Page 8 of Duty

Gio didn’t like dog fighting—he wouldn’t stand for it. When he’d found out his men were involved in it, he ended it, rescued the pup in the process, and brought it to Andino.

Now, Andino was grateful.

Then, he’d wondered what in the hell he would do with a dog like Snaps.

Running his fingers through the dog’s fur again, Andino could feel the raised ridges of some of Snaps’ old scars under his fur. No one could see them, but Andino remembered vividly what the marks looked like when his dog was just a pup, struggling to eat solid food and needing Andino to feed him liquids through a syringe. Yeah, Snaps had been that young. He wasn’t so young or incapable anymore.

“Snaps,” Andino said, noting the fact that the trail had cleared of people.

His dog’s ears twitched, but Snaps never looked up.

“You ready?” Andino asked.

Snaps snorted, his nose pressing to the ground. Andino flipped the stick he’d been walking with. It was maybe six inches thick and a foot long. A broken tree branch that had fallen on the path and he picked it up as they walked.

“High,” Andino ordered.

Snaps’ head flew up, his gaze trained straight ahead. Good dog, Andino praised silently. All that time and training paid off. Snaps loved to learn.

“Get it,” Andino said fast.

The stick flew from his hand in a flash of movement. Snaps probably hadn’t even seen his master throw the stick, but the dog was already going after it. To most people, Snaps looked lazy as fuck. Andino didn’t mind letting people believe that, either.

Snaps was twenty feet in front of the stick before it even began to drop from the air to fall to the ground. In a blink, the dog turned and charged forward. Snaps’ two paws pressed hard into the paved walk and then the dog lunged into the air.

Six feet high, the dog caught the stick. Snaps’ jaw clamped around the wood with an audible crunch. The stick splintered into nothing but scraps. Snaps landed to the ground almost silently, shaking his head at the same time. What was left of the stick fell from the dog’s mouth to the ground before Snaps was back at Andino’s side.

Chuffing, Snaps waited for his praise. He always waited. He never pressed for it.

“Good dog,” Andino said.

Snaps pushed his large head into Andino’s palm. Andino stroked the dog back.

When Andino’s life felt like it was going too fast, Snaps always managed to slow it down. Today was no exception. But even worse was when Andino’s life suddenly felt like it wasn’t his own to control, as if he was now someone else’s toy to command, Snaps was still the same.

His dog.

His companion.

After the news Andino learned the day before, he was still trying to adjust to what it all meant. A boss, that’s what he was intended to be. He’d decided it didn’t necessarily feel wrong, but the things he enjoyed most about his life, like being solitary, would have to change.

He wasn’t ready for that at all.

“Whoa, that was crazy,” came a soft, sensual voice to Andino’s left.

He spun fast on his heel, alarmed that Snaps hadn’t alerted him to the fact someone was around. Andino was sure he’d been alone.

Apparently not.

The woman, in her baggy tank and jogging shorts, stood at the mouth of a connecting trail. Her blonde hair, streaked with waves of teal and purple, was pulled into a loose ponytail. She had the lean, toned body of a runner and Andino found himself staring at all the curves of her body, from her hips to her waist, and up to her breasts. She was fit, tall, and by the expression she wore as he kept staring at her, fiery and feisty, too.

Andino liked that in a woman.

The woman put a fist to her jutted hip.

“Do you stare often?” she asked.

Andino smirked, amused at her candor. “I do when something deserves my attention.”