil wonder which one of them was actually the stronger, after all.

‘Nikhil.’ Daksh spoke at last.

‘Brother,’ he replied, infusing each syllable with as much insult as he possibly could.

‘It’s been a long time.’

‘Since we last talked? Or since we last saw each other?’ Nikhil asked icily.

The last thing he expected was a flash of something that looked suspiciously like remorse in Daksh’s eyes. It knocked him off-guard.

‘I was a coward for not talking to you at...his funeral.’

Nikhil couldn’t answer. He was too caught up in the way his brother had not only refused to call it our father’s funeral, but also the hit of repulsion in the way he’d said his. As though he couldn’t stand the old man any more than Nikhil could.

‘I thought it was because you felt he deserved better than I gave him,’ he managed stiffly.

And there it was, the look of disgust on his brother’s face that Nikhil had seen at the funeral. Nikhil braced himself as Daksh opened his mouth to speak again.

‘I didn’t think he deserved anything even that good.’

It was about as far from anything Nikhil had been expecting as it could be.