Cruelty Read online

  One thing was for sure though, they definitely got better looking. I wasn’t sure if that made me more bitter or not. They’d broken my heart. Why did they get to grow up even hotter than before?

  “So what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?” The amused comment came from Rollins. My heart sank a little. That was how he remembered me? Of course he’d naturally assume I was in trouble. I mean, he was right, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

  “None actually. Just needing to find some animals good homes. Simple as that.” The lie flowed easily from my lips.

  “Yeah. Sure,” he said with a light chuckle.

  I rolled my eyes, but was saved from having to reply when Luca opened the doors of the truck.

  “Holy shit. Rollins, you need to see this. They’re in pretty bad shape.” Luca climbed inside and shined his light around the cages. Rollins wasted no time climbing in after him.

  “El, I don’t even care where you got them, but I’m glad you brought them,” Luca stated to me seriously. The amount of concern written on his face lightened my mood toward him a little.

  “All I’ll say is they were better with me than where they were. Does this mean you’ll take them?”

  Rollins jumped out of the truck, landing all up in my personal space. “Yeah, it’s not a problem. Lucky for you, we don’t ask questions.”

  No kidding. If they knew where they came from, they might not have taken them. Then again, with the expressions they’d worn seeing the state of the animals, they probably wouldn’t have cared.

  Rollins excused himself to run and grab some leashes, leaving me alone with Luca. As much as I didn’t really want to stay here and chat with them, I couldn’t stop my curiosity from asking Luca, “How did you two come into all of this?”

  Luca chuckled under his breath as he jumped from the truck and leaned casually against the side of the truck next to me. “Well, Mom and Dad had that vet practice of theirs for so long, Roll and I kind of got sucked up into following in their footsteps after high school. They retired and left the practice to us. But we both ended up specializing in livestock mostly, and the city wasn’t a great place to start taking them on. When our grandpa died senior year, he left us a huge inheritance, but we didn’t get it until we were twenty-one. So we pooled together our money and bought this place. We brought on two vet assistants who were better with domestic animals and could assist us, then hired some ranch hands, and moved out here.”

  I had remembered their parents—not so fondly—and the vet office not far from where I live now. Their mom and dad liked me as far as I knew, and were a bit worried about both their sons dating one girl, but we never let that stop us. When the vet office closed down, I assumed their parents had moved. What shocked me was that I had no idea the guys decided to follow the family career after high school. They only told me they were majoring in business before high tailing it out of town to some big college down south some hours away. His story brought the not so nice memories of our breakup to the surface once again, leaving me with even more confusion than it had when it happened.

  “What about you?” Luca cleared his throat and asked, changing the subject quickly and pulling me out of my thoughts. Clearly, he was in no hurry to address what I’d obviously been thinking about. “Are you still as much into clothes as you were in high school?” Luca sent me one of his signature side grins, most likely trying to help chase away the frown that was on my own face. He never really smiled with his whole mouth. It was always just off to the side. One of the many quirks I had loved about him. Dammit. He knew what that smile did for me.

  “Yeah. I design, make, and sell them in a boutique in San Francisco.” I hadn’t wanted to talk about me. I had just wanted to satisfy my own curiosity. Guess I should’ve known Luca would be curious as well. He was never one to not ask me everything he could, digging for whatever secrets of mine he could get his hands on.

  While Rollins had always been the tough guy that you had to earn affections with, Luca had given them out like candy on Halloween. He had always been the one to initiate conversation, to hug me when I needed it, and to make every time we had sex special. It had been a blow when he had so suddenly upended our relationship. Though to this day, I still had no idea why. Rollins and Luca had been unabashedly passionate toward me toward the end, so when they called it off, I was blindsided. The callousness of their breakup was most likely Rollins’ doing, since he was always the tougher of the two. He was never afraid to hurt anyone’s feelings if it meant speaking the truth, while Luca was a big softy who cared deeply about what other people were feeling. But I still blamed Luca for going along with it. After all, our relationships with each other were separate. We never did the sharing sexy time thing. My time had been split equally and divided. If Rollins had wanted to end it, why had Luca agreed?

  It had been a mess, and I found myself shrinking away from Luca as Rollins came back into view holding dozens of leashes.

  “Here,” he said, tossing a few to Luca.

  I kept out of the way as they, one by one, unloaded the dogs and began leading them into the vet office. Once they were cleared, they brought out some smaller cat carriers from the clinic and loaded the cats into those. All the while, Pretty Girl sat dutifully by my side, making no move to go with them.

  “That’s all of them,” Rollins said, jumping down from the truck and closing the doors.

  “This one too?” Luca asked, approaching Pretty Girl at my side with his leash in hand.

  Pretty Girl whined pitifully and backed up, effectively hiding herself behind my legs. I stared down at her, knowing this would probably be a bad idea. I couldn’t take in another dog, let alone a pregnant one. But the look in her dark eyes as she stared right back at me, pleading that I not give her to these guys, was enough to shatter me. It amazed me how much love dogs could exude with just a look. How much of their soul they bared to us humans, who truly didn’t deserve them.

  “No. This one’s mine,” I finally said, smiling down at the beautiful spotted dog at my heel and scratching her floppy ears. She leaned into my leg, seeming to understand that I wasn’t forcing her to go anywhere.

  “Good choice. I doubt she’d leave you even if you wanted her to,” Luca replied, tucking the last leash into the back pocket of his jeans.

  “I’m pretty positive she’s pregnant though, and definitely certain she’s been malnourished. I can’t take her to any of the local vets, cause… well, things.” I didn’t want to allude as to why, but I figured they got the picture.

  Luca knelt beside her and used his flashlight to look her over. He felt her belly and along her body, looked into her eyes, snout, and down her throat. After he was satisfied, he gave her a good pet and stood.

  “She looks good. Definitely needs some food, water, and lots of rest, and she’s absolutely pregnant. I couldn’t tell you how far along, but I’d guess pretty far. I could tell you an exact estimate with a legit exam, but for now, she’s good to just go home with you.”

  “Thanks, Luca. I would’ve lost my mind with worry, so I had to ask.” I glanced between the brothers, not liking what I was about to ask. But I’d promised the others I would come back to check on the animals. “Could I come back in a few days? Just to see that the animals are all doing okay?”

  I only had to wait a second before Rollins stated adamantly, “Anytime, Ella. Just don’t bring anymore animals with you. Please.”

  I nodded in agreement. I had zero plans to jailbreak anymore animals for a while. Too many too close together and suspicion would be circling me like a hawk looking for prey. I usually kept my nose down after a dog heist, making sure I practiced an ironclad alibi in case anyone came asking questions.

  “Good. Guess we’ll be seeing you again, won’t we?” Rollins said, stepping up close to me as he was passing, and staring me down with a decidedly interested look, then threw me a smirk and walked away. My heart betrayed me by pounding rapidly in my chest at how close he had been.
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br />   Fucking snap out of it, Ella! They hurt you! Remember?

  Alas, I was in zero control as Luca wrapped me in his arms, hugging me with almost all his body in that warm way he used to. And just like that, the fissure between the emotions I had long thought I’d forgotten and the bitterness of the heartbreak they caused, closed just a fraction. Luca has that effect on people. Especially me. And definitely when he hugged me like that.

  “It was great seeing you again. And I hope seeing the animals won’t be your only reason for returning here,” he whispered directly into my ear, his breath fanning through the white side of my hair and causing goosebumps to break out across my neck.

  “You too, Luca,” I replied, surprising myself on how I’d actually meant it.

  He finally let me go and stepped away, then winked at me and followed after Rollins into the clinic.

  I let out a rush of air and shook off all those pent up emotions that had been scratching at the back of my mind, then looked down at my new dog.

  “Ready to head to your new home, Pretty?” I asked her.

  Her tail began to wag furiously and she let out a bark of excitement. I laughed at her and loaded us back up into the truck. I had just started to drive back down the dirt driveway, doing my best not to think about the two men at my back, when my phone began to vibrate in the spot I kept it in the dash.

  I grabbed it and mentally slapped myself. It was Zoe and I’d completely forgotten to let her know we made it. I attached it to the holder on the dash and accepted the call, making sure it was on speaker as I drove.

  “Hello?” I answered slowly, preparing myself for the verbal lashing I knew I was about to get.

  “Holy shit! I’ve called you like twenty times Ella Mae Devlin! I was worried sick you’d wrecked! Or gotten lost! Or even got kidnapped and hacked into a million fucking pieces then spread out across the highway!”

  I snorted. “You have got to stop watching crime documentaries so much.”

  “Not funny, El. Seriously, what happened to you?”

  Pretty Girl chuffed beside me as she lay across the seat, most likely already regretting staying with me by the sounds of this conversation.

  “Well, two things. We’ve got another dog.”

  “Let me guess. The pregnant Dalmatian?”

  She knew me so well. “That’s the one.”

  “Knew it. You knew you were keeping her the moment you saw her. Now, what’s the second thing?” she asked impatiently.

  “Remember those brothers from high school? The hot ones that I dated? At the same time?”

  “Yesss…” she replied suspiciously. “What about them?”

  “Well, they kind of own the ranch the animals are now at.”

  Silence met my ears for a moment. Then, “Shut the F up! Really? Are they still as hot as I remember? Did they immediately fall at your feet and beg your forgiveness then fuck you two ways to Sunday?”

  A loud laugh escaped me. “No, that would be weird. I’ll tell you about it later though. I’m exhausted and just want to get home and sleep for a few hours before I open the shop.”

  Zoe booed at me through the phone. “I hate you. Now I’ll be thinking about it all day. Bitch.”

  “You’ll survive.”

  “Barely.”

  “Love youuuu,” I sing-songed, giving her only a second to reply she loved me too before hanging up on her. There’d be no getting off the phone with her if I didn’t.

  “You sure you want to live with us?” I asked Pretty Girl, rubbing a hand along her sleek head. She answered me with a lick and a wag of her tail.

  At least she accepted us for our weirdness. I tried my damndest to think about anything else besides the Baden brothers as we drove home, but it was useless. Not even the loudest rock music on the radio could deter them from seeping back into my mind.

  As long as I kept them clear from my heart though, I’d make it through seeing them again.

  At least, I hoped I would.

  I was worried upon returning home that Gus wouldn’t be too happy about our new furry companion. He was so used to being the only spoiled pup in the apartment and didn’t take kindly to his attention being doled out to others. So imagine my surprise when I brought Pretty in and he immediately got the zoomies the moment he smelled her presence. One quick sniff in her direction, and off he went.

  Now, while with most dogs this would be seen as a great sign, for ones that were blind and deaf, the excitement caused much destruction. A lamp was knocked off a table when Gus’ butt smacked into it. Pillows came flying off the couch as he jumped on them and ran across. Dog food went everywhere as his little paws crashed into the bowl. All the while, Pretty sat there watching him with her little tail thumping next to her. I appreciated her restraint.

  “Ugh. Gus.” I immediately went about picking up the mess, then pulled out a second bowl of food, setting it in front of Pretty so she knew she could eat.

  I didn’t have much energy in my body after that, and left the pups to their own devices, allowing them to get acquainted while I took a power nap. It was just before eight in the morning, leaving me at least a couple hours free to get some shut-eye before opening up the boutique.

  My room was pitch dark even with the sun already glaring outside—thanks to the black out curtains Zoe had bought me for my birthday. I quickly relieved my aching feet of my black combat boots and stripped down to just a bra and underwear. I sighed blissfully as the soft, Gain scented cotton sheets slid up and over me. I would be good after a couple hours of sleep. Thankfully I was far too exhausted to let the spinning wheels of my interaction with the Baden Brothers get the best of me.

  I was out within minutes.

  It felt like only another few minutes before I was awakened by my bed dipping down violently next to me, jolting me awake in an instant.

  “What the fuck?” I shouted, reaching over to my bedside lamp and flicking it on.

  “Hey there, sleepy head.” Theo’s grinning face met me as I turned. I grabbed my pillow and smacked him in that smug mug faster than he could blink. The force knocked him clear off the side of my bed.

  “You asshole! You scared the shit out of me! Do you know how little sleep I’m surviving on right now?”

  “Jeez, you hit hard,” Theo said, rising up from the floor, but smartly staying there rather than getting back up. “And from your outburst, I’d say very little.”

  “You’re damn right! What time is it?” I searched the bed for my phone, but realized I’d left it in the kitchen when I went to feed Pretty.

  “Almost noon. The shop wasn’t open yet, so I tried calling. When you didn’t answer, I got worried.”

  Now I felt a little bad about smacking him with a pillow. But I honestly had zero control over what sleep deprived Ella did. She was like a separate entity, and a bitchy one at that.

  Wait…“Did you say noon?” Fuck! I’d overslept.

  “Yeah. Zoe said you’d made it to the ranch safe and sound, but she didn’t get back to me on if you returned. One of my appointments cancelled, so I wanted to drop by to see if you were okay.”

  I had to admit, it was nice when Theo worried about me. He didn’t need to, but it reminded me the guy actually could feel sometimes. He hid his emotions well.

  I sighed, letting go of my irritation at him for waking me. “Yeah. Sorry about that. Was met with a blast from my past and was exhausted, so I kind of just knocked out when I got home.”

  “Blast from the past?” he asked me curiously.

  “Yeah. The brothers that own the ranch are my exes from high school. Was definitely not expected.”

  A look passed over his face that seemed calm, but there was definitely something else lingering beneath it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was though. I just knew it was a strange look for him.

  “Exes? You dated them both? Like one after the other or at the same time?”

  I shrugged, not really understanding why it was important. “At the same time.
It was another life.”

  “Ah. Well, good,” his tone sounded relieved, though I wasn’t sure why.

  “Good?”

  “I mean, that things obviously went well because you only brought back one dog. I had a feeling you’d keep her. She’s a sweetheart.” His reply had been given so fast, I almost missed what he was saying.

  What was up with him today?

  Theo finally got up from the floor and walked over to my dresser, grabbing some clothes then handing them to me. The guy was here more often than he was at his own house, so it was no surprise he knew where everything was located. He turned his back as I slid from the bed and dressed, slightly surprised.

  “Uh, yeah,” I continued as I dressed. “They tried to take her, but I don’t know. She looked up at me and it was over. Gus likes her, so that’s a plus.”

  Once I was dressed and my boots were laced up, I walked past Theo and into the kitchen. I saw Pretty and Gus sleeping on the couch together and smiled at them. Theo leaned over the counter as I prepared a cup of coffee knowing I was going to need it to finish the rest of the day.

  “So uh, you going back to that ranch to check on the animals?” he asked, a hint of concern lacing his words.

  I raised a brow at him, but didn’t comment on his continued strange behavior. “At some point. They’re good for now. I just need to get my butt in gear and go open the shop. Can’t believe I slept so late.”

  “Right. Okay, awesome. Well, I guess I’ll see you later then. Wanna get some Chinese with me later after close?”