“How many people have you told about your past? That’s a lie of omission, Nick. You hide things about yourself because it’s not safe to share them.” Her amber eyes drilled into him. “Now imagine you had a secret like mine.”
She slipped into the hall and closed the door behind her, seeming to take all the air in the room with her. Nick stared at the closed door, rubbing Rosco’s head as the dog whimpered softly beside him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
New Orleans, Louisiana
“Ican’t believe Gabriel didn’t stay for your birthday party!” Avery said.
The music and the din of partygoers had filled the Three Sisters with life. Raven smiled over her virgin mango mojito and tried to think of something to tell Avery that wasn’t a complete lie. Gabriel and Tobias had flown to Sedona to search for Alexander, leaving her behind to meet her familial obligations. Neither Gabriel nor Raven liked the idea of being apart, but Gabriel needed to find his siblings before someone else did, someone like a vampire or another Paragonian guard who wanted him dead. This was the best lead they’d had in weeks.
“Family business,” she offered with a shrug. “But he gave me this. We had our own celebration before he had to leave.” Raven held out her wrist and showed Avery the bracelet of brilliant-cut diamonds Gabriel had fastened around her wrist.
Avery studied the bracelet, pulling Raven’s wrist closer to her face. “Well then…” Her eyebrows slid toward her hairline. She released Raven’s wrist and swigged her beer.
The Three Sisters was packed with family and friends. Her mother had gone all out and catered the event herself, complete with a devil’s food cake with creamy white frosting. She thought every single person she knew was there, aside from Gabriel and Tobias. But the door opened and in walked the one person she hadn’t expected to see.
“Avery?”
Her sister glanced toward the door and grimaced at the sight of their father heading for the bar. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t invite him. I swear, Raven, I didn’t.”
Raven slid deeper into their booth and lowered her head. No doubt he was looking for her, but it was dark in this corner of the bar. If she played her cards right, he’d leave without ever talking to her. She was suddenly glad Gabriel was gone. It removed the added complication of Gabriel’s protective dragon instincts interfering with what was already an awkward situation. Gabriel didn’t like to hide. He liked to breathe fire.
David Tanglewood was a hardheaded pragmatist who had divorced her mother during Raven’s battle with brain cancer and stopped coming to visit her when the doctors gave her no chance of survival. He’d tried to reconnect after Gabriel’s dragon magic had cured her, but she’d rejected his efforts. She hadn’t spoken to her father much since then, mostly because he was an asshole and had never given her the slightest indication of changing his overtly assholistic behavior.
“I didn’t invite him,” Avery repeated firmly, “but maybe this is the time to tell him about, you know.” Her gaze jumped between her engagement ring and her ever-growing abdomen. “I mean, come on, Raven. He can’t find out from a stranger. It’s wrong.”
Raven swore under her breath. Maybe Avery was right. For the sake of family peace and her mother’s and sister’s sanity, she needed to at least tell the man that she was getting married and expecting a baby.
“Okay. I’m going to do this, and then I never want to hear about it again.”
Avery nodded. “Agreed.”
Raven rose from the booth and moved toward the place where her father stood at the bar. His full head of gray hair had thinned since she’d seen him last, and the tanned, leathery skin of his face wrinkled with his smile when he saw her.
“Well, if it isn’t my long-lost daughter.” He opened his arms. She stood perfectly still, her arms crossed over her chest. He lowered his arms. “Happy birthday.”
“We need to talk.”
“Do you want something to drink first? I just ordered, but I can call the bartender over again.” His voice was a muted roar over the chatter in the bar.
“No. No. I’m fine.”
“It’s so good to see you. Avery said you were vacationing in Chicago with that guy you’ve been seeing.”
That guy. He knew who Gabriel was. “Gabriel. Gabriel Blakemore.”
“Right. The one who owns Blakemore’s Antiques. How’s that working out?”
The bartender arrived with her dad’s beer.
“Let’s talk in mom’s office. It’s loud out here.”
“If you’re sure your mom will be okay with that.”
Raven nodded once. In fact, her mom might be a little pissed about it, but she was working in the kitchen at the moment, and Raven was hoping to keep this short and sweet. He followed her to the small office at the back of the restaurant, past the bartender schedules and OSHA-required posters. She closed the door behind them.
“Should I be worried that you can’t talk about Gabriel in public?” Her father sipped his beer.
