Chapter 109: Sharp Teeth

"Could’ve fooled me." Jordan spat.

"But my husband just taught me never to give in to threats."

Saying my husband gave her an unexpected little thrill.

"And my husband is Dorian Heathcliffe." She forced a tiny laugh. "Lucky me, no?" Naomi immediately schooled her face back into seriousness. "The woman you’re having an affair with works here. I’m fairly certain Human Resources would find that interesting. And I imagine a hotel would have policies about inappropriate relationships between employees, especially if those relationships are happening during working hours and apparently inside management offices."

Naomi felt a tiny spark of triumph. Maybe Dorian was rubbing off on her. "You make a stink about my marriage, I will make such a stink about your affair, you will lose your job. Lets see how you will be able to pay child support starting from the scratch again."

"You were never like this, Naomi." He barely recognized the woman standing in front of him. "Rubbing shoulders with the rich has given you teeth, has it not?" He was right, being around Dorian had changed her into someone harsher.

She decided she didn’t particularly care. "If you mean not letting you walk all over me, then yes." A small smile touched her lips. "I think I like this new me. Knowing you’ll think twice about following through on your threat will allow me to sleep easier. And God knows I already have too much to think about without adding you to the pile of my worries."

"Tessa is not going to leave me, Naomi."

The confidence in his voice surprised her. Jordan pushed himself upright.

"I will earn her trust right back. I will beg until my knees bleed if I have to, even with you clouding her judgment."

Ah.

So this was where they were going now. Getting caught cheating had somehow become a problem caused by Naomi.

"I know it’s what you want," Jordan continued. "You’ve always been jealous of her."

That actually stunned her into silence.

"Jealous of what she has. You cannot stand her being happy."

"You cannot possibly be serious."

"Misery loves company, doesn’t it? A woman who thinks love is a mad concept surely wouldn’t expect her best friend to experience it."

Yes, she thought love was dangerous. Yes, she had spent years watching it turn intelligent women into people who tolerated things they should never tolerate.

But if this was his argument for love, he was doing a terrible job selling it. Naomi inhaled slowly. She could argue.

She could defend herself. She could explain that she had wanted nothing more than for Tessa to be happy.

That she had stayed quiet for two weeks precisely because she hadn’t wanted to destroy that happiness.

But Jordan did not deserve that explanation.

"Say what you want," she said calmly. "I have said my piece." Naomi glanced toward the office door. "Shall we see who can spread the news faster, Jordan? I’m doors away from your boss’s office, am I not?"

He knew she could walk out of there and do exactly what she had threatened. Maybe he had expected the old Naomi.

The one who worried. The one who tried desperately to keep everyone happy. Unfortunately for him, that woman had recently married Dorian Heathcliffe.

And some habits were contagious.

Jordan exhaled sharply. "I won’t say anything."

"Thank you."

And she was finished. She turned and walked out of the office, stood in the hallway and took a deep, freeing breath.

Something inside her loosened. Oh, this was good. It was really good. This was how powerful women felt.

Naomi decided to take this new feeling of freedom and do something useful with it. More specifically, she was going to surprise Dorian.

And maybe wind him up a little more while she was at it.

She chuckled to herself as she remembered the way he had watched her ass the night before, completely distracted.

The man apparently thought he was the only one suffering through the wait until Saturday.

Stupid man.

He had no idea.

Naomi drove straight to the Heathcliffe & Associates building, already smiling to herself by the time she parked. She wasn’t entirely sure what she planned to do once she got upstairs.

Maybe kiss him. Maybe sit on his desk and ruin the rest of his workday. She would decide when she saw him.

That was the beauty of being spontaneous.

She walked into the building and headed toward reception. The moment she approached the desk, however, the receptionist’s expression soured. She had already annoyed this woman simply by existing in her general direction. "I’d like to see Mr Heathcliffe,"

The receptionist barely looked at her properly. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I don’t need one."

"Ma’am, we have done this several times already. It always ends with you getting thrown out by security. If you want to see Mr Heathcliffe, get an appointment."

"If you would just call his assistant. My name is—"

"No can do!"

Naomi’s eyebrows rose. Oh, this was going to be enjoyable. She placed one hand on the desk. "I’m going to have the satisfaction of my life watching you crumble from your high horse."

The receptionist gave her a flat look. Naomi smiled.

"I am his wife."

The receptionist looked her over from head to toe. She had heard the news, of course. Everyone in the building had.

Dorian Heathcliffe had somehow managed to acquire wife number four, which had provided enough office gossip to keep half the staff entertained for weeks.

But surely this wasn’t her. Surely Mr Heathcliffe’s new wife wasn’t as bad as people said. The woman standing in front of her certainly didn’t look like what she imagined a Heathcliffe wife should look like.

If anything, she looked like she had just stepped out of Lot-Less.

"I’m sorry, ma’am. Unless you provide identification, I cannot let you in. Please, don’t make me call security."

She thought of the fastest possible way to end this nonsense. She pulled out her phone and called Adrian.

He picked up quickly.

"Adrian darling..."