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.

A warning shot.

Typical.

A growl threatened to leave my throat, but I swallowed it, clearing my throat instead.

"So what I'm hearing is that you're not even trying," He bit.

I just blinked at him for a moment.

"You'd be correct," I admitted, "My apologies for not aiding in your exploits of passing your heir around to every woman around my age like some sort of trial period that I never asked for."

His eyes narrowed, but surprisingly that's all he did.

"You weren't taking initiative in one job you're given as an heir. Someone had to take that step for you."

"And your best plan was to gather every selfish, prideful, woman you could find that was willing to throw away all respect for herself if it meant possibly becoming the Lady of this land? Why would you want that as the future of this city?"

He was silent for a long moment.

"There are good women out there, Nicolas."

"Good women often have more goals than either trying to bed me or sucker me into wedding them with their sob stories that I didn't ask about."

"That's because you don't give them a chance," He practically hissed the last word.

"None of them have been worth a chance."

"You just have to give it some time. I had to sort through many different women before I found your mother."

"You got lucky," I practically snarled.

My mother was nothing like any of the vampire women I've come in contact with, not could I imagine she ever was.

And it showed through their relationship. Even with all the hectic filled days, I could tell that their love was pure.

She'd tell me stories about them when I was younger.

Their marriage wasn't one born from the necessity of having to marry in order to become the rulers of this city.

She didn't love him because of what he could give her. She loved him for what he was instead of what he was going to become.

There was no greed, no masking of feelings in order to become his bride, no underlying goal.

It never registered with me until recently that I wanted that too.

I pushed away the very thought of ever finding anyone because the very thought of finding someone that matched that seemed impossible.

So much so that I accepted that I'd never find it, I lied to myself and convinced myself that I didn't even want it

Deep down I knew that I did want to find that kind of love.

That pure, undefiant kind of love that you couldn't even doubt for a second.

And I found it.

I found it but it wasn't going to be good enough for him.

He seemed to already know what I've found, but if he did, why was he trying to have this conversation with me.

Was it for confirmation?

His sigh cut through my thoughts.

"Fine. I'll try to work with you here. What's your type?"

Red hair, gorgeous blue eyes, freckled skin, and currently sitting to my right.

That was all I would settle for.

"Don't bother."

I heard his growl begin to rumble through the room.

"What is your deal then?!" he questioned. "Is this some kind of rebellious phase of yours you're having because we both know it's been going on way too long and you're far too old for it."

I said nothing, with the false hope that he would just drop it.

No matter what he said, nothing was going to change.

I could handle his outbursts, I could handle the pheromone he'd force upon me from time to time.

Though I had to admit, it was growing annoying and was definitely something Khloe shouldn't have to see.

Without even looking at her, I could tell she was panicking.

Although she wasn't the only one in the room who was.

I tuned back into my father's rambling.

"Are you gay or something? Is that it?"

"If I say yes will you get off my ass?" I snapped.

"That's enough!"

All eyes turned to my mother as she spoke, her hands flat on the table where she stood.

My mother tried her best not to get involved in our spats.

In fact, this is the first time she's intervened.

My eyes actually widened as she turned to look at me, her eyes pointed in a glare.

Which immediately made me begin to regret having this conversation here.

I hated upsetting her.

Her eyes then turned towards Xander, who looked like he'd much rather be quite literally anywhere else but here.

"Boys, excuse yourselves," she said.

Xander wasted absolutely no time, speeding out of there without sparing another glance.

I, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment, fumbling with my thoughts as to how to apologize to her.

Her gaze caught mine, snapping my hopes of getting a word out with just one of her own.

"Now."

~~~
A/N: OOF that was fun wansnt it?

Anyways, onto some other news to sate you guys during these trying times, I've actually started a new book. One of many I'm hoping to get out in the near future:

SO uuh yeah check it out if you want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.