Page 97 of Their Stolen Obsession

There were five. One was a pit bull.

Crap.

Saint noticed my uneasiness. “Is there another group we can help? I’m not sure—”

I squeezed his hand. “Saint. It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Sin asked as he peered into the cage and locked eyes on the animal that made me anxious. “There’s a fucking pit bull in there.”

“I know. But the shrink said that I need to face my fear.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I should start with the breed that brought me here.”

“Duke?” Cindy smiled. “He’s the cuddliest pit bull on this entire planet. Aren’t you buddy?”

Duke barked.

I jumped, startled by the dog’s sudden joy at Cindy’s affection, and she reached through the cage to pet his head. He leaned into her touch, and she rubbed behind his ears. He shook a leg like she had hit his itchiest spot, and she giggled at him. She was amazing with the animals.

“Where’s the grub?” Sin asked.

“Oh, the kibble is right in that cabinet.” Cindy pointed to a row of cupboards. “After feeding time is over, you’ll take these five out for playtime.”

Cindy stopped petting Duke. He lay down with sad eyes, and he released a long sigh. Duke wanted more love from Cindy, but she had a job to do. She gave us simple instructions to head out through a door on our right with the pooches, and she showed us a glimpse of the fenced-in yard. There were dog toys scattered across the ground and bowls of water we were to fill up during their exercise, which was about an hour long.

“I’m not picking up dog poop,” Sin said.

Cindy thrust some doggie poop bags into Sin’s chest. “Think again.”

Sin grumbled, “Ah, crap.” He took the bags and shoved them in his pants pocket.

Sin remained unimpressed. He ran a hand through his hair, gave me one long stare, sighed and headed for the kibble. As unenthusiastic as he may be, he was in this for me.

My heart swelled.

“Make sure you give each bowl a full cup of food,” Cindy expressed.

Sin heaved a bag of kibble into his arms, and Saint let go of my hand. I missed his touch, but he had to help his best friend. He ripped open the bag of food, grabbed a white scoop and brought it over to me.

“You do the honors, darling.” Saint said.

“Okay.” I sighed and took the scoop.

I gathered the dry dog food into the cup and turned my attention straight to Duke. Immediately, he sat up as his tail wagged and his tongue licked at his jaws. Saliva dripped down onto the concrete floor, and my anxious breathing took over. Fear gripped me, my legs trembled, and a flashback overwhelmed me.

Teeth. Sharp, pointed, and red. Blood dripped along with drool after chomping down on my arm. The pain was unbearable, but I still had to fight to survive.

A hand grazed my arm.

I screamed. Kibble fell to the floor, but I still held the scoop. The grip around the handle was tight and my knuckles were pure white.

Saint asked, “Do you want me to do it?”

“No.” I shook my head and bent down to retrieve the dry food I had dropped. “Ineedto do this.”

“Okay.” Saint backed off.

“I’ll open the cage when you’re ready, Liv. Just give me the word.” Sin held the latch on the metal crate.

I locked eyes on Duke. “Okay.”