Avenged (Altered #2)(68)

“I may have noticed your affinity for the food of my people.” He offered her the phoniest Italian accent he could muster, and she laughed.

“Should I change?” She glanced down at her jeans, white blouse, and pink flats. “Is it fancy?”

“You look perfect.” His words rang with sincerity. Because it was true. It had been two months since they took down Fields, since he’d been shot. He’d worried, while they’d been in that cell together, that maybe their attraction had been amplified by their situation. He’d been afraid maybe their relationship wouldn’t hold up.

He hadn’t needed to worry. If anything, he found her sexier and sweeter than before.

Kitty? She’d blossomed. They still trained every day. She’d gotten faster than ever, anticipating his blows, and the workouts had given her confidence.

But she was still Kitty. Still an introvert, still blushed easily. He still enjoyed making her blush, doing outlandish things to make her smile.

Which brought him to the point of this dinner.

“My parents are here. From Brooklyn.” He pulled her hands into his. “I was hoping that maybe we could have dinner with them. Together.”

Since Wyoming, they’d been on lockdown, unable to see family and friends outside of their group. They’d all needed to be cleared by medical doctors, then by the military administrators. Their unique gifts made them wild cards, outsiders. Their classified nature, the top secret status of Solvimine and their task force…it meant that no one was allowed to know where they were or what they were doing.

Nick had gotten the all clear last week, and his parents had insisted on driving right down.

“You want me to meet your parents?” She looked shocked.

He scowled at her. “I love you. I want to be with you for a long time. It makes sense that you meet my family, Kit.”

“Of course. I mean, right.” She glared back. “Of course I want to meet them. That’s not what I meant. I mean, we’re together, you and me. At a place where I would meet your parents.”

This wasn’t going how he’d expected. In fact, he had no idea what she was talking about. “If you don’t want to go, it’s okay. I’ll tell them you were upset…”

“No, no.” She sighed. “That isn’t what I meant. I want to go. Actually, I’ve wanted to meet them since we were in the cell, at the compound.” She worried her lip with her teeth. “But, I mean. I’ve never…I mean, I don’t know. I don’t meet people well…” Color flooded her cheeks. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not good at meeting people, Nick. What if they don’t like me?”

He squeezed her hand. Of course. That made perfect sense. “They aren’t going to like you. They’re going to love you.”

She nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced. Still, she took his hand, and he led her out, leaving Beth and Luke to their argument. Nick wasn’t even sure they realized anyone else was there.

They stopped in Kitty’s room to grab her wool coat. Outside, he led her to the military-issue car he’d taken to DC this morning.

He drove them into downtown Frederick and pulled in to a parking spot in front of il Porto. “Here we are.” As he put the car in park, he gathered her hands in his. She looked pale. “Trust me. I love you. They’re going to love you just as much.”

“Your family is different than mine.”

“You have to trust me.”

She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. “I do.”

“Then let’s go.”

He pocketed the keys, snagged his cane from the backseat, and walked around the car to meet her. She laced her arm through his, and they picked their way through the salted, snow-covered sidewalk.

His parents and his five sisters waited at the door of the restaurant. He experienced a moment of doubt. From an outsider’s view, he imagined they looked intimidating. They hadn’t noticed him yet, so they were talking together as they usually did: loudly and on top of one another.

His mother turned, though, and he didn’t have time to worry any more. When she saw him, the lines of stress smoothed off of her face. He had known she would be worried, but he hated how much.

She hurried forward and folded him into her arms. He hugged her back, his slight, fierce mother.

“You are limping. Why are you limping?” She scowled at him, kissing both of his cheeks, holding his face as she studied him.

“Ma, I’m fine. I’ll tell you about it over dinner.” He smiled at her, so happy to see them that he couldn’t even work up a proper defense.

“Is that a cane? You hurt yourself and need a cane and you didn’t call your mother?” She glanced behind him, then, and caught sight of Kitty. Her eyebrows shot up. “Hello, I’m Linda Degrassi, Nicholas’s mom.”

Kitty squared her shoulders and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Kitty Laughton. Your son has told me so much about you.”

But his Mom wasn’t having any of that. She swept forward, arms wide, and swept her into a hug.

When Kitty’s wide eyes met his over his mother’s shoulder, he shrugged. What could he say? His mom was a hugger. Kitty’s lips twitched as his mother started in on him. “Nicholas, this is the girl you love, and yet she is so thin? You don’t feed her?”