Page 162 of The Billionaires

Mom winks at me. “Sure. Working.”

“Yes. Training his dog. What did Aphrodite say?”

Mom glances at Dad. “Not in mixed company.”

Gah! If she doesn’t want Dad to hear, there had to be a mention of ovulation, along with how hot Bruce is.

Colossus pitter-patters into the bathroom and stretches in front of me, like a cat.

“There he is,” I say gratefully, angling the camera down. “My charge.”

“So cute!” Mom squeals.

“Too small,” Dad grumbles, but I know if he were here, he’d cuddle Colossus just as much as he did Roach back in the day.

Colossus starts to sniff around in a suspicious manner that I instantly recognize. “Mom, Dad, I have to run,” I say. “He’s looking for a bathroom.”

“You’re in a bathroom,” Mom says.

“Yeah, that won’t help him.” I grab the little guy before he can have an accident. Dogs don’t normally go when they’re in your arms, though it would suck to be proven wrong this time. “Bye.”

They wave goodbye, and we all hang up.

Once Colossus and I are outside, he starts making his masterpeeses all the way down the gorgeous path. Then, like déjà vu, the same exact attractive woman in high heels walks toward us. I think her name is Gertrude.

There’s a key difference in this encounter, however. Gertrude has a leash in her hand with a tiny Yorkshire terrier on the other end of it.

“You have a dog?” I ask her from a distance.

She nods. “Mr. Roxford’s assistant has rented dogs for everyone so that Colossus can socialize with them.”

Wow. Talk about throwing money at problems. Where do you even “rent” dogs? Probably from someone rich, as this Yorkie looks like a specimen with a pedigree.

Time to socialize. I check my pockets and realize I don’t have any treats.

Oh, well. It’s not like the little Yorkie would hand them to Colossus anyway.

Turns out, Colossus loves Yorkies, or at least this one, because he’s wagging his tail and sniffing her almost instantly. He even tries to play chase.

“Very cute,” Gertrude says.

I have to agree, and this encounter is only the beginning. The next person from the local branch has a mini poodle—and Colossus loves him as much as the Yorkie. Same goes for the shih tzu that follows, and the pug after that.

“Maybe you didn’t need me for this after all,” I tell Colossus after another successful socialization encounter with a very calm German shepherd, a.k.a. dog number twenty. “You’re very friendly with dogs.”

Colossus looks up at me, the panting from all the excitement twisting his lips in that signature Chihuahua grin.

If human butts smelled as good as dog ones, I would’ve liked humans from the get-go as well. Now give me a cookie, please! It’s been a hundred years since the last one.

“You know, I’m feeling a little peckish myself,” I say and check the time.

Sure enough, it’s almost lunchtime.

Now in sync in terms of our basic needs, we make a sharp U-turn and return to the mansion. Once Colossus is unleashed, he runs somewhere—probably to the kitchen.

I head over there and find Bruce eating.

He looks at me coolly. “Hello.”

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