Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm Page 0,24

did his crew.”

Claire didn’t reply. There was no point.

“I also notice how you’re the only one under arrest. For a tape of something that happened months ago, that never surfaced, until now. The day after I happened to beat up said ex-boyfriend.”

“And,” Claire said. “I know all this. What’s your point?”

“My point is, that it smells like a setup.”

“I still did it,” Claire pointed out. “None of this changes that fact. I stole cars, Pietro. Inescapable fact.”

“Everyone does weird things when they’re wrapped up in someone,” he said. “Like steal cars or buy them expensive things.”

Claire snorted. “I wish Pete had spent a few hundred grand on me instead of stealing it in cars. Wasting lots of money on me would have been far more preferential.”

“Like paying someone’s bail money?” Pietro suggested, the words sliding in so smoothly he had to have been waiting for the opening.

“Ahhhh,” Claire stammered. “Um.”

Pietro chuckled. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go, I’m teasing.”

Without waiting, he went around the far side of the truck and opened the door for her.

“Thank you,” she said, then paused before getting in to rest a hand on his chest and met his eyes. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome, Claire,” he rumbled, meeting her gaze and then tossing her a wink.

Claire blushed and hurried to get in the truck while Pietro closed the door behind her. She saw him look around for signs of trouble, then he went and got in his side.

“Where are we going, by the way?” she asked as he fired up the truck, the engine turning over with a deep throaty growl.

“Your house,” Pietro said confidently.

Claire grimaced, sliding down into her seat.

She really did not want to go back there. The confrontation with her parents was not going to be pretty. She was sure of that.

But what other choice do I have?

Chapter Fourteen

Pietro

“I need to ask you something,” she said as he pulled away from the curb.

“Go ahead,” Pietro said, his attention on the road but also on the shadows on either side of it. This was the most dangerous part of the journey. They were out in the open. Exposed. “Ask away.”

“Where the hell did you get that kind of money from on such short notice?”

He glanced over at Claire. “Really?”

“Um. Yes, of course really? What…why wouldn’t I be serious?” she asked indignantly.

“Sorry, I thought it was just well known that the dragon clans are rather well off. We do like our treasure, after all.”

“Do you have a cave and a treasure hoard too?” Claire joked.

Pietro just turned to give her a level look.

“Actually?” she said in a much more subdued voice.

“Yes. I do. We do. It’s not something we talk about much,” he said quietly. “But we’ve been mining these mountains for years. Decades I suppose. Much of what we find, we refine ourselves and keep. We…like gold,” he finished with a sigh, averting his gaze.

Humans always laughed at that part, despite their own obsession with the ‘precious’ metal.

“Is that part of the, um, the dragon side of you?” Claire asked, fumbling over the phrasing.

“Yes,” he said, glancing over at her again, his face breaking into a smile. “How did you know about that?”

She looked down. “Lilly has told me a few things,” she said, then rushed to continue. “I hope that’s okay. I don’t want her to get in trouble. She hasn’t said much, but sometimes the way she talks about Trent, it’s like there’s two of him. Him and his dragon.”

“There are, in a way,” he confirmed, happy to be able to talk about it, to get it out in the open.

Then, I can find a way to tell you what my dragon thinks of you, and maybe I won’t sound so crazy.

“Does it ever talk to you?” Claire asked, biting her lip while she waited for a response.

Pietro saw that out of the corner of his eye, trying not to smile at the dimples that formed on her perfect cheeks, or the way her lips occasionally puckered while she gnawed nervously.

He wanted to kiss her so badly. Regret filled him that he hadn’t taken his opportunity the night before, when he’d been so close. She’d given him the opening. It would have been so easy…

Easy, but wrong. She’d been caught by surprise. Not a few minutes earlier, she’d told him that she wasn’t ready for that, and Pietro needed to respect her decisions. If it was going to happen, it would happen when they were both ready.

Regardless of how badly his dragon was