Love & Loss

Chapter 58

Nico's POV:

This dinner was going to be tedious. That much I knew already.

It was going to be like this despite the fact that I decided to take Khloe with me.

A shitty decision, I'll admit, but I decided that no matter what, she'd be safer around me.

I'd leave her alone in my room, but that caused even more anxiousness than necessary.

My father freed Carlo and apparently had him set on a new plan. Even with Marcus around to protect her, I knew she would be safer with me.

I didn't like the thought of her being out of my sight.

She didn't even question it when I asked her if she wanted to join me.

Not with words anyway, but her confusion was evident in her eyes.

As was it in Xander's the second he saw me walk in with her, and I didn't miss the disapproving and almost worried look he sent me as we sat.

I kept her on the side closest to my mother, and the tension only grew from there.

I knew we could all feel it as we ate in utter silence.

In fact, I could see it in the rigid stance of my mother and in the downward glances of my brother.

Even Khloe was warily picking at her food, trying to not express her discomfort outwardly.

The only one who seemed relatively unaffected was my father.

Who looked as calm and relaxed as possible.

Bastard.

It took everything within me to keep myself calm both inwardly and outwardly.

If my father truly wanted to see how his actions were affecting me, then that exactly what I was going to keep from him.

With the help of the claws digging into the palm of my hand that I kept hidden on my lap.

God, I really should have just not shown up.

But that could cause even more suspicion, and that's exactly the opposite of what I needed right now.

Right when I thought I had gotten myself under an appropriate amount of control, my father decided to break the silence.

"So, Nicolas," He began, effectively causing the tension in the room to drastically multiply.

I lifted my head a bit, spotting as Xander glanced at me, then to Khloe.

Meanwhile, I was just forcing my eyes not to thin into slits, my nails digging harder into my hand.

Once I got a grip on myself, I looked to the left towards him, only actually turning my head a little bit.

I rose a brow, showing him that I was listening.

He carried on.

"You've been on over half of the dates that I've assigned you, so it's about time for a report back don't you think?"

What the hell was he playing at?

"Report?" I questioned.

Since when was that required?

He nodded, leaning forward with his arms now crossed on the table.

"Yes. I believe I asked you to get to know some of these girls. So, have any of them stuck out? Any that you want to see again? Any-"

"No," I stated firmly, Which in hindsight I realized was probably not the best move.

That fact became proven even further the second I felt his pheromone overtake me, causing me to wince as every nerve in my body began to scream for just a second before it stopped.