Page 78 of Avenging Azalea

Twenty-Three

FAWN

Tears streamed down my face, and I grabbed Dr. Taylor’s arm. “Please don’t do this. I have an idea,” I begged.

Dr. Taylor looked in the kennel at Winston. The tip of his tail was wiggling even as he remained curled up in his bed.

“You have until the end of the day, Fawn. But that’s all the extra time I can give you. I’m sorry.”

Giving him a quick hug, I smiled. “Thank you.”

He nodded and walked out.

I’d been mulling this over for days but hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask. I’d run out of time and needed to grow a backbone. Pacing the back hall past Winston’s kennel, I pulled out my cell and called Titus.

“Hey, Fawn,” he said cheerily, and as always, my stomach flipped.

“Hey, how is your day going?”

Titus chuckled. “Good, but I suspect you want to ask me something.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. Whenever you want to ask a favor, your voice changes. It’s sort of like when you beg Bella to move over in the night because she’s hogging the bed,” he said.

I laughed and then wondered how the hell he knew that, but I must have told him one groggy morning.

“Okay, fine, you caught me. Yes, I need to ask a favor, and please, I’m begging you to think about it before you say no.”

“Oh, I hate it when we start off our conversations like this.”

“I’ll owe you a milkshake. Two even.”

“Two milkshakes? This must be a massive favor if you’re offering that.”

I smiled stupidly at my phone, heat warming my cheeks.

“Do you remember the dog Winston I mentioned?”

“Yes, the one you’ve been taking Sheba to see every day?”

“Yes, that one. I can’t find a home that’s right for him. He’s scheduled to be put down today, and Sheba has really taken to him and….” I stopped gasping in air, my chest tight with the thought that Titus would say no. “Please, I’ll owe you as many milkshakes as you want for the rest of your life, and anything else you want, please don’t say no.”

“Anything I want?”

I licked my lips as a shiver raced down my spine.

“Anything. At any time,” I said.

“That is a mighty big offer.” The line went silent, and I held my breath for his response. “Okay, you can bring him home, but under two conditions,” Titus said, and I squealed.

“Yes, anything, whatever you want.”

“First, it is your responsibility to teach him the house rules. I don’t have the time to work with him. Nathaniel is a tyrant,” Titus said.

“You’re in my office. I can hear you,” Nathaniel said in the background, and I laughed.

I still couldn’t believe that Titus had left Mikhailov Enterprises. I never thought I’d see the day. But he seemed content with his decision, and I preferred Nathaniel over Dimitri.