“Need backup?” she asked, knowing full well what his all-black outfit meant.
Grimalkin instantly appeared to wind around her ankles and yowl at Damian. “Don’t you dare take her! If all of you go and leave us behind, we order secret cheeseburgers!”
Damian bit back a smile. “Depends on why you’re visiting,” he addressed her, not his cheese-obsessed cat. “What’s up?”
“I think I finally found the dress you were after.” She held up two photos. One of them was Andi in a gorgeous black silk dress, snapped by paparazzi when they’d left a restaurant last week, and the other was clearly that same dress on a model on a runway. Damian knew which photo he preferred, reaching out to take it from her. Andi’s face was partially hidden by her coat’s collar, but you could still see the blue streak colored through her black hair as it swung around her, and her beautiful doe-brown eyes slightly widened in surprise. For the first time in his life, he was glad to’ve been stalked by a photographer, and he wished that he had more and better pictures of her. He’d bought these from the man through a third party at an exorbitant rate, but at least this way, all of them stayed out of circulation and were just for him.
“So,” Mills began, stalling like she sometimes did before she had to tell someone bad news because she couldn’t help it. “You want me to buy one for her?”
Damian’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. In her size. And have it sent to her immediately.” He cleared his throat. “Pen and paper, Grim, please.”
Grimalkin paused in his ankle-wind to point his tail, and Damian followed it to the bar where his cat had materialized his request for him.
“Send her this with the dress later,” Damian said, as he signed a slip of paper to send with the dress to Andi. Not from your uncle – D. and brought it back over to present to Mills, who’d started typing on her smartwatch. “So?”
“It’s very, very expensive,” she said. She glanced at the note. “Not from your uncle?”
“Long story.” Damian half-expected her to pry; if she was forced to be utterly honest with everyone, it would be unfair to not expect the same in return. “And money is no object when it comes to Andi.”
She held her wrist out to him. “Even this much?”
The dress was already in a shopping cart online, and its price was a number with many, many zeros.
Damian grunted. “Of course.” Andi was worth all his wealth, ten times over. Only…no wonder Andi assumed he’d gotten that dress for her, rather than her uncle, at that price? “Mills, why didn’t your background check mention she had an uncle?”
“Because she doesn’t. Damian, there’s no one in her life who could’ve bought this for her.”
“But she didn’t buy this for herself,” he said, pointing at her watch.
Mills frowned at the screen, taking her time before she spoke again, and then to only say, “Agreed.”
He knew what it meant when she was quiet. “What’re you thinking?”
“That your girlfriend is poor, and that this is couture,” she said, holding up the runway photo. “It just came out in Italy last month. It’s exclusive as hell and painfully hard to acquire…even before the price tag. So, either it’s a truly exceptional knock-off or Andi’s ‘uncle,’” she said, making air-quotes around the word, “has both funds and connections.”
Damian felt truly wounded—a rarity for him. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“You asked, remember?” Mills said, before grimacing. “She was a little. Or you wanted her to be. I’m sorry…you know I can sometimes read your aura when you’re feeling human.”
Damian closed his eyes and ignored her. Who would be close enough to Andi to send her that dress, but then choose to let her live in debt, in an apartment with a roommate, worried about a degenerate brother? It wasn’t his business anymore, but….
“Anyhow,” Mills said, “I’ll see that the transaction goes through smoothly. And I’ll mail it to her, with your note, right away.”
“Good. Thank you,” Damian said, his mind whirling.
Grim sat down on his haunches and looked up at Mills. “Cheeeeeeseburgers?” Grim asked her forlornly, even though she couldn’t understand him. She leaned over to pick him up and cradle him so she could rub his belly, and Damian snorted. In the Realms, that kind of behavior would be unbecoming. Earth was rubbing off on Grim.
“Other than that, will you be needing me?” she asked.
“No…stay home. Relax for once…order yourself some dinner,” Damian said.
“Oh, we were already going to do that, weren’t we, Mister Grimsley?” Mills said while bouncing Grim, who was purring loudly enough that Damian could hear. He looked at the photo of Andi she’d left with him as she started for the door. He’d gone through these photos this past week, again and again, searching for something. He didn’t know what, though, until just this moment: he wanted a sign that Andi would be coming back to him.
Damian jogged for the door and leaned out to shout after her. “Mills!”
“Damian, if you ruin cheeseburger night for me, I swear—” Grim growled clearly.
“Yes, boss?” Mills paused and asked, oblivious to Grim’s concerns.
He stared at the photo a moment more. Something didn’t add up. It wasn’t like he and Andi had had a chance to discuss their families, but…. “Run another background check on Andi,” he called down to her.
“Right away!” Mills said, then started down the stairs.
“T-minus five and counting!” Austin yelled from below her in the entryway, not even bothering to hide the excitement in his voice.
Damian joined Austin at the bottom of the stairs. The were-shifter had put on all of his tactical gear, not because he needed any of it, but because he enjoyed it. Damian suspected it reminded him of his time in the military. Zach came down at exactly fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds dressed in street clothes; he wasn’t even wearing black.
Austin looked between the two of them. “What…am I running this mission alone?”
“I’m sorry, did I need something more than being able to turn into a fire-breathing dragon?” Damian said.
“Fine,” Austin allowed, then glared pointedly at his brother. “But what’s this?” he asked, looking Zach up and down. “Were you planning on asking her out on another date?”
“We don’t always have to kill everything all the time, brother,” Zach said in a clipped tone.
“Uh, yeah, we do. It’s why we’re here? And what we’re good at?” Austin said, then looked over to Damian. “This is your fault. All the diplomacy bullshit you’ve been teaching him.”
Damian snorted and considered Zach’s current state. The man hadn’t even brought a gun—although they could outfit a small SWAT team with the contents of their SUV—the “tour bus”—if they had to. “You agree this needs doing, yes?” If he didn’t, they would leave the wolf at home.
“Yes, and I’m going,” Zach said with a tone that broached no disagreement.
“To fight her with, what…your dress belt?” Austin pressed.
“You don’t have to shoot everything when you can use your words,” Zach said. “She is a person—not an Unearthly.”
“Would you listen to that?” Austin asked Damian, as though he'd already chosen a side. “It’s like he doesn’t want us to have any fun at all,” he said, before bursting out the front door to trot down the front brick stairs toward the garage.
“Fun,” Zach mouthed at Damian, assuming Damian had his back, making air quotes around the word with an eye roll before following his brother.
Damian walked out right after them. Of course, they both assumed he’d taken their side. It wasn’t hard for him to seem impartial—he had no skin in their personal argument—and he was only interested in interrogating the girl. But beyond that, he knew that they were both wrong.
He knew from personal experience that words could be weapons, strong enough to pierce through dragon scale.
Chapter 5
The
city scenery outside her window thinned, and Andi realized they were going to a newly-gentrifying part of town, Crystal Cove. For a long time, no one had wanted to be anywhere near the water—the nearby port’s business was too noxious and loud—but then rich people remembered they liked ocean views again, and they were slowly knocking down all the multi-unit housing that blocked them until the beaches could be rebuilt. It made sense that her uncle was renting here. It fit him.
Her Uncle Lee was, to the best of her knowledge, a kind of a dilettante. He was always out on adventures doing business, missing milestones and birthdays—including her mother’s funeral—but he’d paid for the whole thing, sight unseen. In the intervening three years since then, they’d occasionally texted, both making plans when he was in town only to take turns breaking them. It was as if without the weight of her mother’s good intentions, there was nothing left to draw them near. Andi would rather get overtime on all the major holidays. She wasn’t half as good a cook, and Uncle Lee mostly had his own life besides.
Which made last weekend’s surprise dinner invitation completely unexpected. She’d known he was in town again; it was why she’d asked him for help with Danny, but she’d have never guessed he’d send some Nordic goddess secretary over to collect her without so much as a warning.
The driver pulled down a residential street where the houses got grander and farther apart until there was just one left before you hit the waterside. There stood a giant white stucco monstrosity with heavy black wooden doors and palm trees—that’d clearly just been planted out front—and she was fairly sure they’d freeze to death this winter.
Oh, Uncle, Andi sighed. No one could ever accuse Uncle Lee of having taste.
She got out of the car before the driver could get to her door, and at the end of a colonnaded entryway, the house’s door opened, and her Uncle Lee burst out.
“Andrea!” he shouted at her the second he saw her. Her first thought was that he looked the same: dark skin, dark hair, well-trimmed, short beard that met his equally well-trimmed mustache. She realized that for her entire life, he’d seemed practically ageless.
“Uncle Lee,” Andi shouted back, grinning at him helplessly, just like she had when she was a little girl. Three years had been too long. Why had she been so stubborn?
Maybe because she knew seeing him would remind her of her mother. The absence of her mother hit her like a knife in the heart and twisted hard.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said, and meant it, even though it hurt.
“You too, child,” he said, returning the same bittersweet smile she was likely giving him, before clapping her shoulders and shaking her gently. He still smelled like the same tobacco smoke he always did. In all the time she’d known him, he’d never once changed his brand. “My favorite niece. In the flesh!”
“Only niece,” Andi teased, slipping off her shoes and placing them on the special shelf by the door.
“Even if I had twenty nieces, you would still be my favorite,” her uncle said, then looped his arm in hers to pull her inside his house. “I made Elsa get you a very nice dress to apologize.”
“About that,” Andi began slowly as they walked into a dark wood hallway.
Her uncle snorted. “Don’t worry. I know how you Ngo twins are. Stubborn to the nth degree.”
“Stubborn?” she protested lightly. “I prefer opinionated.”
Uncle Lee laughed. “Well, my opinion is that your opinion is wrong. But regardless, we’ve managed to rebook, and here you are at very long last.” He cupped her face in his hands. “And look at you! The very image of brains and beauty in the flesh!”
Andi felt herself flushing. “Uncle,” she began and then took in the strange room behind him, where several small creatures were taxidermied into exciting dioramas. “Are you still hunting?” she asked with concern. God, the one time Danny and she had gotten to stay at Uncle’s unsupervised when they were kids was the day after Halloween—she’d seen creepy glass eyes in her nightmares for weeks.
She’d assumed he’d just rented Addams family-style houses. It wasn’t until she was a grown-up that she realized all of these things—the lynxes chasing after rabbits, who were, in turn, being chased by small bears—were all his, and he moved them around with him.
“Of course! What else is a true man of leisure supposed to do in his spare time?” her uncle huffed, looking a little offended like she’d just insulted his manhood.
Because in a way, she had. Her mother’s way of fitting into the US had been to fall for the fairy-tale Cinderella stuff, true love, and all that, whereas her uncle’s way of fitting in had been to become a macho everyman—a man’s man—but classy. Which was why he was wearing a red silk smoking jacket now and had a pipe just like he’d walked out of the 1950s. Hell, he still had elephant feet wastebaskets, like that wasn’t the most horrific thing.
“What?” he pressed her.
She inhaled, ready to try to explain things, then just gave up. She only saw him once in a blue moon. She definitely wasn’t going to change him, and Danny still needed his help besides. “Nothing,” she said brightly. “When’s dinner?”
“Soon!” He smiled at her indulgently. “I can’t wait for you to taste it; my chef has two Michelin stars,” he bragged.
Andi made sure to seem appropriately awed for her uncle’s sake. “Wow! Does he yell a lot? Like that one guy on TV?”
Her uncle laughed. “Not at me, he doesn’t.”
Two rooms later, one of which had a shoal of piranha on display across one wall—just how many people did he pay to dust here?—she tried to broach the subject of Danny’s disappearance.
“You got my text, right?” He hadn’t responded to it, but that wasn’t unusual for him.
Her uncle nodded deeply. “Yes. Your brother has always been a troubled boy, hasn’t he? Don’t worry. I have some people looking into things. He’ll turn up.”
“Did you maybe talk to a private investigator?’
“I have many people helping who have a variety of resources to tap into,” he replied, which she knew meant no. “Come and eat dinner with my friend, and afterward, we will discuss my favorite nephew Daniel.”
“Your…friend?” Andi had to resist digging in her heels, even more so as Uncle Lee paused to look at her, embodying the very image of innocence himself.
“Yes! I’m very friendly. In fact, this one time, in Africa…” he began, and launched into a story, specifically to distract her.
Andi shook her head and gave in to the Uncle Lee experience.
“If he’d just listened to me,” Uncle Lee was intoning. He was discussing some business deal gone momentarily awry, but only in the broadest strokes, so she had no real idea what it was about because the important part of the story wasn’t the facts—only that Uncles Should Be Listened To. He swung them into the dining room, where his goddamned polar bear was on display, looming over a seemingly much smaller man.
“David!” her uncle said, waving at the man grandly. “You’re here!”
The interloper stood politely as they entered the room. He was at least as tall as Damian; it was just that the polar bear was giant. The bear was the thing Andi remembered her uncle having the longest, and she knew there was a secret spot on the back of its base where she’d spent an idle afternoon carving her name on it with a fork when she was eight. She’d showed Danny, who’d totally ratted her out to Uncle, and after that, Andi-bear was born.
If only it would come to life now and eat the undeniably handsome man who stood in front of it. What game was her uncle playing? The man clearly had some Asian mixed in his background, but he looked Caucasian enough to pass, and Andi doubted he’d ever heard racist singsong taunts behind his back. In fact, with his toned physique and dark hair, he looked like a slightly Asian version of a popular red-caped superhero.
Internally, Andi sighed. Mixed Asian-white dudes tended to be blinded with privilege due to the fortunate blend of being both male and white. Whereas not only wa
s she a girl, but people expected her to accommodate all their racist stereotypes. She’d had more than one patient say the absolute worst things to her while drunk or high—but also sometimes sober. On top of that, old school Chinese elders shamed her for not knowing thousands of years’ worth of history despite the fact she was in American public school.
“This is your beloved niece, I take it?” he asked her uncle over her shoulder with a British accent that made the thought of dinner with him about a jillion times more tolerable.
“It is,” her uncle said, practically propelling her forward, so much she almost stumbled.
She caught herself and managed to make an introduction. “I’m Andi.”
“Andrea,” her uncle corrected her.
The man smiled warmly and offered his hand. “David. Nice to meet you,” he said with an English accent.
Andi stared at his hand. He smelled light of cologne or aftershave—and this whole thing had clearly been a setup. This had been the reason for the surprise dress on her doorstep. Elsa had taken one look around her apartment and had known she wouldn’t step-it-up without some shoving. She shook his hand as she fought not to clench her jaw. “Nice to meet you, too,” she lied.
Her uncle held out her seat, and she sat down where he wanted her to—right next to David, close enough to figure out his aftershave was vetiver scented, like a spicy fresh cut lawn—and despite the fact that the ornately-carved table could fit twelve. Then, her uncle started talking.
“Andrea is a nurse at a very prestigious hospital,” he said to David, before turning to her. “And David here used to be a surgeon, but now he owns a biotech company.” He poured them both water from a gold-gilded carafe.
“How interesting,” Andi managed to say through gritted teeth.
“Isn’t it?” Her uncle went on, “It’s one of the largest, maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s—”
“I think we can pass on that right now,” David said smoothly, rescuing her. He waved a hand, and she noticed he was wearing an interesting silver ring—and it definitely wasn’t on his left third finger. “Medical stuff is boring when you’re outside the hospital, right?” he went on, looking to her for confirmation.
Dragon Destined: Billionaire Dragon Shifter Romance (Prince of the Other Worlds) Page 5