Page 74 of King of Ruin

“I…I did not…”

“But you are going to answer to me. I happened to notice your accusations were rather vague. Which animals were in distress? Tell us, Mike.”

Mike takes a giant step back. “I…”

Roman moves forward right in Mike’s face. Even I can tell that Roman is much taller. Larger in every dimension. “That’s what I thought. You know, she’s twice the caretaker you’ll ever be. Apologize.”

My mouth is hanging open as I listen to this exchange. Roman is not acting like a man who is going to bolt. He sounds like he’s defending me. My heart swells.

“Sorry.”

The door opens, the vet stepping inside. “Mr. Kincaid, is everything all right?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Maddie

Roman glaresat Mike and then turns to the vet. “Your tech accused Maddie of negligence in her care of the birds and squirrels that came here.”

“What?” the vet breathes. “Mike?”

“There were no care plans.” He sounds like a sulky teenager, but my face is still hot and I’m sure I’m various shades of red. He’s not the first veterinary professional to tell me I’ve no business caring for animals.

Part of me has always believed them.

But then I’d find some wounded creature and I’d think to myself…if not me, then who… If I walk away, that might mean this little creature dies.

And so I’d take the bird with a broken wing or the squirrel with the broken leg home. My grandmother would sigh about my heart being bigger than my smarts.

The vet lets out a frustrated sigh. “It’s not true. I got the plans verbally from Dr. Anderson myself. She took the time to go through each case with me.”

“Lucia.” I should have known. I’m not sure what I did to deserve such an amazing friend but my shoulders wilt in relief.

“But—” Mike starts.

“You’re dismissed.”

Mike huffs out a breath, but leaves the room, the door closing with a thud behind him.

Roman’s hand is at my back again, his body close enough that I can feel his heat.

“My apologies,” the vet clears her throat. “I’m Dr. Stevens.”

With a nod, I hold the kitten closer, still feeling awkward and nervous. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Roman’s other hand comes to the underside of mine, like he’s holding the kitten too. “Should we let Dr. Stevens examine the patient?”

With a wincing nod, I hand the baby over, waiting while Dr. Stevens completes her checkup. “Tell me what happened that’s brought you in.”

“The kitten stopped breathing,” I say. “I used massage to stimulate the heart and lungs again.”

“Good thinking,” Dr. Stevens says, “Not everyone is able to do that.”

I really appreciate her kind words. Roman gives me another gentle squeeze. I take in several slow breaths as I wait, trying to clear out my worries.

“There’s not much to be done,” Dr. Stevens hands me the kitten back. “Heart rate is normal, number of breaths per minute are not elevated. Weight is fine, but I’d keep a careful eye on that.”

“I will.” Roman has a kitchen scale. It will only take a minute. I’m sure Roman will help me.