He spoke first. "You've probably figured out why
JP is here."
"You're training him." "He's a fast learner." "At least one of you is."
His expressive brown eyes widened with surprise.
"I get it," she said, "you're sorry. You want to make it up to me for the horrible things you said. Again."
His jaw tightened. "It's more than that."
She stood up. "Sure it is."
He took a step toward her. "I love you."
She forced out the sarcastic words: "Sure you do." She hated this but couldn't back down this time. Not ever again.
"I don't know what else to do to convince you." She closed her eyes hard, then opened them and stared straight at him. "Just stop trying, okay? I'm your agent and you're my client, and that's all there ever was or ever will be between us."
Pain flashed across his face, but she couldn't let that stop her. "I came to give you some news," she said in a softer voice. "Bad news."
A flash of alarm crossed his face.
"A writer from Sports Illustrated has dug up some dirt from your past. I need to know what it is, Dominic. Anything and everything you can think of. We can turn this around, but we've got to do it quickly."
His eyes were bleak as he stared into the distance. "We can't turn this around. It's finally over."
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. "What's over? What happened?"
His words came hard, fast. "I used to drink. Anything I could steal. From my mother's boyfriends, from my friends' parents. The liquor store's lock sucked. It was easy to break in and take what I wanted."
Melissa tried hard to conceal her surprise. "You were just a kid. People change."
"Stealing cars was even better. Me and my friend Joe would hot-wire one, take it for a joyride, then leave it with an empty gas tank and a couple of smoked-up joints. Joe was heading to Virginia Tech on a football scholarship. We thought we were invincible. Then I drove into a tree."
A gasp escaped her before she could pull it inside.
"You were okay?"
He nodded grimly. "I was fine. Joe wasn't. His legs were broken. He lost his scholarship."
It took everything she'd learned from watching her father to approach Dominic's revelations from a business perspective: This story could be a PR nightmare if it got out the wrong way. Still, her heart broke for the teenager Dominic had once been.
"How come I've never heard this story before?" she asked quietly. "How could something like this have been shoved under the rug for so long?"
"His parents were big into local politics. They couldn't let it get out that he was drinking and stealing cars."
"Dominic," she said softly "you were just a kid. Kids do stupid stuff." His expression was bleak. "You've never forgiven yourself, have you?"
He didn't move, didn't blink. And then he shook his head. "No." His eyes begged her for forgiveness. "I wanted to tell you before now. I just didn't know how."
Stunned, she needed a few minutes to process everything.
"I've put my endorsements at risk," he said, obviously misreading her silence as worry and trying to manage the situation. "I don't care about the money; I don't need it. But now I've f**ked up your career, too."
She held up her hand. "It's my job to worry about that. Not yours. We'll figure this out together."
His gaze cleared as he stared at her. "You'll stay?"
"I will." But she didn't trust herself to remain in his house. Not when she wanted to comfort him and the only way she knew how was with her body. "I'm going to spend the night in town. In the morning, we'll come up with a PR plan. And I'll help you train JP. I've got some ideas."
For the first time all night, Dominic smiled.
Dominic's body was so bruised and beaten that he fell asleep not long after Melissa left. But he woke up long before sunrise, haunted by everything Melissa had said.
She was right about him, about his actions being motivated by guilt. He loved her deeply, but working with JP was about assuaging his guilt.
He'd been doing the same thing for years with Joe. Houses, cars, boats—he bought them all, even when Joe said he didn't want them or need them.
Why the f**k had he railroaded his friend with lavish gifts over the years? Joe was a smart guy, the CEO of his own company manufacturing "green" cleansers. He definitely didn't need Dominic's guilt offerings.
It was just as well that Sports Illustrated was going to out him. He should have owned up to his past a long time ago.
He got up, turned on the shower, and stood under the water.
It felt good to come clean.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next morning passed in a blur of drills. Though Melissa was impressed by how hard JP was working, it would still be amazing if they pulled off a new deal. Especially with the cloud hanging over Dominic.
She'd finally accepted that things between her and Dominic would never work out. She'd built him up in her head for so many years, dreamed for so long about what he must be like, that she'd never been able to see him purely for himself. She hadn't been fair to him. Now she needed to find it in her heart to wish him well, to wish for him all the love and happiness that she wanted for herself.
"He's dragging," she said at lunchtime as they watched JP run laps around the nearby high-school track. She and Dominic were a surprisingly good team as they focused their energies on JP.
He agreed. "No point in killing the kid, I suppose." He whistled to get JP's attention. "Good work. Go get some lunch. We'll see you in an hour."
JP tried to smile but clearly couldn't muster the energy. "Ugh." He limped back to his car and drove back to the cottage, probably to sleep in the hot tub for an hour.
Melissa walked with Dominic back to his car. His Viper held so many memories for her. Every time she'd been in it they'd had sex before, during, or after their drive.
She shivered in response to the memories.
He pulled into a lakefront burger joint and Melissa was grateful that it wasn't romantic in the least. She hadn't eaten much in the last few days and her clothes were already getting loose. Knowing that the waif look didn't suit her, she ordered a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke.