Chapter 236 Chapter 236

Chapter 236 Chapter 236
Violet

I hadn’t stepped in the restaurant where everything started in a long time but now that I stood by the entrance, I felt an odd sense of belonging.

The restaurant looked different at night.

Gone was the golden afternoon light that had streamed through the windows the day I first booked it for a dinner date with Nate, replaced now by the soft glow of dimmed overhead fixtures and the flicker of a few remaining candles on empty tables. 

Chairs had already been stacked on most surfaces, the staff clearly winding down for closing. The air smelled faintly of cleaning solution and the last remnants of whatever had been cooked hours ago.

I hadn't consciously chosen this particular restaurant when I'd told Dane to meet me. But somehow my mouth had thought of this place, and only when I pulled into the parking lot did I realize where I'd led myself.

This was the same restaurant where Nate had ignored me for his phone. I could still clearly remember the first time I had seen Elijah, tattooed and relaxed in his corner booth, watching a flustered waitress with quiet amusement. 

And then the rogues had stormed in, Elijah had shielded me and from that moment my entire life had been set on a collision course I never could have predicted.

It was poetic, in a sick sort of way to think of a new start in the same place the older ones had begun.

A young waitress was flipping chairs onto tables when I walked in, her expression shifting to polite dismay when she spotted me.

"I'm so sorry, we're about to close," she said, already reaching for the door to lock it behind me.

"Please," I said, my voice coming out more desperate than I intended. "I just need somewhere to sit for twenty minutes. I'll pay whatever you need, I can pay extra for your trouble."

I dug in my purse and held out a wad of bills that made her eyes widen slightly.

She glanced back toward the kitchen, where I could hear the clatter of someone finishing cleanup, then back at me, clearly weighing whether this was worth the hassle.

"Please," I said again. "It's important."

Something in my expression must have convinced her, because she took the bills and nodded. "Okay, I can give you half an hour at most. I'll bring you a table in the back."

“Thanks”

She led me to a small table near the window where I'd sat with Nate all those weeks ago, waiting for him to notice me. The irony wasn't lost on me.

I sat down and pulled out my phone, checking the time. Dane would be here soon. I'd told him to be here in thirty minutes and it had already been twenty since I'd called him.

The restaurant felt too quiet now that I sat here alone with my thoughts, surrounded by empty tables and stacked chairs.

I stared out the window at the parking lot, watching for Dane's car and simultaneously trying not to think about Elijah's face when I'd told him I was marrying someone else. Trying not to remember the way he'd asked if I'd invite him to the wedding, that bitter, broken challenge in his voice.

‘Isn't that why you're doing this? You want me to feel all the pain you felt.’ His words echoed in my mind.

Was that true? Was I really doing this out of spite, trying to hurt him the way he'd hurt me? Or was I genuinely trying to protect myself, to build a wall between us before my heart could betray me completely like it did with Nate?

I didn't know anymore. I couldn't separate my motivations into neat categories of righteous self-protection versus petty revenge.

Headlights swept across the parking lot, and I watched a car pull in too fast, tires slightly screeching as it parked at an angle that suggested someone was in a hurry.

Dane emerged from the driver's seat, and even from this distance I could tell he'd left in a rush. His hair was disheveled, and he wore a t-shirt and sweatpants, clearly whatever he'd been sleeping in, with just a jacket thrown on top of it.

He jogged toward the restaurant entrance, and the waitress must have seen him coming because she unlocked the door to let him in.

His eyes scanned the empty restaurant until they found me, and his expression shifted immediately from urgency to concern.

"Violet." He crossed the space quickly, sliding into the chair across from me. "Are you okay? You said it was urgent. What happened?"

Up close, I could see the sleep still clinging to his features, the slight puffiness around his eyes that suggested he really had been in bed when I called.

"I'm fine," I said, though the words felt hollow. "I just needed to talk to you. I just wanted a place away from work, and from everything else."

Dane looked around. “You come here often?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. 

“Sometimes”

He nodded. “It is a fine little place”

The waitress approached us with a pen and pad in hand despite the late hour. "Can I get you two anything?"

"Coffee," Dane said immediately, glancing at me. "For both of us? You look like you could use it."

I nodded, and the waitress disappeared toward the kitchen, leaving us alone in the empty restaurant.

Dane's eyes studied my face with obvious concern, taking in whatever exhaustion and emotional turmoil must have been visible despite my attempts to compose myself.

"Talk to me," he said softly. "What's going on?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it again, uncertain where to even begin.

He reached across the table and gently took my hand, his fingers warm and steady around mine. The gesture was comforting in its simplicity. There was nothing demanding or presumptuous about it, just quiet support.

"Whatever it is," he added, giving my hand a gentle squeeze, "you can tell me. I'm not going anywhere."

Something in my chest loosened slightly at his words, wondering if he was really a good man or he would also one day betray me like Nate and Elijah. 

“Though it's a bit chilly here. I should have worn a bigger sweater” He said and I smiled despite myself.

My shoulders, which I hadn't realized were tensed up near my ears, finally sagged with something like relief.

The waitress returned with two cups of coffee, setting them down carefully before retreating to give us privacy. I wrapped my hands around my cup, grateful for the warmth against my palms, which had gone cold despite the mild evening temperature.

Dane took a sip of his own coffee, closing his eyes briefly like the caffeine was already working through his system. 

"Better," he murmured, then looked back at me with renewed alertness. "Okay, so this urgent late-night meeting, this has to be good news, right? You wouldn't call me at midnight for anything less than something big."