Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
My mouth falls open. The insult comes from nowhere and is so unprovoked. I wonder if I’m hearing things for a second.
“Excuse me?”
The man shrugs and laughs callously. “Calm down, sweetheart. Just a harmless joke. What are you lot doing on my property?”
“Are you cracked in the head?” Steve snaps. “Go upstairs and bring that little turd down here. If he hurts that dog…”
“That dog? That’s mine.” The man grins. “I’ve had him for years. If you want to take him off my hands, you’ll need to pay for the pain I’d feel at his loss, understand?”
“Right, so that’s what this is really about,” I say.
“The pig can talk.”
Tommy has stood completely still as the bald man insults me, and Ollie’s arms wobble from trying to hold up the bucket. Only the pulsing of his muscles, his tight-as-heck forearms, show the rage rushing through him. Then, suddenly, he explodes. Loki is barking. Ollie drops the bucket.
When it crashes against the cage and oil spills everywhere, I expect to hear the poor doggie yelping in pain, but I finally realized what happened. Oh, Loki, the clever boy. He nuzzled the cage lock out of the way. Ollie must not have put it on properly.
Now, Loki yaps up at Tommy and the bald man as Tommy punches him across the face. The bald man grunts and stumbles onto the grass, and then Tommy looms over him, roaring.
“Don’t ever say a bloody word about my woman. You hear me?”
The bald man groans, holding his hands up. “Jesus Christ. I get it. I’m sorry. I get it.”
“Take Loki,” Tommy says, looking at me over his shoulder.
The Jack Russell doesn’t know what to do with himself, yapping at the man on the floor and the hollow-cheeked men gathering around. The security team is already moving in with Loki out of harm’s way.
“He won’t…”
I’m about to say he won’t calm down for me, but then Loki turns at my voice, his head tilted. Reaching down, I gesture to him. “It’s okay, boy. Good boy. It’s okay. You’re safe. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Tommy smiles. “You’re going to make an incredible mother.”
Loki pads over, nuzzling my leg as a fireworks show of heat and belonging sparkles inside me. I carefully lean down and pick him up, my arms straining but making an effort because he needs me now. He needs to know he will always be safe and have a place to belong. One of the security team leads us to the car. I sit in the car, Loki standing with his rear paws on my thighs, his forepaws propped on the window, looking out of the car.
Tommy drags Ollie out by his hair, throwing him onto the grass. “You’re a lucky bastard that he’s cleverer than you,” Tommy grunts. He then looks around in disgust at them all, the occupants of the drug house gathered on the lawn by his security. “Handle the cops. I’m going to be with my family.”
“You hear that, boy?” I whisper, stroking Loki as Tommy approaches. “We’re a family already.”
Tommy climbs into the car, and Loki immediately springs over to him, tail wagging so forcefully that his whole butt shakes from side to side. He showers Tommy with doggy kisses, lapping at his cheek. Tommy grins and laughs, hugging the energetic dog, and I think about so many scenes and so much brightness in the future.
So much love. So much happiness. Laughing children and barbecue smoke. Dad walking me down the aisle. Mom bantering with her grandchild, and everything working out okay.
“I’m sorry he spoke to you like that,” Tommy says once Loki has curled into a ball, nuzzling his shirt as if desperate to be there.
“The bald guy? Don’t worry. You taught him a lesson.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. Nobody has the right to speak to you like that.”
“But you’re not a killer. You’re not like Ollie.”
“No.” He bites down. “But when somebody insults you, or I think about somebody hurting you, it becomes much easier to imagine hurting them… badly… to the point they’ll never recover. You’re mine, Ami. Just mine, and everything about you is perfect.”
I lay my hand atop his. Loki opens his eyes, then stretches over, licking my knuckles.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Thomas
“I think he’s finally settled down,” I say, walking into the living room.
We’re at my apartment since this is where Loki will feel most comfortable. We’ve spent the last couple of hours talking to the police, with the vet to give Loki a once-over—all fine, thank God—and then settling him down.
We’re in the living room alone, Loki sleeping in his dog bed. Amelia stands as I approach. She’s let her hair down, sexy and messy around her shoulders, her eyes filled with welcome emotion.
“It’s been one heck of a day, huh?”
I smile, holding her. “But it ended well.”