Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Well, well, well, I forgive you, Selma, for not coming by.” Eve let out a whistle.
“Eve!”
“I’m old, not dead, and I know that is one fine man.”
Drago burst out laughing and took the elder woman’s hand, kissing her knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And it’s about time you decided to pay us a visit. I know my girl here has a soft spot for all the pets, but she cannot take them all home,” Eve tutted.
“Can I show Drago around?” Selma asked.
“Sure thing. Your man has already called ahead to ask if you could. I told you, Selma, you’re always welcome here. I owe you.”
He watched as Eve pulled Selma in for a hug. The two women were clearly close and he felt a little guilty, even though it was only a smidgen, for keeping the two women apart.
He wasn’t going to feel too guilty. Selma was his.
His wife took hold of his hand and led him through some doors, taking them out back.
“What was that all about?” Drago asked. “Why does she owe you?”
Selma stopped and let go of his hand, rubbing her own together. They were not rubbing together in glee, but he saw the nerves.
“It’s…”
“A long story?”
“Not long, no, ugh, when I first got here, I was a newbie, and even though my dad never let me have dogs, I loved them. This is like a dream job to me, and when I was here, I happened to notice the way the dogs were reacting to one of the workers here. When I first arrived, I was just a volunteer. Eve had already gotten the max workers here. Anyway, I noticed how the dogs acted around this one woman, so I … ugh, kind of hid and watched as she abused the dogs. I caught it on camera and showed it to Eve. It was the kind of stuff that makes your stomach hurt. They’re defenseless animals. They don’t deserve abuse.”
“You do know dogs can kill, right?” he asked.
“Only if they’re trained to.” She rolled her eyes and he loved the sass. “Eve made sure she was prosecuted and dealt with and I took the woman’s place on the payroll, but I didn’t do it for the money.”
Drago pulled her in close and kissed her neck. “I know you didn’t, babe. I know you don’t do any of that kind of shit to get money.”
He heard her soft sigh. Now, he wanted to go and hurt this fucked-up woman for making his own see shit she didn’t need to see. No one would ever hurt his woman again and get away with it. He would make all those evil fuckers in the world pay.
Selma took his hand. “Come on, let me show you some of the guys and girls.”
And so, Drago followed Selma.
He was surprised to see some of the cages were open and the dogs were wandering around.
“Isn’t this a shelter?”
“Yes and no. Eve goes to shelters and adopts the dogs on the euthanasia list, and she does what she can for them. She helps take care of them, bring them back to health. Some dogs don’t have long, and she wants them to have fun and to know love. It’s quite simple. I think I’m making it sound a little more complicated than it needs to be.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Nah, it sounds about right.” He already knew everything about the shelter and now as the dogs ran toward his woman, he saw the creatures had a lot of love toward his wife.
He had to wonder how a monster like George Kent had been able to bring such a precious gem into the world.
Chapter Ten
It was official.
Selma, one hundred percent, had fallen in love with her husband, and it wasn’t because he made love to her the best way, although that was pretty damn good. How could she not love him now?
At first, when the dogs ran toward her, and they all wanted a fuss, and Drago was tense. He looked ready to strike out at the dogs if they so much as showed a hint of aggression. But a very chirpy little Pomeranian had walked over to Drago and circled around his boots, rubbing his body against her husband. He tried to be hard and tough, but her man was only hard and tough on the exterior. It didn’t take long for him to remove his jacket, roll up his sleeves, and be on his hands and knees with the dogs, playing, laughing, stroking, and just loving being around them.
She loved it.
And she loved Drago.
He didn’t hold back, and even bent down to kiss the dogs.
She also noticed that the Pomeranian, called Kevin, kept coming to him and would rag at the cuff of his pants, pulling on him to gain his attention. It was so cute. When it was time to leave and Eve came back, she saw that Drago had picked Kevin up and helped to put him back in his kennel. She glanced over at Kevin and saw the little doggy, looking incredibly sad.