His gaze moves to the dogs, now standing, presumably brought to their feet by the disturbance of the slamming door. My heart breaks when Princess’s tail goes between her legs, and she slinks backward.
Bubba is vigilant, though, his eyes pinned intently on Hellman.
“I want my dog back.” My gaze swivels to Hellman, and he thrusts out the leash. “Give me back my bitch, bitch.”
I scurry backward, putting myself between him and Princess. Bubba doesn’t move a muscle, but I notice the hairs on his back rise slightly. “You can’t have her.”
Levi takes a threatening step forward, and Bubba issues a low growl. His lips peel upward and he takes one… two… three steps toward Levi. This isn’t Bubba’s forte—he wasn’t trained to be a protector. But he’s definitely figuring out there’s danger, and he’s letting it be known he doesn’t like it.
My heart drops into the recesses of my stomach when Levi pulls the gun from his holster and points it at Bubba. “You call that dog back, or I’ll shoot him.”
I don’t call Bubba off but instead step to the right and put myself between the gun and the dog. “And I’ll have you locked up. You need to leave right now, and I’ll forget this happened.”
“I’m not leaving without my dog,” he snaps.
Bubba growls again, trying to move around me. I reach out and slip my fingers around the dog’s collar, murmuring to him. “Easy, boy.”
Levi takes a huge step to the left and aims the gun at Bubba again. “You have ten seconds to put that dog in a kennel, or I’m going to shoot it.”
“You wouldn’t,” I gasp. “You’re in my place of business.”
“And I’m just here to pick up my dog from the vet when this vicious dog tried to attack me,” he drawls.
If the idiot bothered to look around, he’d see the cameras Kellen installed on the inside. I could even point them out in the hopes he’d be deterred, but part of me is afraid this guy is off his rocker and he’ll do whatever the hell he wants.
We might have a fight over Princess, but I don’t want Bubba getting hurt. It would kill Kellen.
“Come on,” I say, leading Bubba to one of the large post-op kennels. He goes in without complaint, and I latch it.
As I turn around, I see Hellman has holstered his gun and is already advancing on Princess who trembles and cowers in the corner.
“No!” I yell as I bolt toward him. I grab onto his arm that holds the leash. “You leave her alone, you fucking monster.”
Hellman cocks his free arm and swings at me, the back of his hand catching across my cheekbone. The hit is hard enough that I stumble and fall onto my knees on the tile floor.
Fuck, that hurt.
By the time I’m lurching up, he has the leash on Princess and is dragging her across the floor. She’s terrified, trying to jerk away.
“NO!” I launch myself at him again, so furious at this bully that I want to pummel his face in with my fists. I feel strong enough to do it, too, but he swats me away like a gnat.
I reach for his arm again, intent on biting the shit out of him when he wheels on me. “You’re fucking batshit crazy, lady.” He swings again, slapping me open palmed across the face.
My bell is rung good and truly, and my legs buckle as my vision dims. I stagger, grab hold of the counter, and watch helplessly as Hellman drags Princess to the swinging door.
“No,” I bleat pathetically as I try to run toward them. My legs give way as my head spins and spins and spins. I fall face-first to the floor, the impact clacking my teeth together.
Lifting onto hands and knees, I take a few deep breaths before I attempt to stand. It’s like I’m drunk. My face is on fire from the slap, my cheekbone stings with a new bruise, and my jaw hinge throbs.
I stagger to the swinging door, through it, and to the glass door leading out. Hellman’s vehicle is pulling out of the parking lot, and Princess is lost to me.
CHAPTER 17
Kellen
I stand ramrod straight, hands clasped in front of me. I hate the fucking black suit I have to wear, but my job today for this small VIP affair is to look like I’m protection. I’ve even got the earpiece so I can communicate with Ladd, on assignment with me.
He walks the opposite perimeter of the room, looking serious and imposing. He never cracked a smile when I told him a dirty joke five minutes ago, but I heard the snort through the earpiece.
This event doesn’t require our security services. But it’s a young congressman freshly elected, and he loves taking advantage of the perks that come with the job. Because he’s low on the totem pole and doesn’t rate high enough for government protection during a private luncheon with lobbyists, he raided some slush fund to hire Jameson. According to Kynan, this is done all the time. “Be prepared to take these boring assignments. They pay the electric bill.”