Page 86 of Beware of Dog

“I love her!Do you get that? I am not fucking around. I love her, and as long as she wants me, then I’m staying!”

“You’re shouting at me!”

“You’reshouting atme!” he shot back. “And if you shout at Cass about this, you and me are gonna have a big goddamn problem!”

Raven gulped audibly. She looked like she’d been slapped. She settled her hand at her throat, where her pulse throbbed a visible tattoo, and said, voice hoarse, “I could cut off the money. I could tell her I won’t pay for school.”

“No you won’t. Get outta here with that shit.”

“I could…” She trailed off, eyes big and bright with tears.

“What?” he sneered. “Threaten me? Then you better have a gun in your purse and a body bag on standby, ‘cause you don’t have anything else to threaten me with, sister.”

She bowed her head, sniffled quietly, and wiped at her eyes. When she lifted her head, she was smiling.

She choked out a laugh. “Christ, you are such an asshole.”

“Yeah.”

She rolled her eyes and dabbed at the corners. To the air, she said, “I always knew she wanted a Dog. That she’d end up with one. She would eat a little rich boyalive.”

Then she stepped around the table.

Shep sat up straight, and relaxed his jaw; it would hurt less, and do less damage if he was loose when she struck him.

Instead, she reached for him, with both hands, slow and careful like he was a dog about to bite, and caught his jaw in her palms. She leaned down and pressed a damp kiss to his forehead.

Shep’s hands were shaking where they rested between his thighs. “I do love her,” he said.

“I know that, darling,” she sighed. “I’ve known that for a long while now.” She sighed again, turned, and plopped downon the couch beside him. “I’m not going to help her change your diapers when you’re an old man.”

He snorted, dizzy with relief. “Nah. We’ll make the kids do it.”

“Christ,” she said, not unkindly this time. “Can you at least wait until she’s graduated?”

“Yeah.”

She slumped back against the sofa, all the fight bled out of her, exhausted in its wake. She gestured to the table. “What’s in the folder?”

He reached to snag it, and explained all the ways the Blackmons needed to be scrubbed from the earth.

~*~

Cass spent the day struggling to focus, plagued by memories of Jamie’s pale face, and her mother’s flushed one. She tried texting Jamie between classes, but got no answers.

If Jamie recanted her statement, that would mean the charges would drop, and that would mean there would be no trial. Sig would walk free, and doubtless assault someone else. And what about Jamie? She had to quit school over this? And who the hell had Sig sent to scare the family?

By the time she walked to the busy curb after her last class, she’d decided the only course of action was to call and talk to Melissa. Maybe she could talk some sense into Jamie and her family.

Shep was waiting for her, and she was so lost in her own thoughts it took her a second to notice the tension in his face. He had his helmet off, his shades pushed up into his hair, and watched her approach with a muscle flicking in his jaw.

She shifted her helmet to her other arm so she could rest a hand on his shoulder and lean in for a kiss. Even if his expression was tight, his lips were soft and welcoming.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Okay. Don’t freak out.”

“Oh God. What?”

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