Page 82 of Hot Momosa

The poodles scratched and whined at the bathroom door.

Gunnar jumped down and let them in while I was cleaning up.

The dogs made a beeline for the ginormous shower. They whined and barked and jumped as if trying to get inside.

Or trying to get to something inside.

Before I could make sense of what was happening, the frosted glass door opened and a man poked his head out. He took a step forward and tripped over a dog. I would have expected a stalker to kick it out of his way, but he hopped around to avoid crushing the little beasts, stumbled, and fell to his knees.

I jumped back to get away from him, but that put me farther from my son. “Gunnar!”

“Mamma?” His voice hit a pitch only dogs could hear.

Speaking of dogs, the poodles attacked the guy on the floor…with kisses.

“Lock yourself in your room. Go!” I waited until he disappeared from the doorway to search the countertop for anything I could use as a weapon.

“Please.” The guy held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I called. I sent notes. But no one would listen.”

I grabbed the soap dispenser. It wasn’t much, but it was marble and heavy and would hurt if I smashed it against his skull.

His eyes widened. “I only wanted my family back. Leo… He stole them from me.”

“Look, you sick bastard.” I widened my stance in case he came at me. “Leo didn’t steal anything from you. We were never yours to begin with.”

The guy pulled his chin back and pursed his lips. The overall effect made him look more like a turtle than a psychopath. “We?”

“You’ve terrorized me for months, but I’m done being afraid of you.” My plan was to keep him talking long enough for Stuart to return.

Although, once I got a good look at him, I thought I could take him in a fight. He was tall and wiry and had a nose that looked like it never stopped running.

The guy eased toward the door. “Look, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stay where you are!” I couldn’t let him leave—not with Gunnar out there somewhere.

His hands shot higher into the air.

The damned poodles continued to jump up around the stalker as if they wanted him to pick them up.

“I don’t want any trouble.” His voice cracked.

“You should have thought about that before lurking around outside.”

“I was desperate. Leo refused to give them back and stopped taking my calls.”

Them?

I glanced from his sweaty face to the dogs and my heart sank. “What’s your name?”

“Artie. Artie Guzman, and these are my babies.”

I lowered the soap dispenser and sagged against the wall. “And you thought it was a good idea to break into the condo?”

“I didn’t mean to. The door was unlocked.”

I couldn’t believe this guy. “So you accidentally let yourself in?”

“I heard my babies inside and…” Artie knelt to pet the dogs. “I had a lapse in judgment.”

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