Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm Page 0,55
a sharp cry of pain from Claire.
“Shut up, bitch,” Pete growled. “You have no say in what happens now. Not anymore. I gave you a chance. You could have come back with me. It would have been the two of us, like it was before. Just doing whatever we wanted. That’s what I tried to give you, but you wouldn’t take it.”
Pietro crouched down, placing one hand on the ground as he fought back the sudden onslaught of his dragon.
Not now, he pleaded with it as the beast went berserk, wanting nothing more than to rip Pete’s head from his body and shove it down his throat before incinerating his corpse into a pile of ash.
His feet pushed him forward, inching Pietro closer to the end of the hallway and the opening beyond.
We can’t do that. Not yet! Claire is in danger.
His body shuddered, revolting at his brain’s attempt to stay put. To continue listening. Pete had hit his mate, and he needed to pay. That was all that his dragon could understand, and its unbridled fury was slowly winning.
Stop this. If we go out there, we could be killing her! With a mental snarl of effort, Pietro hauled in his dragon. It was strong, but he was the one in charge. The one who decided what they were going to do. Not it.
Pete would get what was coming to him. Pietro vowed that to his dragon. But there was something else going on here. Claire’s ex-boyfriend had to be working with someone.
Someone who had knowledge of the area. Someone smarter than that idiot Pete. If he walked out there now, Pietro would have no idea what might be waiting for him. Whatever it was might kill Claire, for all he knew. Not until he had more information would Pietro risk her life. That would not be protecting her to the best of his abilities.
Claire was tough. She would have to be. Once Pietro found out why her ex had brought her here, instead of simply leaving town, then he could go out there and raise unholy hell on the man who had hit his mate.
But not before.
His dragon subsiding, Pietro returned to listening just as he heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching. There was a second person out there after all.
“You have done well, my son. You are to be praised, for your efforts. Your energy, it is well used. Proud you should be.”
Pietro frowned at the odd lilt to the newcomer’s voice. The man spoke smoothly, each word wrapped in the softest silk, designed to work its way under one’s skin. There was also something almost familiar, though he wasn’t sure if it was the style of speech or the voice behind it, that he thought he’d heard before.
“What took you so long?” Pete growled. “We had a deal.”
“Arrangements. They had to be made, you see. Agreements kept. Fear not, my child, for the time is upon us. I see you have brought her before us. Most excellent. You have done well.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Pete growled. “I don’t care about that. We had a deal. Pay up.”
The other person sighed. “Of course. Here is the money, as promised. Though I wish you would have taken us up on our offer.”
Pietro stiffened, recognizing the sound of a subtle threat hidden among the words. The newcomer was telling Pete he should forgo the money and accept whatever else had been offered to him instead. Claire’s ex-boyfriend wasn’t smart enough to hear it though.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll take the money,” he said dismissively before continuing, his tone making it clear he was addressing Claire now. “You should have come with me, babydoll. When I offered to take you back. Your life would have been way better. But it’s too late for you now.”
“Listen to you,” Claire said, practically laughing in her defiance.
God, I love this woman so much, Pietro thought, too preoccupied with listening to focus on the words of his own mind.
“You didn’t offer to take me back,” Claire said. “I left you, you dumb idiot. I’m over you, Pete. You just feel vulnerable because I disobeyed you. You can’t handle the fact that I might not like you anymore. That I hate you, and that I left you. Your women can’t have opinions, they can’t be independent, and you despise me for trying. That’s why you’ve brought me here, in front of these…I don’t even know who this bathrobe idiot is. It doesn’t matter, Pete. Anything would be