There Will Be Freedom

35. Angel of Death

I started to rip the shoe from his mouth, but he thought I was trying to play and tugged harder. Agata helped, and we yanked with all our might, but it was no use. My grasp slipped, and I fell to the floor into a pile of freshly folded laundry.

Bosco tackled me, licking my face and slobbering all over me.

I giggled as his tongue tickled my skin. "Get off of me. You're in trouble."

While Francis was the obedient, good dog, Bosco was the opposite. He was the rowdy teenager who could be fiercely protective but made messes that were disastrous. I kept trying to convince Justin that Bosco had a good heart, but he hated this dog with a passion. I even heard him muttering in his sleep a couple of times about how he wanted to run the poor thing over with his car.

To be fair, Bosco didn't like Justin either. They would glare at each other and have silent fights. I think Bosco just liked getting on his nerves, which he found out was fairly easy to do. The good thing was that Bosco never once snapped or bit anyone. He was always playful, and I loved him to death, but he became another item on my list of duties.

The dog was getting bigger by the day. I didn't know that German Shepherds tended to eat... a lot, and he was almost up to my knees at this point. There were huge bags of food in the storage closet downstairs, but Bosco could devour them all in no time. Even Francis couldn't keep up. Thankfully, those two got along fine. They were like best friends, but Francis knew when to back off of Justin. Bosco didn't. As a result, Francis and Justin were never separated. Whenever I wanted to find one, I just had to find the other. They were always together.

"Justin is going to throw a fit." I picked up the shoe and let the drool pour out. He licked his chops.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Maddie." Agata bit her lip.

"It's not a problem," I assured her. "You did nothing wrong."

She nodded and smiled, continuing to put away the laundry.

I got up from the floor and grabbed Bosco by his red collar, dragging him out of the room. His heavy feet padded down the stairs, and I opened the back door to let him run free in the yard.

"You're in big trouble when Justin gets home," I said to him. "I can't save you this time."

He ran off to chase something in the wet grass.

Francis sat at my feet, watching Bosco. I could have sworn I saw him shake his head in shame. He tried to set an example for the young one, but it never worked.

I shut the door just as the phone began to ring. I rushed to get it, but of course, Gioni beat me there. He liked to piss me off like that. I could at least answer the phone by myself, but he wouldn't hear of it.

"Bieber residence. Of course, Mr. Bieber." He handed me the phone. "It's Mr. Justin for you."

"Thank you." I took it, "Justin?"

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Hi. I didn't get a chance to see you this morning before you left."

"I know. I had to be in really early and didn't want to wake you. How has your day been?"

"Oh, you know; the usual. Babies to change, dogs to feed, staff to argue with."

"Would you like the evening off?"

"Sure."

"Come have dinner with me in the city. We can go out for a nice date."

"Really? That would actually be kind of great." I sighed. "Can I meet you in about an hour?"