Cruelty Read online

  “Dammit, Ella! Would you just relax for five goddamn seconds? It’s not like that!”

  “Bullshit!” I moved my knee, aiming right for his balls, but he blocked it. He pressed his knee between my legs and lifted it up, forcing my body upward and lifting me off the ground just enough I couldn’t really move my legs other than minor kicking. It took a lot of strength to do that.

  “Do you not see it? This! This right here is what I feel every agonizing fucking second you don’t choose me! You may want to deny it, but you’re jealous as hell right now.”

  “Fuck you! I’m not jealous of shit!” I argued back angrily. I was definitely jealous. But I was also mad as hell.

  “I didn’t sleep with her, El! Nothing happened,” he suddenly rushed out.

  I stilled and looked him squarely in the face. “Yeah. Right.”

  “I didn’t,” he said, much more softly. His hold loosened a bit on me and he dropped his knee, allowing me to stand. “I came back last night and heard you with them. I was drunk as hell and angry, so yeah, I went back out hoping to find a girl to bring back to help numb the pain of hearing you. But I sobered up as I walked back here with her. As we made it to Zoe’s room and she began to undress, I finally said something. I told her I couldn’t do it. I told her she was free to leave, but since it was so late she was welcome to stay since she shouldn’t be walking back to the bar alone. We just slept. That’s it. I couldn’t go through with it, because even though it hurt like hell hearing you with them, I still wanted you and only you. I’d be lying to myself if I had slept with that girl. I’m so fucking in love with you, Ella. No one will ever compare.”

  My mouth opened and closed a few times in shock. He hadn’t slept with her. He just told me he loved me. He couldn’t go through with it.

  He loved me.

  When he leaned forward and kissed me, I didn’t stop him. I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t think about anything but what he’d just said. But I did kiss him back. I relaxed against him, letting him take control with the kiss. It was filled with passion and promise. A promise that he would never stop feeling that way about me. And a promise that I probably wouldn’t deny his kiss no matter how much I tried fighting what I felt for him too.

  All too quickly, he pulled away. We stared at each other, just catching our breath. Things were changing rapidly in my life. Things would never be the same with Theo. The moment I saw that girl, I knew I was doomed to give in.

  “I have to get to work,” he finally whispered, releasing his hold on me completely. He placed one last soft, sweet kiss on my lips, then walked away, leaving the apartment.

  I slid down the wall and just sat there for a minute, still trying to process everything. Yet, my mind just went right back to his words.

  “I’m so fucking in love with you, Ella. No one will ever compare.”

  I needed to talk to Zoe, or I feared my head would explode.

  Pretty sidled up beside me and whined, obviously confused by everything she’d witnessed. I’d been so distracted, I hardly noticed her. Gus was fast asleep on his back with his tongue hanging out, so he was pretty much dead to the world.

  “Let’s take you for a walk, Pretty Girl.” I bent down and gave her a kiss on her sweet snout, then hooked up her lead. I tried coaxing Gus, but he wasn’t interested at all, so we went on our own.

  Maybe a walk would be good for both of us.

  When we returned from our walk, Zoe was home with paperwork spread out all around her on the coffee table and at least six different highlighters being simultaneously switched out and tossed back on the table. I didn’t envy her job at all.

  She looked damn near ecstatic to have the distraction when she saw us.

  “I’m so happy you’re back! I swear, one day I will take every highlighter I have and just burn them. I’m losing track which ones work and which ones don’t with how much I’ve been going through them.”

  I laughed and let Pretty off her leash. Gus was wide awake now and waiting expectantly by his bowl for food. I heaped a good portion into both dogs bowls, but Pretty merely sniffed it and walked away.

  “Looks like we’re getting closer,” I observed, watching as Pretty dragged herself to her pile of blankets and lay down to rest.

  “It’s going to be kind of fun having cute little spotted puppies running around,” Zoe replied, eyes sparkling like she was already imagining the mayhem we were about to go through.

  I fell back onto the couch with a loud groan. “Zo, I’m so confused. Things are a bit of a mess.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  With a deep breath in and out, I spilled my guts on everything that happened between me and the brothers last night, then earlier with Theo. Zoe tried interrupting several times, and it took a lot of effort to keep her quiet until I was done.

  “Dude, that’s nuts. I mean, I’m fucking thrilled you finally got laid, but that’s a lot. Also, how was it? Because I can barely handle one person, let alone two or three. Oh! You think Theo would want in on hot dogging your bun? But with like three at the same time?”

  I rubbed a hand down my face. “Getting off subject. Also, why couldn’t you just say like foursome like a normal person?”

  Zoe snickered. “A, normal people don’t normally talk about foursomes. B, I’m not normal so how dare you? C, you’re right, I was off topic. I will be getting answers out of you later though. So, let’s put it all out there. You have two brothers who obviously regret what happened with you guys and gave you the explanation you always wanted before screwing your brains silly. You also have a good friend who has always been there for you, telling you he loves you and begging for a chance to be more. None of these three men are opposed to sharing your affections. So…”

  “So… what?”

  She lifted a brow at me. “So you give it a chance! I mean obviously none of these men plan on going anywhere. It’s a completely possible dynamic. I know this chick named Arsuilla that’s in a relationship with six men. Six! If she can do that, you can do this with three. You obviously are nuts over all of them. So obviously, you try it. I think you deserve to be happy, and from where I’m sitting, happiness looks like three hot dogs willing to show your bun some much needed lovin’.”

  I laughed and nudged her with my shoulder. “You really think I should? What if things go wrong, Zo? I don’t know if I’d ever come back from another heartbreak, let alone three.”

  Zoe shrugged. “You’ll never know without taking the risk. You run into corrupt shelters without hesitation to free these animals from insurmountable suffering. That’s a huge risk, but you do it because it feels right. If this feels right to you, why aren’t you running in to free yourself of terrible loneliness?”

  It was a solid question. One I’d already asked myself repeatedly. Yet, when Zoe asked it of me, the answer felt a bit more obvious. Like thinking it myself only added to my confusion, but someone else stating it cleared that confusion away. Why wasn’t I just trying for what I wanted?

  Our conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. I got up and opened the door to find a uniformed officer standing on the other side.

  “Sorry to bother you miss, but I’m looking for a Ella Devlin. Are you her?”

  Panic shot through me, but I remained calm and nodded. “Yes, can I help you?” I asked cooly.

  I felt Zoe approach from behind, listening as intently as I was.

  “Ma’am, we’ve been informed from an anonymous source that you own a white food truck? Is that correct?” the officer asked me.

  Who the hell was their source? No one really lived around here and the ones who did live in our apartment complex were so far into the geriatric stage of life, they were crossing close to Jurassic.

  Zoe pushed forward, moving me a bit behind her. “What does this have to do with?” she asked, her lawyer persona in full effect.

  “The only thing I can say is a vehicle matching this description was spotted close to the scene of a crime,” he answered he
r, then shot his attention back to me. “Do you or do you not own a white food truck?”

  The lie spilling out of me came out so smoothly, it scared me. “I do, but haven’t used it in a while. It’s currently with family being repaired because it hasn’t run in some time.”

  “Okay, well could we have permission to search this vehicle?” The officer responded, giving no inclination if he believed me or not.

  “She already said it hasn’t been running for a long time, so unless she’s under arrest or you have a warrant, then I see no reason for you to be bothering us. We don’t deal in criminal behavior and you’re welcome to see for yourself in our records. If you have any further questions,” Zoe put her hand in her back pocket and pulled out what I knew was one of her business cards, “feel free to give my office a call. Have a wonderful day.” She gave the officer a smile.

  “You ladies have a great day,” the officer responded, before taking the hint and turning to leave.

  Zoe shut the door and leaned against it, giving me a wide smile. “You know, I almost believed that lie.”

  My shoulders suddenly sagged as tension poured from my body. “Holy shit. I about pissed myself.” I leaned over with my hands on my knees and took deep breaths in and out.

  “Girl, it’s okay. They have nothing on you and without further evidence can’t acquire a search warrant from any judge. Simply having the same vehicle isn’t enough. Just breathe.”

  I bobbed my head up and down, trying to do as she said and calm my rapid breaths. But I was still freaking out. “What do we do?”

  Zoe pursed her lips in thought before replying. “Nothing. Keep our heads down and keep going about our days like nothing is wrong.”

  “Yeah. Totally. I can do that.” I think. “I need to get out of the apartment. The shop’s closed today, so I might just take Pretty with me and get some designs done. Maybe call the guys and give them a heads up.”

  “Good idea. Keep yourself distracted. I’ll see if I can do some digging, make sure we’re still ahead of the game. Let me know what the guys say?”

  I hugged her because, well, she was a total badass and I was thankful she was a lawyer. It definitely served me well having her on my side.

  I gave Gus some quick loves, then hooked Pretty up to her lead and headed out. If anything could keep my mind off all this crap, it was making clothes.

  I called Rollins on my walk with Pretty to the shop, and while he didn’t sound concerned about my police visit, he still wanted everyone to get together tonight to talk it over. Not seeing any reason to deny their request, I agreed.

  Pretty had huffed the whole way to the shop, so I brought up my concerns to Rollins while on the phone. He said he’d bring some of their equipment to give her a checkup and to keep an eye on her.

  I still worried as we made it to the shop and she chose to lie down in the corner of the back room on the dog bed I’d brought over for her. As I worked on the spotted dress, sewing the edges together as tightly and perfectly as I could, she began to pant and whimper even more. So much that I had to stop what I was doing every few minutes to check on her. I’d thought dressmaking would distract me from everything, but it was Pretty who actually did.

  She quieted down for a bit, closing her eyes and resting, but I stayed on edge. My eyes peeked at her every so often, hoping that maybe she was just feeling minor contractions like Braxton Hicks. Wasn’t sure if dogs had those, but it seemed plausible.

  My eyes grew a bit heavy as I continued working for about two hours. But then a very loud howl from Pretty had my eyes snapping completely open. I rushed to her side, already pulling my phone out to call one of the brothers.

  “Shit! I think it’s puppy time!” I shouted as soon as Luca answered, not bothering to greet him normally.

  “Okay, stay calm. Anyone else with you?” he replied, way calmer than I was able to be at this very moment.

  “No. But Theo might be in his shop. Should I get him?” I wasn’t quite ready to face Theo, but I didn’t want to do this alone even more.

  “Yeah. Run and grab him. Two pairs of hands are better than one. You’ll want to give her a bit on her own though. Dogs don’t really need too much assistance until the puppies actually start coming out. Is there any fluid around her?”

  I leaned over and saw a wet spot on the red fabric of the dog bed underneath Pretty’s back legs. “Yes. A bit.”

  “Then it probably is puppy time. You’ll need some good scissors, a wet cloth, and a dry cloth. Once a puppy comes, if Pretty doesn’t break the membrane, you’ll need to do it. Be gentle. Cut the cord then quickly wipe the puppy clean. It may take anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes before another puppy comes, and she may need a break which could take a little while before she goes again. Do you have all that, beautiful?”

  I shook with anxiety, but told him I did.

  “Good, sweetheart. Now, go get Theo and call me immediately if you need anything. You can even FaceTime me if it’ll make you feel better. You’ve got this, El.” Luca had a way of always making me feel better, and I felt myself pushing away the anxiety of what was happening.

  I hung up with him and immediately ran for Theo’s grooming shop next door. He wasn’t open today either, but I knew he occasionally went there to prepare for the next day.

  I banged on the front door, hoping like crazy today wasn’t unlike any other day. But when he didn’t come to the door, my anxiety came rushing back. I banged harder this time and pulled my phone out, about to call him and beg him to come. But just as I pulled up his number, he came to the glass door and unlocked it.

  “El? What’s wrong?” he asked me, obviously seeing my panic stricken face.

  “Puppies! Help!” was all I got out. He nodded, not needing me to tell him anything else, and we rushed back to the boutique to find Pretty panting and digging her paws into the bed, scratching at it.

  Theo got a couple rags—wetting one of them per my instructions—and grabbed one of my many pairs of good scissors. Kind of wished I’d thought to borrow some actual surgical ones from the guys, but these would do.

  Neither of us said anything as we waited, watching as Pretty did her thing. When she let out another whimper of pain, I instinctively nabbed one of Theo’s hands into mine, squeezing the daylights out of it. It felt like forever before we noticed her finally trying to push. Unfortunately for Theo, that meant me squeezing his hand even harder.

  I gasped in delight seeing the sweet little white puppy appear, and of course didn’t have to do a thing since Pretty was already in mom mode. As soon as the membrane was gone, Theo scooped up the little thing and began wiping it down.

  “It’s a girl,” he told me with a soft smile, handing the baby off to me to dry with the other rag.

  Tears sprang to my eyes holding the tiny baby girl in my hand. A tiny little noise came out of her as she blindly wiggled in my hands. I set her down gently by Pretty and wiped away the tears.

  After two hours of repeating this little assembly line of ours for each puppy, wiping, drying, and me crying happy tears. Five puppies—two girls and three boys—came out breathing and perfectly healthy looking. They were so tiny next to their mama. I knew immediately it was going to be hard to give them new homes, but it needed to be done. Gus was a handful all by himself and Pretty would be just enough to top off my ability to handle pets.

  Just as we were about to stand and give Pretty time with her puppies, she began to strain again.

  “More?” Theo asked. “I thought you had said five.”

  “Maybe five. Luca couldn’t get an actual count. Dalmatians can have up to eight in a litter though, I believe.”

  We waited patiently as Pretty quickly delivered another puppy, much quicker than she had the others. But the moment it came out, we knew something was wrong. This one was much smaller than the others. Too small. And it wasn’t moving at all.

  Pretty leaned over and nudged the little thing with her nose, licking at it. But nothing.


  “Theo…” My voice shook. No.

  Theo gently extracted the puppy and removed the little membrane around it. He rubbed at the little thing’s pink and white body, pushing on its belly and cupping his hand over its mouth to breathe air into it.

  He did this for… I didn’t know how long, but nothing was happening. Realization hit me hard. The pain was sharp in my chest and tears of sadness now flooded my eyes.

  It didn’t make it.

  “Oh, El… I’m so sorry.” Theo’s words did little to comfort me as he handed me the tiny puppy.

  I wrapped the little thing in the rag and held it close to me. I knew things like this happened sometimes, but it shouldn’t have. Pretty was malnourished and in such awful conditions for so long, it was a wonder any of the puppies survived. This was all the Darlings’ fault. And I would make those fuckers pay for this sweet little angel’s life.

  Resolve filtered through me and I held the puppy next to Pretty, allowing her to give her baby one last lick. Without a word, I stood and brought the wrapped puppy to my work bench and set it down. I quickly snipped up some spotted material then lightly laid the puppy in that before wrapping it up and tying a red ribbon around to seal the binding. It would never get its spots, so I’d make sure it was laid to rest in them. It was only right. I set the wrapped puppy down on the table then went about setting up the little fenced area around Pretty. She’d be fine in the back room for a bit.

  Theo watched me wordlessly, allowing me to feel the hurt and anger as I picked up the puppy and walked from the shop. There was a park right around the block, and I think he caught on to where I was going. When I made it there, I picked a little area that I knew bloomed beautiful flowers in the spring. With my hands, I dug a tiny hole deep enough other animals wouldn’t find it. Then I placed it in the ground and gently buried it. I sat there silently and promised the sweet baby I would get justice for it and all the other animals those horrible people had hurt.

  They would pay.

  “Come on, El,” Theo whispered softly, offering a hand to me to take. “Let’s go get Pretty and the puppies and head back.”