“Obidiah, we aren’t finished with this conversation,” his father shouted, following behind but not closely.
“Obidiah?” Charlie and Wyatt repeated at the same time.
“That’s not my name. Not anymore. Not ever again,” Robby snapped. “We are finished, Jeb. Go home.”
Robby refused to look back. He let Wyatt and Charlie shuttle him into the back of a large SUV. She slammed the door, knocking on the glass that separated them and the driver. As soon as the car lurched into motion, Robby sagged back against the seat, feeling like somebody had exposed every nerve in his body, leaving him raw.
“That’s some outfit you got there, kitty cat,” Charlie said before hissing and meowing.
“I don’t think anybody dressed like a mobster’s mistress gets to point fingers at my fashion choices,” Robby managed, not even bothering to open his eyes.
Charlie snickered. “Oh, kitty’s got claws. I like it. You’re way more fun since Elijah broke your heart.”
Robby tried to ignore the way said heart squeezed, a sudden knot forming in his throat. It wasn’t Elijah, not really. It was all of it. His pounding head, his burning eyes, seeing his father standing there after all that time, his fear for his dog. The fact that the only people who had come to his rescue were two people he barely knew. He’d never felt so utterly alone…and so very tired.
“Charlie!” Wyatt snapped.
“What? Are we just supposed to pretend all of this is normal? We just rescued our friend’s ex-boyfriend from prison where he’s dressed like an underage male prostitute and talking to a dude who looked like he should be holding a sickle for a little kid named Malachi in some Nebraska cornfield. I have a lot of questions, so let’s just confront the Elijah-shaped elephant in the car. Is this Miley level meltdown really because Elijah broke your heart?”
To Robby’s horror, the sob he’d been holding back escaped. He pressed his fist to his lips but it was too late. Tears welled in his eyes, burning his already irritated skin.
Wyatt shot Charlie a scathing look. “See what you did?”
Charlie sucked in a breath. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. Come to mama. Let it all out.” She patted her lap.
Robby eyed her warily, annoyed that he wanted to let this strange girl comfort him, but Wyatt gave him a gentle shove and a reassuring smile. “Go ahead. She won’t stop nagging until you do. She’s powered by gay tears.”
Robby didn’t have the emotional capacity to even try to fight her. He just let himself slump over until Charlie cradled his head in her lap. “That’s it. Go ahead and cry it out.”
He did. Not gross body wracking sobs, but tears streamed down his face as he lay there feeling sorry for himself. Charlie’s scary claw-like nails felt nice as they combed through his hair and she crooned nonsense at him like a baby. At some point, he dozed off, but not before an awful thought struck him: What if this was all there was for him?
Calder Seton had been given many strange tasks since he’d started working with Elite Protection Services, but babysitting the world’s ugliest dog definitely topped the list. Lincoln had called him before the sun came up with a strange request. Go to the address given and retrieve the hideous beast, gather his supplies, and take said beast back to his apartment until further notice.
It had taken forty minutes to coax the dog out of hiding and longer still to gather up the list of supplies. He wasn’t sure whose apartment he had skulked around in but they clearly loved this dog. He’d taken the containers full of fancy dog food from the fridge and the sparkly red bowls from the floor before spending far too much time searching for the box Linc said would be in a cabinet somewhere in the owner’s tidy bedroom. He’d finally found the black and white polka dot box with ‘Casanova’ emblazoned across it in red glitter letters under the bathroom sink. Inside was an assortment of medications and tubes full of creams for what Calder imagined were the dog’s many ailments.
Calder had spent the next ten or so hours in his apartment having a staring contest with the creature, now convinced it was more muppet than canine. It clearly had an unfair advantage as Calder was almost positive the dogs eyes were looking in different directions, which made him feel unsafe somehow. It was tiny, like the kind of dog one of his socialite clients carried in their overpriced handbags. But no self-respecting socialite would be caught dead with this dog.
The thing was pale and hairless except for the strange tufts of black fluff growing sparsely at its ankles and the tip of its tail. The small amount of hair on its head formed a mohawk, but Calder thought it looked deliberate like a defense mechanism to warn people away, as if that would ever be a problem. Its teeth were too big, giving it an overbite, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth at all times.
Despite its demonic appearance, the dog made no noise. It never growled or barked. Even when he’d entered the overpriced apartment, it was painfully silent. It took him forever to find it, lurking like some mutant sewer rat just behind the toilet. He couldn’t even begin to imagine why his boss would have need for such a creature, but it wasn’t his place to ask questions. He was just glad his babysitting duties had finally come to an end.
As he passed the conference room, he saw the boss’s husband, Wyatt, sitting on the conference room table with his friend, Charlie, who dressed like she’d just left the night shift off Hollywood and Vine. They faced away from him, talking to somebody who sat in a chair in front of them, but he couldn’t see who it was. He could only make out ripped jeans and pristine white sneakers. He shrugged off his curiosity, eager to unburden himself of the gremlin trembling in his arms.
He didn’t knock on Linc’s door before entering as it already sat slightly ajar. His boss sat behind the huge mahogany desk in jeans and a black EPS polo shirt that hugged huge biceps, signing papers while his assistant, Emma, sat in the chair opposite him. Emma leaned forward, pointing at things on the page. “And sign there, too. And then that’s it. I’ll get these over to Jack, and then I’m going to dinner if that’s okay with you?”
Linc grunted in the affirmative, glancing up when Calder entered, one brow hooking upward at his new canine companion.
“You wanna tell me why I just had to spend hours guarding the world’s ugliest dog?” Calder drawled, holding up said dog.
Linc ignored his question. “Emma, can you take the animal to the kids? Then you can have the rest of the evening off. It’s already pretty late in the day.”
Emma nodded, scooping the dog out of Calder’s arms and taking the bag full of supplies off his shoulder, glowering at him all the while.
Calder grinned at her retreating back, amused by her mysterious hostility. “What’d I do to her?”
Linc gestured for Calder to sit. “She’s the one who took the call from Kirsch yesterday.”
Calder fought the urge to roll his eyes. Itwasa trap. Linc had only asked for his help to lure him into the office for yet another talking to. Were bait dogs a thing? He really wasn’t cut out for the politics of corporate work. There were just so many rules.
