Page 204 of By A Thread

“Do you honestly believe I would cheat on you? That you mean so little to me that I’d be willing to throw it all away?” she asked.

Thinking wasn’t really happening for me right now. I was too busy feeling a thousand different knife edges of emotions. But did I really believe Ally would have let someone else touch her when we were so… connected?

“No,” I rasped. Her shoulders relaxed for a moment. “But it certainly raised your profile.” I spat out the accusation, astounded that once again, I’d fallen for it. Only this time, it hurt. It really fucking hurt.

“Myprofile? Have you lost your mind? I don’t have a profile! I’m Dominic Russo’s girlfriend, and I wore a nice dress in front of a couple of cameras once.”

“You’ll have plenty of opportunities now, thanks to this little pseudo-celebrity stunt.”

“I hope you were nicer to your model ex about her chosen profession,” Ally shot back.

“Don’t ever mention her to me again,” I snapped. She’d pushed exactly the right button to remind me of what I’d wanted to forget.

I felt sick and empty and like it wasn’t worth the effort to stand anymore. I leaned back against the wall and slid down it.

I stared at the ceiling, picturing the room above us. My bed. Our bed.

It’s where we started. Where we were at our best. The center of our fucking relationship. But that didn’t prepare me for this. I was shaking. Physically shaking.

“Dom?” Her voice was more gentle than I deserved, and she was kneeling in front of me. She should have been kicking me, throwing things, not looking me in the eye.

“He fucked her. While I was dating her.”

“Who?”

“My father,” I spat out. “We were never serious. Elena and me. She was using me for the attention. She’d tip off paparazzi when we were out. I found out, and when I went to confront her, she answered the door in another man’s shirt. He was still there, and I didn’t care enough to find out who.”

“It was your dad?” Ally asked slowly.

“He always loved to take things from me. Always a competition.”

She laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Your father is a sick bastard.”

“You don’t know the half. He made a tape. A sex tape. That’s why she backed out of the issue. He threatened to release it. Her reputation would have taken a hit.” Meanwhile his legend would only grow. The sixty-eight-year-old man fucking models forty years his junior.

“She told you?” Ally asked.

I nodded. “I went to see her. I was pissed. I thought she was doing it for attention. And she told me. Then she begged me to help her. Asked me to take her out, be seen with her so people would be talking about us instead of her. She thought no one would believe there was a sex tape if I was willing to be with her again.”

She wanted to use me again. That’s what they all wanted. And no matter how much I gave, it was never enough.

“I don’t know who I’m more mad at right now. You, your father, or Elena. And believe me, that’s saying something,” Ally said.

“I guess I have a type,” I said bitterly.

She pinned me with her gaze, daring me to say the words that were setting my tongue on fire.

“Users,” I said.

The hand on my shoulder fisted and then released me entirely. “Uh-huh. So you accuse me of cheating on you, and when that doesn’t stick, you go right on down the list to I’m a user? Guess what? You win. I’m more pissed at you.”

“It’s not really your fault,” I assured her. She hadn’t forced me to give her anything. She’d just made it easy, fun even.

“Dominic, I’m giving you a chance to shut the hell up. I know you’re hurt. I know you’re reeling. But I don’t know if I can forgive you for what you’ve already said.”

I didn’t need forgiveness. I didn’t want it. I was the one who’d been wronged.

“Is that what you were doing? All those gifts were tests to see if I’d accept them?” she asked.