“I have a potential solution in mind that I will present to the powers that be.”
“Are you firing me?” I’d understand. I’d caused a lot of unnecessary drama for an admin. And I’d seduced my boss in direct disregard of company policy.
“No.” She laughed. “But if you’re open to being reassigned within the company—at your current salary level, of course—I believe we can minimize the fuss.”
A flicker of hope lit inside me. “As long as I don’t report directly to Dominic?”
“Precisely.”
I blew out a breath and nodded vigorously. “That would be great.”
“I don’t know if they’ll allow it. We could have been destroyed by what Paul did, and this might stir up memories amongst the staff. There will still be talk and speculation. There is always interest in any woman Dominic dates, but this situation is rather salacious,” she said, choosing her words carefully.
“I can handle it,” I assured her. “It’s better to be honest about it anyway. Makes whispering about it harder.”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” she said quietly. “Not everyone can face the whispers.”
Something tickled at me. Some of her previous comments gelled into something nebulous. Dalessandra was hinting at something.
“I think the Russos have paid enough penance, don’t you?”
She glanced my way and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I mean, you both have worked hard to clean up your ex-husband’s mess and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
“We’ve made strides,” she agreed. “But I’m not convinced it’s enough.”
“If anyone owes a debt, it’s Paul. He committed the crime, but it seems like you and Dominic are the ones who paid the price.”
“My son doesn’t deserve to carry the burden of his father’s past mistakes.”
“Maybe you should start thinking about the future instead of the past,” I suggested.
She gave me a quizzical look and then turned back to the window.
We watched Dominic pick up a tennis ball and toss it across the frozen yard for the joyful dog to chase.
“Would you have let him hide it? If that’s what he wanted to do?” I asked her.
She sighed. “I’d told myself I was done lying for the Russo men. But Dominic is not his father.”
“He most definitely is not,” I agreed. “He didn’t start this, Dalessandra. I want you to know that. He didn’t pursue me or strongarm me into it. If anything, I did the convincing.”
“I would do anything to protect my son’s happiness. I have a good feeling about you and him, but…” She turned to face me again, holding eye contact so there was no mistaking her message. “Dominic is a wonderful man with a very soft heart hidden under layers of armor, and if you hurt him or take advantage of him or play on his insecurities, I will be very disappointed in you. And angry.”
I didn’t mean to smile, but I was. “I’m glad you love him. And I promise you I’ll do my very best to protect that soft heart he tries to hide. He’s a good man. You raised a good man.”
She nodded her approval. “Good. Then we’ll protect him together.”
“Team Dominic,” I agreed. “Unless he insists on continuing to boss me around. There’s no hierarchy outside of the office.”
“You be sure to remind him of that,” she said with another smile. “So, shall we chat about what happened to your lovely face?”
54
Dominic
When I had burned off enough of my mad with the derpy Brownie and the disgusting, sodden ball of slobber he loved so dearly, I went back inside.
And found the two most important women in my life looking awfully smug.
“What?”
“Nothing, darling,” Mom said, rising from her chair. “I’ve got to get to the office. Get me a disclosure notice today, and I’ll present it. You both should stay home for the day. You look like you could use the rest.” She said the last with a raised eyebrow.
I walked her to the front door.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said as I helped her into her coat.
She turned around and patted my cheek. “Really? Because I’m not. Not in the least.”
“You don’t have to say that. I know this puts you in a shitty position. I know it looks like a repeat of everything you already went through.”
“Dominic, my only son is head over heels in love with a woman who challenges him and makes him smile. I’m happy for you.”
My guts did a cartwheel and didn’t stick the landing. “Hang on. No one said anything about love,” I argued, feeling the icy licks of panic.
She grinned. “You’re a good, stubborn man who will hopefully get out of his own way someday. Trust your mother on this. You’ve never looked at another woman the way you look at Ally.”
There were a lot of feelings I had for Ally that I’d never experienced before. Not the least of which was an unholy obsession with her naked body. But I wasn’t inclined to share that with my mother.
“This is very new. I wouldn’t go throwing labels around,” I said dryly.
“It’s an awful lot to go through for a woman you just kind of like. Enjoy your day off, darling.”
She left on a smug, finger-wiggling wave, and I closed the door after her.
Love? I didn’t understand how the woman who had been systematically humiliated by her husband for decades could still believe in such ridiculous notions. And if she knew I’d played a part in it, I doubted she’d be able to love me back.
With absolutely nothing settled like it would have been had they let me commit to the obvious solution, I returned to the kitchen.
Ally was doing the dishes and carrying on a one-sided conversation with Brownie. Fat snowflakes were falling faster outside the windows. A cozy, domestic scene. One that took place in homes across the country, around the world. But never here.
Something weird and uncomfortably warm bloomed in the center of my chest.
My first instinct was to squash it, and I went with it. I wasn’t going to fall prey to some adorable domesticity. Not when I was annoyed with her.
“Do you want to fight first or nap first?” I demanded gruffly.
Ally looked up from the dishwasher and crossed her arms. “How about an abbreviated fight and then nap?” she suggested. “We can finish up fighting when we’re better rested.”
“Lady’s choice.” I stepped around the island but kept my distance.
She nodded. “If this whatever this is is going to work anywhere besides the bedroom—”
“Relationship, Ally. Say the damn word.”
Her glare was withering. “Relationship,” she said in a caustic tone that made me want to kiss her until she shut the hell up. “I need to feel like an equal partner. Which means I want my fair share of the decision-making, and I don’t want to be beholden to you financially.”
“That sounds not completely stupid.” It was fair. It made sense. But it left out the how.
“Gee, thanks. Your approval means the world to me,” she said, heavy on the sarcasm, slowly closing the distance between us. “Dominic, you’re not my winning lottery ticket. This can’t be based on you being some kind of benefactor to poor little old me.”