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“I’m sorry I’ve been so stressed lately. I honestly don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here with me.”

He shakes his head. “Princess, don’t apologize. If anyone understands the turmoil you’re going through right now, it’s me. I just want to help in any way that I can.”

“This definitely helps,” I say, holding up the little brown puppy and smiling. Puppy breath wafts into my face and I hold him close to my chest, rubbing his head as his little tail wags against my belly.

“He seems to really like you.”

I nod. “I like him, too. I always wanted a dog, you know.”

“And you never got one?” he asks and I shake my head.

“No. My mother would never allow it. Ivy tried to bring a stray home once and Mother completely lost her shit.”

The little white puppy starts squirming in his arms and he lets it down. It pounces on another puppy and we both laugh. “Let me guess, you wanted something small like a Yorkie, right?”

“Uh, no,” I reply, wrinkling my nose. “I love big dogs like a Great Dane or a Mastiff.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “You are always a surprise, Princess.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You should.” He gazes down at the floor and laughs. The puppies are running low on energy and dropping like flies, one after the other until only a few are still walking around.

“So, why a big dog?”

I shrug, stroking the soft fur of the puppy sleeping in my lap. “I don’t know. I just love how big and goofy they are and they’ll protect you, too. They are like the ultimate best friend. Plus, have you ever been around some of those little dogs? They’re so mean.”

“Shit, yeah. My neighbor as a kid had a Chihuahua and that thing was awful.”

I nod. “Exactly.”

“So, why not get one now?”

“I’ve thought about it,” I admit. “But I’m pretty sure my mother would still have a conniption if I ruined her design with a dog bed and some toys.”

“She didn’t let you decorate anything in your own place?” he asks, leaning back and propping himself up on one elbow. Two puppies jump up from their nap and trot over to him before jumping up to lick his face. He smiles, gently rolling them to their backs and rubbing their bellies as they try to bite him.

“I got to decorate the closet. It is so out of place compared to the stark modern look in the rest of my apartment, but I love it. It’s kind of my safe space.”

“Why not move?”

I sigh, thinking about the money that I refuse to touch. “Ivy and I both got trust funds from one of Mother’s exes when we turned eighteen but I don’t like using that money and I refuse to touch the twelve million that she blackmailed those boys for, so I stay even though I’m miserable.”

“Wait,” he interjects. “You’ve never touched any of that money?”

I shake my head. “No. I can’t. It would be like saying I’m okay with what they did to me or that the money was an acceptable punishment when it wasn’t. Maybe for the other boys it was, but for what Austin and my mother did, for the way they betrayed me, the money wasn’t enough.”

“Is there anything that would make up for it?” he questions, anger in his voice. I bite my lip as I shake my head.

“Probably not. I trusted Austin and his disloyalty was spectacular. To this day, I don’t understand how he could claim to care about me and then watch as that was happening to me. Or participate. As for my mother, I suppose it was my own fault for expecting anything more of her. She stayed true to who she was by going after the money but I as I laid on that bathroom floor crying, I had hoped she would be more.”

“Baby, you have no idea how much I want to fix it all for you and it kills me that I can’t. I do so much for women like your sister and I can’t do anything to help you.”

I turn to look at him, choked up by how much he cares. “But you do help me, Chance. From the moment we met, you started healing what they broke and there are moments with you where I can let go and not be that girl anymore. At least, for a little while.”

Sitting up, he leans over and presses his lips to mine as he cradles my face. Just as I’m sinking into the kiss, I feel something hitting my shirt and jerk back. Glancing down, I find a wet spot on my t-shirt, right underneath the puppy in my arm and I start to laugh. Chance shakes his head, fighting back a smile.

“Ready to get out of here?”