“But, why did you do it?” Ian asked. Now that he’d let go of his determination to dislike Nica, and admitted to himself how fascinated he was by her, he so no reason not to indulge his curiosity. “I’m not complaining, of course. But you won’t be here for more than a few weeks, and you don’t strike me as the sort of person who cares that much about impressing people.”
“You’re right, Mr. Fadden,” Nica said, hiding her surprise at his appraisal. “I don’t care about impressing people. At least not with my jewelry, or bank account, or who my friends are. But there are very good reasons for making the right impression on the right people, and I thought it would help Bree.”
Ian nodded. It would help Bree. People would see that she had an impressive friend, and she’d get all sorts of invitations while Nica was here. If Nica continued to make a good enough impression, and if Bree did as well, the invitations wouldn’t stop when Nica left.
“Thanks, Nica,” Bree said, reaching out to squeeze her friend’s hand. “You’re the best.”
Ian smiled at his sister. “Would you like to dance?”
“Not just yet,” Bree said after glancing around the room. “The next one?”
“Of course,” Ian said, relieved. He saw dancing as a necessary evil of their society, but he disliked it intensely. The only advantage he saw in getting married was knowing that he’d never have to dance with some silly simpering girl he had no liking for or interest in again. “Would you ladies like some punch?”
“Yes, please, Ian,” Bree said. “That’d be great.”
“Miss Vinia?”
“Yes, Mr. Fadden, thank you,” Nica said. “As long as it doesn’t contain alcohol.”
“Of course,” Ian replied, then turned and left. As soon as he was gone, Bree started scanning the crowd intently. Nica helped, but Bree was a lot taller than she was and could see more.
“He’s not here,” Bree said a few moments later.
“Neither of them?” Nica asked.
“No,” Bree replied, not even trying to hide her disappointment.
“I’m sorry, Bree,” Nica said. “Maybe they’re just not here yet. Mr. Thomas did say he had a meeting, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Bree replied, her face brightening.
“Excuse me, Miss Fadden,” a male voice interrupted them. They turned to see a young man with curly brown hair nodding to them. “May I have this dance?”
Bree’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. This was a first. She almost never got asked to dance. She glanced at Nica, who smiled back. “Go ahead, I’ll keep watch.”
“Thanks,” Bree said, then turned back to the young man. “I’d love to dance, Mr. Ingall, thank you.”
A few minutes later Ian returned with a small tray holding three iced glasses of punch to find Nica standing alone, watching the dance floor. “Where’s Bree?” he asked, handing her a glass.
“A Mr. Ingall asked her to dance and she accepted. Thank you for the punch, Mr. Fadden.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Vinia,” he said. “Would you like to dance?”
“Oh, no Mr. Fadden, but thank you,” Nica replied. “I’m afraid I have no idea how to do these pattern dances. I’m happy to watch.”
“I’ll send a note around to our dance instructor in the morning,” Ian said. “He’ll come to the house and teach you. Bree probably could use a refresher on some of the more complicated dances anyway.”
“There’s no need for that, Mr. Fadden,” Nica said. “Bree said she’d teach me.”
“Bree’s heart is in the right place,” Ian said. “But she’s a terrible teacher. If you tell her I said that, I’ll deny it, of course.”
“You’d lie?” Nica asked, arching a brow at him.
“In a heartbeat,” Ian said solemnly. “You shared a dorm room with Bree for six years, if I’m not mistaken. Don’t try to tell me you haven’t seen her temper. A little lie is a small price to pay for avoiding that.”
Nica laughed, a low, rich sound that sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine. He’d never heard a laugh so warm and inviting.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to agree with you on that one, Mr. Fadden,” she said, her eyes sparkling brighter than the star diamonds she wore.
“Miss Vinia, I would appreciate it if you would call me Ian.”
Nica looked at him for a long a moment. “Is it within the bounds of propriety that I do so?”
“Yes, it is,” he said gently, not offended by her suspicion after the way he’d behaved toward her. “You’ve been Bree’s friend for several years, and you’re a guest in our home. It’s appropriate that we use each other’s given names if we wish to do so. I assure you, I would not have asked otherwise.”
“I apologize, Mr. Fadden, I meant no insult.”
“None was taken,” Ian replied. “So, what do you say? Will you call me Ian?”
“Yes, Ian, if you will call me Nica,” she said, her voice suddenly soft and shy.
“Thank you, Nica,” he said, liking the way her name felt on his tongue. Nica smiled and sipped her punch. “Nica is an unusual name.”
“Yes, it is,” Nica agreed. “I’ve only met a few other people with the same name, but my real name isn’t Nica. It’s Monica.”
Ian looked at her speculatively for a long moment, then shook his head. “Monica is a nice enough name, but you don’t look like a Monica. You look like a Nica. It suits you.”
Nica laughed again, surprising herself. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually laughed. It felt good, she decided. “And what, exactly, does a Monica look like?”
“Hmmm…not like you.”
“Ah, diplomacy,” Nica said. “How many Monicas are there in this room?”
“I’m not sure. That’s the problem. Better safe than sorry.”
“Agreed,” Nica said. She looked into the dark red liquid in her cup, out to the dance floor where Bree was dancing with a big smile on her face, then back to Ian. “May I ask you something?”
Ian met Nica’s gaze steadily, then nodded. “So long as you don’t get offended if I don’t answer.”
“Why were you so angry earlier? Before Bree came downstairs.”
Ian winced. “I’m not proud of this, and I don’t really want to tell you, but I will because you deserve to know.”
“No, if you don’t want to tell me, then it’s not necessary to do so.”
“Yes, I think that it is,” Ian replied. “You see, from the first moment I set eyes on you, I felt…something. Something that I’ve never felt before, and it troubled me. So I looked for reasons to dislike you.”
Nica fought to maintain a calm expression as he spoke, wishing she hadn’t asked after all. So far she wasn’t liking his answer, and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.
“I told myself that you were a fortune hunter, pretending a friendship with Bree because she had money. It’s happened before, more than once. You were dressed in old clothes and had no luggage, so it wasn’t too hard to convince myself that it was true.” Ian paused to sip his punch, wishing he’d taken the out she’d offered. But now that he’d started this, he had to finish.
“You were angry because you thought that I took advantage of your offer,” Nica said. “You thought that I got the most expensive dress I could find, and jewelry too.”
“Yes, I did,” Ian admitted. “I’m sorry, Nica. I really am. For jumping to conclusions and also for not bothering to ask questions before making assumptions. I’m more grateful to Bree than I can say for showing up just before I opened my big mouth and said a lot of unforgivable things.”
Nica nodded and they stood quietly watching the dancers for a few moments. “You don’t want to like me because I’m…what? Not good enough for you?”
Ian winced. “I guess I deserve that.”
“That wasn’t meant to be a hit, Ian,” Nica said. “I’m just trying to understand.”
“It matters to you? Truly?”
“That strange feeling you
told me about…the one you got when you first saw me?” Ian nodded. “It happened to me, too. So yes, it matters to me.”
A wave of heat ran down Ian’s body from his neck to his feet. He had to force himself to remember where he was, and what they were talking about. “Thank you for telling me that, Nica,” he said softly. “Unfortunately, as much as I would like to be equally frank with you, there are things I’m not at liberty to tell anyone not of Apedra. I swear that I would if I could, but doing so would cost me my honor.”
“I would never ask that you compromise yourself in any way,” Nica said, swallowing her disappointment.
“Would it help if I told you that it’s my duty to marry someone with the same genetic…attributes that I have?”
“Yes, quite a bit, thank you,” Nica said. Ian had no idea what to say to that, so he just nodded. Nica took a sip of the too sweet punch, casting about for something else to say.
“In a blatant attempt to change the subject, will you tell me what Flora said about Bree?”
Ian almost said no straight out, but Nica continued talking. “I’m not asking out of curiosity, Ian. I love Bree. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of friends in my life, people I grew up with who are like family to me. Like cousins. I have a dozen nieces and nephews too, and I love them all, each and every one of them. But for some reason, even though we don’t have a lot in common, Bree has felt like a sister to me from the first moment we met. I’ll do anything and everything in my power to see that she isn’t hurt or harmed in any way, the same as I would for my real sister, Honey.”
“I appreciate that, Nica,” Ian said, so touched that his voice was a little hoarse.
“I protect those I love, Ian. If there’s a chance we’ll run into people who will treat Bree badly, or say cruel things about her, I want to know about it ahead of time so I can protect her from being hurt unnecessarily, and also so that I don’t get taken by surprise. Otherwise my reaction might be a bit…intense.”
“Fair enough, Nica,” Ian said. “But I need a promise that you won’t tell Bree what I’m about to say. Not because I want to protect Flora, but to protect Bree.”
“You have my word,” Nica said.
“Flora thinks Bree is stupid, immature, and ugly,” Ian said, reluctantly. “She sees no reason to develop a relationship with her because, quite frankly, Bree has nothing to offer her.” He watched as Nica’s eyes closed and she took several deep, calming breaths before opening them again. When she did, he was shocked by the cold fury he saw in them. What was even more shocking was how well she hid it. Aside from her eyes, there was nothing in her expression or her body language that gave away her feelings. Nica’s eyes were truly the windows to her soul, he realized. But only when she chose to allow someone to see into them, as she was letting him do now.
“You are friends with this woman who says such cruel things about your sister?” she asked in a carefully neutral tone.
“Today was the first time she’d ever said anything like that in my hearing,” Ian said. “From some of the things Bree said in the carriage earlier, I suspect there is a side to Flora that everyone has seen but me.”
“It’s a good thing you’ve seen her true colors then, isn’t it?”
Before Ian could respond the music stopped and Nica looked toward the dance floor in search of Bree. The young man she’d danced with escorted her back to where he’d found her, greeted Ian politely, thanked Bree, nodded to Nica, then left. Ian handed Bree her punch which she nearly downed in one gulp.
“You had fun,” Nica observed.
“I had loads of fun,” Bree corrected Nica solemnly. Then they both grinned.
“That’s wonderful, Bree. Any more offers?”
“Yes, two more while I was dancing,” Bree said with barely restrained excitement. “That’s never happened to me before, Nica. I mean, these are guys I’ve known most of my life, but they’ve never asked me to dance before.”
“Well I don’t know why not,” Nica said. “You’re beautiful and smart and have a bright, fun personality. You should have guys coming out of the woodwork.”
“I don’t know about that,” Bree said, rolling her eyes. She glanced sideways at Ian, saw he was looking elsewhere, and raised her brows at Nica in silent question. Nica shook her head sympathetically, but Bree just shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Not tonight. Tonight I’m dancing, and I feel good, and I’m happy.”
“As you should be,” Nica said. “I love you, you know?”
“I know,” Bree said. “And that means the world to me.” Another young man approached, nodded to Ian, then Nica, and held his arm out to Bree. She handed her empty glass to Ian, then took the man’s arm and went back to the dance floor.
“She really is happy,” Ian said. “I haven’t seen her so happy for a long time. Years. Thank you for that, Nica.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Nica said, embarrassed. “But I am sorry that I didn’t come to visit her sooner. I should have.”
“You’re here now, and that’s enough,” Ian said. “Bree said something about you attending the ICARUS Academy, is that right?”
“Yes,” Nica said. “I was on my way home from there when I got Bree’s invitation.”
“What does ICARUS stand for again?” he asked. “I’m embarrassed to admit that I never can remember that.”
“Intersystem Coalition for Advancement, Recovery, Unification and Stabilization,” Nica said. “Most people can’t remember that, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that they remember what ICARUS does.”
“Now that I do know,” Ian said. “They seek out the chaos caused by the Xanti, and try to correct it. Am I right?”
“Yes, Ian, that’s exactly right,” Nica said, offering him one of her rare smiles.
“There you are,” a cold voice said, interrupting them. Ian and Nica both turned to see a tall, slender woman with white blonde hair and cold blue eyes approaching them. She looked like she’d just stepped off the cover of a fashion vid in a full length, body hugging, pale pink dress and what would have been too much eye makeup on anyone else, but worked great on her. The only thing that kept her from being absolutely beautiful was the sardonic set of her mouth.
She stopped right in front of them, her eyes trained steadily on Ian’s face.
“Miss Flora Layton,” Ian said coolly, “please meet our house guest, Miss Nica Vinia.”
The woman raked her eyes up and down Nica in a deliberately rude manner, hesitating uncertainly when she realized that not only was Nica dressed better than she was, her jewels were beyond anything she’d ever even seen in person. The uncertainty vanished, replaced with a practiced look of cold superiority as Flora looked down her nose at Nica with utter contempt. Ian was instantly furious, but then he saw Nica’s face and smiled inwardly.
At first glance Nica Vinia appeared soft spoken, reserved, even shy. Ian hadn’t learned a lot about her yet, but for some reason, he had a strong feeling that Flora had just met her match.
“So you’re Bree’s little friend,” Flora sneered.
“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” Nica said in a bored tone, then returned Flora’s up and down inspection with a quick flick of her eyes. She barely lifted one shoulder in a dismissive shrug, then looked straight at Ian and deliberately rolled her eyes.
Ian nearly choked as he swallowed his laughter, and Flora turned so red she looked like a tomato. Nica had put Flora in her place so quickly and so smoothly that no one aside from the three of them even recognized it.
Too angry to come up with a suitably scornful response, Flora could only focus on Ian and try to pretend Nica didn’t exist. “I want to talk to you. Right now. In private.”
“I don’t take orders, Miss Layton,” Ian said, all amusement vanishing in an instant. “Not from anyone.”
A small voice in the back of Flora’s head told her to back off, that nothing good could come from confronting Ian here in front of all these people. She was just too angry to listen
to it. “I mean it, Ian. I’m not leaving until you hear what I have to say.”
“Fine, talk,” Ian said without a trace of interest. He even looked away from her to the dance floor.
Flora’s fists clenched so tightly that her fingernails cut into her palms. “Alone.”
“If you have to say something, say it now,” Ian said, taking his cue from Nica who gave such a good impression of boredom that he wasn’t completely sure it wasn’t real. “Otherwise it’ll have to wait. I was about to escort Nica out to the garden for some fresh air.” Flora sputtered at his casual use of Nica’s first name, causing several people nearby to smirk.
Nica's Legacy (Hearts of ICARUS Book 1) Page 9
