Paws off the Boss by Casey Griffin (best summer reads of all time TXT) 📖

What? He was joking about this? He was actually joking. Piper couldn’t believe her ears, but with everything they were saying, how could she deny it? Her fist clenched, and she bit down on a knuckle to stop the angry sobs that were building in her chest.

Colin leaned closer to the door, straining against Piper’s hold on him like he’d caught a whiff of a badger. He pawed at the base of the door. She grabbed him and held him close. Her own panicked and furious breaths matched his rapid sniffing.

“I promised my father I would take care of this company,” Aiden said. “And that is exactly what I’ve done. Let’s just hope it works out for the best.”

“Yes. For the best. It certainly seems to be so far. God works in mysterious ways.” Larry chuckled. “And I’ve always been a godly man myself.”

Piper closed her eyes. So they were both in on it. All along.

Colin struggled against her like his life depended on it. She could barely hold on to him. In his efforts to get free, he scratched her leg and her forearms. She flinched, and he squirmed away, flopping out of her arms and onto the floor. His head bonked against the door. Before Piper could react, it popped open.

Both men whipped around. Aiden practically jumped out of his seat. Piper swore as Colin barreled into the room, all barks, and teeth, and snarls. She’d never seen the doxie so wild before. Sausage legs moving in a blur, he charged at Larry.

The old man leapt from his chair in surprise, but not quickly enough. Colin latched onto the hem of his pants, tugging and snarling. Backpedaling, Larry tried to clamber onto Aiden’s desk.

Piper grabbed her phone, still recording audio, and crawled out from her hiding place. She did nothing to stop Colin’s attack. She felt too shocked, too humiliated, too furious. It was all she could do not to launch herself at one of the men and start tearing him apart herself.

Aiden’s eyes were wide with surprise at her jack-in-the-box arrival. She glared back at him, breathless with anger, hands on her hips. He glanced down, and she followed his gaze to see her coat had fallen open, revealing her Supergirl costume.

She refastened the belt, waiting for some explanation from him, some excuse that didn’t mean her life had turned into an episode of Days of Our Lives.

Old Spice flopped back onto the desk with Colin dangling from his pant leg. The doxie gave one good final tug. The hem gave way, and the fabric ripped up the seam. Spitting the piece of fabric out, Colin barked and growled from the floor, hopping at the base of the desk like he’d discovered a badger burrow.

Larry’s torn pant leg had exposed his ankle. A white bandage peeked out from the top of his argyle sock. Piper stared at the man crawling on the desk, a suspicion forming.

She noticed the flat wool cap on his head. Fists clenched, she stormed over and ripped it off. A purple goose egg bulged beneath a poor attempt at a comb-over. It was the exact spot where she’d whacked the arsonist over the head.

Instead of looking guilty, Larry’s chest puffed indignantly, even as he cowered on top of the desk. “This is no place for animals. That little monster attacked me. I could call Animal Control, you know. I could have him put down for that.”

Piper’s muscles tensed with all the ways she wanted to make Larry pay. “I should have you put down!”

“Now, look here, young lady—”

“No, you look.” She threw the hat on the floor where Colin pounced on it, hungry for any piece of him. “I could have died in that fire. You could have killed all of those dogs.”

“What? Piper,” Aiden began, reaching a hand out to her.

When she wheeled her furious expression around to him, he snatched it back.

“And you,” she said. “You knew. You were in on it. Did you order him to do it?”

He flinched like she’d slapped him. “No. What are you talking—”

“I trusted you. I cared for you. I … I lov—” The word stuck in her throat because that emotional baggage was getting heavier by the moment.

How could he still pretend he was innocent? Larry’s wounds were like physical confessions of the dirty act. Then it occurred to her that she hadn’t told Aiden about the wounds she and Colin inflicted on the arsonist the night of the fire. He still thought he could get away with it.

Aiden held a hand to his chest. “I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Save it,” she snapped.

“Look, little girl,” Larry said. “I don’t know what you think you heard—”

“Oh, but I’m sure the cops could help a little girl like me figure it all out. Because I’ve recorded your entire conversation.” She waved the phone in his face before tucking it into her bra for safekeeping.

Aiden still seemed dazed. He shook his head back and forth like he couldn’t believe he’d been caught. “Let’s just talk about this.”

“Oh, I will.” She yanked open the door. “I’ll talk to the cops.”

Those eyes, that look of hurt, of fake innocence. Even now, Aiden had power over her. His expression tugged something inside her, as though he’d tied a string around her heart and trained it like a dog on a leash. How blind she’d been. How stupid.

“Piper. I love you.”

And her breath whooshed out of her in a grunt, like he’d taken that string and ripped her heart right out of her chest. Her nose tickled, and her eyes stung with impending tears. She scowled, trying to clear them.

Larry gripped her arm, fingers digging in painfully. He was stronger than he looked—she’d found that out the night of the fire.

“You’re jumping to conclusions,” he hissed, his voice low now that the door was open. “You don’t have enough proof.”

“I don’t need any more proof.” Piper wrenched out of his grip and backed out of the office. “Animals just have a way of knowing.”

As though to prove her point, Colin growled at Larry, lips curling over his bared teeth.

She whistled for him and spun on her heel, thinking, hoping it was all over. That she could raise her chin and march right out of the building to call the cops. But when Larry grabbed her backpack from behind, she realized they wouldn’t let her get away that easily. Aiden ordered him to stop, but Larry tugged even harder.

Desperate to get away, Piper slipped her arms out of the straps. Unfortunately, she also lost her jacket in the process. Abandoning her school bag, she picked up Colin and dashed down the hall toward the elevators.

Larry called out behind her. “Security!”