Page 127 of The Temptation
“No wonder Josie from the club now walks with a limp.”
“She has hip dysplasia, arsehole. It has nothing to do with my cock.”
“Are you still tapping that?”
“I’m married, remember, so that would be no.”
“Good answer,” he says, pressing the fob on his keys and moving towards the passenger side to open the door for me.
“I’m not an invalid,” I grumble, shoving his hand out of the way, making him laugh again.
“Just being a gentleman.”
“Well, don’t.”
As soon as we are seated in the car, his phone pings with a message. I reach for the seat belt, clicking it into place as Dante slides it out of his pocket and reads the screen before turning it in my direction.
Alexander: The dog is at Romeo’s house, but I don’t know if Lucia is inside. The front gate is locked. I called out her name, but there was no reply. Do you know the code?
“Well?” Dante asks, frowning over at me.
“Well, what?”
“What’s the code for the front gate?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Are you serious right now? You obviously told Lucia what it is, so why won’t you tell me?”
“I never told Lucia the code.”
“Hmm,” he hums sceptically. “There’s no way she made it over that fence. It’s high, and she’s short. And how did the dog get over there? That fucker’s all muscle. He’s gotta weigh at least forty kilos.”
“Don’t call my dog a fucker.”
“My bad.”
“You know he eats people for a living, right?”
He barks out a laugh as he starts the car and reverses out of the space. “I’ll admit he’s intimidating, but he’s never eaten anyone.”
“He would if given half the chance.”
Alexander and Sammy are standing on the nature strip outside my place when we arrive. Killer is on the other side of the fence, going apeshit and barking at them. Dante’s brother doesn’t look disturbed at all, but Sammy seems quietly terrified.
“Is your dog vicious?” Sammy asks as I get out of the car and head for the gate.
“Why don’t you come in and ask him yourself?”
He hesitates. “Yeah … I think I’ll stay out here.”
“Smart choice,” I say, punching in the code harder than necessary.
Killer runs straight over to me the moment I enter the yard, so I reach down and scratch him behind the ears. “Hey, boy.”
After I greet my dog and command him to stay, I head for the front door, and my anger spikes when I find it unlocked.
Dante is hot on my heels when I enter the house. “Wow,” he says when we move through the foyer and enter the main room.
