Victoria grabbed my arm tight. “Don’t you dare.”
Not that I would have, but I put the coins away. “Reflex action.”
Slowly she released her grip. “Good. Anyway, you realize you’re playing with fire, right?”
Of course I did, but only if I had more on my mind. “You’re making this out to be more than it is.”
Her expression softened and she slipped her hand between my arm and my body. “Listen, Henry. I really love you like the brother you are to me. I also know you. You don’t do anything halfway. As someone who really, truly loves you, don’t drink from this well. It won’t end well when you tell him the truth about him and you. He’ll feel betrayed and you’ll get hurt.”
I’d told myself the same thing a hundred times since I’d left their apartment. “Seriously, we’re just going for a drive.”
“Stop kidding yourself. I can already see you like him.”She put a finger on my lips. “I get it. He’s not what you expected. He wasn’t anything like I expected either. He has this innocent, boyish charm. He’s funny, smart, sweet and not a pretender.”
Vicky nailed how Nick wasn’t what I thought he’d be like. “I expected a weak kid who needed protection, but he’s not. He’s got grit and a backbone.”
“Fending for yourself will do that to a person.”
I shook my head. How could Nick’s parents be the one in a bazillion humans to produce the only angel ever born to human parents. An archangel no less. “Yeah, he told me about his parents and brother.”
“If it wouldn’t put too much attention on Nick, Trevor would have killed them years ago”
The more I learned about Grant, the more I liked him. Although, I suspected he would never like me. “The file says he and Nick never dated, but Grant acts like they’re married.”
“Trevor wasn’t totally thrilled when his grandfather forced him to enroll in college again to babysit Nick. But they’ve become very close. Trevor is fiercely protective of Nick. He’s probably worried about you dating and your relationship going balls up when he learns the truth. Things you should also be concerned about.”
Nick was going to be mad at a lot of people. “Grant ought to worry about how Nick is going to react when he learns his best friend is almost forty, and an angel. He’s lied to Nick for years now.”
“Believe me, he is.” We stopped on the corner for a red light. “But he can disappear if he has to. You can’t. Nick’s the fourth heir. You need to work together.”
Again, not something I didn’t think about already. “I’m aware of it. And in the interest of honesty, you’re right. Nick pushes many of my buttons.”
We had reached the restaurant and I held the door for her. I held up two fingers when we reached the host stand. “Two please.”
Victoria clutched my arm. “Some place romantic if possible.”
“I’ll see what I can do, young lady.” The older man smiled politely at us.
I hated when she wanted to play couple in public as cover. “Stop it. Even if I wasn’t gay, it’s gross.”
Refusing to let go, Vicky giggled. “You used to be more fun.”
Tugging my arm free, I side eyed her. “I’m still fun. That’s just weird.”
“A little privacy would be nice, don’t you think, sweetie?” Her half sneer, and almost angry ‘sweetie’ made me laugh.
I had the same thought, but would’ve slipped the man a fifty for an out of the way place.Vicky’s way kept President Grant in my pocket.“I concede the point.”
“Cute and smart. Nick’s a lucky guy.”
Vicky’s teasing usually didn’t irk me, but after telling her not to go there, her joke fell flat. Or maybe, I was overly sensitive because as much as I denied it, I’d thought about our trip as a date more than a few times.
We kept up the ruse while the host walked us to an out of the way table. I held the chair for my “sweetie” and took the opposite one. A waitress quickly appeared, took our drink order and disappeared.
Once we were alone, I asked the question picking at me ever since Michael gave me this assignment. “Are we absolutely sure he doesn’t have angel blood? Like a very specific angel’s blood, who died giving birth to a stillborn male child the same day Nick was born.”
Vicky nodded. “Believe me, Dad was so convinced Nick was Ariel’s child, he had Raphael do the comparison himself.”
Which didn’t prove everything. “I knew that, but how sure is everyone the blood tested was Nick’s?”
