Page 162 of By A Thread

“I’m an excellent dog dad,” I pointed out, opening the door and ushering her through.

“Of course you are,” she said, patting my cheek. “I’m just surprised you committed. It’s a good thing you haven’t felt compelled to commit to everything you’ve ever French kissed.”

“About that.”

My mother stopped in her tracks in the kitchen doorway.

“Hi.” Ally waved guiltily with a spatula from her sentry at the stove.

“Ah,” Mom said and turned back to me. Her expression was unreadable. But I wasn’t picking up on any hostile vibes.Yet.“Hello, Ally,” she said.

“Mom, have a seat,” I said, pushing her toward the table Ally had set in the dining room while I cooked.

She sat, and I gestured for Ally to do the same. I took the pan off the heat and scooped eggs and spinach onto plates with sliced tomatoes.

Carrying the plates into the dining area, I felt remarkably calm for what I was about to do. And that told me everything I needed to know. It was time for new priorities.

I took the chair next to Ally’s and picked up my tea.

“Mom. I’m resigning.”

53

Ally

My fork hit the plate with a resounding clatter.

“You’re what?” Dalessandra and I said together.

Dominic placed a hand over mine, but his attention was on his mother.

“As of last night, Ally and I are in a relationship. You’re the first to know. Well, besides a Romanian woman who broke into Ally’s house.”

I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I was floating up toward the ceiling and looking down at this scene with a distinct feeling ofwhat the fuck?I imagined people who were hit by buses felt the same kind of detached bemusement on their way off the mortal coil.

“You are not resigning,” I said a few decibels louder than I intended.

Brownie trotted into the room, Dominic’s underwear dangling out of his mouth.

“I am,” Dominic insisted. “Ally will stay on in her current position for whoever you appoint to take my place until Greta comes back. If Greta chooses to leave or retire, Ally can continue on in the position permanently. If Greta prefers to stay, I want you to find Ally a suitable placement with the salary she has currently.”

“You can’t just make decisions like that without consulting me,” I choked, valiantly trying to wrench my hand free of his so I could smack him upside the head.

“Or me,” Dalessandra agreed. She was handling it better than I was, slicing up a dainty portion of tomato and egg.

“You hard-headed, bossy, alpha—Brownie, put those down!” The dog shot me a guilty look and ran out of the room, underwear flapping. “This is not how a relationship works. You don’t just make all the decisions and expect me to happily go along with it!”

“Ally is absolutely correct,” she said, picking up her tea.

“This is the only way this works,” he insisted. “I’m not willing to put you through another scandal. Or drag Ally’s name through the mud.”

“A consensual relationship between two people who care very much for each other is not a scandal,” she said.

“It’s still fodder. There will be rumors. People will say things,” Dominic pointed out.

“Of course, they’ll say things,” I snapped. “You can’t control people’s reactions.”

They were both ignoring me, and I wondered if perhaps I really had ceased to exist. Maybe a bus had plowed through Dom’s townhouse, and I was the last to know.