“Don’t you dare mouth off to me,” Donatti shot back. “Not after what I’ve done for you. You owe me.”

“You did it for her,” Devek said.

“Of course I did it for her,” Donatti said. “But Sanjay and you benefited. Just mind your manners, or Sanjay and I are going to have a long talk one day about what his father did and didn’t do for him when he was taken for ransom.”

Devek turned quiet. Then he said, “Sorry, Chris.”

“It’s been a long day. S’right.” Donatti went over to Juleen and knelt down to her so they were eye level. “Your father is right. You can’t stay here, Juleen. You know that.”

“You’re my stepfather.”

“I am,” Chris told her. “But he’s your father. And you do what he says. You work hard, you study hard, you practice hard, and you can be anything you want to be. Make your mom proud, okay?”

“I don’t want to go to Mumbai,” she wailed. “I hate it there, Father. You’re never home. I don’t like Uncle Pramod. I don’t have Mommy to take care of me. I don’t want an ayah or a nanny. I want to stay here in the United States. That’s what Mommy wanted.”

“Well, Mommy’s not here,” Devek snapped back. “What’s wrong with Pramod?”

“He’s creepy!”

“Don’t talk that way!” Devek said. “Pramod has been very good to us.”

“I hate him. I don’t want to go back! I want to stay here.”

Devek lost his temper. “Juleen, no one here will take care of you.”

“I just said she can live with me!” Gabe said.

Devek turned to him. “And that’s okay with your girlfriend? That she tends to an eleven-year-old when you’re away on your tours all over the world?”

“I can do it,” Yasmine said. “It’s no problem.”

“Devek is right,” Donatti said. “Gabriel, you’re never home, and Yasmine is in medical school. How are you going to take care of her?”

Melissa said, “She can come live with me. I am her aunt.”

Gabe said, “I love you, Melissa, but your lifestyle isn’t child-centered.”

Melissa started to cry. “I can change.”

Gabe put his arms around his aunt. “Mom wouldn’t want you to change. She loved you just the way you are.”

“I’ll take her,” Cindy said. Then she looked at Devek. “I’m not trying to undermine your authority, Doctor, but I’m married to a physician. You boys do great work—and I’m sure you try your best—but physicians are busy people.” She turned to Koby. “True?”

“You’re busy as well,” Koby said. “But you are home more than I am.”

Cindy paused. “There are two of us, Devek. You’re only one man.”

“This is ridiculous,” Devek muttered. “She is my daughter, and you’re not her mother.”