Love & Loss

Chapter 93

Khloe's POV:

I exhaled a heavy breath as Nico gently worked at the zipper on the back of this dress, keeping my eyes on him through the bathroom mirror.

His parents had requested that tonight's dinner be... special.

One that they humbly addressed as 'A meal to commence a new beginning, and a wider family'.

At least that's how Caroline worded it, Daniel, on the other hand, said it to be 'The start of a long and well-deserved apology.'

Either way, we were expected to look nice.

Everyone was.

From conversations earlier today, Doe seemed to be in a similar position that I was in with the topic of this dinner

I was the most surprised to finally hear word that she and Xander were in the same boat that Nico and I were in.

At least that's what I thought at first.

After having her give me all the details on how they came to be, she ended off with a bit of relief.

Relief of how she, like Xander, was happy that he wasn't the true heir so that they could stay out of the limelight.

My hands tightened and relaxed at my sides.

Surprisingly, the limelight wasn't what I was worried about, not right now at least.

With all that's happened, and everything that came before that, I think it was something that I came to terms with.

I met eyes with Nico through the mirror as he looked up, a soft smile easing my thoughts as I leaned back against him.

The thought of becoming this city's Lady by itself may seem daunting, but I knew that he would be right beside me every step of the way.

And the reality of it all was that all of that responsibility was still so far away.

We had a few years before having to truly worry about that.

As if he knew my thoughts, he met my smile with a prideful one, twirling one of the soft curls I had put in my hair around his fingers.

My nerves were definitely still there, from this dinner, that is.

That, I was fully aware of, but I could feel the excitement beneath them.

I knew that I didn't have anything to fear from this.

Everyone involved already knew everything that I'd been through, and at this point had seen me at my absolute worst.

I was already fairly close with Caroline, and even more so with Xander.

And I'm hoping that with time and a few interesting discussions with Nico and his father, I'll get close with Daniel.

I believe it was just the situation at hand that was momentarily throwing me off.

The formality of it all was still something that I had to get used to.

Nico brushed his hands across my bare shoulders, then down to where the actual sleeves of this dress began.

Then something caused him to stop and take a step back.

After turning to face him, and seeing a hand over his mouth, I almost began to worry that something was wrong.

But then a sigh of almost disbelief passed his lips, and he spoke.

"God, how are you so stunning," He breathed, lifting my left hand with his to admire our rings.

There was something in his voice that had been showing up more and more lately.