Page 103 of The Mistake

Ive

I didn’t expect to love the dog. Charlotte always corrected me whenever I referred to the dog as a dog or a bitch. Her name was Rose, and Rose, well, she was a harddog to fucking hate.

Yes, she ruined my plans for Valentine’sDay, which had been to take my wife to a lovely restaurant, where they didn’t try to poison her. After which I wanted to bring her home and make love to her all night long, and into the next day. I’d hoped to wear her out with the pleasure of my cock.

Instead, we had a dog that struggled for the first couple of nights to settle in. Rose, at first, was a bit restless, which meant sex was off the menu. I expected Charlotte to get angry, but if anything, she loved having Rose.

After the first week, Rose got into a routine, which we then broke in a way as we took her home.

Our staff loved her. She could come and go as she pleased and even though it was fucking freezing, Charlotte was insistent ontaking her out for walks, playing with a frisbee in the back yard. Once again, Rose got into a brand-new routine, and she thrived.

Rose and Charlotte wereinseparable. I eventually got to make love to my wife again, and sometimes Rose would be in the room, but she only ever waited until we were close to sleep to climb on the bed and curl up at our feet.

I didn’t expect to become used to or attached to the dog. However, I found myself getting up early in the morning, like always, and where I’d get off to work before even enjoying a coffee, I stopped doing that. No, instead, I took Rose out. Yeah, that was the sucker I’d become.

At the penthouse suite, I’d take her to the local park for a walk, and yes, I even got the pleasure of picking up dog shit. I hated Ivan every morning I did this. Back at my place, I made others collect her shit. I had to wonder if there was a way to toilet-train her, but the truth was, I came to love our morning walks.

At night, when Charlotte went to have a shower, and I was either in the sitting room or my office, Rose would come in. If I sat on the couch, she’d come up and put her head on my lap. I loved this freaking dog. Yep, I loved this dog, just as I loved the woman that had become my wife. I never said the words, and I wasn’t going to either. Love made men weak, and that’s the last thing I was. Charlotte didn’t need to hear me say it.

I had a lot of shit going on at work. Stuart had been sent back to the cartel, and within two days, his body had been found with his cock severed and shoved in his mouth. His tongue had been removed and shoved up his ass, and his eyes removed as well. According to the postmortem, that had all been done to him while he was still alive.

The cartel was pissed, but if what he said was true, I had a feeling they were licking their wounds right now. Hank and Benjamin were gone, and for all intents and purposes, the Irish had retreated. There was no sign of them. Their bases were all empty. I wanted to pursue them, but Ivan had told me to carry on with my work as usual.

My work, as usual, was taking care of this territory, of building up the empire for Ivan. I still didn’t like the threats either side posed. I also had to have meetings with Rage as well. The Irish and cartel hadn’t approached him. He’d tried to reach out to them, but all contact had been severed. To everyone else, it looked like they had gone back to their little hiding spots, but I knew differently.

They were going to make their appearance known, but I had to be constantly on guard.

Ivan came and went as he pleased, which I didn’t mind. Oleg’s territory was still being taken by the five of us, as well as Ivan.

So far, he’d notchosen anyone for the job, but I also had word that The Beast and The Butcher had disappeared. I didn’t know if they had gone to work for the cartel, or if they’d been killed. I never used their services. I believe Ivan had in the past, but they were two people I didn’t need. I had my own means of taking care of business.

My cages were currently empty. With no enemy to speak of, there was no reason to fill them.

And so, life went on, but even as it did, I keptwaiting for them to strike again.

****

Lottie

Our First Anniversary

I still wasn’t pregnant, but that was fine. We didn’t have to get pregnant right away. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to have children yet. I was only nineteen years old. There was plenty of time to have children and a family, and to do everything married couples did.

Rushing around his home like a crazy person, I checked the candles and turned down the lights. Michael had already left for the night, and his staff were around, but they were very good at being invisible. I knew they were there, somewhere. Ive had told me there was never going to be a time that I wasn’t alone. Someone had to take care of me at all times.

I liked not being alone. I loved that someone was there no matter where I turned. Growing up, being forced to be alone so many times, I had grown out of loving alone time. I much enjoyed company time.

And Ive was due home any minute. Rose was in her bed in the corner of the dining room.

Ive and I had been married for a year. One freaking year. I couldn’t believe it. Time had flown by, and even though that day had been one of the most terrifying, it had turned into one ofthe best years of my life.

Honestly, being married to Ive, I felt like a fairy tale princess. If the fairy tale princess had married a villain, but it was the good kind of villain. The kind that was mean to everyone else, but loved her.

That was Ive.

He was rarely nice to anyone else. He was respectful to his staff, and he loved Rose. I knew he did. I was so pleased he loved her, and Rose had come out of her shell. She was a mixed breed dog, a mongrel to many, but I didn’t care. I loved her, and it was nice to be able to tell someone that I loved them.

I still hadn’t told Ive yet, but I was afraid to do so. There was no rush in telling someone you loved them. I wasn’t going to tell Ive. He didn’t want to hear it, and besides, I still had the horrible memory of my father, taking everything off me that I loved and cared about. Yep, those feelings were going to be kept locked up tight, with no way of escaping. Not in a scary way, but in a more preserved, I don’t need to express my feelings to anyone. Cassie had told me I should.

---