Chapter 201: Failed Plan

He dropped the file onto the mat. "Baby, look at me. Come on." He moved closer. "It’s me."

Naomi slowly opened her eyes. They were already wet. "I never want to disappoint you," she whispered. "I swear. I just..." Her voice broke. "I don’t want to keep anything from you."

He pulled her into his arms. "Hey."

Naomi pressed her face into his chest.

"I’m not disappointed." Dorian tightened his arms around her. "Why would I be? I’m shocked, yes, but not because of anything you did. You’ve been carrying this for years and somehow you think I’m sitting here judging you for it?" Dorian exhaled slowly and rubbed one hand down her back.

"No, love. Absolutely not."

Naomi tried to steady her breathing.

The humiliation was still there. Debt had shaped nearly every decision she had made as an adult. How much she worked.

What she sacrificed. What she tolerated. Even the fact that she had considered for however briefly the arranged marriage to Callum.

"I’m angry because none of this makes sense." Dorian cupped her face. "Naomi, listen to me. I am not angry at you. But what happened to the money your father left you?"

She genuinely thought she had misheard him. "What?"

"The money your father left you."

"He didn’t leave me any money." Naomi’s confusion deepened. "Why would you think that?"

Now it was his turn to pause.

He clearly hadn’t expected that answer. "Remember when I told you I had Adrian look into you?"

"Yes."

"He looked into your finances too."

"Yes, you told me."

"In the beginning, I was trying to understand who you were. Adrian dug into your background, your family, your finances, everything."

Naomi folded her arms. "You people are terrifying."

"When I saw how hard you were working, I wondered why. I assumed you just didn’t want to touch your father’s money. Considering everything that happened in the past, it made sense. I thought maybe you wanted nothing to do with anything connected to him."

Naomi shook her head slowly. "There was no money."

"Naomi."

"I’m serious."

"So am I."

She looked at the file lying between them. "He left nothing. There must be a mistake somewhere." She looked at him, completely certain of the version of her life she had been given. "He left nothing but debts."

"Can I look into this?" Dorian asked.

Naomi narrowed her eyes immediately. "When you say look into it, that doesn’t mean you’re going to take it upon yourself to pay anything, does it?"

Dorian held her gaze. "I assure you, I am not putting a dime into this, and neither should you." He picked up the file again and tapped it lightly against his palm. "I’d like to meet whoever is in charge of collecting this debt."

"The details are in the file," Naomi said. "But their job is merely to collect the debt."

"I’ll take a look at it."

She sighed.

There was no point arguing further. She had known the second she handed him those papers that there was no universe in which Dorian Heathcliffe would simply nod, eat dinner and forget everything he had just heard.

Dorian placed the file beside him and reached for her hand. "But promise me something. If what happened today happens again, promise me you’ll call your lawyer."

She slowly tilted her head. "I..." Her expression turned deliberately innocent. "I have a lawyer."

"A very good one."

"Is he?"

"He’s exceptional. Very hot, very sexy lawyer. Drop-dead gorgeous. Show-stopping. Head-turning..."

Naomi burst out laughing. "Okay... okay... I get it!"

"Simply stating facts, love."

"Were you?"

"Absolutely."

Naomi shook her head, still smiling.

The laughter helped. The tight knot in her chest began to loosen.

She had imagined how this conversation might go, and every version in her head had been worse than the one she actually got.

That made her emotional again.

"Thank you for not being weird about this. You could have made me feel like a complete disaster."

"I would never do that." Dorian squeezed her fingers. "I want you happy. I want you always smiling. I want you always talking my head off. I want you annoying me from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. Is that too much to ask?"

Naomi shook her head. "No. I am happy and absolutely smitten with you, my very hot, very sexy lawyer."

"You want to get fucked on the rooftop," he said, "because that’s what you’re gunning for."

Naomi laughed again and pulled the dishes closer and allowed herself to breathe now that she had nothing to hide from him anymore.

*****

When Richard arrived home and discovered that Diana had somehow managed to get the storage-room door open and let Ethan out, his anger returned with frightening speed.

He headed straight toward Ethan’s room.

Diana stepped into his path before he made it halfway down the hall. "Enough!"

The force in her voice stopped him.

Richard turned slowly. His eyes went cold. "What did you just say to me?"

Diana’s heart was pounding, but she didn’t move. "You heard me, Richard. I said enough. My children are not your enemy."

Richard stared at her, he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. "You are speaking to me."

"I promised to help you, and I am helping you, but that help comes with a condition. Your anger does not turn inward."

"He was listening to us. He heard everything. Tell me how you intend to handle this, then, huh?" he demanded. "Go on. Since you suddenly know everything, tell me what happens when he runs straight to his favourite aunt and tells her what he heard."

Of course she knew that was a risk.

Ethan loved Naomi.

And after everything that had happened in the house lately, Diana still didn’t understand why her kids still chose Naomi, constantly asking about her.

Still, there had to be another way.

"We have a plan in place, don’t we?"

Richard’s face twisted. "The plan is shit now! It’s not going to work."