They knew more about his wife than he did.
Dominic had spent years making certain no enemy could discover a weakness in his organization.
He had never considered ignorance a weakness.
Until now.
“The car stays,” he said abruptly.
The driver froze.
Naomi turned.
Dominic was looking at her suitcase.
For an instant she thought he had retreated into the only language he trusted: authority.
“Then I’ll walk to the gate,” she said.
Rain struck the windows behind her.
“It’s nearly a mile.”
“I’ve survived longer distances than that while standing beside you.”
His eyes flashed.
The staff lowered their gazes.
Naomi expected anger.
Instead Dominic said, “Take the car.”
Everyone looked up.
Even Naomi.
Dominic glanced at the driver.
“Take her wherever she asks to go.”
The driver nodded once.
Dominic stepped away from the staircase.
Naomi studied him, suspicious of the sudden surrender.
“No one follows me,” she said.
A muscle worked in his jaw.
Every instinct in him resisted the demand.
Dominic followed people for a living.
He tracked threats.
He controlled information.
His security detail knew where every important person in his world slept.
But Naomi was watching him with the exhausted certainty of someone who had already decided what his answer would prove.
Dominic understood that much.
“No one follows you,” he said.
Naomi put on her coat.
The sleeves were slightly frayed at the cuffs.
Dominic looked at them, then at the diamond ring still upstairs on the dresser.
Something about the contrast seemed to hollow him out.
She walked toward the front door.
“Naomi.”
She stopped without turning.
There were a hundred things Dominic could have said.
This marriage holds two families together.
Think about your father.
You are safer here.
You don’t know what you’re doing.
Come upstairs.
We will discuss this tomorrow.
Instead he asked, “How long?”
She turned slowly.
“How long what?”
“How long have you wanted to leave?”
Naomi looked at him across the marble foyer.
“Do you want the answer that protects you, or the truth?”
“The truth.”
“I started imagining it during our first year.”
