Kissed by Winter [Discontinued]

5. You, me, babies.

"Shit, it's HIM" Lyanna's mind kept screaming and screaming till she wordlessly joined her father's side, not once taking her eyes off Nicholas. He had changed, a lot. Gone was the 11 year old boy who followed his sister and brother everywhere. This was a man. And a very fine one at that!

His thick, rich, midnight brown hair, were artfully pushed back. His brows were thick and his eyes were two sparkling baby-blue gems. His nose was long and defined *aristocratic* as if specially created to award people with pointed looks. He had a full lower lip that made her believe that he would still have that super cute childish pout. What had phenomenally changed was his body frame. Who knew that a lanky 11 year old, cowardly boy would transform into a towering tall, cold, handsome business mogul?

Their mutual assessment ceased when Julian cleared his throat to grab the attention of the guests. He saw her rolling her eyes, before pointedly staring at Julian. What was her deal with him?

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. I would like to make an announcement"

*Oh great! It's my dadda's party and you are making announcements.*

"Today is a very important day for both our families. Today", he continued by awkwardly putting his arm around Nick's unreachable shoulder and around Lyanna's stiff ones, "both these children have finally decided to not further prolong our misery."

*Where is he going with this?*

*Oh hell no. I will murder him. Dadda*

Lyanna tried looking for Richard but he was nowhere to be seen. Nicholas reflected her internal conflict but was wearing a schooled expression. Only a nerve ticked in his jaw, because he knew it was too late. His uncle had seen his shot and taken it.

"My nephew Nicholas and my dear friend's beautiful daughter Lyanna..."

*No NO NOOOOO*

"...have finally decided..."

*Fuck no, Goddamn no. Dad where are you?*

"...to get married."

The guests joyously cried when Richard, who appeared out of nowhere, popped the champagne. Richard gave her guilty looks and Lyanna just stood there staring at him like he was a stranger. He joined her side and tried to calm the ticking bomb that was his daughter. "Baby, I am sorry. But you did say you were going to try. And Julian well suggested that we could well exploit the opportunity at hand. The guests were here, everyone was happy, celebrating and..."

He trailed off when Lyanna extracted herself from his half embrace. "I know dad, it's just...too sudden. And I need some time to process that I am technically engaged to a guy that I haven't met or spoken to for nearly two decades until tonight", she said.

She headed towards the back doors of the mansion, politely excusing herself from some guests who were congratulating her. On her way out, she saw Nick and Julian exchanging titbits whilst answering the guests' questions about the wedding dates and back stories. She took the narrow stone paths to the koi pond to clear her head. She seriously considered dragging Julian here on his sorry ass and drowning him remorselessly. She could imagine the immense satisfaction that would give her.

"Are you thinking of jumping?" called a smooth voice from behind.

"Huh?"

"You heard it well the first time." He said holding two glasses of champagne and offering her one.

Lyanna managed a weak smile as she took the glass. "You knew this was happening, worse of all, happening now?"

"You want to know whether I was a part of this ambush."

"Is that a question or a statement?" she asked taking a big gulp.

Nick sighed, "If I had the slightest idea, I would have taken an earlier flight to Milan. Uncle would never let me mess with business."

*Considering that it's all he cares about*

"You?" he asked concealing his agitated curiosity almost too well.

"You are asking whether I gave this party, just so it could lead to such events? Now sweetheart, I am not exactly jumping at you uncle's idea of a rosy picture"

*Sweetheart? Damn*

"Rosy picture?"

"Yep. 'You, me, Babies'...ring a bell?"

He was visibly stunned. Julian had told him about the deal, naturally Richard would have told Lyanna too, but he never expected her to be so...blunt about it.

"You have changed a lot since I last met you", he just had to make sure that she was the same girl they had locked in that closet, who was crying and begging for someone to open it.

"You too, you actually transformed into a super-hot Alpha male"

A/N: Sorry for the late update. It's been more than two weeks. *Sigh* Ya missed me? Ya missed me? Aww I missed you too <3

Making up for lost time,  je vous présente  , a bumper offer, for limited time = 1+1 chapter FREEE. OhMyGawd would you look at that!!!!!

Thanks for the love, likes, comments, shares, votes, support and views to current and future readers. This means a lot to me.

*Heart Heart JPC*