Chapter 205: Old Memories

"What is it?" Naomi asked, genuinely curious.

"Unconditional love."

"What does that even mean?"

"Maybe we ask them."

She moved closer. "I just want you to be happy, Dorian. With me. I don’t know what I am doing. All I know is I love you. And I want to be with you forever. But if the time ever comes that you..."

"Shhhh..." Dorian placed a finger against her lips before she could finish. "Don’t even go there." his hand slid from her mouth to her cheek. "I haven’t been this happy with any woman in thirteen years. I don’t plan for this to end. I intend to keep you till my dying breath. Because I cannot imagine my life any other way."

Naomi gazed at him in open adoration. "I’m so glad you got divorced three times."

"I think you will be the first person to say so."

Naomi smiled. "Well, if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here."

Dorian leaned over and kissed her, ithout any urgency behind it.

After that, they settled into a lazy morning routine of further pillow talk as the sun began to rise.

They talked about nothing important and everything important.

By the time the sunlight had properly entered the room, they barely wanted to move. Then things became crazy.

Dorian had to get ready for work.

Naomi had to make breakfast he would never eat.

That part irritated her every single morning.

She could prepare something perfectly, put it in front of him, make sure it smelled good enough to tempt a saint, and Dorian would still somehow find a way to drink coffee, check his phone and announce that he was running late.

Today was no different.

"You need to eat."

He looked at her over the rim of his coffee cup.

Naomi pointed at his plate. "One bite."

He sighed dramatically but obeyed. "One."

"Two."

"Wha... you just said one."

"Two won’t kill you." Naomi watched him take a second bite.

Eventually, he pushed back from the counter and reached for his things.

His gaze landed on the file from the previous night. He picked it up. "I’m going to get someone to take a look at this. But my gut tells me you are being scammed. I need you to be prepared for that revelation."

Naomi folded her arms lightly across herself. "I’m certain it’s just a complication." She said it with enough confidence that it might have sounded convincing. She was trying very hard to believe her own words because the alternative was too ugly to look at directly.

If Dorian was right, it meant years. Years of payments. Years of extra shifts. Years of shaping her life around an obligation that might never have been hers in the first place.

Her entire adult life had been built around repayment.

If that foundation turned out to be a lie, what was she supposed to do with everything she had sacrificed for it?

He placed the file in his bag and walked closer. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Dorian leaned in and kissed her forehead. "See you later." He started toward the elevator.

"Make sure you decide on a house before we leave!" she yelled as the elevator began to close.

"No promises." He shrugged.

The doors closed.

She sighed heavily and walked back into the kitchen then stared at the half-eaten breakfast Dorian had left behind.

Only then did she allow herself to fall into the despair that was her life. Could it really be true?

My gut tells me you are being scammed.

She didn’t want to believe it. Naomi slowly lowered herself onto one of the stools by the kitchen counter and tried to remember exactly when the debt had first become part of her world.

It started when she was young.

Her mother had just died.

That period of her life existed in her memory as one long stretch of grief. Her father was already gone, her mother had followed, and suddenly Naomi had been a child trying to understand why everyone she loved seemed determined to disappear.

She remembered sitting with Richard and Diana while they explained it all to her. Naomi remembered crying.

God, she had cried so much back then.

She had barely understood what any of it meant. She only knew she was being told that her father had left behind another terrible thing for her to carry.

Richard and Diana had told her not to worry.

They would help her. They would guide her through everything.

She wouldn’t have to figure it out alone.

And Naomi had been grateful.

Aunt Diana had held her while she cried.

She remembered that clearly.

Diana had cried too.

At the time, she had thought those tears meant Diana hated seeing her suffer. That her aunt was grieving her brother while trying to protect his daughter from the mess he had left behind.

Now Dorian’s questions had poisoned the memory.

Naomi rubbed her palms over her face.

There had to be some other explanation.

Richard might have made mistakes managing everything. Maybe records had been filed incorrectly.

There were dozens of explanations that did not involve her family lying to her for years on top of everything they had done.

She desperately wanted one of those explanations to be true. Naomi stared down at the kitchen counter.

Did Aunt Diana know anything?

Richard was one thing.

She knew the kind of man he could be.

But Diana?

Her aunt had been there.

Diana had practically raised her.

She had comforted her after nightmares. Worried when Naomi came home late. Celebrated birthdays with her.

Whatever flaws Diana had, whatever excuses she continually made for Richard, Naomi had never truly questioned whether her aunt loved her.

She still didn’t want to. Naomi sighed and picked up her phone.

There was only one way to stop sitting in her kitchen torturing herself with questions. The call connected.

"Hi... I just wanted to talk to you about some..." Naomi stopped.

Something in the voice on the other end immediately wiped every thought of the debt from her mind.

"Is everything okay? What?! I’ll be right there!" She hung up quickly and raced through the house.

*****

Camille had a busy day, and surprisingly, she had Dorian’s new assistant to thank for a large portion of it.

The woman was efficient.

More importantly, she wasn’t Adrian.

Whatever had happened between Dorian and Adrian, Camille was absolutely grateful for it.

She knew how difficult Adrian could make things when he wanted to. The man had been irritatingly loyal, irritatingly observant and far too good at anticipating Dorian’s needs before anyone else even knew there was a need.

His absence created space.

Things were beginning to look up.

She could feel it.

All she needed now was patience and the right pressure applied in the right places. Once Dorian finally saw his wife for what she really was, Camille would be there.

She would let Naomi destroy herself if necessary, and when Dorian’s perfect little fourth marriage finally shattered, Camille intended to be standing close enough to collect the pieces of his broken heart.

This time, she was going to do it right. The first time around, she had taken too much for granted. She had believed Dorian would always be there because he had already married her.

That had been foolish. Now she understood him better. By the time she was done, Alistair would be proud of her.

This meeting with Richard Whitmore was part of that.

She was shown through the office.

Richard looked up when she entered.

Camille immediately noticed the way his eyes moved over her. She had met enough men to recognise that look before they even opened their mouths.

She could tell exactly what kind of man Richard Whitmore was by the way he looked at her.

It was lust at first sight.

"Mrs Heathcliffe... to what do I owe this visit?" Richard asked, gesturing for Camille to take a seat.