“Sorry,” I wheezed to Davian through the slobber -kisses, all too aware of our bodies flush against each other . If it wasn’ t for the paw digging into my stomach, I would’ve enjoyed it. Instead, I got a mouthful of fur as Bear nuzzled my face, and I wrapped my arms around him in the best hug I could manage. Thank god he was safe. Davian’ s hands settled on my upper arms and held me still until he could extract himself from underneath me. “You told me Bear was a dog,” Davian muttered, eyes narrowing into slits as he got to his feet. “Not a hellhound.” “He’s just a big sweet puppy,” I cooed to the cuddly beast. Bear licked my face again in answer , and I didn’ t even care about the slobber . “We need to leave.” Davian reached for my arm, but Bear growled viciously , making him freeze. I winced at Davian’ s unamused look. “He takes a little while to warm up to strangers,” I said, hoping to ease the sting of Bear’s rejection. “But he really is the biggest sweetie. You’ll see.” Bear growled softer after I said that, which wasn’t the best timing. But when he nudged my head, I gave him another hug. He’d earned all the cuddles he wanted after the day he’d been through. After kissing his snout, I extracted myself from Bear’s gangly legs and got to my feet. Brushing off the front of my overalls did little to help my rumpled appearance, but it was just dirt and dog hair . I’d live. I offered Davian my best smile, overcome with gratitude now that Bear was back by my side. “Thank you so much for helping us, Davian. I know I forced you, but this means everything to me.” “If I didn’t want to help, I wouldn’ t have.” His lips twisted with a hint of a smile that turned my knees to jelly, and he checked his watch. “How does a trip to Bruno’s sound? We have time to celebrate Bear’s safe return before he closes.” “Really?” My lips parted. He wasn’t taking off running? “But you’re not my hostage anymore. You’re... You’re free.” It hurt to say. I’d grown to enjoy the little time we’d spent together , and it really did feel like we were partners in crime-fighting. Davian’ s brows rose. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, partner . Come on. My treat.”
I pushed down the flutter in my stomach and glanced back at the run- down office. The kid Davian had shot was still in there. “Shouldn’ t we make sure Fessy gets to the hospital? He was bleeding a lot.” Davian waved off my concern. “It’s better if we aren’t here when the cops show up. They’ll take care of him.” A scary realizat ion hit me. A bullet from Davian’ s gun was in Fessy’s leg. Police could track stuff like that, right? They could in the TV shows. I looked up at Davian. “W ill the police come after you?” He had the nerve to smirk. “They won’t bother me. Any other questions, or should we head to Bruno’ s?” Well, if he insisted. “I can’ t say no to ice cream.” We left the car wash together with Bear walking just behind us and ke eping an eye on Davian. I wasn’t sure what’d gotten into him, but maybe he was still feeling Davian out. When I saw my car parked haphazardly in the lot, I winced. “I’m not sure Bear will fit in Daisy with both of us.” “Bruno’ s place isn’t that far away. We can walk.” Davian tucked his gun into the back of his pants. The move was smooth, as if he’d done it a hundred times before. Maybe a thousand. “But I don’t want your car here when the cops show up. You mind if Malcolm drives her back to your place?” I hesitated. “She really doesn’ t like other people driving her...” “He’s my best driver , and he’ll take good care of her . I swear .” The faint wail of sirens made my heart lurch, and I nibbled on my lip. “But how will I get home?” “Malcolm and Shane can circle back for us after dropping off your car,” he said. “The SUV will easily fit Bear .” It sounded logical enough. Or maybe I just wanted to spend more time with Davian. “Okay. He can drive Daisy, but please make sure he follows the rules of the road. And watches out for potholes. The city is full of them, and it only takes one for her to spend a month in the shop.” Davian’ s lips thinned. “Great. Keys are in the car?” I nodded, and he reached for my hand like it was the most natural thing to do. When our palms touched, my heart tripped over itself. But Bear nudged between us—conveniently knocking Davian’ s hand away before growling at it.
Davian grumbled under his breath as he returned Bear’s dark look, and I bit my lip to hide a smile. The two of them were surprisingly alike.
D a v i a n The mutt guarded Sadie like he owned her , and it pissed me of f. I couldn’t even hold her fucking hand without him getting in the way. Sadie had pulled a leash out of her overalls, which she hooked to his collar, and he stayed guard between us the whole walk to Bruno’s. I could swear he even sent me a smug look when she scratched between his ears. I doubted he was even a dog. He was more like a beast-wol f hybrid disguised in brown and black fur with deceivingly innocen t eyes. The lolling tongue didn’ t fool me. Bear was trouble. Since I couldn’ t touch Sadie without upsetting her furry bodyguard, I used the walk to learn more about her. Her eyes lit up when she told me more about her culinary school and how she hoped to open a dog treat bakery one day. The shelter was where she spent her free time, and she’d made good friends with the other volunteers. They even went bowling together every Thursday night. Her life was the polar opposite of mine. I spent most days working for my father—which usually meant endless back-alley meetings and ke eping up with the other players in the area. Sometimes there were guns in volved. ... Most times there was blood in volved. It didn’t sound like Sadie’s day-to-day included much blood, and today was clearly the first time she’d ever held a gun.