Chapter 96: Borrowed Car

"I’m surprised Heathcliffe hasn’t improved your clientele," Callum said.

The way he said it irritated her, as though marrying Dorian should have automatically come with a portfolio of wealthy clients.

"I’m grateful for the little he has done."

"And what has he done?"

Richard had apparently decided it was time to join the conversation.

"He... well..." She thought about it. "He helped me set up an office where I can work. He loaned me his car so I can move around more easily."

Richard gave a small, dismissive sound. "I wouldn’t read too much into him loaning you his car. He just wants to present the public with an image worthy of a Heathcliffe."

Naomi frowned. "That’s not—"

"Callum here wants you exactly as you are," Richard continued before she could finish. "Warts and all."

Naomi’s fork paused halfway toward her plate. Warts and all? Was that supposed to be flattering?

"That’s true," Callum agreed.

Thankfully, his hand finally left her thigh. She almost sighed in relief. Instead, she turned toward him.

"I believe the first thing you said when we met was about me quitting my job so I could fit the image of a Sterling."

"And then, I didn’t know you. I wasn’t interested in you," he added. "Would you please not judge me based on that meeting?"

It’s hard not to. The words sat right on Naomi’s tongue. Unfortunately, Richard was sitting across from her.

God forbid she said anything that could be considered rude to the man he had apparently decided was the answer to every problem in her life.

So Naomi swallowed the response. Callum leaned slightly toward her.

"Let’s just try this again."

Try what again?

"I’m currently married, Callum."

Callum picked up his glass again, turning it slightly between his fingers. "Are you going to stay married? It’s not like you both got married because you were in love."

Naomi’s stomach tightened. He wasn’t wrong. That was what made the question irritating. She and Dorian hadn’t married because they were madly in love. They had been drunk, had incredible sex, then woke up separately with almost no memory of the legal disaster they had created.

But that didn’t mean Callum got to sit there and dissect it. Especially when he knew nothing about what had happened since.

Naomi suddenly felt defensive of something she kept insisting wasn’t real.

Then he asked, "Are you sleeping with him?"

"We are married," Naomi emphasized.

Richard’s voice cut across the table. "You’re sleeping with him?" His volume rose so sharply that Naomi’s shoulders tensed.

Callum turned toward him. "Don’t yell at the woman, Whitmore."

The room went quiet. Richard went quiet too. Naomi slowly looked at Callum. What the hell had he done that for?

She could handle her uncle. She had been handling Richard for years, in one way or another. She certainly didn’t need Callum stepping in like some knight.

Worse, somebody usually paid when Richard was embarrassed. After Callum left. Naomi knew that pattern far too well.

She looked toward Richard briefly, trying to read his face, but his attention had dropped back to his plate.

"Naomi." Callum’s voice pulled her attention back. "Tell me you love him and I will take a step back until you need me."

"That’s... that’s not what it is."

He reached for her hand again, taking her fingers between his. "Then I will not stop chasing you. I can give you what Heathcliffe cannot. Stability. And not to forget, yes, I promised to clear a substantial amount of your debt. I will clear all of it."

That got an instant reaction. She pulled her fingers out of his hand. All of it? The number flashed through her head.

The years she had spent working herself exhausted. The second job. The constant calculations. Freedom sat inside that offer.

Which was exactly why she didn’t trust it. She leaned back slightly.

"What do you get in return, Callum?"

His answer came without hesitation. "I want a wife. You do not have to love me. I want a wife, and I want that wife in you. All the women I meet are fake...They’re just dying to please me. They agree with everything I say, laugh at things that aren’t funny and become whatever they think I want."

Naomi raised a brow. "And that bothers you?"

"It does now." Callum gave her a small smile. "You don’t do that. I want a wife with a mind of her own, and I am sorry I put you in that disposable box when I first met you."

Naomi swallowed and looked toward Diana. Her aunt gave the smallest nod. Naomi already knew she would.

Diana would always do what Richard wanted in the end, even when her face said she wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. She could hesitate, but when it came down to choosing between Naomi and her husband, Richard always won.

Naomi looked back at Callum. "I’ll think about it."

"To prove how serious I am, I’ll make a down payment to the account. One million."

Richard practically came alive across the table. "Naomi, that will buy you more time. The collectors will not bother you at all for at least a year. Come on."

One million was enough to ease pressure she had been carrying for years. Enough to stop Richard’s constant reminders for a while. Enough to give her space to breathe.

"Just..." Naomi raised a hand. "Just wait, okay? I need to think about it. Don’t make any payments," she added quickly. "I’d rather not owe you anything."

His brows pulled together. "It doesn’t matter what your answer will be."

"Yes, it does."

"No, Naomi, I’m telling you—"

"No!" She got to her feet. She hated the way her pulse was pounding.

This was supposed to be dinner. Somehow, she had ended up negotiating her future.

"Please," she said, forcing her voice lower. "I need time." She risked a glance toward Richard.

He looked like he wanted to reach across the table and squeeze some sense directly into her brain.

That was her cue to leave.

"I have to go. It’s getting late." She turned to Diana. "Aunt Diana, say goodnight to the kids for me."