Rich Bitch: Everything's Going to the Dogs Read Online Free PDF Page A

guy’s face, when she heard a low, fierce growl. Stunned, she turned to stare at Mimi, but the poodle looked as surprised as she.
    She turned her head in time to see a big black shadow launch itself at a tall man in a low-pulled woolen cap who was furiously wiping his streaming eyes.
    This time the howl of surprise and pain came from the attacker. She sensed rather than saw the dog bite and shake— looking like a vengeful black demon—his growls as ferocious as his teeth. She pulled Mimi to her, feeling she’d stumbled into a nightmare, but suddenly she was free.
    Their attacker was running toward a beat-up looking sports car, a hand covering his face, the other holding his butt.
    “Bastard bit me in the ass,” he yelled. The big black dog in question raced behind the man, growling and snapping. She saw the passenger door open even as the engine gunned. The miscreant threw himself into the car, but the black dog got one more piece of him, coming away with a patch of denim, the back pocket still attached.
    She watched, bemused, as the car tore away. She squinted at the license plate, but it was so grimed with dirt it was unreadable. Deliberately, no doubt.
    Now that the car was gone, Mimi was doing her best to imitate the big black dog. Barking and pulling at the leash, growling as ferociously as a toy poodle can.
    The black dog, she now saw it was a Doberman or part Doberman anyway, raced back to her side. She flinched involuntarily as
 the powerful jaws ground at the denim and wrestled it back and forth almost as though he suspected the owner might still be in the pants.Then, suddenly, he dropped the mashed fabric at her feet, wagged his tail, and let his tongue hang out,
 a dog well pleased with himself.
    “Good dog,” she said carefully, still hanging on to her mace, wondering if the ferocious Doberman was ready for some new prey.
    But at the words, good dog, he wagged his tail harder and gazed at her adoringly.
    As relief set in, she laughed, almost light-headed with joy. Sophie pulled Mimi up into one arm and put her other around the Doberman’s neck. She had the dubious pleasure of having her neck licked by one small dainty tongue, and half her face slobbered on by the size-large, heavy-on-the-saliva version. “Good dogs. Good, good dogs,” she said, hugging them closer.

Chapter 4
    Realizing she couldn’t sit on the ground all day cuddling dogs, she rose to her feet and ignored the impulse to bolt back to Vince’s apartment and lock herself and Mimi inside.
    She’d failed  in her duty on her first day. Vince had told her not to take Mimi out decked in diamonds, and she’d disobeyed his orders.
    But until the big man fired her, she was Mimi’s nanny, and Mimi still needed a new collar, a new leash, and some food. That’s what she was going to get, and no park mugger was going to stop her. She picked up the tooth-marked piece of denim and looked in the pocket, but it was empty, leaving no clue to the owner. Still, the patch of cloth itself was a clue of sorts, so she folded it and stuffed it into her bag along with her recapped mace.
    She was a lot less carefree as she made her way through the rest of the park, but no violent criminals approached, no one but a few dog walkers like herself and a couple of mothers chattering away, pushing strollers containing infants.
    The big dog never left her side, and after suggesting a couple of times that he go home, she gave up and was grateful for his company. He’d proven himself her and Mimi’s champion, and she decided, when she was at the butcher, that he deserved a treat.
    Mimi pretended—or perhaps felt—no interest in the package from the butcher, but the Doberman drooled and licked his chops as they traced their way back through the park. She came upon the spot where they’d met him, and she handed him the big meaty bone with a pat on the head and her thanks. He took the bone in a surprisingly delicate manner that charmed her and dropped down on