Chapter 116 Moonlight and Promises
Briar's POV
The late afternoon sun was slanting through the windows of Emerald Forest Tower when I finally stepped out of the lobby. I pulled out my phone and dialed Rowan as I headed toward the parking garage.
"Hey, you free for dinner tonight?" I asked when she picked up.
"Hold on," Rowan said, her voice muffled. I could hear voices in the background and the distinctive click of a camera shutter. "Okay, I'm back. I'm in the middle of a shoot right now but give me a bit and I'll meet you. Where do you want to go?"
"That Italian place you like?" I suggested.
"Perfect. See you there in an hour."
I was about to hang up when my phone buzzed with a text from Lucian. Emergency meeting at Apex tonight. Don't wait up for dinner.
I sent back a quick acknowledgment and slid the phone into my bag. At least dinner with Rowan would be a distraction.
---
By the time Rowan arrived at the restaurant, I'd already been seated at our usual table near the back. She burst through the door with her camera bag still slung over her shoulder, her face flushed with excitement. "Anyway, what's the occasion for this dinner? Not that I'm complaining."
"Actually," I said, pulling out my phone and showing her the transfer confirmation, "this dinner has a theme. It's called paying you back. One million dollars. We're officially square."
Rowan's eyes widened as she looked at the screen. "Briar, you didn't have to do this all at once."
"Yes, I did," I said firmly. "You helped me when I had nothing. The least I can do is pay you back properly now that I can."
Rowan reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "You know I never expected it back, right? That's what friends do."
"I know," I said. "But I also know what it means to owe people. I don't want that between us."
She studied me for a moment and then nodded. "Okay. Then we're square. But you're still buying dinner."
I laughed and the tension broke. We ordered and fell into easy conversation about her latest projects and the chaos at Vance Botanicals. It wasn't until our main courses arrived that Rowan dropped her next bombshell.
"So the Kashmir sapphire shipment got held up in customs," she said, twirling pasta around her fork. "Some issue with documentation. The jewelry exhibition is being pushed back a month."
"That's going to mess with your timeline," I said.
"Actually, it might work in my favor," Rowan said thoughtfully. "Gives me more time to lock down some of the bigger names I've been courting. Speaking of which, you should come. It'll be a good opportunity to network with the kind of wolves who can actually help you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of wolves are we talking about?"
"Silvercrest Pack," Rowan said, and there was a hint of excitement in her voice. "I'm trying to get one of their Alphas to attend. If I can pull that off, every major pack in the region will send representatives."
The name triggered a memory and I sat back, thinking. "Tobias Castellan?"
Rowan's expression shifted to something carefully neutral. "Tobias is connected to them, but he's not who I'm trying to get. He's adopted. I'm after his uncle, Adrian Castellan. He's the current Alpha of Silvercrest."
"Tell me about him," I said, genuinely curious now.
"Adrian's interesting," Rowan said, leaning forward. "He's the youngest of the Castellan brothers by almost twenty years. His mother was a Broadway opera singer who caught the attention of Harold Castellan when he was already in his sixties. Harold was completely besotted with her, gave her everything she wanted. When Adrian was born, Harold doted on him in a way he never had with his other children."
"That must have gone over well with the rest of the family," I said dryly.
"About as well as you'd expect," Rowan agreed. "But Adrian's smart. He knew how to navigate the politics, how to turn his father's favoritism into real power. When Harold died, Adrian was the natural choice to take over as Alpha, even though he was the youngest."
We talked until the restaurant started emptying out, the conversation drifting from pack politics to Rowan's plans for the exhibition to my ongoing battle with Sterling. The waiter had already cleared our plates and brought the check by the time I glanced at my phone and realized it was nearly eleven.
My phone buzzed with a new message: [Already at the restaurant entrance waiting for you.]
I looked toward the front windows and sure enough, Lucian's car was idling by the curb, the interior light casting his profile in warm gold.
"Well, well," Rowan said, her voice teasing as she followed my gaze. "Look at you with someone to pick you up and everything."
"Shut up," I said, but I was smiling.
We walked out together and Lucian got out as we approached, still in his work clothes with his tie loosened and sleeves rolled up. There were shadows under his eyes that said the meeting had been long and difficult.
"Hey," he said quietly, and then he was draping his coat over my shoulders, his hands lingering on my arms. "You looked cold."
"I'm fine," I protested, but I pulled the coat tighter around myself anyway.
"Hi Lucian," Rowan called out cheerfully. "Thanks for not making my best friend walk home alone in the dark."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Lucian said, but his eyes never left my face.
I hugged Rowan goodbye and slid into the passenger seat, the warmth of the car a welcome relief after the cool night air. Lucian got in beside me and we sat there for a moment in comfortable silence before he spoke.
"Did you have a good time with Rowan?" he asked, pulling out into traffic.
"Yeah," I said, watching the city lights blur past the window. "It was really good to just relax and talk. I didn't realize how much I needed that."
"We should do it more often then," Lucian said. His hand found mine across the console, fingers threading together. "Whatever makes you happy."
I looked over at him, at the way the streetlights played across his features, and felt something warm and solid settle in my chest. "I'd like that."
---
By the time we got back to the apartment, exhaustion was starting to creep in at the edges. I went straight to the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as I could stand it, letting the steam fill the room. The water felt amazing against my tired muscles and I stayed under the spray longer than necessary, just letting my mind drift.
When I finally got out, I wrapped myself in a towel and started blow-drying my hair, watching my reflection slowly emerge from the fog on the mirror. I was so focused on getting the back sections dry that I didn't hear the door open until Lucian's reflection appeared behind mine.
"Let me," he said quietly, and took the dryer from my hand before I could protest.
I stood very still as he gathered my hair in sections, his touch gentle and practiced. Our eyes met in the mirror and something electric passed between us, a current that made my breath catch. He set the dryer down and his fingers traced the line of my neck, following the path of a water droplet from my hairline down to my collarbone.
"You missed a spot," he murmured, and then his thumb was brushing across my shoulder, collecting the moisture there.
I turned to face him and his hands came up to frame my face, tilting it up toward his. He lifted me easily and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me back to the bedroom.
The curtains were open and moonlight spilled through the sheer panels, painting everything in shades of silver and shadow. The fabric moved with the night breeze, a slow dance that matched the rhythm of my heartbeat.
Lucian laid me down on the bed and followed me down, his weight settling over me in a way that felt both protective and possessive. His mouth found mine and I arched up into him, my fingers tangling in his hair.