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“Truth hurts, Ashley.” Simon smirked. “But don’t worry you’re safe and sound here in leafy Hertfordshire.”
Ben had said Ashley was close to Simon, and he’d thought it an unlikely connection seeing how Simon was a police detective and Ashley’s dad was a bona fide gangster.
“Oh, have you anything juicy on at the moment?” Elena asked. She waved her spoon in Simon’s direction. “My book group is reading the new Richard Osman.”
“Mother,” Ben said, his tone exasperated. “You’ve been warned before about asking those sorts of questions.”
“It’s fine. I can’t discuss active cases, and trust me, you wouldn’t want to know the details. Humans can be pretty horrible to each other.” Simon turned to Dara. “Talking of horrible, Robin said you’d found a reference to the sixth earl being sent a severed hand as a warning.”
Dorian was impressed by how Simon had moved the conversation along and away from himself, there was real skill in being able to do that and Simon must have had practise. Dara’s story was entertaining, and he was a born speaker. Dorian found himself relaxing, the conversation jovial and light-hearted despite the gory subject matter. Robin had shifted as close as he could to Simon over the meal without sitting in his lap and Dorian watched them together. He’d seen a change in Robin, they’d talked a lot over the last few months, and now he was with Simon there was a radiance about him he didn’t remember from when they’d dated. They weren’t hiding anything. Robin’s panic at the press headlines, and his horror at his earlier misstep about the red carpet, showed a deepness of his feelings for Simon Dorian hadn’t truly appreciated before now. He wondered if he’d get an invite to the wedding, as he was sure it would only be a matter of time.
Mrs Weather had excelled herself with an amazing beef wellington and a St Clement’s pudding, which he relished every mouthful of, knowing he didn’t need to be in the gym at the crack of dawn to burn it off.
Robin yawned and declined the offer of drinks after dinner, citing having not slept much on the plane. He noticed Simon holding back and they all began to file out. “I’ll be up in a minute. I just want a word with Dorian if he has a mo.”
Robin’s gaze flicked between him and Dorian, pursed his lips but didn’t argue. “Don’t be long.”
Left alone in the dining room, Simon shut the door. He shoved his hands into his pockets and Dorian thought he was trying to be as non-threatening as possible. He wondered if this was what he was like when he was interviewing a witness.
“Did you mean it, about the red carpet?”
Dorian wasn’t sure what he’d expected. A warning not to upset Robin or try anything on, or even a bit of posturing although none of those fitted with the type of man he’d heard Simon was. “Yeah, of course. I’ll need to contact a couple of people but I reckon the film’s publicity team would be stoked.”
“Y’know it’s something Robin had always hoped you’d do as a couple?”
“Yeah, look I wasn’t the partner he deserved back then. I listened too much to my management team and lost a huge part of me and, ultimately, the man I loved.” It was freeing to be honest. “I’m making changes, and they can only be for the better.”
“I have to admit, I’m having trouble rationalising this version of you with what I’ve heard.”
That was fair. “Robin leaving triggered me into thinking about what I should do. Nothing changed quickly, and it took several months for me to admit the real problem and even longer to act on it. Dorian Marsten never really existed, and he kept Dorian Forbes from being able to live. I honestly don’t know what will happen—my future’s not set.”
Simon smiled. “It’s not like you can’t pay your mortgage or would have to take the first job offered to put food on the table.”
“True that. I’ve also got good friends, some of which I need to call back when I’m ready, and then people like Ben who, despite me not deserving them, are always there for me.”
“Do you mind if I ask you something?” His stance changed, less self-secure. “You don’t have to answer.”
“Go on.”
“Are you looking for a future with Robin?”
Dorian could see how much of Simon that took to ask and he was waiting for the worst. “No. That ship’s sailed. I admit after we split I wanted him back—thought he would come back—but we aren’t each other’s future. Probably never were.”
“He still has a lot of affection for you. And if he were to really want you, and it was returned, then I’ll step aside. There’s too much bad stuff in this world to be unhappy.”
Ben had alluded to Simon having a shitty ex-husband, and his job meant he must see the worst of humanity. He could see how much he loved Robin, was willing to put aside his own happiness if it meant Robin could be happy. He didn’t think it had anything to do with their recent rough path. Simon was probably too good for Robin, certainly too good for Dorian.
“Nah, Simon, he doesn’t want me. He’s a different man now from when we got together, and even more so since we split. You’ve brought out the real Robin, I got a glimpse of it, but the Robin Flint I dated was a shadow of who he is today. We’d kill each other, and there’s too much history to be more than friends.”
Simon appeared satisfied and relieved by the answer. “I wanted to ask, to clear that aspect between us, because you and Robin are friends—could be good friends eventually. I didn’t want to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Robin loves you. I heard you’d had a bit of a bumpy patch recently, but when I see him look at you, it’s obvious. He’s scared shitless you’re going to leave him.”
“I think you may be over-egging that part.”
He shook his head. “No. I was there when all this shit dropped about me and him, and then throw in the Ben angle, and Robin was almost on his knees hyperventilating over how you’d react.”
“I was with Ashley when we saw it. He called me in a complete state, I thought he was worried about his reputation more than I was upset over it.” He chewed his lip. “We need a proper talk. I thought we had but obviously not. He’s such a knob.”
