Chapter 24 #2
As they were speaking, the restaurant doors opened, and Tiana glanced over her shoulder.
Despite texting him not to come, she still had a glitch of hope that her fairytale prince would ignore her message and show up anyway to save her from her anxiety.
She thought this might be her big rom-com movie moment when she’s in the awkward, uncomfortable moment and the hero, who she thinks has abandoned her, shows up looking gorgeous and whisks her away. That didn’t happen.
Instead, Brock walked in with Gianna. She’d been explicitly told he would not be attending, which is why she’d agreed. She felt her jaw drop, surprised to see him. He, however, did not seem at all surprised to see her.
She turned her head back to Mrs. Bartlett. “Did I get the wrong day? Or did I not…”
“No, you didn’t,” she stated flatly.
Her ex’s mom began to walk towards him. “I’ll go speak to h—”
“No.” Tiana stepped to the left to block her path. She didn’t want to make a big deal over this. People in the restaurant were already murmuring about him being there she didn’t want anything to end up online. “It’s fine. I’ll go and just catch up with you guys a different night.”
“No!” Millie cried out and grabbed onto Tiana’s leg. “Auntie Tiana! Don’t leave! Please don’t leave!”
“Shh, shh, shh,” she shushed the five-year-old as she bent down to try and not draw even more attention to the situation. “It’s okay. I’ll see you before you leave, don’t worry.”
“What’s wrong? We can’t all have dinner together? This is my family, and we’re celebrating.”
Brock’s voice boomed above her as she held Millie in her arms, crying, still crouched on the ground.
“Celebrating?” Mrs. Bartlett repeated.
“We’re engaged!” Brock announced loudly.
Mrs. Bartlett gasped, so clearly, she’d had no clue about the engagement or the photo shoot that had taken place at the resort earlier in the week or the article that was going to be coming out the following week.
Millie had a death grip around Tiana’s neck, and she looked around for Belinda or Martin to help her extract their daughter so she could get the hell out of there.
“Okay, sweet girl I’m gonna go.” She tried to remove her arms, but Millie just doubled down, holding on like a koala bear.
She looked up at Pops, who was now seated at a booth in the bar and too busy shooting Brock stares, that if they could kill, would have ended up with her ex being six under.
The walls felt like they were closing in on her as panic and stress began to rise in her like a pressure cooker. Her heart was going a trillion miles a minute, her palms were getting sweaty. She stood, not knowing what else to do, holding Millie, who was still crying, attempting to calm her down.
Now more people were looking, Tiana was attempting to get Mrs. Bartlett’s attention so she could take Millie, but Brock’s mom was dumbfounded over her son’s announcement.
Tiana just needed to get Millie settled and handed back to her mom or dad and get out of the restaurant because she was starting to hyperventilate. Her lips were starting to tingle, and her knees were getting weak.
A hostess approached and said, “Bartlett party, if you could follow me.”
Thankfully, miraculously, Belinda appeared and was able to bribe Millie out of Tiana’s arms with promises of maraschino cherries in her Sprite. Once she was five-year-old free, she helped Pops stand and was planning on slipping out the entrance when Brock cut off her escape route.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you here for dinner with my family?”
She felt Pops tense beside her. “Boy, you better—”
“I’m not feeling well.” Tiana stepped so that she was positioned slightly in front of Pops. “I need to go home.” It wasn’t even a lie. Tiana felt like she was going to pass out.
“My family has been dying to see you. They went to all this trouble. You can’t just bail. You left me. I thought it was all water under the bridge. I thought you’d be happy for me.” His voice was loud and carried across the restaurant.
Gianna stood beside Brock, her face a practice in neutrality, but Tiana recognized her expression.
It was clear she was uncomfortable with his behavior, but she knew she couldn’t say or do anything.
She looked like she wished the ground would swallow her up, but she was trying desperately not to let even a hint of that show, otherwise, he would make her regret it.
Most of Brock’s family had gone into the room reserved for the dinner, leaving only one uncle and a cousin at the bar waiting for their drinks.
Tiana smiled widely at both Gianna and Brock. “Congratulations to you both, I wish you all the happiness.” With that she turned her body in the direction of the exit to take a different route, and when she did, Brock’s hand landed on her forearm, impeding her continued movement.
“Don’t be like this. There’s no reason why we can’t all have dinner together.”
For the first time since her ex arrived at the restaurant, Tiana looked him dead in the eyes.
Something was going on. Something she didn’t know about.
He had a cockiness, a swag to him that made her nervous.
He only ever had that energy when he was fucking someone over and they had no clue, when he had the upper hand and his opponent was none the wiser.
Hell, half the time they didn’t even know they were in the game.
Everything was a game to him, not just his profession as a football player.
Friendships, business, even love. And he always wanted to win.
Him showing up at the dinner announcing his engagement was not the upper hand, because that would be showing his cards. Something else was going on. If he was Moriarty, then the game was afoot.
“Son, you better take your hand off—” Pops began to say.
“Sorry I’m late.” Tiana felt a familiar arm snake around her waist and pull her backwards, causing Brock to release her arm.
Her entire body instantly relaxed into the safety cocoon of Niko’s broad frame. Then melted when he pressed a kiss to her cheek. Once he’d greeted her. He shifted their positions so he was angled just in front of her, edged between her and Brock. It wasn’t obvious but strong in its subtlety.
“What did I miss?” Niko said cheerily.
“We’re engaged.” Brock lifted up Gianna’s hand.
Tiana could see by the glint in her ex’s eyes that he was baiting Niko, waiting gleefully for Niko’s reaction. Little did he know, they’d both been aware of that information for over a week.
“Wow. Congrats, guys!” Niko beamed as he shook Brock’s hand and then pulled him into a very aggressive one-arm man hug where he ‘patted’ him on the back with so much enthusiasm it vibrated off the walls.
He then hugged Gianna, and from where Tiana was standing, it looked like Niko whispered something in her ear, but she couldn’t be sure. Gianna froze and quickly pulled away from her ex.
“Brock, we’re waiting for you guys.” Mrs. Bartlett stated as she joined the group, and at that time his uncle and cousin finished up at the bar and joined them as well.
“Oh, hello!” Her ex-MIL’s face lit up when she saw Niko.
Tiana stepped forward to make introductions, but Niko beat her to it.
“You must be Mrs. Bartlett. Tiana has told me so much about you.” Niko held out his hand and shook Mrs. Bartlett’s. Tiana could see that his charm, or maybe it was just his dimple, definitely worked on her. She got flushed. “Hi, I’m Niko Costas.”
“And will you be joining us for dinner?” Mrs. Barlett asked with a smile.
“I’m actually not feeling well,” Tiana explained to her former mother-in-law.
Niko’s eyes shot to Tiana, she could see the instant worry in them. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just tired,” she assured him.
His eyes were very serious, and she tried her best to telepathically convey that she just wanted to leave and not discuss it there.
Not missing a thing, Niko turned his attention back to the group and said, “It looks like we’ll have to take a raincheck. I’m gonna get these two home, but hopefully we’ll get a chance to see you before you leave,” he directed at Mrs. Bartlett. “I know how much your family means to Tiana.”
Hearing Niko say those things to her ex’s mom made her heart nearly explode in her chest. She’d mentioned several times over the week how much Brock’s family had meant to her, and, even though they weren’t really dating, for him to say that to her meant the world.
“I would love that,” Mrs. Bartlett enthused and then she turned to Tiana. “Hope you feel better soon, sweetie pie.”
“Thanks.”
“Bye, Stanley.” Mrs. Bartlett leaned over and kissed Pops on his cheek.
“Bye, Debbie B.”
“See you soon.” Niko said to everyone, but Tiana felt like he mainly pointed it at Brock, and that it was more of a threat or promise than a throwaway parting remark.
The Bartletts headed in the direction of the private room they’d rented, and Niko guided her and Pops outside.
All the way out, Pops was mumbling to himself about what a prick Brock was. Tiana knew better than to interrupt him, it was better to just let him get it out. She had years of practice in dealing with the aftermath of Brock Bartlett.
As they stood waiting for the valet to bring Niko’s SUV, he kept his arm around her waist, which she appreciated. She turned towards him, rested her head against his chest, and closed her eyes. She couldn’t get over just how tired she was.
His hand ran up and down her back, and he kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry I was late.”
She started to respond but instead just nodded against him. She wanted to know why, but right now she didn’t care. All she cared about was that he was there, she was in his arms, and for that moment, she knew Pops was okay, she was okay, and her world was a safe, perfect place.