Dalton, Tymber - Doggy Tales [Doggy Tales] (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

His eyes traveled her face. “I’ll protect you. I promise.”

She sat up. “What are you talking about?”

He got out of bed, looking sad. “I didn’t know…I thought…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I swear I’ll protect you.” He leaned over and kissed her one last time, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek. “I love you, Genna. I didn’t expect to, but I do. I love you.”

Desperate to lighten the mood, Genna smiled. “Hey, you made me yours. You’ve got to come back again, right? Dream hunk or not, don’t leave me hanging.”

He nodded, but didn’t meet her eyes. “Yeah. I did. And I will. I promise. But I have things to do.” He leaned in one last time and kissed her. “I
will
keep you safe.” With that he changed into the dog. It happened so fast she nearly missed it in the dark room, and he left.

* * * *

Genna awoke the next morning feeling disquieted, unsettled. Where normally a Bruin dream would leave her with a happy morning glow, that one was just plain…creepy. Not the sex part, because that was great. That he seemed worried, that worried her.

Bruin didn’t appear in the office. At lunch she walked downstairs to eat outside in the shade of one of the trees. It was a beautiful day, not too hot. In the shade it would feel comfortable.

A man leaned against her car. Stiff with fear, she walked toward him before recognizing Lester’s attorney. Heart in her throat, she greeted him. “Hello.”

“I came to let you know we got Lester an emergency appeal. He’ll be out on bond by late tonight.”

She froze. “How did you find me?”

“He made me hire a PI to keep track of you.”

“He knows where I live?”

He snorted. “Of course he does. And where you work. And all about your little extracurricular activities. I came to warn you that you have to leave. Now. Pack and get the hell somewhere away from here. I’d say Outer Mongolia might be a nice choice. He said he’s going to take care of you personally. He wants the satisfaction of getting rid of you himself after what you did.”

“But…I didn’t testify against him. I didn’t know anything!”

“The PI showed him everything. The pictures, the surveillance video, and he bugged your apartment.” He shook his head. “Bruin sure didn’t waste any time.”

She felt an icy chill despite the heat. “What? What video? What pictures? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Those little sexcapades between you and your new ‘boss.’ I haven’t seen any of the stuff, but from what Lester screamed at me over the phone, it was interesting.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” But deep in her gut a knife twisted, burning.

“Oh, come on, you can drop the act. It’s not fooling me anymore. How long have you known Bruin, anyway?”

“He approached me the day the verdict came in. Out in the parking lot. He offered me a job.” Even her tongue felt numb, unreliably forming mixtures of consonants and vowels that somehow produced coherent words.

The attorney snorted. “Yeah,
right
. You’re fucking
screwing
the goddamned guy. You expect me to believe the cousin and best friend of the guy your boyfriend murdered would offer you a job, just like that? I was born at night, sweetheart, but not
last
night.”

* * * *

Genna couldn’t go home yet. Her body felt too numb to drive. Her appetite gone, she drifted through the lobby to the elevators in shock, trying to process everything. Lindsey wasn’t there, but Ivan stuck his furry head out from around the corner of the desk and looked at her.

When she stepped into the elevator he streaked inside with her before the door could close. He stared at her and whined.

Genna backed into the corner and watched as he pawed at the button for the fourth floor before turning to stare at her again, whimpering.

Her tears fell. This was too much. She was losing her mind.

“Please don’t eat me, Ivan.”

His hoarse bark could have been a laugh. He shook his head. When the doors slid open, Genna stood frozen, unable to move with the large dog in her way.

He slowly approached, nuzzling her hand, licking it. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of teeth crushing bone. He gently mouthed her hand, using barely any pressure against her skin.

He tugged, whining.

With full acknowledgement that her sanity was rapidly slipping through her fingers, she let the large dog slowly lead her through the empty halls to her office. She had to force herself to breathe several times, scared at any moment he would sink his vicious canines into her. She didn’t see anyone else to ask to help her, and she was afraid to scream for help for fear of scaring him into attacking her.

Once she was in the office, he released her hand and got behind her, head butting her in the ass, nudging her toward Bruin’s office.

Too scared to resist, she let the large dog push her into the office. When she stood before one of the chairs, he backed off and gently woofed. Still clutching her uneaten lunch, she sat.

He wheeled around and loped to the door, jumping up on his hind feet and pushing it shut. Then he turned and disappeared into Bruin’s private bathroom, his low, guttural snarl terrifying her.

Maybe she could lock him in and escape?

Then the guttural snarl transformed into distinct, legible words in a familiar voice.

“
Goddamn
him, I
fucking
told him so. I fucking
told
him so! Where the hell does he—oh, there’s one.”

Ivan—the two-legged hunky version—appeared in the bathroom doorway, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing else.

Genna stared, her jaw lax in disbelief.
Dreaming. I
must
be dreaming. Where the hell did he come from?

He crossed the room in three long strides, kneeling in front of her, his huge hands engulfing hers.

They felt hot—or was she cold? Her teeth chattered. Was this shock?

“Genna,” he said, “listen to me. What’s going on? What happened? Who was that guy talking to you in the parking lot?”

What the hell, I’ve lost my mind anyway.
“He’s Lester’s attorney…said appeals…bail…free tonight.”

“Shit.” Ivan closed his eyes. “What else did he say?”

She shook her head. “Something about a surveillance video and pictures. About Jeremy Bruin and I sleeping together…but those were just dreams…” Fear congealed in her gut, and she looked at Ivan.

His grey eyes.

His nearly naked state of dress after Dogzilla Ivan went into the bathroom.

And didn’t return.

“Oh…My…God,” she breathed.

The room swam. Her vision went black.

* * * *

Genna awoke to low, growling male voices.

“I didn’t
know
—”

“I swear, Jer, if you weren’t my fucking Alpha, I’d wring your goddamned neck for putting her at risk like this!”

Then a familiar woman’s voice interrupted them. “Boys? I don’t mean to interrupt your little discussion, but she’s awake.”

Genna carefully opened her eyes and realized she was lying prone on the couch in Bruin’s office. Lindsey stood over her, looking down with a concerned expression. Ivan and Bruin suddenly flanked her. Bruin dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand.

“Genna, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—”

She snatched her hand away, shrinking from him.
Please let this be a dream!
Please
let this be a dream!

“What is going on?” she whispered. No reason for that except she could barely breathe, much less talk.

Lindsey and Ivan glared at Bruin, who flushed bright red. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

The world flared, her vision suddenly bright, her senses aware, desperate fear kicking in. She sat up, pushed past them, and raced to the door. “He said Lester would be out by tonight. I have to go. I have to move, now!”

She blinked and nearly ran into Bruin.
How the hell did he beat me to the door?

“Genna, we have to talk first.”

She shoved him. He caught her hands, holding her close. Despite his unbreakable grasp, it felt like he barely touched her. “You can’t leave. We will protect you.
I
will protect you, I swear.” It was too tempting to melt into his arms, but this wasn’t her Dream Bruin. This was her boss.

She twisted, trying to pull free. “Let me go you son of a bitch! I don’t know what you did to me! He said there was a video, that they bugged my apartment. That we’re sleeping together! I thought those were just dreams!” Someone in the room sobbed, and she realized it was her.

Anguish painted his face. “I’m sorry, Genna. I was wrong not to be more careful. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with you, and I didn’t realize you were innocent.”

Love? The word stopped her struggles as she stared at him. “What the fuck kind of sick man are you? What, did you
drug
me? Hypnotize me? Lester’s attorney told me you’re related to the victim. That’s how you knew who I was, isn’t it?”

He nodded as she renewed her frantic struggles. This time he let her go, and she bolted, barely pausing to grab her purse and keys before racing for the elevator.

Despite her tremors, Genna managed to drive home without wrecking. She struggled with her tears as she stared at the apartment. She’d have to take only what she could carry in the car.

Her legs failed, and she sat in her living room and cried, hugging her knees to her chest, rocking. She thought she had a handle on her emotions when she glanced at the clock and realized it was after eight o’clock and she’d lost several hours of time.

Startled, she clambered to her feet and raced to the bedroom, yanking her suitcase from under her bed and throwing it open on top. She grabbed armfuls of clothes from her dresser and dumped them in. She had garbage bags in the kitchen. She could fill them and take as much as she could jam in the car—

The back door thumped, glass breaking. She reached over and flicked the light switch off and crouched beside the doorway, silent tears coursing down her face.

“Oh, Geennnnaa. Where are you,
darling
?” Lester’s sarcastic tone told her more than anything that she was going to die. “I enjoyed the video. Bet you never thought you’d see me again, huh? Fucking whore, you couldn’t even wait until I was in jail a week to start screwing around, could you? Did you fucking set me up or what?”

It sounded like he was moving toward the kitchen. If he did, she might be able to make it out the back door.

She held her breath and listened. He was in the kitchen. She heard his steps on the linoleum.

Praying, she launched herself through the doorway, angled for the back door. She’d made it five feet from freedom when a foot caught her in the kidney. She fell to her knees, crying out from the pain.

“No you don’t, you fucking cunt.” Lester kicked her again, in the stomach, and she gasped, trying to curl up into a ball and protect herself. He punched her in the head and kicked her several times before he stopped to catch his breath.

He stood over her, shaking his head, a gun in his right hand. “Treated you right. You would have had a good life, even with me inside. You didn’t flip, a little loyalty was all I asked for—”