Chapter 78: Fidelity Clauses

She crawled toward him and settled against his body, laying her head on his bare chest. He wrapped an arm around her. She sighed against him.

"Do you want to tell her?" Dorian asked.

"Yes." Then she added, "But I don’t want to hurt her."

"You have to weigh both options then and decide which one you can live with."

Naomi’s fingers idly traced the edge of the sheet. "If I tell her, I could ruin her marriage."

"He ruined the marriage, that’s not on you."

"I know, but I’d still be the one delivering the news."

Dorian understood. Knowing something painful and revealing it were two different burdens. One meant carrying the secret.

The other meant watching the person you cared about absorb the damage. And suddenly he was giving advice he desperately needed himself.

"I just wish there was one obvious right thing."

"Most difficult decisions don’t come with one. Think about it as deeply as you can," Dorian said. "Write it down if you must, but be sure you can live with the outcome of those choices."

For a while, neither of them said anything. Naomi had always assumed silence between two people meant someone needed to fill it before things became awkward. With Dorian, quiet had started becoming something easy.

Her head rested against his chest while his arm stayed loosely around her, neither of them seemed in any hurry to move.

Eventually, Naomi lifted her head and looked at him.

"Thank you. For coming."

"Anytime you need me, Naomi. Just say my name."

She nodded and settled back down, placing one hand over his bare chest. "Falling in love comes with so many risks, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah... it does."

That much he knew. Love was risky. Possibly one of the worst investments a person could make if his personal history was anything to go by.

Naomi traced an absent line across his chest. "Why complicate things with love? Love demands expectations. Like you. If you sleep with someone else, I wouldn’t consider it cheating."

Dorian actually laughed. Naomi lifted her head.

"What?"

"First of all, there is a fidelity clause in our contract."

"Oh, here comes the lawyer."

"Ignoring that and addressing your point," he continued, "you fuck someone else while we fuck, I’m gonna hand you your ass and then some."

Naomi burst out laughing. "Possessive much?"

"Yes, yes I am, and I own it with my full chest."

She smiled and settled against him again.

"But I don’t think you should give up on finding lasting love. You’re beautiful, smart, joyous. You smile and laugh a lot, and it’s infectious." Dorian kept going, apparently unaware he was creating a problem. "You’re sexy, and even your ability to talk a house down is not a flaw."

"You could have stopped at sexy." She poked his chest.

Dorian caught her hand, smiling.

"Have you given up?"

His smile faded. "I have. But that’s my fault. No one else’s. I made bad decisions. Got married too early. Got pressured into another. And basically, for the sake of my career, I stumbled into another one. They are my bad choices,"

"I hope someday you find love, Dorian. You are an amazing man, even if you don’t know it."

Dorian smiled. People called him brilliant, arrogant and occasionally much worse when a case went badly for the other side.

Amazing was different. Amazing felt personal.

His fingers moved slowly through Naomi’s hair. He was tired enough that even the simple motion felt heavy now. He hadn’t properly slept in nearly thirty-six hours.

Between Sing Sing, Bedford Hills, the case files, his body had apparently decided it was done cooperating.

Lying beside her helped. She started talking again. She told him how strange it had been sleeping in a house this large while he was gone.

She had apparently heard every sound the townhouse made and convinced herself at least twice that someone was walking around downstairs.

Dorian hummed occasionally. She told him she had almost gone up to the entertainment floor just for background noise. He smiled faintly. His fingers kept sliding through her hair.

Until they didn’t. Naomi looked up. Dorian’s eyes were closed. His hand had gone still against her hair and slowly dropped to the mattress.

He had run out of fuel. She leaned closer, lowering her voice.

"I wish I could love you, Dorian." Her smile turned a little sad. "Would be an experience, wouldn’t it?"

******

Adrian’s call woke them both the next morning. Naomi had rolled away from Dorian sometime during the night.

Dorian reached blindly for the phone lying beside the pillow and answered without checking who it was. "What?!"

"Uh, boss... where are you?"

Dorian squinted at the ceiling. "Home. Get lost." He hung up before Adrian could respond, dropped the phone beside him and covered his eyes with one arm.

"You really are a crappy morning person."

"Good morning to you too." His voice sounded rough with sleep.

she looked down at the bed then back at him. "So..." Naomi drew the word out. "We slept together."

"Yeah." His response came far too casually. He finally lowered his arm and looked at her. "I am not amending the contract again. The ink is not even dry on the last amendment. Unless you want to do it yourself."

Naomi chuckled. "No, thank you." She started to roll out of bed, but Dorian reached for her before she got far and dragged her straight back against him.

"Dorian, no!" she protested, already laughing. "I have to brush my teeth!"

"Come on, we are married. In sickness and in health," he said solemnly, tightening his arms around her, "through good breath and bad breath..."

Naomi burst out laughing and shoved at his chest. "No!"

Dorian only pulled her closer.

"Dorian! Be nice!"

Dorian smiled lazily and settled his chin against her hair. "Come on."

Naomi struggled uselessly for another few seconds before giving up. "I have to prepare for Mass."

"You want to go, you have to give me something. We missed Saturday sex."