Sold To The Dragon Princes: The Novel

by Daniella Wright

  Maybe she was not so different after all. She was going to have to change that. That was a must.

  *****

  Sophia heard the doorbell to her apartment ringing as it stirred her from the depths of a deep sleep. She had been dreaming, but she was no longer able to recall the details of the dream. It was as if the doorbell ringing at such an hour on a Saturday had driven her conscious thought from her just long enough for the specifics of her sweet dream to be erased. She knew the dream was sweet. That was really about all she could recall.

  She groaned loudly as she pushed the covers off of her bed and walked to answer the door. There was probably a bored doorman who was done delivering some package to her that she was going to have to pretend to be polite to and to not yell at for disturbing her precious beauty sleep at nine on a Saturday morning.

  But there was no one there. All that was left was a basket of roses with a fancy ribbon tied around it and a card with some fancy writing of her name across the front of it. She looked around, glancing up and down the hallway but saw no one there.

  Just a scent. There was a strong scent of man’s cologne. It smelled sweet and musky. It made her feel cozy and warm all of a sudden and she found herself enjoying the sweetness of it for several seconds, the basket all but forgotten at her feet.

  Sophia grabbed the basket and carried it inside. She opened the card and was surprised to see a message scrawled inside in the same flashy penmanship. It appeared to be printed on, but it was written by hand. It was beautiful and somewhat mesmerizing for a moment that she almost did not read the content of the message.

  Beautiful Sophia, I look forward to the next step.

  Regards, Brad

  Sophia sat down on her couch and leaned back. She was almost pretty sure that she was dreaming again, but after several seconds she convinced herself that she was wide awake and she was really seeing this. Brad had sent her a card with flowers. Was this his way of apologizing? Was he just welcoming her into the fold so to speak? What the hell did he mean by the next step? The next step of what? Was he referring to the next step of The Crew’s business arrangement with her? Was he just simply wishing her luck on the business endeavor they were coming together on?

  What in the hell was going on?

  Sophia was damn tempted to call the pig up and see what his game was. But was it a game? Was it just some sincerity on his part? There was so much you could not tell about Brad Thorpe. She just did not know what to think.

  *****

  “That is so weird.”

  Carrie Wilson, Sophia’s best friend looked at the card and the flowers that came with them for the third time since she had arrived at Sophia’s. She had asked Carrie to come over and hang out as they normally did on lazy Saturdays. Sometimes the girl’s went shopping and other times they just hung out and binged watch “Pretty Little Liars” on Netflix and pigged out on chocolate and beer.

  Sophia could not wait to show her the newest gift she had just received and when she told Carrie who it was from the girl practically wet herself. Carrie had heard Sophia rant for hours the other day about Brad and his devious indiscretions during the Investors meeting. Carrie wanted to kill Brad too, but of course she changed her tune when Sophia let it slip about how cute he was. Then Carrie was all ears about that.

  “Are you sure this guy could not be a bit dreamy? Maybe you were wrong about him,” Carrie said.

  “Oh, no. You have not met the pig. He is the most condescending jerk you will ever have the displeasure of meeting in your life.”

  “Are you sure you don’t like him just a little?” Carrie said with a giggle and that devious look she always got on her face when she was trying to fix someone up. She seemed to think that she was the neighborhood equivalent of Laura Bertram and she was always trying to fix her friends up with some guy or another.

  Meanwhile Carrie’s own love life was in a permanent coma. Anytime Sophia tried to mention that to Carrie she brushed it off and made up a lie about some boyfriend who was backpacking through Europe for the past eight months. Sophia and her other friends knew it was a crock, but they were all going to have to eat crow if Carrie ever showed up with a guy who had been backpacking through Europe for eight months.

  “I do not like him. Like I said, he is gorgeous and charming and hella rich, but he is too much of a jerk for anyone to get close to him. I’m sure he just uses women and tosses them aside when he is done.”

  “Well, if he wanted to use me for any night of the week I might be down for that,” Carrie said.

  “Oh, wait. What about your man in Europe?”

  “Oh, he doesn’t have to know. I’m pretty sure if your man is gone after a certain period of time then it is perfectly acceptable to cheat on him. It is a loophole. I’m sure it is a fact. The internet does not lie.”

  Sophia laughed and hit Carrie playfully as the girls continued to eat their ice cream bars.

  *****

  Sophia shut her briefcase, thankful that the weekly investors meeting was over. She was really getting tired of having these meetings, but she knew that it was a part of the process when she signed up. But they were intensely boring and they were full of the same repetitive questions and charts and plans. She had to sit there waiting for each member of The Wrecking Crew to put their two cents worth in and most of it was just repeating what the person before her had said. It was really annoying and she was not sure how much more she was going to be able to take before she stood up one day and screamed to high Heaven about it.

  But she smiled and held her own anyway, waiting for the chance when one of them would call on her to speak and add something to the meeting. It had not really happened yet and this was the third meeting, but she was prepared for anything. There was no way she was going to be caught off guard.

  Or at least that was what she thought.

  “Oh, wait. I had something I needed to ask Sophia before we officially wrap things up today,” Brad said.

  Sophia groaned and hoped that it was not audible to the group. Brad seemed to hear it because he smiled widely as he stood up and walked to the front of the conference table. He pointed to the projected growth gap for the Mid-West states, which was their targeted demographic for the first month. They had explained to her that this was going to be their test market.

  “Sophia, can you tell the group why you chose these three states to start the test market in?” Brad asked.

  Sophia could not believe he was asking her this. He had been right there when Mary Andrews had suggested that as the most logical place to start, but she had said she did not want to do Michigan. Which was on the graph for some reason. Sophia was not sure what was going on or what Brad was getting at.

  “I didn’t; that was Mary’s initial suggestion and we all agreed upon it together. You were there, Brad.”

  “Yes, I was. And I distinctly remember hearing Mary say that she did not want to include Michigan in this initial market. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yea. What is the point you are getting at?”

  Brad laughed in that cocky manner of his that seemed to take over the entire room. The man loved to hear himself talk so badly that it was sickening. Sophia felt her whole body getting hot and sweat starting to trickle down her face. She casually wiped it without anyone noticing.

  “Well, the point I’m trying to make, Sophia, is that we all said that we did not plan to include it but it is included right here in the graph.”

  “Well, I didn’t make the graph.”

  “Right, but we stated last meeting that it needed changed because we had seen it listed then. It was your job to have this removed. It isn’t too hard to follow one simple instruction is it?” Brad asked. He rested cockily on the podium.

  “What are you talking about? No one asked me to do that. I didn’t have anything to do with the graph. I don’t know who made it. I assume one of the secretaries around here.”

  “Oh, so now we are blaming a lowly secretary? Sophia you are going to have t
o class up a bit if you expect to succeed in this world. You are playing with the big boys now.”

  Sophia glanced at the others for help, but they were going along with the story. Sophia distinctly remembered that they had asked Mary to have her secretary correct this error on the power point, but it had not been done last meeting. It was not a big deal but it was a bit confusing and they did not want to have to think about it.

  Sophia had not come right out to blame Mary because she did not want to piss off any of the team, and Brad knew this. The Crew was very easily annoyed and they had already pulled out of the investments of three people that were at the party the week before. Sophia had no idea why, but there were rumors. She did not necessarily believe all of the hype, but she was damned sure not going to risk it. She had too much at stake here and she needed the investors.

  Sophia wanted to break Brad’s neck right then. What the hell was he doing? Why was he deliberately trying to make her squirm and embarrass her? Was she just going to lie down and take it and be pushed around? Sophia was not built that way and she damn sure was not going to take it.

  “Brad, I did not agree to fix it. It was not my mistake; Mary said she would have her secretary take care of it. Obviously it slipped her mind; she is a very busy woman who has more important things to think about and apparently you don’t. It isn’t a big deal; if you want me to have it fixed on the power point then I will have it fixed. There, that is settled.”

  Sophia took a deep breath, but tried to appear relaxed. Inside she was shaking like a leaf both from anger and fear. The Crew did not respond for a moment, but then Mary said, “That would be great if you could find the time, Sophia.”

  Sophia smiled. “I’d be glad to,” she said shooting Brad a deadly look.

  “Great. Glad that is out in the open. It is not a big deal, but it is somewhat important. Thanks for being a dear Sophia,” Brad said.

  Brad smiled and walked back to his seat. He began to casually gather up his briefcase as did the rest of the group. A few of them shot out of the meeting so fast you would have thought they just heard the school bell for the end of the day.

  Sophia grabbed her things and began to storm out. If she had to spend another second in the same room as Brad Thorpe she was going to break something over his head. How dare he try again to embarrass her and make her look incompetent in front of the other investors? What the hell was his problem? She could not even look at him at that moment.

  She walked to the elevator and pressed the button. Luckily there was no one else there at the moment. She loathed the idea of riding an elevator with strangers to begin with, but she was so angry right then that she didn’t think she could force herself to be even remotely civil to anyone around her.

  “Sophia, wait!”

  She stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear the voice yelling at her and before she even turned around she knew who it was. Was he just trying to get himself murdered? Sophia gritted her teeth. She did not want to totally ignore him in the hallway with a bunch of people peering over their cubicles to see what all the fuss was about. Brad Thorpe was the loudest human being on Earth. She was sure of it.

  Brad was coming her way, walking in that brisk manner of his. She wondered if he had any other way to kick her when she was down. Maybe he didn’t get a chance to completely humiliate her yet. She waited with total anticipation to see exactly what he had in store for her now.

  “You forgot your coat. It’s nasty out there,” Brad said draping her coat over her shoulders.

  Sophia froze completely. She could not believe what she was witnessing. How the hell did the man go from totally humiliating her to a friendly gesture? Was it because she didn’t thank him for the flowers and the card? She had almost forgotten about it until that moment because she had just had too many things going on in her world. And she also was not sure if he deserved to be thanked because she was still trying to decipher if it was some sort of thinly veiled trick.

  The gesture was sweet and thoughtful. That was the last thing in the world she thought she would ever see Bradley Thorpe do. He smiled at her, gave her a wink, and then walked away in that cocky manner of his.

  As Sophia stepped out into the rain she thanked Brad silently for remembering the coat, but she had not thanked him in person when he did it. She had been just too damn shocked to say anything. What was his game? Was it all an act? Was he just pretending to be the biggest jerk in the world for show in front of the other investors or was that his game? Was it a way of weeding out the weak from the strong? To see who had what it took to succeed in business and who didn’t?

  Sophia flagged down a taxi and as the door shut blocking out the rainy afternoon she found herself thinking long and hard about whom Brad Thorpe might really be.

  *****

  Sophia stepped into her building thankful to be out of the rain. It had been pouring cats and dogs since she left the meeting and she wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and then settle in for the evening and try to get some work done. There were a few emails she had to send out and a few meetings she needed to schedule for later in the week. She had meant to do them earlier that day, but she had been too busy with the investors meeting and a few errands she’d had to run before then.

  The investors meetings always had a way of sneaking up on her so that she did not realize they were on her schedule and she spent half the day rearranging her schedule and feeling like she did not get anything done that day she had planned except the meeting. It was going to take her a bit of time to get into the swing of things with The Crew.

  When she stepped off the elevator and went to her apartment she discovered that something was wrong. Her door was ajar. Someone was in her apartment. The door was opened slightly and the light was also on. She had not been there since early that morning and she always double locked and double checked her door. Even with Barry the outrageously brave doorman she was still skeptical and leery. She did live in the city after all and even in a nice building like hers bad things could still happen.

  She went back downstairs and told Barry the outrageously brave doorman and he was on the job instantly, following her back up to the room. He asked her to wait in the hallway while he checked everything out. She had not planned on stepping foot inside her apartment until Barry checked everything out and verified that no one was in there. Then she could chalk it all up to her being freaked out over her new routine. Sophia hated to admit it but the days she had the investors meetings were kind of nerve-racking. It was as if that one meeting stared at her dead in the face all week long and she had to deal with feelings of total dread.

  While she waited in the hall she could feel herself getting colder and colder as the cool building began to dry the cold rain on her clammy skin. She felt totally gross and she just wanted the peace of mind that she was safe in her apartment and she wanted a comforting hot shower and a hot cup of Earl Grey tea. Was that too much to stinking ask for after a rough day? She didn’t think so, dammit.

  Barry came out of the room with a smile on his face.

  “Everything seems to be in perfect working order,” he said. “Doesn’t look like anyone has been there. I’d say you just didn’t close it properly when you walked out.”

  “Thanks,” Sophia said as Barry went back to the elevator.

  She was still a bit apprehensive, but she decided that she was being silly. She had been under a lot of stress lately.

  She entered the apartment, checked everything out herself including all the closets and under her bed and couch. Barry the outrageously brave doorman had been right.

  After an amazing shower and brewing the perfect cup of tea Sophia finally felt like herself again. The anger from the meeting and the frustration with the door being opened to her apartment was finally starting to subside. She was ready to settle in for the evening and get some work done.

  As she opened her laptop ready to check her email something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Her book was in
a different place. She had been reading the newest “Chasing Danger” book every night before she went to bed. She was halfway through it and was looking forward to reading another few chapters after she finished some work. She had kept it on the stand beside her couch. But it was now laying on the love seat opposite her sofa.

  And the book mark had been left in a different place.

  Had someone been in her place or was she being totally paranoid? Sophia realized that she had been under a lot of stress lately and she had been having a bit of a tough time dealing, but then again working with Brad Thorpe could do that to you.

  Brad.

  Had he been in her apartment?

  No, that was absurd. What was she saying? He was a jerk, but she did not peg him for a breaking and entering type. He was not a damn cat burglar. He was just a pompous asshole. What reason would he have for breaking into her place anyway? Was he a stalker? Was he secretly in love with her? Was that why he was giving her so much crap all the time? He secretly adored her and wished that she was his?

  Sophia laughed to herself at the mere thought of it. The whole idea was creepy and just ridiculous. She was exhausted. A good night’s sleep was in order for her. Maybe she could let the work go for a bit. She needed some rest, obviously if she was thinking some crazy thoughts like that.

  Why was she so hung up on Brad?

  “I am not hung up,” Sophia answered herself.

  But then why could she not get the man out of her mind? He was everything that she hated to see in a man, and he did nothing but humiliate her and make her feel bad about herself. She could not let him get into her head like that. He was torturing her at work and now he was torturing her even when he wasn’t there. He had her imagining that he was breaking into her place, for God’s sake.