Chapter 171: Misguided Intervention

His smile widened, chest loosened properly now that she was there.

Naomi smiled back. "Hey..." She crossed the room and climbed into bed beside him, moving carefully so she wouldn’t knock into his ribs.

Instead of curling into him like she normally would, she stayed a few inches away.

"We have a problem."

Naomi pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh too loudly. "Yeah, I know."

"I don’t think I want to remedy it, though."

"Neither do I. But you need to sleep."

"I tried. You weren’t here. Just stay with me."

"I’ll have to sneak away early."

"Hmmm." He shifted carefully and extended his arm toward her. "Come closer."

"I don’t want to hurt you."

"You won’t, I promise."

Carefully, she settled against his side and rested her head on his arm, avoiding the worst of his bruising.

Dorian exhaled.

Naomi tilted her head slightly. "You okay?"

"I am now."

She placed a small kiss against the upper part of his chest where there was no bandaging. "I’m glad we’re staying married."

He turned his head toward her. "Does this mean I don’t have to have condoms in every room anymore?"

"Wow... I didn’t think about that." Naomi smiled. "I guess we don’t need them anymore."

"Good, because it drives me crazy."

"Come on, close your eyes. I’ll sing you a lullaby."

"I’m not a child."

"Oh, just shush and listen." Naomi cleared her throat dramatically. "Soft kitty... warm kitty..."

Dorian frowned. "I don’t know that one."

Naomi stopped immediately and lifted her head. "You need a life, Dorian. It’s from The Big Bang Theory."

Dorian’s expression remained blank.

"The TV show?"

"You lost me at TV show." Dorian’s mouth curved. "I did watch the first episode of Friends, though. Still don’t get your joke about Ross Geller."

"What?"

"You called me Ross Geller. In my car," Dorian reminded her. "When we met after Vegas."

Understanding finally hit.

"Oh... yeah." Her smile widened. "You have to watch it all."

"No way. Too long. I have better things to do."

Naomi smiled and settled her head back against him. Her hand moved lazily across his chest.

Dorian’s body finally started giving in to exhaustion.

The medication helped.

Naomi helped more.

His breathing evened out beneath her palm, and not long after, her own eyes drifted shut too.

Neither of them noticed when sleep finally took them.

*****

The following morning, Eleanor stood outside Dorian’s bedroom with Maurice and Ginny behind her.

She knocked calmly.

This was technically part of the plan, yes, but they still had to keep up the charade.

Lexie had made a surprisingly convincing argument the previous day.

According to her, Dorian and Naomi were obviously in love with each other. The problem was that neither of them seemed willing to acknowledge it.

Lexie’s theory was that Dorian, naturally, was the stubborn one.

So Lexie had suggested something simple. Take Naomi away from him. Give him less automatic access.

The theory was that if Dorian actually had to feel Naomi’s absence, he might finally stop hiding behind whatever nonsense he had used to avoid admitting what everyone else could already see.

They intended to starve him of her and maybe then, he would face his feelings.

If only they knew.

The bedroom door opened very slowly.

Naomi stood there looking guilty as hell.

Behind her, Dorian was still stretched out in bed, looking smug.

The knock had woken them both.

Naomi had panicked immediately. She had fully intended to wake up early, sneak out of Dorian’s room and slide back into Ginny’s bed before anyone noticed she had disappeared.

But she had been more exhausted than she realized. Instead, she had slept peacefully through her escape window.

"Good morning," Naomi said with a wince.

Dorian was not even pretending to feel guilty. His head rested comfortably against the pillows, one arm behind his head and that irritatingly satisfied smile still on his face.

Eleanor sighed. "This is not going to be an easy job." She turned toward Maurice.

"You think?" he replied dryly, reached for his wife’s hand and walked away with her, deciding they did not have enough energy to deal with this particular disaster before breakfast.

Ginny, however, was having the time of her life. She folded her arms and looked between Naomi and her brother. "You’re grounded. Both of you." She lowered her voice, doing a surprisingly accurate impression of Maurice. "No television. No phones. And absolutely no friends coming to visit."

Naomi covered her face.

Ginny burst out laughing. "Oh my God, I’m going to be such a fun mum."

Naomi dropped her hands and pointed at her. "I’m going to have my revenge on your kids."

Ginny’s laughter stopped. Her brows rose. "So you’re going to hang around long enough for me to have kids?"

"Let’s just go," Naomi muttered, shook her head and started toward Ginny’s room before she accidentally confessed.

At the doorway, she turned and waved at Dorian.

Dorian gave her a tiny wave back.

Naomi freshened up quickly.

By the time she checked the time, she realized she was already running late for Mass.

She dressed in one of Ginny’s dresses, fixed her hair as best she could and grabbed her phone.

Before leaving, she went back to check on Dorian.

He was awake and very much capable of surviving without her for an hour or two.

"You good?" she asked from the doorway.

"I’m fine."

"You took your medication?"

"Yes."

"I’ll be back."

Finding St. Peter’s was fairly easy with the GPS on her phone. The morning air was cool enough to make the walk pleasant, and she followed the directions carefully, checking the screen every few minutes to make sure she had not wandered off course.

She had left the Range Rover behind because she had no idea if Dorian would need the car.

Mass seemed to fly by.

Naomi managed to sit through the entire service without her mind wandering too badly, although Dorian still managed to invade her thoughts.

By the time the final blessing was given, she felt settled.

She joined the small stream of people leaving the church.

Outside, the morning had warmed considerably.

Naomi had just started down the steps when she noticed one of the priests standing nearby. He had finished speaking with an older woman and was about to turn away when he spotted Naomi.

"Hello, Miss," he called pleasantly. "You’re new, right?"