CHAPTER 11
Emma
Iwas still flushed with joy as I ran toward my newest dog walking client’s home. I’d had such an amazing conversation with my grandma the night before. I hadn’t told her about all of my jobs.
She was under the impression that my father had left us with a nice nest egg. I would not be correcting that assumption.
She did not need to know that it was a struggle for us to just survive. She’d had it bad enough, losing her husband, then daughter-in-law, and finally her son, my father. With her health deteriorating, I was going to make sure she had all the care she needed.
As I neared the home, I slowed, staring up in awe at the intimidating chrome and glass building, my eyes bugging out of my head. Holy shit, my new client had to be loaded.
I looked down at my outfit—threadbare shorts and a hoodie—wondering if I should go home to change.
This was an introductory walk that I did with all of my new clients, to make sure that we were both a fit for each other.
Then they would be introduced to the rest of the squad—their new walk mates—and if we all did well, they’d be welcomed into the group with licks, butt sniffs and hugs.
I looked around, searching for the number on the building, almost certain that I’d taken a wrong turn at some point, but there it was, huge and metallic on the front of the building. I blinked, stepping with hesitancy toward the front doors.
They swung open and a huge orc stood inside. My heart stopped in my chest until I realized that it wasn’t my orc. I froze, slapping myself internally. I didn’t have an orc. Lin had an orc.
The orc who filled the doorway eyed me with curiosity before asking, “Are you Emma?”
I gave him an uncertain nod because was I Emma? Was I awake right now? Had I fallen into an alternative universe where I was being hired by billionaires to walk their overly pampered pooches?
He grunted, opening the door to let me in and I tiptoed inside, feeling filthy in comparison. I hadn’t cleaned my shoes enough to be stepping on these marble floors. Who the hell had this kind of money?
“You can come with me,” the intimidating male said, not smiling at all as he stalked toward a bank of silver elevators.
I followed, not sure if I was going to be kicked out for the hole under my armpit—the one that I had been sure no one could see, but now I didn’t know. Once inside, we flew up the stories, and I glanced over at the male.
He didn’t even bother looking my way, focused straight ahead as if I was nothing more than a slightly annoying chore to him—and that was probably true. The ding that announced our arrival to the seventeenth floor was loud and I flinched as the doors slid open soundlessly.
A long, wide corridor was open ahead of me and I could see wooden doors dotting either side with large gaps between. This had to be some kind of massive apartment building for the super rich. That was the only explanation.
I considered the possibility that my dog walking ad was being used against me to harvest my organs. I knew I should have asked to meet at the dog park.
The male cleared his throat next to me, and I realized that I was still standing there inside the elevator while he had his hand on the door, keeping it open. Feeling a flush of embarrassed heat rush up my face, I stumbled outside.
“It’s the first door on your right,” he said, his voice neutral but I was sure that I could sense some curiosity there. “You can knock and he’ll be right out.”
I nodded at him again, lifting my hand in a wave as he allowed the doors to slide close. An eyebrow quirked at me instead of the standard wave of response and I let my hand to drop to my side.
Holy shit, this does seem like the type of place a super rich guy would lure someone to so they could murder them and hide the body. If I see plastic on the floor, I’m out.
By the time I’d reached the door he’d indicated, I was working myself up into a lather of anxiety. I was sweating, yanking hard at the neck of my hoodie to generate some movement of air into my bra. It would not do to have sweat stains under my boobs.
I lifted my hand to knock on the door before dropping it, not sure why I was feeling so nervous.
Other than the fact that this is most definitely a black market organ cover up and I’m too dumb and polite to run.
Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath before lifting my hand to knock again. The door swung open on the first rap of my knuckles and at the sight of the male that answered the door, my brow furrowed and a scowl made its way onto my face.
“You?” I demanded, and Krusk beamed at me from where he stood with his hand still on the ornate handle.
“Hey, Emma,” he purred, his gaze dipping to take in my outfit.
Oh fuck. I was definitely underdressed.
“I’m walking your dog?” I asked, and I knew I was being unbelievably rude.
I knew it and I was certain that under any other circumstances, I’d be able to gather my wits and be polite, but after the scare of possibly becoming a black market bag of kidneys, my relief was so strong that I felt my knees wobble.
While the male was a lot of things, and mostly likely a fuckorc of epic proportions, couldn’t deny that I felt safe with him. Seeing him had been a relief—which was a mindfuck of its own.
“Yes, you are,” he announced as he stepped backward and gestured for me to enter the gargantuan apartment that I could see behind him.
“You live here?” I gasped, staring around in awe.
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug of those huge shoulders that I did not fantasize about at all. “The chief of our clan owns the building so he gave us each an apartment here,” he responded easily, those dark eyes trailing over my body in a way that I refused to feel tantalized by.
“Must be nice,” I muttered, spinning in a circle as I looked around, giving a low whistle.
The apartment—if you could even call it something as unclassy as that—was beautiful.
There was no other word for it. Light wood floors, beige furniture, gold fixtures and the open concept made it feel bigger than it actually was.
Not that it was small. It was huge on its own, but it had an airy feel that was the opposite of the tiny craphole I was living in.
The floor to ceiling windows and door on the far side of the living area opened onto a balcony and then a breathtaking view of the city. I stared in awe, shaking my head at the extravagance.
So he was handsome, sexy as sin, and rich?
I’d suspected that he’d paid for dinner and left the insane tip, but to have it confirmed was blowing my mind. Lin was a lucky, lucky girl. I hid the pang of hurt that the thought elicited and turned to paste a fake smile on my face.
“So where’s your dog?” I asked, looking around. I was usually bombarded with greetings from canines first upon entering a home. If this one was shy, I could work on getting him to come out of his shell.
“What?” Krusk asked, leaning against the doorway on one strong shoulder, smiling at me.
“Your dog?” I asked, my eyes widening slowly. “You do have a dog, right?” A short jolt of fear entered my body and I cursed myself for being stupid enough to enter a male’s home when we were alone without even thinking.
Especially since the security was so tight and the Gods alone knew what he could do to me up here without anyone even suspecting. The only two people who would question my whereabouts were Lin and my grandma and neither of them knew where I was.
I was usually better than this. Always wary when it came to my safety, but for some reason, all the usual warning signals hadn’t sounded for this male and I’d let my guard down. I was just about to reach into my bag for my pepper spray when he nodded his head, gesturing toward the kitchen.
“Oh, he’s in there,” he said, casually, before tilting his head to the side. “I can bring him to you.”
Eyes narrowed on him, figuring he didn’t seem to be ready to pounce on me, I shook my head. “It’s okay. I can go meet him,” I told him, still confused as to why none of the blaring alarms that should be going off in my head were sounding.
I turned, giving him my back before looking over my shoulder to see what he would do.
He was still standing in the doorway, a small smile playing on those delicious lips, and his gaze was fixed…
on my ass. Rolling my eyes at him, thinking that he really was such a fuckorc, I sauntered into the kitchen and cursed myself for adding a little shimmy to my steps.
His groan from where he was still lounging was a reward for my efforts, even though the girl code would say I should never be tempting this male. Guilt made heat rise in my cheeks, but I shook it off, focusing on my task instead.
I entered the space and skidded to a stop at what stood in front of me. A massive… something was sitting on the floor, leisurely panting with its mouth hanging open as it blinked big, toad-like eyes up at me.
What the hell kind of dog is this?
It had masses of grey fur that was tinged in green.
It had four legs with three toes on each foot but was sitting more like a toad would than a dog.
It had huge, bulging eyes that protruded from its face, sharp fang-like teeth that were bared while it panted around a massive, long tongue that was nearly reaching the floor.
A little pool of sticky drool puddled at the base of the tongue and its flat face didn’t have much of a nose or ears.
“Is that… a dog?” I asked just as it flicked its tongue, slapping itself across the eyeball—without blinking. The tongue slowly slid down its face and then hung down in its previous position.
What the holy hellspawn?
“Uh… yes?” he answered, but he didn’t sound too sure himself. “He’s what I have,” he added with a shrug. “And he walks… kind of.”
I turned incredulous eyes his way and he sent me a charming smile, his gaze flickering between me and his dog.
“What’s his name?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
That question stopped him in his tracks and I could see the panic in his expression.
“Dog,” he answered with a quick nod.
“Dog?” I asked, turning to fold my arms across my chest as I took him in—all seven feet of fine male specimen. “That’s his name?”
“Well,” he drawled, not looking at me, but focusing on whatever the hell creature it was behind me. “I just got him, and I haven’t settled on a name yet.”
He’s lying. And he’s absolutely terrible at it.
The male was all but vibrating with unease where he was standing, his fingers flexing like a five-year-old who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. For some reason it made me smile, but I had to hide it, so I pretended to scrub a frustrated hand across my face.
“And does he have all of his shots?” I asked, focusing on him again.
That brought him up short, and his brow furrowed before he looked at the dog and then at me. “What are those for?”
“Oh my Gods,” I groaned, rolling my eyes. “I’m sorry Krusk,” I said with a sigh, ignoring the way his name on my tongue rolled right off like it was meant to be there. “But I can’t help you. You’ll need to get everything settled with him first and then—”
“Wait—” he called, grabbing my hand for a second before I turned and looked at where our hands were clasped—the green skin of his beautiful as it enfolded mine.
He dropped it just as quickly, backing up a step as if he knew he was overstepping.
“Please, just tell me what I need for him and I’ll get it done. ”
I crossed my arms, struggling not to rub my hand against my thigh. It was tingling from where he’d touched me and I didn’t want to think too deeply about how viscerally attracted I was to my friend’s soon-to-be-malefriend.
I studied the worry on his face and sighed deeply, biting my lower lip. He probably really wanted to keep this dog—or whatever the hell it was—and he didn’t know what he needed to do.
“Okay,” I said with a put-upon sigh. “I can walk you through everything you need, but you have to promise that you won’t let Dog out of the apartment until you have everything covered. We don’t want him getting sick or any other… um… dogs sick.”
He nodded, focused entirely on me, and it was a bit unnerving, being the complete focus of this male’s attention, but at the same time, it was glorious.