Treasure Lane Dragons: Complete Series (BBW Paranormal Dragon Shapeshifter Romance) (23 page)

Antonio met them halfway and pulled Ruby into a quick hug, pecking her on both cheeks.

“Hello, papa,” she said, her voice resigned.

“You had me and your mother worried sick, Ruby!” Antonio gave her a sharp look before letting her go and reaching his hand out to Cillian, who took it with more than a little remorse. “Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

“It’s what I do,” Cillian remarked with a shadow of a grin.

They were shown into a booth that already seated Sergei, though the old bear didn’t look anywhere near as jolly as he usually did. In fact, he looked angry, furious even – another man with a problem. “What’s going on?” Cillian asked, frowning at Sergei’s sour mood. Antonio and Sergei exchanged glances, and Ruby took the moment to slide into the seat next to Cillian rather than her father. He appreciated the gesture.

“Cable Bloodhowl is the problem.” Sergei almost spat his name out.

“Yeah? I thought he wouldn’t be causing any trouble for a while after the ass kicking I gave him. What did he do now?”

“He hit up one of my transports last night, or his boys did, anyway. Decked three carriers, set fire to the load. And they made another run at one of Antonio’s crews this morning. I guess they must have asked around and figured out you worked for me. Cable even sent us a note.” Sergei eyed Antonio grimly.

The hardened Italian wore that implacable look he tended to have and turned his steely eyes to his daughter. Cillian had to resist the urge to grab her hand and tell her everything would soon be fine again.

“He told us to return his fiancée or he wouldn’t stop before Chicago was in ruins. Anything you want to tell me, Ruby?”

“Um. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t even fucking agree to it! He just shoved a ring on my finger and said we were going to marry during the gold moon. Cillian was there, he can back me up!” Ruby protested, color rising to her cheeks.

Damn, she looked cute when she was angry. Cillian nodded, looking at Antonio and then Sergei.

“That did happen, yup.”

“So let me get this straight. My daughter thought she would go and have a little adventure with some werewolf asshat, who is now going through both mine and Sergei’s businesses, rampaging and looting until I give him back his fiancée, who happens to be said daughter?! Ruby, the mess you’ve made this time…”

Cillian watched as Ruby cast her eyes downward, and he could see tears starting to well up in them. Hell, that wasn’t right. The only one who should be allowed to make her cry was… no one. Well, maybe him, but only the good kind of tears. His dragon growled with irritation, clawing to be let out.

“So what are we going to do to clean this mess up? They’re engaged to be married during the gold moon, that just doesn’t go away,” Sergei said.

The Russian bear was right. Promises to wed during the gold moon weren’t taken lightly among shifters. Each race had their own traditions, but most around the Chicago area believed that breaking an oath like that would not only be a sign of weakness on the part of the shifter, but would see him driven from his pack. Cable wouldn’t just give up. Suddenly, an idea formed in Cillian’s head.

His worried scowl turned into a sly grin, and he glanced over at Ruby. Sergei and Antonio were no longer paying attention to them – they were already deep in discussion about the possible solutions, most of which included killing every last werewolf they could find.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, his emerald eyes meeting her hazels. She glowered at him, her long lashes fluttering. Gorgeous.

“No. But I trust you more than I trust Cable or my father, so that’s something.”

She looked like she was about to say something else, but thought better of it at the last moment. Cillian had to wonder if that something she hadn’t said to him was that she trusted him more than herself. Funny how he could get a vibe like that from her from just the tilt of her head, the purse of her lips and the look in her maddeningly inviting eyes.

“Good. That’s all I need.” He grinned, straightening up in his seat. Leave it to fate to sort things out for him.

“I’ve got a solution.
I’ll
marry her.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ruby

“WHAT!?” Ruby and Antonio yelped in unison.

They looked at the smug dragon like he was hopped up on whatever the hell dragons smoked to get their rocks off – pure diamonds or whatnot? The point was, he was crazy. Ruby immediately regretted implying that he could ever be trustworthy because the man was clearly criminally insane. Hot, but completely off his rocker.

“Explain yourself,” Antonio said sternly, his hands balled into fists.

For once, Ruby agreed with her father. One marriage proposal had been a lot to handle, but two within two days was just preposterous. Though, yes, admittedly Cillian would cut a much nicer form in a tux.

“You clever snake,” Sergei noted with a chuckle, leaning back in the seat and giving Cillian an appreciative nod.

Apparently the shifter understood Cillian’s reasoning without needing an explanation, but Ruby certainly didn’t.

Cillian raised his hands in a placating manner, and his golden cuffs caught the light just right. He also wore a few golden chains around his neck, and while they would have looked ostentatious on most men, Ruby thought they looked sexy as sin on him. She liked her bad boys with a bit of flare. She shook her head.

Focus. Crazy dragon wanting to marry you. No time to think about how hot he is.

“It’s very simple, really. Cable won’t give up on her, not when he announced the proposal in front of his entire pack. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to hold on to his position. He
has
to marry her. The only way to avoid it is for her to be married off to a stronger shifter, preferably one that his pack didn’t have any beef with. Even werewolves aren’t dumb enough to come challenge a dragon.

And if they know I’m affiliated with Sergei, it shouldn’t take them long to figure out who I am. So, the way to fix this is to let Cable know that Ruby is engaged to me. And then actually have her marry me during the gold moon. I’ll take her to my family estate in Colorado, put some distance between us and the werewolves. That should buy us some time. If you agree, that is.”

Ruby glared at Cillian, who was doing a very fine job at ignoring her. His strong jaw was set and all his focus was turned on Antonio instead of her. She steamed with anger, fury boiling in her veins. Wasn’t anyone going to ask what
she
wanted? What
her
plan was? Granted, she didn’t necessarily have a plan, but it would have been nice to be asked before being married off to another shifter.

It was becoming a bit of a theme in her life, and she wasn’t sure she was particularly keen on it so far.

“That’s batshit crazy,” she said, her lips pressed thin, forming a straight, unamused line.

She glanced at her father for support, and to her surprise, the man was grinning widely. He clapped his hands together and leant back, eyeing Cillian with what could only be described as admiration.

“That is brilliant. And you will of course divorce her when the time comes?”

“He has to! We shifters can’t last if we find our fated mate and cannot be with her. It is tradition! It is everything!” Sergei said, slamming his fist on the table and making it creak precariously, startling Ruby a little. “Cillian is a sly man, my friend. I would never have thought of that. Cable will stop his nonsense, and Ruby will be freed from the engagement! Win-win!”

“He certainly is,” Antonio agreed.

“Excuse me. Don’t
I
get a say in this?”

“No,” Antonio and Cillian said at the same time, exchanging smug looks that made her want to smack both of them over the head.

Just as she was about to speak up again, Cillian tossed her a look. It hushed her, making her frown. He was willing her to trust him and hadn’t she just said she did? As much as she hated handing someone else the keys to her fate, there was something about this man, this
dragon
, that made her desperately want to believe that not all men were complete jerks and maybe there was a point to putting her faith in someone other than herself.

Wouldn’t that be a pleasant change? Not having to fight all the time?

Antonio was eyeing Cillian as if he were the son he had always wished he had (instead of the five he did have), and Cillian almost glowed with self-satisfaction.  The only one entirely unimpressed was Ruby.

Out of the fire and into the frying pan. Good going, Ruby.

“Now there is just the small matter of payment. How much?” Antonio asked, cocking a brow.

The Accardos were no slouches. Running Chicago for the past couple of decades had made their coffers plush and their wealth staggering. Still, from what Cillian had told her, their riches were but a drop in the bucket for a dragon.

“Well, it is an awfully large intrusion,” Cillian said, looking stern.

But Ruby could see the corner of his mouth twitching a little, as if he was the only one in on a giant cosmic joke and doing his best to hide it. She didn’t like it, even if it did make him seem kind of mysterious.

“Let’s say triple what Sergei agreed on with me. I’m in a giving mood,” he said, reaching his hand out to Antonio.

Antonio grabbed it and shook it gladly, smiling from ear to ear. Ruby could hardly remember ten times in her life when she’d seen her father smile like that.

“Welcome to the family, son.”

Oh, she was so screwed.

***

They spent another few hours at Bear It All
,
hammering out the details of their deal and having breakfast. Throughout it all, Ruby hadn’t stopped glaring daggers at Cillian, and he hadn’t looked anything less than amused at her chagrin. She was still having a hard time understanding how she went from being captive to a deranged werewolf to being betrothed to a billionaire dragon, who looked like he could have walked off the pages of the bad boy edition of Playgirl magazine.

Her father couldn’t have been more thrilled –
she
couldn’t have been more annoyed. When breakfast was over, Antonio and Sergei ushered them out, patting Cillian on the back and telling him what a great man he was for doing it. As if marrying her was some great charity that he was bestowing upon them. Sergei had given her a bone-breaking hug, wishing her a happy marriage, and then they’d been sent off towards Colorado in the quickest way possible.

Her father had promised to send some of her things to the mansion (of course Cillian had a mansion) so they could get out of Chicago faster, lest Cable find them.

So, in a matter of hours, Ruby found herself on a private plane being served champagne and strawberries and whisked away towards sunny… Colorado. She declined the treats each time they were offered to her and mostly spent the two-hour flight envisioning ways of how to get back at Cillian for his ‘brilliant’ plan. Bastard. He’d barely said a word to her since the club about anything other than their travel arrangements or getting her to hurry up, though the way he looked at her made her spine tingle. Like he couldn’t wait to stick a ring on her finger.

It was kind of nice, aside from being completely insane of course.

“Why?” she finally asked, sick and tired of trying to make a hole appear in his head and coming up short each time.

“Hmm?” he asked, looking up from the newspaper he had been flipping through.

His green eyes were so warm and full of life, the little golden specks in them catching the light and making them almost sparkle. If she’d met him in any other way, she’d been all over him.

“Why did you do it? Isn’t it against some shifter law to marry someone who isn’t your fated mate?”

He grinned that wolfish grin of his, cocking his head to the side and making his wild hair fall on his temple.

“I won’t tell if you won’t, sugar. And besides, I wanted a chance at that duel. We dragons hate mysteries.”

“Are you saying I’m a mystery?” she queried, trying to gulp down the smile she felt forming. 

He was charming, she had to give him that.

“Like a neat little Chinese puzzle box I can’t wait to tease open,” he said, that smirk of his turning almost violently sultry.

She got a very clear feeling that he wasn’t just talking about her not telling him her story.

Ruby averted her eyes, blushing a little. God damn that dragon. Ugh. Men that hot shouldn’t be allowed to be clever as well. Wasn’t it punishment enough that she had to stare at that body of his – all muscle and determination – for the next few weeks? Seeing him all healed, bathing in the morning light had been torture enough, and she didn’t think she should be subjected to it any more. Though, given the chance, she would gladly,
gladly
look at him again.