Chapter 188 She invited them both
_Rowena’s POV_
When they both arrived, I let them sit in their discomfort for a moment before I said something.
It was useful information, watching two people try to occupy the same space without acknowledging each other. Ezekiel had his menu open and was reading it with more attention than the menu deserved.
Pierre on the other hand had his hands on the table and was looking at a point somewhere between the centerpiece and the window.
I flagged the waiter and he came. We ordered and the waiter left.
“I’m not here to fix anything between you two,” I said immediately, which was a lie, but they didn’t have to know that.
They both turned to look at me. “I mean that,” I said. “Whatever is happening between you is yours and I’m not going to arrange it for you or push it or make it into a project. That’s not why I called you here.”
Ezekiel closed his menu. “Then why did you call us here?”
“Because I needed to be somewhere that wasn’t the hospital and wasn’t my room,” I said. “And the two of you are the people I wanted around.” I looked at them both evenly. “That’s all.”
Pierre looked at me for a moment, something in his face settled slightly, the wariness from earlier coming down by a small degree. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’ve had a difficult few days,” I sighed and said honestly .
“Yeah, I saw the photographs everywhere,” Ezekiel said with a pitiful look. “Who let them stay up for so long, was it Kaelen?”
“Nah,” I shook my head. “It was Brielle.”
Ezekiel was quiet for a moment, then he picked up his water glass. “Of course it was her,” he said, he didn’t sound surprised as I’d expected. “You’ve said a lot about her, and being Alaric’s ex, she would do anything to send you out of the picture and take your place.” He added with a shake of his head.
“I can’t prove it though,” I pointed out..
“You don’t need to prove it to us, Ro.” Pierre said softly, giving me a gentle smile.
“Yes, not to you guys,” I said. “But I need to prove it to everyone else, and right now I can’t, and she knows that. She thinks it’s very funny.” I looked at the table. “And Alaric was in a meeting when I went back to explain. Brielle was in that same meeting, I cannot lie I feel horrible right now. Is it okay to hate her?”
Ezekiel chuckled and nodded. “Yes, it is okay to hate and be jealous. She just came outta nowhere to steal your man, I would be annoyed too.” He glanced at Pierre briefly when he said the last part.
Our drinks arrived but we didn’t proceed to grab any just yet, we were quiet for a few minutes, needing a moment to breathe before we drank.
The club around us was filling up slowly now, and I couldn’t tell if it was me but I felt eyes on our booth.
“Can I say something?” Ezekiel said, after a while.
“You’re going to talk regardless,” Pierre said without looking at him.
“True.” He glanced at him. “Brielle is smart. Smarter than she’s been given credit for in this situation, because everyone has been treating her as a background character and she hasn’t been behaving like one.” He looked at me. “She came back for a reason and the reason isn’t entirely medical.”
“We know that, it’s pretty obvious.” I said.
“And she’s going to keep doing things like this,” he waved his hand. “Small things, ones that can’t be proven. Things that look innocent from the outside but land exactly where she intends them to land.” He paused and continued.” “The question is what you’re going to do about it.”
I looked at him.
“And don’t do anything in a dramatic way,” he said quickly. “I don’t mean anything that makes a scene. I mean—” He thought about it. “She’s trying to make you look evil or whatever. The photographs were designed to make you look like someone whose loyalty is questionable.” He grabbed his drink before us. “Don’t be uncertain. That’s the whole answer.”
I sat with that for a moment, finding sense in his nonsense.
Pierre cleared his throat and said to me, “Alaric chose you, he said it in front of cameras, journalists and everyone watching. Brielle being in the city doesn’t change what he said or feels for you.”
“I know what he said,” I nodded.
“Then act like you know,” Pierre said but not unkindly.
“They’re hosting a homecoming party.” I added, “Brielle’s homecoming party, Alaric asked me to go with him. Her family invited him, he’s attending and he wants me there.” I paused. “Which means I’m walking into her family’s house as his plus one while she stands in the middle of it.”
Ezekiel was quiet for exactly one second. “Bold,” he sipped his drink.
“It wasn’t my idea,” I glared at him.
“No but you said yes, didn’t you?” he asked. “Which is also bold.” He tilted his head. “Good bold, that’s the right call.”
“I’m aware it’s the right call,” I said. “I’m also aware it’s going to be an uncomfortable evening.”
“Most right calls are,” Pierre chuckled.
We drank for a while after that, the conversation moving away from Brielle and the photographs and into easier topics.
Ezekiel talked about something his father had said on their last call that had annoyed him, doing a fairly accurate impression of his father’s voice that made Pierre look away to hide something that might have been the beginning of a smile.
I told them about Thomas, the hospital, Maelis asking how I was faring, and Ezekiel’s expression when I described Maelis’s face after I answered her was genuinely satisfying.
Soon, Ezekiel became tipsy, or maybe drunk.
I watched him for a while and saw Pierre shamelessly looking at Ezekiel.
They clearly liked each other, Pierre was just conflicted. This whole thing must be hard for him.
I was here to fix things between them and this was the way, by letting them drink together and give each other looks. It was interesting to watch.
Ezekiel’s phone lit up on the table and he looked at it. His expression did something brief and complicated before he turned it face down. Pierre noticed and looked away, I looked at neither of them and just took a sip of my drink.
“Pierre,” I called out after a moment.
He looked at me.
“The Logan homecoming party is Friday,” I said. “Come.”
He blinked in confusion. “I wasn’t invited.”
“I’m inviting you,” I said. “Alaric won’t mind and it will be better with more people I actually want in the room.” I looked at Ezekiel. “Both of you should come.”
Ezekiel looked at Pierre but Pierre looked at his glass instead of Ezekiel.
“Fine,” Pierre actually agreed.
“Okay,” Ezekiel also agreed.
I let myself relax knowing with these two there, I could have my head in check and everything in control.