Page 71 of Duty

More silent begging.

Everybody who had ever seen Snaps in action gave the dog a wide berth of space just because they didn’t want to be in his line of fire when he attacked. Andino, on the other hand, got to see his dog act like a giant baby because he thought he wasn’t going to get fed like he didn’t get fed every single fucking night.

“Five minutes,” he repeated to the dog.

Andino headed for the kitchen sink, and turned the taps on. Once the water was hot enough not to scald but still sting, he grabbed the bar of soap on the side, and got to work on washing away the dried blood on his hands and arms. Killing someone with a bat could be a messy business, but he figured it was worth it.

The lesson would be learned.

The water circling the drain faded from a rusty red to a light pink the longer Andino scrubbed. He was done with washing the proof of his crime away, and onto pulling the raw strips of meat prepacked for Snaps’ meals from the fridge when he heard the front door of his house click shut quietly.

Snaps didn’t react.

Andino knew then.

There was only one person Snaps didn’t alert for.

“Hey,” Haven said, strolling into Andino’s kitchen, and patting Snaps’ bobbing head as she passed him by to come to Andino first. She dropped her bag on the island counter, and then pulled Snaps’ bowls up from the floor to help Andino. He didn’t even have to ask, or explain what he was doing. She just jumped into his life to be there and help, for fuck’s sake. She wasn’t even supposed to be around—he should be keeping his fucking distance. And yet, he liked getting five minutes with her when he could manage it. He enjoyed having her show up at his house in the evenings when the day was done, and it was just them.

Two weeks of this, and he looked forward to it.

“Hey,” Andino said.

Wordlessly, Haven leaned over the counter, and pressed a kiss to Andino’s mouth. She gave him a grin, and a wink when she pulled away far too soon for his liking.

“Busy day?” she asked. “Because you’re not even fully dressed, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look disheveled.”

Andino laughed under his breath.

He killed a man today.

“You could say it was busy,” he replied.

Haven frowned. “Sorry.”

“You?”

“Took the day off, actually.”

She reached for her bag, and it was then that the bandage on her wrist caught Andino’s eye. He quickly finished up getting Snaps’ bowl of raw meat, steamed veggies, and gravy mixed up for the pup. He filled the second bowl with fresh water, set them on the floor, and washed his hands up for a second time as he’d been tearing apart raw meat.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Haven looked up from the phone she’d pulled out of the bag. “What?”

“On your wrist.”

“Oh.” A sly smile curved her lips. “A new tattoo.”

Andino chuckled. “You’re going to run out of room, Haven.”

“Never.”

Rounding the island, he reached for her wrist, and tugged her closer to him until her chest was pressed tightly to his. He flipped her wrist over at the same time he dropped a hard kiss to her mouth—fast, and not as fleeting as hers had been. No, he took the time to enjoy her kiss, and the way her tongue teased his in a way that made him wish her mouth was somewhere else on his body.

“Wanna see?” she asked when he pulled away.

“Is it something silly?”