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“How do you know her?” Lindy elbows me in the side and hisses in my ear. My baby sister is young and innocent. She doesn’t need to be dragged into my work, which is why I never talk to her about it.
Or Kat, not that there’s much there to talk about anyway.
Yeah, I fantasize about fucking Katarina six ways from Sunday, but that’s my ‘stuff’ and I definitely don’t talk to Lindy about that shit. Not now, not ever.
“She’s a friend of Shaye’s.” All true. Lindy doesn’t need the sordid details about how she’s the daughter of a brutal Russian mob boss who pretty much owns the European drug trade. Or how I saved her life and shot some asshole who had a gun to her head…I don’t remember getting a thank you for that, either.
Or the blow job I casually asked for.
“She’s gorgeous!” Lindy says in a whisper-squeal. “You have to go out with her. I think she’s into you.”
“Easy, killer. Let’s just do what we came to do, okay?”
“I’m just saying.”
Kat stops at the far end of the hallway and turns back to us. “Are you looking for a big dog? A small one? Any specific type?”
“I want a big dog. A mean one.”
Kat lifts an eyebrow. “You looking for protection, Rocco? Maybe a shelter isn’t the best place for you. Maybe you should go and look at guard dogs instead.” A tiny smile plays at her red lips.
Christ, I wanna bite them so bad…
I clear my throat. “That’s not what I meant. I just want a strong personality. A dog who doesn’t need to play all the time, since my work is pretty crazy, too. I need a dog that’s okay on his own.” I backpedal because the last thing I’m going to do is leave this place right now. In fact, I’m gonna milk this for all I can if it lets me hang out with Kat in a non-deadly situation where we can just talk and not have to fire guns to stay alive. Even on nights when we go out, we do it in a group, and it’s after we’ve all been ass-rammed by her at poker. Seeing this human side is refreshing. I wonder what else she’s hiding.
“His own?” Her lips twitch. “So I take it that means you associate a strong dog with a male dog, right? Because female dogs aren’t as powerful?”
I let out a frustrated sigh. This woman. “Not what I meant. It just came out. If you have a female dog that is just as badass, I’m open to meeting her, too.”
“Oh! Look at this one!” Lindy runs over to a large, dark brown dog with a gruff bark. It raises its eyes up at her, and Jesus…they look tired. And worn down. And defeated. The other dogs in here are pretty active and yappy, but not this one. It doesn’t look like it can even be bothered to raise a paw in greeting. It looks like it just wants to be left alone.
Maybe being alone is better than what it experienced before it came here.
Maybe it just wants some peace and quiet.
I walk over to the cage. I can’t explain it. I’m just drawn to this dog. I don’t know if it’s a male or a female, but I sense some kind of a connection. It’s weird. I’ve never really been an animal person before, and I came here to find a dog the exact opposite of this one, but here I am, kneeling in front of the cage.
I hold out a hand and the dog drops its chin into it. Big brown eyes stare at me with a lot of questions, but there’s only one I have the answer to.
This is the one.
Kat’s heels click on the floor as they approach and she kneels next to me. “This is Stoli 2,” she says, a smile lifting her lips as she reaches in to run her hand over the dog’s dull coat. “It’s a he, by the way.”
I nod, still caught by his curious gaze. He still hasn’t made a sound. “Does he bark?”
“He’s kind of a quiet guy. But he’ll chat when he’s ready.” She strokes the top of his head, and his eyes float closed. Yeah, you’ve got the life, Stoli 2. I’d love for her hands to be all over me, too.
“I’ll take him.” No hesitation. Somehow I know this is the dog for me. He’s the guy I want next to me when I’m herding cattle upstate in New York.
A tiny pang in my chest reminds me that there are some bad people out to get me. Is it really fair to bring him into that?
Just one more thing to watch over and protect…
I rub my hand under his chin and he lets out a sigh. Maybe it’s one of relief, maybe it’s one of annoyance. I’m going with the first one, though.
“He’s a special dog,” Kat murmurs. “We’ve gotten to be good buddies, right?”
Ruff!
