Page 37 of Hot for Hostage

That morphed my smile into a smirk as I stepped into the hall.

She hadn’t corrected me this time.

I waited until Sadie locked the door behind me before leaving.

She’d probably gone back to the couch to cuddle with Bear, and a flash of envy gave me pause.

…Since when was I jealous of a dog?

making things right

. . .

Davian

I waited until I was outside Sadie’s building before calling Vince. “She lives in a dump. You up to keep watch tonight?”

There was a loaded pause before he answered. “You’re talking about the deranged woman who held you up earlier today and ran from me, right?”

“She’s not deranged. And we’ll have a chat about her giving you the slip, by the way.”

“You can blame that one on Hollis. He wasn’t told not to let her out the gate,” he said.

“She shouldn’t have even made it to the gate.”

“I’m not a babysitter,” he grumbled. “Just have her come here if there’s a problem with her place.”

That’s what I’d wanted to do, but… “She’s not ready for that.”

He scoffed. “Notready? What the hell kind of game are you playing, Davian?”

“No games.” I didn’t know where this thing with Sadie would go, but it wasn’t a game.

“She’s not cut out for this shit. Forget about her before you?—”

“I didn’t call you for dating advice, Vince. I’ll text her address to you. Get your ass over here.”

He huffed. “This is a mistake.”

“If I didn’t have a meeting, I’d do it myself. This is important to me.”

Another pause before Vince groaned. “You owe me, man.”

“I always pay my debts,” I said before hanging up and calling a much less fun number.

“Reed,” my pop answered after the first ring.

“You want to tell me why you hiked the rent on the blocks near Acresfield Park?”

“Davian, my boy.” His tone warmed to one of a proud father. “What’s this about rent?”

“There’s a dog shelter that can’t afford to buy fucking kibble because their rent was doubled.”

He chuckled. “Good. Maybe once they close up shop, we can put a laundromat in there.”

A couple walked past me on the sidewalk, and I gritted my teeth until they were out of hearing range. “Pop, I need you to put the shelter’s rent back to what it was.”

“Do you?” He hummed softly. “Where’s this coming from? Since when do you give two shits about my properties?”

---