Chapter 128

Julian’s POV

Seeing Roman again made my blood boil, but finally Rafael’s words from this morning had become abundantly clear.

Running into them was no coincidence, despite the way Roman was smiling at Amber and telling her, “Rafael invited me to visit his pack as a show of comradery between our two packs. I had no idea you’d be here.”

Everything about that screamed that it was a lie, especially as Rafael had already made that earlier threat against me. He’d been planning on bringing Roman in, just to try to get him between Amber and me.

I watched Amber closely, seeing if she would fall for the lie. She seemed as uncomfortable as I felt.

“It’s been a while,” she said to him.

“Yes,” he replied. “It has been. A while, I mean. But it’s good to see you.”

“Yeah,” Amber replied. “It’s nice to see you too.”

Roman smiled, but it was a bit awkward. “You mean it?” he seemed like he genuinely couldn’t tell.

“I mean…” Amber hesitated, stumbling with her words now that he had called her out. Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting that. “Yes?” She sounded as unsure as he did.

Gods, even watching this interaction was painful.

“We were in the middle of dinner,” I said, gesturing to the table. Yes, the food hadn’t come yet, but that was all the more reason for this twosome to disappear.

“You don’t mind if Roman and I join you, do you?” Rafael asked. His grin was sharp. He knew exactly what he was doing, or at least he thought he did. I wasn’t sure he fully understood all the history that stood between Roman and Amber however, or he might not be so eager to invite the man to be his new brother-in-law.

I certainly wasn’t about to give up the position anytime soon, not to anyone, least of all Roman.

“I…” Amber started, but then looked at me. There was something pleading in her eyes, like she was giving me a secret message. Help me.

“I think this booth is really only for two people,” I said.

“Then we’ll grab a couple of chairs,” Rafael said.

“I really don’t think that’s necessary,” Amber said.

“It will be good to catch up,” Roman said. His awkward smile gained some warmth then. Just looking at him, he seemed to genuinely care about Amber, which made me deeply uncomfortable. “How is Alice doing?”

Amber, too, seemed to soften at the question. “She’s doing well.”

“I bet she misses me,” Roman said.

That soured Alice’s mood. I remembered a cool night in the parking lot where Alice ran to me, crying because she did not want her mom and Roman to be together.

Knowing Alice as I did, I doubted that position of hers had changed much since their last meeting.

“I…” Amber looked around, deer-in-the-headlights like, before finally putting her napkin on the table and saying, “I’m sorry. I’m just not feeling very hungry anymore.”

“We just ordered,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

“I’ll have them make it to go,” I said at once and moved out of the booth as she did. I gave her the keys so she could escape to the car while I spotted the waitress near the hostess station.

“If Julian wishes to stay, I could drive you home, Amber,” Roman said. “Then we’d have some chances to talk.”

Again, Amber’s pleading look came back to me.

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “I’m more than happy to escort Amber back to the hotel we are both staying in. Together.” I added that last word for a bit of punch, which, with the way Roman winced, seemed to have met its intended mark.

Amber gave me an annoyed sort of look, but it quickly dissolved into one of gratitude.

“Gentleman, if you will excuse us,” I said to Rafael and Roman and then ushered Amber toward the front of the restaurant. As she went outside, I went to the desk to see how far along our meals were and to settle the bill.

“We’ll catch up later, then!” Roman called after Amber.

Rafael’s POV

This… did not go as well as I would have thought it would have. By all accounts, the articles and tabloids had painted Roman and Amber to have a heated affair during her time at his pack. While my own run-ins with the tabloids kept me from believing the worst of the garbage they printed, I still had some suspicion there might have been a kernel of truth in his words.

Now, seeing the awkward way the pair interacted and the way Amber practically flew out of here, I had no idea what to think.

It was clear they hadn’t been in contact in some time. Maybe that could account for some awkwardness. But not all of it.

“I’m not sure this will work,” Roman said to me. “Amber and I are friends, but she’s always kept a wall up, unable to connect with me emotionally. Part of that, I think is because of Julian, but I’m not sure…”

“The two of you just need some time together,” I said. “Without Julian in the way. Trust me, I can facilitate that.”

“I’m not sure that will be enough,” Roman said. “I’ve taken chances in the past. I even proposed…”

Gods, maybe this was an uphill battle, but I wasn’t going to give up on this plan. Not yet.

Compared to Julian, who was an insufferable brute, Roman was an honest, hard-working man who seemed to genuinely care for Amber.

He was the kind of man I would want her to be with, to help take care of her and the pack. Perhaps, someday, we could facilitate a pack merger…

But that wasn’t why I wanted this. I genuinely wanted what was best for my sister. Or maybe sister. Or…

“Listen, Roman. You are perfect for Amber, she just needs to realize it. Trust me, I will take care of everything. I’ll make moments for the two of you to be together. And when she can finally see the kind of man you are, she won’t even remember Julian’s name.”

That was a tall order, even for me. I hoped I could pull it off.

Julian’s POV

I followed Amber out into the parking lot where I found her waiting by the car. I’d given her the keys, so I found this curious. She could have waited inside instead.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I couldn’t sit still,” she said. She pushed away from the car door then, shuffling her feet while weaving her fingers together, showing her restlessness. “I was rude to him. He didn’t deserve it.”

“It was a shock seeing him after all this time,” I said. “You two weren’t romantic, right? But you still had history. You didn’t have to be nice, Amber. That was an ambush. You didn’t have to be anything.”

“Still…”

Leaning closer to her, I pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “You are a good person with a kind heart. But it was okay to want to look out for yourself tonight. You were surprised. No one will judge you for that, especially me. And not even Rafael.”

She blinked, like she was surprised that I could tell she wanted to impress her maybe brother.

“He will understand,” I told her.

She smiled a little at me, seeming to relax. She smiled more as I handed her the boxed up salmon. She tried a bite on the way home and moaned so loud I nearly swerved off the road.

“Good?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Her voice was heaven.

Now I just needed to find a way to make sure I was the one hearing it every single day.