Chapter 152: Family Secrets

His eyes dropped. "He hates me."

"That’s not true."

Even she heard how weak the argument sounded. Because the truth was, Richard had never exactly hidden his disappointment in Ethan.

From the moment it became obvious Ethan wasn’t like every other boy his age, that he moved through the world differently and struggled with things other teenagers seemed to do naturally, Richard had treated the boy like a stain.

Naomi hated that.

Ethan wasn’t broken. He was Ethan.

Sensitive.

Smart in ways Richard never bothered to notice. Unique in his own way.

Naomi rubbed his arm gently. "It’s going to be okay. You’ll be going off to college soon, you know. You just have to tough it out a little longer."

The thought of college clearly did not comfort him. If anything, the idea of being thrown into an environment filled with strangers seemed to make things worse.

"Okay," Naomi said quickly. "Maybe not the best example."

Dorian sat quietly, watching the entire exchange.

But pieces were starting to fit together in his head. Something had happened at the Whitmore house.

"Come on. Finish your dinner. I’ll call your mum and tell her you’re with me, okay?"

he said quietly, "Millie misses you."

"Oh, she does?"

Ethan nodded.

She missed Millie too.

Missed the kids even if everything surrounding that house had become complicated because she found herself a husband.

She narrowed her eyes playfully. "Wait. Is that your way of saying you miss me too?"

he nodded with the smallest smile.

Dorian caught himself smiling.

She had some kind of magic with people.

Dorian wasn’t sure she even knew it.

Naomi straightened and looked between them. "You boys eat. I have to get back to the kitchen." She turned toward Dorian. "He was waiting at the house?" She knew he was, it wasn’t the first time.

"Yeah. I thought to bring him to you," Dorian said.

"Thank you." She leaned down and kissed him.

It was quick and completely natural, which somehow made Dorian like it more than he should have.

Naomi straightened. "Now eat your food and stop bothering the chef."

Dorian raised a brow. "If the chef rewards me for being a good boy."

Naomi’s smile turned wicked. "Oh, you know I will."

And with that, she turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

Dorian cleared his throat and returned his attention to his plate. He and Ethan settled into their food after that. Dorian didn’t ask what happened at home.

The boy had come to Naomi because he clearly needed somewhere safe to be.

Dorian wasn’t about to turn dinner into a deposition.

Instead, he talked about college.

He talked about what it had felt like for him.

An escape.

The first real opportunity to exist away from family expectations and other people’s opinions.

"You might like it," Dorian said. "New place. Your own space. You get to decide how much you want to interact with people. It can be fun too," he added. "Nobody tells you that enough. Everyone makes college sound like four years of suffering."

Ethan stayed quiet for a moment.

Then he said, "I don’t want to leave Millie."

"I see. You love your sister."

Ethan nodded. "Good love, not bad love."

Dorian’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He lowered it slowly.

There was something about those words he didn’t like.

The boy had clearly learned there were different versions of love.

Dorian had a feeling the lesson had not been theoretical. He kept his voice calm. "Ethan, if someone is hurting you or your sister, you can have them reported."

Ethan immediately looked down. His fork pushed through his food without taking a bite. "Family business stay in family."

Suddenly, Dorian understood something else. The way Naomi kept everything pressed tightly against her chest.

So that was where she learned that from.

Family business stays in the family.

Naomi had grown older without ever managing to outgrow the lesson.

Dorian looked across the table at Ethan.

The boy continued poking at his food.

Dorian was almost certain that rule had come from Whitmore himself.

Which raised a far uglier question. Just what kind of family business needed to stay in the family?

Dorian’s instincts stirred.

The same instincts that made him pull at inconsistencies until entire cases unraveled.

Dorian wanted to dig properly this time. He had already crossed enough lines trying to understand her life.

If he was going to look into Richard again, he couldn’t simply do it behind her back.

He would have to ask.

At least for this. Maybe she would allow him that much. The rest of the meal passed quietly.

Ethan ate without saying much, then eventually pulled out his phone and started playing a game while they waited for Naomi to finish her shift.

By the time Naomi finally appeared, looking tired but pleased with herself, Dorian was more than ready to get out of the restaurant.

"There’s my two favourite boys..." Naomi smiled as she approached the table.

Dorian looked up just in time for her to lean down and kiss him briefly on the lips. It was becoming a very natural thing to do whenever she saw him.

"Thank you for doing this."

"Anytime."

Naomi turned toward Ethan. "Come on. Your mum is waiting for you."

Whatever ease Ethan had managed to find disappeared immediately.

He got to his feet with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"I have to drop him off," she told Dorian.

Dorian stood as well. "I’ll escort you then. I’ll be your personal bodyguard."

Her lips curved. "I like hot bodyguards."

Dorian’s eyes narrowed.

Naomi immediately saw the response forming behind them.

Something filthy. Definitely inappropriate in front of a sixteen-year-old.

Dorian looked at Ethan and reconsidered.

Naomi’s smile widened.

The battle in Dorian’s eyes was hilarious.

He settled for staring at her in a way that promised he would revisit that compliment later.

Naomi held out her hand toward Ethan. "Come on."

The three of them walked out of the restaurant together.

A few minutes later, Naomi and Ethan were in her car, heading back toward the Whitmore house while Dorian followed behind them in his own vehicle.

Naomi glanced at Ethan.

He was sitting quietly beside her, staring out the window.

She waited a little while before speaking. "So what happened?"