Motown Takedown (Motown Down Book 3) (16 page)

I was in the garage cleaning blood off the passenger seat when she snuck up behind me. Wrapping herself around me and squeezing tight she whispers, “Merry Christmas, Monarch,
”
and hands me a small box with a bow. Not sure what to do, I just stare at it. “Someone gives you a present;you open it,
”
she smiles.

Doing as she said, I went slow. When there was no more time to be wasted, I flipped the top open,and my heart tripped over itself. It didn’t matter that the gift was a lighter, what mattered was she gave it to me. “Never got a Christmas present before,
”
I admit. “And I didn’t get you one, Cinn. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,
”
she says sitting in the driver’s seat. “My present is you listening to me explain your present.”

“By all means,
”
I grin.

“Prometheus tricked Zeus,
”
she says breathlessly. The second she speaks of anything Greek her eyes glaze over and her breathing changes. “In his anger over the trick, Zeus took fire away from man. But Prometheus lit a torch from the sun and brought it back to man. Zeus was seriously pissed at being duped twice, so he punished Prometheus and man.”

“How?
”

“Zeus had Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty,
”
she begins to explain.

“You,
”
I whisper. “The Gods created you.”

“Not quite,
”
she winks. “But I can see where you’d think that. They created Pandora, aka ‘the first woman’. It’s said she had a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. She was tasked with a box she was forbidden to open. Shit job if you ask me, but I didn’t come up with it. Okay so, stop me if you know this part…”

“She opened the box.”

“Bingo.”

“What does Pandora opening a box of evil have to do with the lighter, Cinn?”

“Nothing,
”
she smiles big at my confusion. “It’s just a kick-ass story and the lighter was the only thing I could steal to give you as a gift. So I tied it all together. Good story, though, right?”

“Great story,
”
I say kneeling between her legs. “Merry Christmas, Cinn.”

“Merry Christmas, Monarch,
”
she says running her fingers through my hair. “Oh and if Slay asks about his lighter, you never saw it.”

Ares, she named him.

With my woman in my arms, I’m fighting a God damn mutt for her attention. The only positive to this is that the fucking canine has her so blissed out that she’s not panicking in the water. No, with her stomach across my arms, she kicks her feet as I taught her to. Now the fucking mutt is paddling around her, so she kicks harder to keep up. Every lap he makes around us, he swims right up to her and licks her face. Mutt has energy; I’ll give him that. He also has a good woman’s face to lick, so I’m giving him that too.

“Faster!
”
she squirms wanting to catch the beast.

“You gotta use your arms too, Mo chuisle,
”
I remind her. “Arms and legs, chin up and in sync.”

Several minutes pass and God damn, she was getting the hang of it. When she manages it, I lower my arms and just once, let her sink. Not a second passed before she came up sputtering. Coming to stand on her feet, she throws her hands up and squeals, “I didn’t drown!
”
I was too proud to point out the water was four feet deep but she was right, she didn’t drown, she figured it out.

“Wouldn’t let you.”

Throwing her arms around my neck, her legs follow suit with Ares nudging us to get in the huddle. Pulling him in, I hold him up with one arm keeping her in the other. Mutt was tired now, needed rest and probably some food. “Are pit bullswater dogs?
”
she asks taking his kisses.

“Ares is not an ordinary pit bull,
”
I tell her. What I didn’t tell her was that this mutt was due to be put down. Not just him but every dog they rescued from the fighting ring. They said he was too aggressive after being trained to fight. Dog fought for survival; I respected that.

It took a lot of extra money to get ownership, but I saw death in this mutt’s eyes, he was resigned to it. Like my woman’s eyes were for too long. Reluctantly, they let me sit in a room with him. The mutt growledfur stood up and when I growled back, “Step to me,
”
he moved in between my legs resting his chin on my thigh. So I asked the mutt, “You want the job of making my queen happy? Protecting her with your life?
”
The fucking canine barked, spun and walked straight to the door. Swear to Christ that was that. The mutt wasn’t aggressive; he was scared. He only knew one way of life. Now, he’d know another.

“My guess is, you like water he likes water.”

“He had it rough,
”
she says stroking him.

“He did,
”
I agree. “But he doesn’t anymore, and he fucking knows it.”

“Ares,
”
she says in his ear. “We have a lot in common.”

“Mo chuisle?”

“Yeah?”

“You fucking swam today.”

Kissing me deep, she smiles and says, “I fucking swam today.”

Helping them out of the pool, Ares ran the room stopping every few feet to shake the water off. Cinn wraps herself up in a towel, takes a seat and in seconds, the mutt sat at her feet. Tossing my own towel, I take them both in. Woman and mutt. That’s when I realized; it took thirty-five motherfucking years for it to happen, but it finally did.

I had a family
.

Together, Cinn and I took Ares for a walk where he proved he took his role of guardian seriously. We stayed on the grounds,but a few of my men were handling business and when they wanted to speak with Cinn, the second they made it within striking distance Ares was on alert. However, Cinn’s demeanor dictated Ares
’
and the dog stood down. Make no mistake, he was ready to kill but with no threat he simply remained watchful. The only glitch was Ransom, who saw us with a dog and wanted to see said dog. Cinn was happy to see Ransom and moved forward with Ares to her right. The second he crouched low the dog broke free of Cinn’s hold and leaped sending her to the concrete.

“Down!
”
I gave the command with no room for argument. Ares literally froze, mouth open, teeth bared, fur sticking up. The mutt wanted to kill, fucking needed it and was not pleased to be denied his chance.

“Oh my God!
”
Cinn says brushing off her knees and rushing forward. “Ares come!
”
Breaking his stare, the killer was gone and in its place was a happy fucking pup. Back at her side, he licks and whimpers for her attention. This was something I needed to pay attention to, my woman, and her mutt.

“The fuck is wrong with that dog?
”
Ransom asks moving way back.

“I don’t know,
”
Cinn says petting him. “I’ve only had him a few hours, but maybe he’s afraid of men?”

Ares was afraid of nothing. It wasn’t about men; it was about Ransom. Had to be because Ares did not take his eyes off of him, not for a second.

“Shit,
”
he says scratching his head. “Dogs usually like me.”

“He’ll warm up to you,
”
she promises. “He’s probably overwhelmed.”

“That’s where you went this morning?
”
he laughs. “To get her a serial killer? You’ve got a house full so what you figured what’s one more?”

Cinn laughs, Ares growls and I said nothing. “You got work to do,
”
I instruct him. “Do it.”

Nodding to me with a grin, he turns around and leaves. “Let’s get you and the mutt fed,
”
I say taking her elbow. “Got a few things to talk to you about.”

And none of them were good.

With a copy of The Witches by Roald Dahl in my hands, I wasn’t worried about getting lost. I knew my route, which houses to avoid on the way to my bus stop, but I never ran into people this early in the morning. Today was no exception. But a whimper caught me off guard and searching for the sound, I went around back and found a dog chained to the porch. When he saw me, he went on the offensive, barking, snarling and I was worried if he strained enough he’d break the piece of wood holding him. If that happened, he’d eat me.

Staying perfectly still, I look at him and notice how thin he is. What I first thought was muscle I realized was bone. I didn’t know anything about dogs, had never had one, but I knew this one was starved. Dropping my pack, I take out my lunch and unwrap it. The dog had quit barking to watch me. Tossing him my sandwich didn’t work out because it landed just out of his reach. This, of course, set him off again. Knowing to feed him I’d have to get within biting distance, I approached slowly. He watched me; I watched him. I knew I’d taste better than a peanut butter sandwich, but I was hoping he preferred bread. Bending at the knees, I scoop it up and extend my hand offering it to him.

I expected him to lunge, but he didn’t. Gently, he opened his mouth and closed it over the bread. Sitting on his hind legs, he swallowed it in one try,and I praised him for it. “Same time same place tomorrow?
”
I asked him and took the tail wag as a yes and went on to catch my bus. The next day he was there, still chained up, but he didn’t bark at my approach. Getting closer, I realized he couldn’t bark because he was dead and setting my sandwich next to him, I hoped that he went gently with a full belly.

Ares was the sweetest most beautiful pit bull ever born. He also had the appetite of four pit bulls but I suspected that was because he had been starved on top of all the other atrocities he’d endured. Monarch and I both watched him literally consume everything we put in front of him, including my eggs, fruit, and toast.

“Pitbulls like fruit?”

“This one does,
”
he says sliding more into his bowl.

“He listens well,
”
I comment to see what he spills. However, Monarch plays his shit close to the vest. “He’s been trained, I think.”

“I’d say so.”

“Trained to fight,
”
I toss out there.

“Yes.”

“Trained to kill.”

“Yes, Mo chuisle,
”
he says evenly. “He is truly one of us.”

“We’ll have to watch him. He broke away from me so fast
…
I’m not strong enough to hold him.”

“If he breaks, he breaks. If Ares breaks because he feels the need to defend you, let Ares fucking break.”

“He almost ate Ransom,
”
I point out.

“But he didn’t.”

This was true. This time anyway
…
Wanting to try something, I drag his dog bed over, pat it with my hand and command Ares to lie down. Allow me to note that if dogs could laugh, Ares would be laughing. I try again and again until Monarch points at the bed next to my seat and orders Ares to, “Lay down,
”
an
d
I watched with wide eyes as he jumped in that bed, spun twice before snuggling up at my feet.

“Jesus, you’re the fucking pit bull whisperer.”

“Mutt wants to be close to his momma,
”
he shrugs. “Now he is, and he’s happy.”

“You’re hot when you’re bossy.”

“Mo chuisle,
”
he says grinding his jaw. “Step to me.”

I was up, out of my seat and in his arms in seconds. “Like I said, hot.”

Taking my mouth, he slips his tongue in digging his fingers into my neck. Clutching him to me, I was about to beg that he fuck me on the table when he breaks away and mutters, “Savage is being buried today. You want to hit the funeral?”

“If by hit you mean, open the casket and shoot him again, then sure.”

“Cinn,
”
he says tilting my chin up. “Talk this shit out with me.”

Taking a deep breath, I talk it out and let it be known, I was sick of talking about Savage. Even dead, he ruined my day. “We go. By doing this, we make our rule known. No other reason. I’m on your arm; I belong to you. You have my loyalty and death to anyone who tries to come between us.”

“We go,
”
he nods. “Make a statement and then what?”

“We fuck on his grave?”

Blinking once, twice, and throwing his head back, he howls with laughter. I have never heard Monarch howl. Grunt, gripe, and threaten, yes. Ares joins in and then I was the one who looked stupid for not howling too. Although, I was also the only one who didn’t find this funny. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“Cinn,
”
he recovers, barely. “If I didn’t love you before, that would have done it. Fuck on his grave…my queen is so fucking suited for me.”

“Whatever,
”
I mumble. “Ares comes with us.”

“Ares comes with us,
”
he smiles showing me that gold.

“I at least get to spit on his grave.”

“That you do,
”
he agrees tagging me by the neck again. “And if Ares is feeling territorial he can piss on his fucking grave too.”

And then it was my turn to howl and just, so you know, I did it perfectly.