Gabriel’s POV
During dinner, Aria was completely immersed in her thoughts. She barely ate anything.
I was worried she found something.
Annie and Aria were in the library most of the day. Nick and I were in my study talking about what would be the best way to tell Aria the truth. When I looked at my watch, I was surprised to see it was already 5 pm. We hadn’t eaten anything since morning, and we had to leave soon to go to the club.
“Aria?” I called her.
She looked up from her plate. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?” I asked her. “Did you find something at the library?”
“No. I didn’t find anything,” she answered. “I am just thinking about what Annie found out.”
“What did you find, Annie?” Nick asked her.
“Well, I found out something about Victor,” Annie said and looked between Nick and me.
“Go on,” I nudged her.
“He was a powerful warlock and a politician who wanted to eradicate humans,” she said.
Nick and I glanced at each other.
Annie had to tell Aria something. If Annie didn’t tell her this, Aria would have found out by herself. Eventually, she would pick up a book about our politics and laws and all of them mentioned Victor. It was just a matter of time before she would have read something about him.
“Was there anything else about him?” Nick asked, already knowing the answer to that question.
Annie shook her head. “No. Just this. It was very short.”
I looked back down at my plate and grabbed a bite.
Aria went back to thinking and barely eating.
Annie, Nick and I exchanged looks.
Nick and I agreed we would tell her everything. We decided to wait for a couple of days. Just until we could get her to sleep and eat. We didn’t want to burden her with this so soon after what she found out just yesterday.
I know it will be hard for her either way. Her whole life was a lie. It was not going to be easy to accept it all. And we wanted to make it as painless as possible. And this was the only way we knew how to.
I didn’t think there was a right way to do this. How do you tell someone that they were kidnapped because they were powerful and supposed to change the world for supernaturals and humans? And that the person who raised them and who they loved was the one who kidnapped them and separated them from their family?
There is no easy way to do that. I just hoped we made the right choice.
“What should we wear tonight?” Annie interrupted my train of thought.
“Something that will not attract men’s attention,” Nick said. “I am not in the mood to kill somebody tonight.”
I chuckled and Annie frowned.
“That only applies to Aria, right?” she asked and raised her eyebrow.
“Mostly,” Nick said. “But I don’t want them staring at you either, Ann. We have to protect you as well.”
Annie laughed. “Aren’t you the sweetest.”
“Nick is right,” I interfered. “Wear something that will not require us to peel the men off of you.”
I winked at her, and she laughed hard.
“Nick, I don’t know if you noticed, but your mate is so beautiful and hot that she could wear a potato sack and men would still stare,” Annie said with a smirk.
Nick growled loudly and Aria blushed.
“Annie!” Aria said. “Shut up.”
“What?” she laughed. “I am telling the truth.”
“Go get ready before Nick loses it and tears down my kitchen,” I said and got up.
The girls laughed, got up and walked upstairs.
Nick frowned and growled quietly.
“Relax, man,” I said and started loading the dishwasher. “Nobody will touch her.”
“I know that,” he said. “I would tear their arms. But I am jealous even if they look at her.”
I laughed. “Well, you can’t really stop that. They will look. She is pretty.”
He growled and got up. “I know that. I am not saying I am rational. It is hard to control my wolf side. I am possessive. And she is mine. To touch and to look at.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Werewolves. Just go get ready. We should leave soon.”
The girls got dressed pretty fast and came downstairs.
“Is this modest enough?” Annie asked and twirled in front of me.
She was wearing a black dress with long sleeves that reached her knees and black boots. She looked hot, I had to admit.
Aria chose tight jeans, thigh-high black boots and a tight black t-shirt. Nick should be okay with that. Although, I wouldn’t mind if she chose something less tight. I could see her curves and I knew men love that. But I didn’t want to be an overbearing brother. She already had a mate who did that.
“You look great, Annie,” I told her and smiled.
“Thanks,” she said and winked at me.
Nick came back shortly after.
He eyed Aria up and down and I could see him gulp. Goddess, he was so in love.
“I don’t really like how tight those clothes are,” he said. “But on the plus side, you can’t see any skin.”
Aria chuckled and Annie rolled her eyes.
I hurried them and all of us got inside my car.
After a short drive, we arrived at the club.
Nick grabbed Aria’s hand and pulled her close to him.
I took Annie’s hand in mine and led them to our usual table.
The club was loud, but it wasn’t as packed as it usually was.
“I have to go talk to the boss,” I yelled over the music. “I will be right back.”
Nick and the girls nodded, and I left to go upstairs where Sebastian’s office was.
I grabbed the envelope from the table, folded it and placed it in my back pocket.
I went back downstairs, sat at our table and waited to see if I would be needed tonight.
Aria’s POV
I didn’t know why I said yes to come here. I guess I thought it would be a good distraction.
The only distraction I was getting was being jealous because all the girls in here were literally throwing themselves at Nick. It was making me angry, and I wanted to punch all of them.
Gabriel was also getting his fair share of girls. But I really didn’t care about that. My eyes were fixed on this tall, curvy girl currently flirting with Nick. Her boobs were on display and her ass wasn’t covered one bit. Nick could see everything, and I wanted to cover his eyes.
I couldn’t really blame the girls. He was hot. He was the hottest man in here. Well, he and Gabriel.
I was staring at her and frowning. My thoughts were not helping me at all. I kept thinking how Nick would be happier with a girl like that. She could give him what I couldn’t. And she had so much more to give as well.
Nick had been a gentleman the entire evening. He was declining the girls politely and sat beside me the entire time. I actually felt guilty. Maybe he wanted to dance or just simply move away from this table.
He kept talking to this girl and she was staring at him with a sexy smirk on her face. She was the only one he stood up for and walked away from me to talk to. He smiled at her, and my heart sank painfully.
I looked down at my hands because I couldn’t bear to look at them any longer. I was suffocating in my emotions. Pain, jealousy, anger, guilt. Everything was there and it was too much.
Right when I thought I would stop breathing, two strong arms circled my waist. I felt tingles spread around my body and I knew it was Nick.
“You know I can feel what you feel, love,” he whispered in my ear. “Please stop feeling guilty. Although, I like that you are jealous.”
I looked up at him and he winked at me.
“She is an old friend,” he continued. “We did have something going on, but that is over now. You are the only one for me now, love.”
He grabbed my hand in his and kissed my knuckles. If I wasn’t sitting down, my knees would buckle.
“Please tell me you believe me,” he said when I didn’t say anything.
I nodded and smiled at him. “I do.”
He smiled brightly and kissed my cheek.
“A!” Annie yelled in my ear and startled me.
I was so preoccupied with Nick I didn’t even pay attention to her or Gabriel. Now I saw that Gabriel wasn’t even here. There was probably a situation he was dealing with.
I turned to her. “What?”
“I need to go to the bathroom. Go with me,” she yelled over the music.
I nodded and turned back to Nick. I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
“I am going to the bathroom with Annie.”
He frowned but nodded. “Come back right after.”
I nodded and stood up. Annie grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the bathroom. There were a lot of people inside and it took us a while to get to the bathroom.
We walked inside and I breathed out in relief. I didn’t realize how much my ears hurt from the loud music. It is much quieter inside.
“Do you need to pee?” Annie asked me.
“No,” I shook my head. “I will wait for you here.”
She nodded and went to the stall.
I washed my hands and checked my minimal makeup in the mirror. I reapplied my lip gloss and smoothed my hair.
Annie came back and washed her hands before checking her makeup as well.
“Any cute guys?” I asked with a smile.
“Oh, Goddess, yes,” she chuckled. “I talked to one guy while you were busy killing the girls around Nick in your mind.”
She smirked and looked at me.
“You noticed?” I asked her.
“Of course, girl,” she said and rolled her eyes. “But you know that man has eyes only for you, right?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Some of those girls were really pretty. Especially that last one.”
She laughed. “None are prettier than you, A. Nick is crazy in love with you. Has been for a while now. Don’t forget, he knew you two were mates before you did.”
“I just wish I could give him what those girls can,” I said quietly and looked down at my feet.
Annie walked up to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. I looked up at her.
“You will be able to do that, Aria,” she said seriously. “Give it time. And start slow. I know it will be hard for you but try and trust him. He would never hurt you.”
“I know,” I said quietly.
“Maybe you should kiss him,” she said and winked at me. “He would love that.”
I chuckled and I could feel my cheeks redden. I would definitely like to kiss him. But I was afraid.
“Come on,” Annie said and took my hand in hers. “Let’s go back before Nick loses his shit. We have been gone for a while.”
We left the bathroom and my ears started hurting as soon as we did.
I let Annie pull me behind her and my eyes roamed around the room.
I couldn’t see much except bodies swaying to the beat of the music.
Until my eyes caught something familiar. I stared at him wide-eyed. He was looking right at me. He smirked and mouthed the word mine.
My breath got caught in my throat. My heart started beating painfully fast. My palms started sweating. A sob escaped my mouth, but it was muffled by the loud music.
When I blinked, he was gone, but I knew he was still here somewhere.
I forced my legs to move and started running toward our table. I had a constant feeling that he was behind me and will grab me any second now.
“Aria?” I barely heard Annie over the music. She was confused by my sudden change of pace.
Now I was the one who was pulling her, and I was running to my safe place. Nick.
When we finally reached our table and I saw his face I knew I was safe. I saw that Gabriel was back too, but I ran straight into Nick’s arms.
I crashed into him, and he immediately wrapped his arms around me so I wouldn’t fall back.
“Love?” he asked with worry in his voice. “What happened?”
“He is here, Nick,” I said, breathing heavily.
He growled so loudly that I felt vibrations through my body. But I didn’t let go of him. I couldn’t. I still had a feeling he was right behind me.
Gabriel came closer to Nick with a worried expression on his face. When Nick told him what had happened, Gabriel immediately turned around and ran into the crowd.
“Let’s go home,” Nick whispered into my hair.
I nodded but refused to let go of him. I wrapped my hands around his neck even tighter than before. He understood and picked me up. He wrapped my legs around his waist and carried me outside.
I buried my face in his neck, refusing to look around. I couldn’t see him again.
A few minutes later we were standing by Gabriel’s car.
“What happened?” Annie asked, worriedly.
“He is inside,” Nick answered her, growling.
Annie gasped and I tensed up.
Nick started rubbing my back. “Breathe, love. I will not let him hurt you.”
I took a deep breath and raised my head. I looked at Nick.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“No need to thank me, love,” he said and kissed my forehead.
I wiggled out of his arms, and he placed me down. But he didn’t let go of me. He turned me around so my back would touch his chest. He wrapped his arm around me and held me to him.
“I am so sorry, A,” Annie said with tears in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have made you come here. We should have stayed home.”
“Annie, no, this is not your fault,” I said. “I wanted to come. And he would have found me anywhere. He promised he would.”
Nick growled loudly. “He will not get you. You are not his. You are mine.”
I looked up at him and smiled. When I looked back down, I saw a pissed-off Gabriel walking toward us.
“I couldn’t find him,” he said.
He walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and smiled. As soon as he let me go, Nick pulled me back to him.
“Let’s go home,” Gabriel said and unlocked his car.
