All four of the boys come to a sudden stand still, meeting each other’s horrified stares before rushing back through the house and into the living room. They start searching, looking everywhere as I watch in confusion. “What’s going on?” I ask, standing at the entrance of the living room and watching the chaos around me. “What are you looking for?”
Cruz sweeps his fingers across the mantlepiece of the fireplace while Carver kicks over the couch and tears the fabric right off the frame. King pulls out the drawers of the coffee tables and dumps them out on the floor while Grayson starts pulling the priceless artworks off the walls.
“Got it,” Cruz calls out, making the guys stop what they’re doing and all rush into his side to look over a piece of … I actually don’t know what the fuck it is. I start creeping into the living room, pushing myself between King and Grayson to get a good look at the little piece of technology in Cruz’s hand. “What is that?” I question, looking over it closely but not being able to determine a damn thing about it.
“It’s a bug,” Carver says with a frustrated sigh. “Every fucking conversation we’ve ever had in here is no longer private. She’s been listening in on us this whole time. The entire fucking estate is going to have to be swept.”
Well, shit.
Carver groans and kicks the couch he just flipped over, sending it soaring across the room. “Your place too,” he tells me. “If mine is bugged, it’s more than likely yours is as well.”
I nod, assuming that all our houses have to be checked.
Grayson takes the bug from Cruz and looks over it a little closer. “If we can run a trace on this and find out where all the information is leading back to …”
A grin pulls at my lips. “We’ll know who the fuck to go after,” I say before taking the bug from Grayson and bringing it right up to my face, speaking directly into it. “You better start running motherfuckers. We’re coming for you. What you did to my dog is going to look like child’s play compared to the shit I have planned for you.”
The boys grin back at me, and just like that, we take our things and leave this hell house, more than ready to take down the bastard who dared to fuck with us.
Nothing bores me more than staring up at a dark ceiling in the middle of the night while not being able to sleep. Every time I get close, I’m reminded that there’s supposed to be a little dog on the ground beside me, licking my fingers every time my hand falls off the bed.
I don’t know why she always wanted to sleep down there. I made a whole bedroom just for her, complete with everything a dog could want and need, and yet, every single night, Lady Dante would prance into my bedroom and curl up in a ball on the ground beside me. It’s as though she knew how much of a hard time I had importing her little bed and that was her way of laughing at me.
She was a bastard through and through, but in the best possible way. She was cheeky and so full of life, and while she was getting old, she was extremely happy, playful, and always ready for a snuggle. She had a hard life before coming to stay with me, and while I can’t even pretend to know what goes through a dog’s mind, I think she was grateful that King and I had stolen her away that night.
She loved me in her own doggy way, and for a short time, she got to be the best friend that I always wished to have, you know, apart from Ember. Growing up, having something so permanent such as a dog was always a ridiculous dream. Kids in foster care don’t get to have dogs, they hardly get to have belongings, let alone a pet to call their own. But Lady Dante … she was proof that life was turning around for me. She was what gave me hope that I could truly have everything I ever wanted.
I let out a deep sigh and slip out from under Cruz’s arm, trying not to wake him. “Where are you going?” he murmurs, attempting to peel open his tired eyes but failing. I guess the whole trying not to wake him thing was a bust.
“Just getting a drink of water,” I tell him, pulling the blanket back up over him. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“You sure?” he grumbles. “Just give me a minute and I can go and get it for you.”
A soft smile spreads over my face. He’s so damn thoughtful; I’ve never met anyone like him. Today was hard for him. He feels so deeply, and seeing me so broken and hurt was just as painful for him as it was for me, which is part of the reason why I asked him to be the one to hold me in bed tonight. He needs that comfort just as much as I do.