Page 108 of Who's Your Daddy
For a solid minute, Brian and I stare silently at the empty doorway. When the floor creaks above us, I snap into action and stomp into Sully's office.
“Did you know?” I snap.
Sully looks up from his phone, frowning. “Know?”
I fight the urge to slap a hand over my face. Did this man seriously not notice when his brother paraded a zoo animal through the office? Sloane has always complained about how oblivious he is, but there’s no way he missed the massive cat.
“Yes.” I cross my arms and huff out a breath. “Did Cal tell you what he was doing?”
“Bloody hell.” Sully slumps in his chair. “What grand plan has the wanker come up with now?”
I scowl, suddenly hit with the urge to defend my guy against the insult. It dies quickly, though, when I remember the price of his new pet.
“Your brother bought a five-thousand-dollar cat,” Brian explains from the doorway.
“A cat that’s the size of a small horse,” I add.
Sully’s brows knit together in confusion. “Okay.” He draws out the word.
“Not okay,” I snap. “I can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on replacing a cat.” I pace in front of his desk. “I have no idea how to bury a body. Yeah, I can flush the small ones, and I’ve tossed a few small flora corpses into the dumpster. But a human-size cat?” I stop and whirl on Sully. “How do I make that disappear without a trace?”
“There is a lot to unpack in that statement, Lo.” He rolls his lips and looks over my head at Brian.
“She’s talking about dead fish and house plants. Not people,” Brian clarifies. “She’s been covering up all the animal and…what’d you call it?” He arches a brow at me. “Flora? Deaths Cal is responsible for.”
My heart sinks. “He can’t know.”
Sighing, Sully runs his hand over his face. “I’m gonna regret asking this, but,why?”
“I have no idea.” Brian props a shoulder against the doorframe.
“Idiots.” Eyes closed, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Cal thinks that taking care of plants and animals will help him learn how to be what Murphy needs. He’s using them to convince himself that he can be a good dad. So they can’t die. Because he is a good—nohe’s agreat—dad.” I ball my hands into fists. “The three of us will make sure he knows that. So this cat will not die.”
I jab a finger at Brian. “You will walk it every day.” I spin back to Sully. “You will feed it. And you’ll both take care of the litter box.”
“Fuck.” Brian shakes his head. “The litter box has got to be the size of a sandbox.”
“Probably. The thing is massive.”
Sully scoffs. “It can’t be that big.” He stands and rounds his desk. “Where is it?”
Brian tips his chin to the ceiling and Sully pushes past us, headed for the stairs at the back of the office. Silently we tramp up the steps, one after another.
At the top, Sully pushes the door open and immediately stumbles back. “Fuck me.”
I skirt around him just in time to see Fuzzy Wuzzy pounce on Cal, who’s sprawled out on the floor. The cat’s massive paws span the width of his chest, his claws long enough to shred the Oxford beneath them with one swipe.
“Where is Cal?” Brian steps into the room behind me.
“Under the monster.” Sully’s face is still a mask of shock, but his voice is subdued, as if he’s worried he’ll anger the beast if he’s too loud.
“Good one, Fuzzy. You got me.” Cal lifts his head and grins at us. “See how good Fuzzy Wuzzy is at this game. I knew he’d be the best cat ever.”
The huge cat stalks away, then quickly pounces again.
Cal grunts on impact. Maybe the cat really is playing, but that doesn’t stop my heart from lurching at the sight.
Sully turns to Brian. “What the fuck did he do?”
