Nolan was uncharacteristically surly. He folded for the fifth straight hand in a row and rose to use the restroom. He supposed he was doing an alright performance at being his usual affable self, but he wasn’t able to stop glaring at his nephew, a fact Nolan knew Grey hadn’t failed to notice. And the prick had reacted by smiling every time.
And because of his animosity this evening Nolan was losing. Badly. He had no poker face tonight, not where Grey was concerned, so he folded with a pair of kings. Because Grey was having no trouble reading his uncle, but Nolan could not fathom what was going on in Grey’s head besides cocky self-assurance.
“You out for the night?” Asked the young man casually.
Nolan was sorely tempted but he felt all the other men’s eyes upon him and smiled. “Not at all. I still have plenty of money to hand over to you.”
There was laughter. Grey almost always went home with the most winnings. He had been doing so since probably his freshman year of high school. At first the men surmised it was because they were all drinking and Grey, being a teenager (and Jonah’s son) was necessarily sober for the games. But when Grey matured into adulthood and drinking had done nothing to diminish his take at the end of the poker evenings, the men had to admit, however grudgingly, that the boy had skill.
Nolan sometimes regretted teaching the boy how to play at all.
In the restroom he splashed cold water on his face to try and diminish the fuming he felt, lessen the heat of the rancor. He wanted to take the kid outside and throw punches. He needed to relax.
He dried his hands on a soft hand towel and sighed at himself in the bathroom mirror. What right did he have to be getting this upset? Where was all this irrational ferocity springing from? It wasn’t his place, really, to be so fucking protective.
He’d just figured out that Grey Delaney was the mystery man Maggie Ramirez was dating. The Picnic Guy, the Impressive Wine Selection Fellow who had clearly stolen the girl’s heart and turned her head. Christ. The thought of his nephew with that sweet, innocent girl made Nolan’s hands curl into fists.
Because Grey was a fucking predator. And he knew it wasn’t going to end well for Maggie.
Lips pressed firmly together he nearly walked right into Grey as he distractedly strode from the restroom.
“Excuse me.” Grey said with a small smile. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Nolan squinted. Grey had been perfectly aware of his surroundings. It was Nolan that had been oblivious.
“My Fault.” He said tersely, and stood, staring the boy down.
Grey looked smug. “How’s things at the shop?” He asked, shooting the breeze, and Nolan felt like slamming him up against the wall.
“How did you enjoy the Sauternes?” Nolan said in lieu of an answer.
Grey nodded, acknowledging that his courtship of Maggie was finally, at last, known to Nolan. He could kick himself for not figuring it out sooner.
“It was very, very sweet.” He said with a perverse twist to his smile that made Nolan’s nostrils flare in response.
He felt his breath coming a little faster but he wrestled his face into a stoic mask. He couldn’t help the fire in his eyes, though, and watched Grey smile at it.
“She’s a good girl, Grey.” Nolan said in a tone of deadly warning.
Grey raised his eyebrows politely. “She’s very good, Uncle Nolan.” He responded with a mildness that belied his subtext and Nolan took a step forward. He was about Grey’s height but he felt as though he towered over the boy.
“Hey—Everything ok?” Jonah asked from the doorway to the living room. He looked warily from Grey to Nolan, his face a question.
Nolan had a sudden surge of dislike for his brother that startled and shamed him. How could he have raised a son like this? Nolan looked Grey up and down and knew the loathing showed in his face and he didn’t particularly care. Nolan would be damned if her ever let his sons behave like this.
He felt his breath catch painfully in his chest. His son. If he ever let Ajay behave like this. Nolan’s menacing stance melted and he focused on a spot on the wall behind Grey. He tried not to think about the son he’d never get to bring to poker night. The son he’d never be able to lecture on how to treat women, how to be a gentleman, how to conduct himself with honor.
“Yeah, Dad. We’ll be right in.” Answered Grey in easy tones after a moment.
Jonah hesitated.
“Just need a minute with Grey.” Nolan ground out.
Jonah still looked unsure, but Grey flashed him a smile and waved him away, so he finally nodded and turned back toward the poker game. Nolan heard the jovial camaraderie from the other room and wished he could relax and enjoy the evening with his friends and family. But he recognized that such was an impossibility this evening.
“Your father raised you better than this.” Nolan’s voice dripped with disdain. And he shoved thoughts of his own boys aside. This wasn’t about them.
Grey’s expression shuttered and he wore a calm mask. “A disgrace to the Delaney name, am I?” His nephew challenged coolly.
Nolan almost raised his hand to box the kid’s ears. Where had this recent obsession with his real paternity come from? Ever since Grey’d entered college he’d become almost singularly committed to becoming every bit a bedroom legend as his disgusting fuck of a sire. It turned Nolan’s stomach as much as it grieved him to see Grey carelessly discard all the morals and values Jonah had worked so hard to instill in the boy.
“How do you think your mother would like it if she knew how you treated these girls Grey?”
Grey’s carefully maintained expression of unruffled calm broke and with some grim satisfaction Nolan recognized that he was not the only one who wanted to throw a punch. “Leave her the fuck out of this.” He snarled and moved to push past his uncle.
But Nolan wouldn’t be passed, he placed himself between Grey and the bathroom and glared at him, meeting the boy’s pale green fire with his own. Instinctively Nolan understood that in his current phase of rebellion appealing to his sense of decency through his Dad would do nothing but firm the boy’s resolve, that’s why he’d used the other tactic, and he was glad it had worked. Grey loved his mother and esteemed her above everyone else.
“You want her to know how you prey on these girls and break their hearts?”
“Shut the fuck up Nolan.”
They glared at eachother for a heated moment. Nolan wondered if Grey was thinking through the possible outcomes, just as he was, of a fist fight under Jonah’s roof. Neither of them seemed to want to put Jonah in the awkward position of having to break up an altercation between his brother and son.
“She’s a good girl.” Nolan repeated.
“She knows what she’s doing.” His nephew leveled.
Nolan winced. No. She didn’t. Maggie was a smart girl but she’d been very efficiently charmed into thinking she was in a loving, committed relationship. She had no idea what was coming. “Do you?” He asked quietly.
Grey laughed sharply. “Why don’t you tell her to stay away from me, if you’re so goddamn concerned?” He asked, his eyes a challenge.
Nolan finally stepped aside to let Grey pass him. “I would if I thought it would do any good.” He told him honestly. “But you and I both know it’s too late for that.”
Grey smirked and Nolan’s fist twitched reflexively. Nolan thought it was very lucky for both of them that Grey chose not to comment on the last remark, and he ran a hand through his hair, took three deep breaths and headed back to the card table. He tried to tell himself it was none of his fucking business anyway.
He poured himself another large glass of wine and sat down to play, forcing a smile he didn’t feel.
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