Ambition (Private 7)

Yeah. Communication was not so easy inside Platinum. Whatever. I decided to let it go and just dance. Which was what I was do-

ing when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and had to peel my hair from my sweaty cheeks. Dominic stood in front of me,

his face gleaming, the champagne bottle still in hand. "You never came back from the bathroom," he said. "I couldn't find you," I lied.

He grinned. "Well, good that I found you, then." He took a slug from the bottle, then offered it to me. "Drink?" he asked me for about

the millionth time that night. "No, thanks." I wrinkled my nose. I had already downed one glass of wine at the restaurant and I did not

want to get drunk. I had learned my lesson at the Legacy and the day after. Being hungover again was not in my immediate plans.

"You have had nothing to drink since we got here," he accused. "So?" I replied. "So you should lighten up. Look around. It's a party."

He spread his arms wide and clunked a Hollywood starlet in the head with his bottle. "Hey! Watch it!" she shouted, shoving him. Do-

minic merely laughed.

"I know it's a party, and I'm having fun," I shouted at him. I glanced back at Abercrombie boy, but he had moved on to some chick

in a pink wig, damn it. "I don't need to drink to have fun!" I told Dominic. Dominic snorted a laugh, wavering slightly in place, then

took another slug from the bottle. "Cheyenne was right about you," he said. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins. I looked over my

shoulder at Sabine and the Twin Cities. Apparently they had heard it too, because they had all stopped dancing. "Excuse me?" I said.

"She was always saying how you had this stick up your butt. Which made sense, since you were from the sticks," he said with another

snort. "Shut it, Infante!" Vienna snapped, coming over to stand next to me. London and Sabine gathered around as well. "Just because

you're a pseudo prince doesn't mean you can talk to my girl like that." Dominic sniffed and took another drink. "Wait. You and

Cheyenne talked about me?" I demanded, my heart pounding a mile a minute. "When? Why?"

"Cheyenne was an old friend," he said. "A very close friend," he added suggestively. "She liked to cuddle afterward. And talk." Vi-

enna and I looked at one another, skeeved. "You hooked up with Cheyenne? When?" Vienna demanded. "All the time," Dominic

replied, standing up straight. "Girl really made her way through Ketlar. But Hollis was her ultimate conquest, and now I can see why

he went for her, even though he was with you. Cheyenne was hot behind closed doors. But you..." He looked me up and down with

disdain, a complete one-eighty from the way he'd checked me out at our hotel suite. "You are kind of a frigid bitch, aren't you?"

I felt as if all the wind had just been knocked out of me. I wanted to slap him, but before I could regain my senses, London did it

for me. And Dominic was so drunk, he went down like a house of cards right there in the middle of the dance floor. "Ow. That hurt,"

London said, pouting as she shook her hand. "Wow, London. Thanks," I replied. "Come on. Let's get out of here," Sabine said, putting

her arm around me. "I don't get it," I said as we shoved our way through the crowd of curious onlookers who were now surrounding

Dominic. "He was so nice earlier." "Bad drunk," Vienna theorized, giving me a squeeze from the opposite side. "I'm sure he didn't

mean any of that." "Right." She had a point. I knew from experience that people could turn into monsters when they were under the

influence. Look at Thomas. My mother. Even me. Would I have hooked up with Dash that night if it hadn't been for all those drinks? I

hoped not. I hoped that my sober self was better than that.