Chapter 189
Rowan's POV
I found Lena in the small courtyard behind Emily's building, sitting on a weathered bench with her arms wrapped around herself. She didn't look up when I approached, but her shoulders tensed.
"Lena."
"Go away, Rowan." Her voice was flat, exhausted. "I don't want to do this right now."
"It wasn't mine." I stopped a few feet away, giving her space. "The gift. The card. None of it was mine."
That got her attention. She looked up, eyes red-rimmed and wary. "What?"
"Lucas bought it. Had it delivered to my office the day Nora came back a year ago." I pulled out my phone, pulling up the security footage Jack had sent. "He was pushing me to go to the airport, to make some grand gesture. I told him to fuck off."
I held out the phone. After a long hesitation, she took it.
The footage showed me at my desk, Lucas barging in with a gift box. Even without sound, my body language was clear—irritated, dismissive. I shoved the box aside, but Lucas pushed it back, gesturing emphatically. Finally, I opened it.
The moment I saw the card, my expression went from annoyed to furious. I threw it at Lucas, clearly shouting. He backed toward the door, hands raised in surrender, and I followed, still yelling.
Lena's thumb moved across the screen, rewinding, watching it again.
"The card," I said quietly. "Colin came up with it. We were at the club a few nights before that day, and he suggested this stupid word game. Had me write out random words for some puzzle he was supposedly making." I shook my head, disgusted with myself for not seeing it coming. "He rearranged them. Made it say what he wanted."
She was quiet for a long moment, staring at the frozen image on my phone.
"I see." She handed back the phone, her expression unreadable. "So it was all a setup. Lucas and Colin playing matchmaker."
"Yeah." I moved closer, slowly. "I threw the whole thing in my drawer and forgot about it. I swear to you, Lena—I never wrote that message. Never intended it for anyone."
"But you said the same thing to me." Her voice was very quiet. "At the cabin. 'I'll always be here for you.' Word for word."
Fuck. Of course she'd caught that.
"I know how it looks—"
"It looks like you have a script, Rowan." She stood, wrapping her arms around herself again. "A set of lines you use when you need someone to believe you care."
"That's not—" I stopped, forced myself to take a breath. "Let me prove it. Lucas and Colin are meeting us at the Oak Club in an hour. You can hear it from them directly. See for yourself that this was their scheme, not mine."
"What's the point?" She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Even if they confirm your story, it doesn't change the fact that you said the same thing to me that was written on a card meant for Nora. The same promise. The same—"
"The words were the same," I interrupted. "But the meaning wasn't. Lena, look at me."
She did, finally, and the pain in her eyes nearly broke me.
"When I said those words to you," I continued, "I meant them. I meant every fucking syllable. What Lucas and Colin did with my handwriting—that was manipulation. What I said to you at the cabin was real."
"How am I supposed to know the difference?" Her voice cracked slightly. "How am I supposed to trust that anything you say is real when you've spent two years treating me like a contract obligation?"
"You can't," I admitted. "Not based on words alone. That's why I'm asking you to come with me. Hear what they have to say. And then decide."
She studied my face for a long moment. "And if I decide I don't believe you?"
"Then I'll accept it." The words tasted like ash. "But I'm asking you not to make that decision based on something Lucas and Colin did. Make it based on what I've shown you. How I've been with you since the cabin."
She was quiet for so long I thought she'd refuse. Then she nodded slowly.
"One hour," she said. "They get one hour to explain."
Relief flooded through me. "That's all I'm asking."
---
The private room at the Oak Club was one I'd used for sensitive business meetings—soundproof, discreet, and currently occupied by two of my oldest friends who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else.
Colin stood when we entered, his usual easy charm notably absent. Lucas remained seated, his expression a mixture of guilt and resignation.
"Lena." Lucas started to rise, but I waved him back down.
"Stay there." I guided Lena to a chair across from them, then remained standing behind her. "You two are going to explain exactly what happened with that gift. All of it. And if I catch even a hint of bullshit, we're done."
Colin winced. "Rowan, mate, we didn't mean—"
"I don't care what you meant. Talk."
Lucas leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table. "It was my idea. The gift, asking Rowan to meet Nora at the airport—all of it." He looked directly at Lena. "Nora's my sister. My responsibility. And she's been... fixated on Rowan for years. I thought if he helped her get settled, showed her some friendly support, maybe she'd finally move on."
Lena's expression didn't change. "Go on."
"The card was Colin's idea," Lucas continued. "We were drinking at the club, and Colin suggested this word game. Got Rowan to write out random phrases, words—said he was making some kind of puzzle."
"I rearranged them," Colin admitted, looking genuinely ashamed. "Picked out the words that would make that message. Lucas was supposed to use it for the airport pickup."