Chapter 191: Midnight Plan

The sound of another car pulling into the compound interrupted him.

Daniel turned.

Then another came in behind it.

And another.

Within minutes, cars were lining up across the Heathcliffe compound.

Daniel watched in disbelief as men started stepping out.

Men who normally spent weekday mornings in boardrooms.

Four men at the top of their respective careers.

Dorian turned toward Daniel. "You were saying..."

"Hey, dude!" one of the men called as he walked toward them, already removing his jacket. "Where’s the fire?"

"No fire," Daniel replied. "We just need a kitchen out here."

Soon, all seven men were standing in the middle of the Heathcliffe backyard, putting their heads together like they were planning an international merger.

Dorian explained what Naomi needed.

Daniel folded his arms. "How long do we have?"

Dorian checked his watch. "A few hours."

"You couldn’t have called last night?"

"I didn’t think of this last night."

The operation began anyway. Calls were made. A tent rental company was contacted. Portable stainless-steel workstations were sourced.

Electricians came in to run temporary electrical lines that could safely handle the equipment.

By midday, the elegant Heathcliffe backyard looked like a professional catering company with a temporary headquarters.

By late afternoon, the hard part was done. The tents stood securely across the paved section of the back compound.

Workstations ran in organised rows beneath them. Temporary lighting had been fitted. Large bins and storage containers sat exactly where they were needed.

It actually looked functional.

The men finally collapsed into chairs near the edge of the setup.

Suit jackets had long since disappeared. Ties had been loosened. Sleeves were rolled to elbows. Cold beer was produced.

They looked exhausted but pleased with themselves.

Dorian took a drink and surveyed the kitchen.

Naomi arrived then and came around the side of the house a minute later.

Dorian watched her take everything in and saw her eyes light up.

That expression alone made every hour spent completely worth it.

Dorian smiled into his beer.

Naomi on the other hand had suspected he was up to something when he left home before she even woke up that morning.

All he had sent her was a text saying he was at his parents’ house.

Dorian had become painfully predictable. His first instinct was always to fix whatever problem touched his wife.

The men had cut her workload down by at least ninety percent.

What should have been a miserable, exhausting day of dragging rented equipment across the Heathcliffe backyard somehow turned into fun.

The trucks arrived one after another with the rest of the equipment Naomi had booked, and the entire group jumped in again.

By early evening, the temporary kitchen looked incredible. Exactly what Naomi needed.

She stood in the middle of it, looking around at everything they had built for her in less than a day.

Seven grown men with jobs, families and responsibilities had dropped what they were doing.

And they had shown up.

Naomi wasn’t used to that kind of thing. She still wasn’t sure she ever would be.

So she did what she knew how to do best.

She fed them. She made her famous chicken as a thank-you.

"This is why we came." one of the men said.

Naomi laughed.

That had been the mood for the rest of the evening.

By the time everything had been cleaned, checked and properly secured for the night, it was nearly midnight.

Dorian and Naomi finally made it back to the townhouse.

The second they reached their bedroom, Dorian collapsed onto the bed. Within minutes, his breathing had evened out.

He was completely spent.

Naomi should have slept too. She was exhausted. Her brain had been running for almost eighteen hours.

But she couldn’t sleep just yet.

She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him.

Dorian had spent the entire day making sure her problem became manageable. He had done it because she needed him.

Naomi smiled softly.

If her husband could go out of his way for her, surely she could go out of her way for him too.

She reached for her phone, opened Tessa’s chat. She was going to need her best friend’s help.

A lot of it. Because if she planned this properly, she could make sure the wedding catering ran without her constantly disappearing into the kitchen.

Which meant she could actually be there beside Dorian. Exactly where he wanted her.

Naomi smiled as she typed out the message.

*****

Marianne felt genuine relief when the lawyer Dorian had assigned to her finally arrived.

The guard brought him into the visitation room, and Marianne studied him as he approached.

He introduced himself as Adrian Archer. He looked close to Dorian’s age, maybe slightly younger, though Marianne couldn’t be sure. He was shorter than Dorian, probably around six feet, with dark brown hair neatly styled and a pair of glasses that did absolutely nothing to hide his hazel eyes.

Marianne had started noticing things like that since she got locked up.

When you had too much time and nowhere to put your mind, it found things to do. If she didn’t give her thoughts something harmless to pick apart, they usually wandered somewhere painful instead.

So she studied Adrian Archer.

"Mrs Bennett, I’m so sorry it took so long to reach out to you," Adrian said as he opened the file in front of him. "Our mutual acquaintance thought it would be best if we gave it a little time before we began working properly on your case."

Mutual acquaintance.

Marianne smiled. More like my son in law. She folded her hands together on the table. "I’m a little anxious, truth be told. I just..." She glanced briefly toward the door before looking back at him. "I’m restless."

That was the easiest way to explain it. It didn’t quite capture what it felt like to wake up now knowing there was a chance Naomi needed her while she remained trapped behind walls she had willingly accepted years ago.

It didn’t explain the fear she was now feeling.

"Do you think you can do this?" she asked.