Dragon's Second Chance Romance (Dragons of Mount Atrox Book 2)

by Riley Storm

  Once more, she brushed past her father without looking him in the face. She knew if she did, she’d lose her composure at what she saw.

  Fitted in leggings and a loose t-shirt, she put on running shoes and went up the stairs. Her mother was waiting by the door. Beyond it were two policemen and a policewoman, all from the Five Peaks Sheriff’s Department.

  Pushing open the door with calm resignation, she thrust her hands at the officers. “I’ll go peacefully. You won’t get any issues with me.”

  The officers nodded, but they put the handcuffs on her, nonetheless. The only concession to her attitude was that they put them on with her arms in front of, not behind, her.

  The female deputy led her out of the house. Claire didn’t look back. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in her parents. With everything else going on, it would be the last straw. Everyone had their limits. That was hers.

  “Here,” the deputy said, pulling open the door to her SUV and gesturing for Claire to get in. “Have a seat.”

  “Yeah,” Claire said heavily, getting in without resisting.

  What was the point after all? Like her mother had said, Claire wasn’t surprised that she was under arrest. The only part of it that did surprise her was the timing of it all.

  Obviously, after his tussle with Pietro the night before and being denied her company, Pete had gone ahead and given the footage to the police right away, forgoing the two-day grace period he’d originally given her.

  “Should have seen this coming,” she muttered heavily.

  “What was that?” the female deputy asked as she slid into the front seat.

  “Nothing. Just lamenting idiotic mistakes and choices in men.”

  The woman was silent.

  “Are you able to tell me what it is I’m under arrest for?”

  “Grand theft auto,” the woman said, reading Claire the rest of her rights and asking her if she understood them.

  Claire just grunted an assessment. “That figures. Asshole.”

  The officer arched an eyebrow at her in question.

  “Men,” was her only answer. “Are you able to tell me if the evidence that was used for my warrant was handed in by someone, or did it just show up?”

  The deputy looked at her curiously. Claire stared back at her. The blonde deputy’s bright green eyes narrowed in the mirror the longer she looked.

  “Off the record, it just showed up this morning at the department. On record though, I don’t know anything.”

  Claire snorted. “Yeah, that sounds like his cowardly ass.”

  The deputy was silent for a moment, watching Claire carefully. “Can you explain what you mean by that?”

  “Just that the other person in the video is the one who magically made it show up. Take it from me, dating bad boys is not a good idea. Especially when they’re vengeful assholes. This one wouldn’t take no for an answer. So he turned me in. Exposed my mistakes to everyone.”

  “Are you saying you’re innocent? That you didn’t do it?” the deputy asked.

  Claire sighed, flopping back into the less than comfortable rear seat of the police SUV. “No, I did it. I got caught up with him. I wanted to impress him, show him that I could go along when he did his jobs, that I could be helpful.”

  The deputy chewed on her lower lip but just nodded, sensing that Claire wasn’t done.

  “I guess he suspected from the start that one day I might have a change of heart. So he made sure I was caught on camera and that he kept the recording of it. Of course, you never see his face, ‘cause he knew what he was planning, the bastard. I suppose he expected that it would be enough to blackmail me into staying with him.”

  The deputy snorted in understanding.

  “Yeah. You know how some men just cannot handle women making their own decisions. He’s one.”

  “Oh, I get you. Thankfully, I don’t have to deal with that anymore, but I understand.” The blonde deputy turned to face her in her seat, tilting her head to the side. “So you aren’t going to fight this?”

  Claire sighed again, shrugging helplessly. “What’s the point…Deputy Frazer,” she said, leaning forward to read the woman’s badge. “I did the crime. Just because I regret it, doesn’t change that fact. Besides. This way, at least the bastard doesn’t have any hold over me anymore.”

  Deputy Frazer nodded slowly.

  “Besides,” Claire said with a sneer. “I am going to go over in excruciating detail everything that little prick ever said or did that was illegal while I was around if I get the chance to stand in front of a judge. Maybe something will stick enough to have him locked up too.”

  Deputy Frazer grinned and started up the car. “For what it’s worth, Miss Owens, I think you’re alright.”

  “Thanks,” Claire said, leaning back, looking out the window as she was hauled off to jail.

  Definitely not the morning I was expecting, that’s for sure. So, what the hell do I do now?

  Chapter Twelve

  Pietro

  He walked down the sidewalk, eyes constantly darting toward the western side of town where the sun was just starting to drop behind the mountains. Evening was upon them, and it would soon be nightfall.

  When vampires came out to play.

  Tapping his fingers impatiently against his leg, he resisted the urge to pull his phone out once more.

  “She’s not responding,” he muttered. “You know this already.”

  Despite that, he pulled out the phone and checked the screen. Still nothing.

  Where the hell are you, Claire? I told you yesterday that you were in danger.

  After several unanswered texts during the day, and then a couple of phone calls, Pietro had gone over to her house only to find it empty. No sign of Claire, nor her parents. Nobody was home.

  Part of him was wondering if she’d fled town. It would be hard to blame her. After everything that had happened with Pete, and also himself, things had gone off the rails for Claire in a short period of time. Leaving town, and both of them behind, would be the smart move.

  If it weren’t for the Hunter. He’ll track you down wherever you go, Claire. You can’t escape them. That’s not how it works.

  Pietro was playing his last card, the only way he had left to try and track her down. It wasn’t one he wanted to play of course, but he was just about out of options, and in an hour or so, darkness would blanket the town enough for the Hunters to come out and play.

  He had to find Claire before it was too late.

  “Please work,” he muttered to himself as he reached his destination, grabbed the door and hauled it open.

  Little chimes sounded overhead as he entered the store. Pietro was surprised to see how busy it was. He’d expected it to be mostly empty, or just a couple of people, but there were easily a dozen people or more browsing the aisles.

  Pietro towered above most of them, so it wasn’t difficult for him to spot the person he was looking for.

  “Lilly,” he said, his voice easily carrying across the crowd.

  The young woman at the cash register looked up.

  Pietro’s relief at seeing her gave way to a knot of fear as the recognition blooming on Lilly’s face was replaced with a tense worry.

  Something was wrong.

  Making his way through the crowd as swiftly as he could, Pietro left more than one customer shaken as they were abruptly moved to the side and out of the way so he could pass.

  “What’s wrong?” he rumbled as he came around the far end of the register. “Lilly, what’s going on? Where is Claire?”

  “One moment,” Lilly said as she finished checking someone out. “Gayle, can you come here please?”

  A short haired woman with short-cropped hair much the color of Claire’s, but a darker, more crimson red, came bustling out from one of the aisles to take over the register.

  “Come with me,” Lilly said, heading for the back of the store.

  Grinding his teeth to keep his mouth shut and not pres
s Lilly, Pietro followed in her wake, his worry growing with every step. Something was going on that he wasn’t aware of. Something involving Claire. He hated not knowing, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Claire was in trouble and he needed to be there to protect her.

  “I don’t know exactly how it happened,” Lilly said as they entered her office, the door closing behind him. “But Claire was arrested this morning.”

  His jaw dropped. “What?” he bellowed, the walls shaking.

  “Keep it down,” Lilly snapped. “I’m running a business here. I had nothing to do with it. Here, watch.”

  She clicked a few times on her computer and spun the monitor to him. A video from the Five Peaks Sheriff’s Department was playing on the screen.

  “I have to get back to work, I’m sorry. I don’t know anything more than this either,” Lilly said. “Just…let me know how I can help, okay?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted as the spokesperson was talking.

  He watched the whole video play out. The charges against Claire for grand theft auto. Her being brought into the Sheriff’s Department in handcuffs.

  Pietro’s growl at that sight once more set the walls rumbling, and he only at the last minute forced his fingers away from the desk before it crumbled under his angry grasp.

  “Mother fucker,” he snarled as the video that had brought about the charges rolled on the screen.

  It was of Claire from an auto dealership CCTV camera. They were stealing cars; there was no doubt about it. Pete must have stolen the footage to hold over her head. This must have been what Claire was alluding to about having too much going on in her head.

  “And I just made it worse by beating him and his friends up,” Pietro whispered quietly to himself.

  “She is now currently being held at the Five Peaks Sheriff’s Department, awaiting sentencing having pleaded guilty. Bail is set at—”

  “This is my fault,” he growled, getting to his feet, his mind made up.

  He had made the situation worse. Now, he was going to go make it better.

  The door opened again and Lilly came back in. “Hey, Gayle is handling it. I’ve got a few minutes. Pietro, what the hell happened last night?”

  He gestured at the screen. “Did you know about this?”

  Lilly shook her head. “No! Of course not. Did you?”

  “No,” he said, frowning. “Not specifically. She said things were bad, that she had other things going on right now. But I never suspected it was anything like this!”

  A meaty fist smacked into his palm as he expressed his anger, the sound startling Lilly.

  “This is my fault,” he spat.

  “How is it your fault?” Lilly wanted to know.

  “I beat up Pete last night when he was threatening Claire, trying to force her to go back to Kennewick Falls with him. She wasn’t going to go, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer. So, I made him realize the error of his ways. Now he’s gone and done this, the bastard.”

  “Pete? That asshole?” Lilly asked. “I thought she dumped him ages ago. Why…”

  “I guess she wasn’t telling you everything,” Pietro rumbled.

  “I guess not,” Lilly said sadly.

  Pietro could see the hurt on Lilly’s face, but he didn’t have time for that right now. Claire was in more trouble than just with the law. If he didn’t get her to safety soon, she would be vulnerable to the Hunters. The police station would be no obstacle to them.

  “I have to go,” he said. “Once this is settled and Claire is safe, then you two can hash it out. You’re friends. You’ll get over it.”

  Lilly shrugged. “Probably. I just can’t believe she didn’t trust me.”

  “Embarrassment and regret are powerful silencers,” Pietro muttered, looking away. “I need to go.”

  “Where are you going?” Lilly asked. “She’s in a jail cell.”

  “To get her out. She’s in danger there. I need to keep her safe.”

  Lilly brought a hand to her mouth, but not before Pietro saw the blossoming of a smile there. “Thank you, by the way,” she said quietly.

  “For what?”

  “Looking after my friend. Protecting her.”

  Pietro nodded, shoving all that to the side as he headed for the door, his mind focused on Claire.

  “Let’s just hope I’m not too late,” he growled.

  There was a crowd blocking his path to the exit as he emerged from the office, but one look at the look on his face and they parted like water as the hulking dragon headed for the door, his eyes fixed on something none of them but him could see.

  I’m coming, Claire. I’m coming.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Claire

  The cold metal of the ‘bed’ was slowly seeping into her bones as she lay on her back staring at the ceiling, counting the tiles for the eightieth time.

  “One-hundred-forty-three. One-hundred-forty-four…forty-five. Forty-six.”

  She sighed. The number wasn’t going to change. But then again, what else did she have to do? This was Five Peaks. It wasn’t as if the jail at the Sheriff’s Department was full or anything. She was its only occupant at the moment.

  Is this what my life has come to? she asked herself, feeling like an abject failure.

  Growing up, everything had been given to her. All the tools necessary to succeed. Her father was a lawyer practicing in Five Peaks and Kennewick Falls. He made good money. She never lacked in a home life. Her mother was attentive, caring, and practiced orthopedic medicine, altering her routine to work around her daughter.

  Life had been good growing up for Claire. She’d been one of the lucky few to grow up without wants, and she was well aware of it.

  So, why the hell was I always going after the assholes like Pete? I should have known it would end up in this sort of situation. Shouldn’t I?

  Her thoughts wandered down that path of their own accord, but she didn’t stop them. The time she was going to spend in jail certainly wouldn’t be short. Perhaps some good old-fashioned self-improvement would help her emerge with a better perspective on the world and also an answer to the question.

  It probably had something to do with her upbringing. For so long, Claire had striven to be perfect. First had come the perfect little daughter, joining dance to become a ballerina. After that, it had been school, where she’d always gotten excellent grades, sat in the front of class, done everything that was expected of her. She’d not once broken the rules.

  Until boys.

  Even that had started off ‘perfect’. She’d found herself a nice computer nerd, someone she got along well with and who had similar interests. It was supposed to be perfect. They should have been an excellent match.

  Claire had been bored out of her mind within a couple of months. From there, it had been a slow descent down the ‘quality’ list of men, she realized now, desperately searching for something.

  A spark. Not of chemistry, but of something else. Excitement, she thought, sitting up on the slab of metal that called itself a bed.

  All I wanted was a little excitement in my life, is that it? A thrill?

  She just as quickly laid back down to stare at the ceiling and start counting tiles again.

  “Couldn’t handle the stress of being perfect, so you had to go the complete opposite direction, is that it?” she muttered to herself, angry that she’d had to go so far as committing a felony to come to the conclusion that she was being stupid.

  Absolutely done with that now. No more of that type.

  There wasn’t going to be anymore of any type for a while though.

  “Wonder what will be left in a decade,” she said ruefully.

  Although Claire wasn’t looking forward to her jail term, one thing she was happy about was that she was finally out from under Pete. The asshole may have put her there, but his leverage over her was gone. He had nothing to hurt her with anymore.

  She was free.

  Now just do your sentence and—

&nbs
p; The door beyond her cell opened, and one of the deputies, a tall male with skin the color of night, came in. “On your feet Owens,” he said gently. “Time to get a move on.”

  “To what?” she asked, confused, but doing as the deputy had told her. “I’m not scheduled to go anywhere.”

  “You’re scheduled to get the hell out of my jail for now,” he said with a soft smile.

  Claire frowned to herself at that. There had been a rotating cast of three different officers checking in on her and feeding her throughout the day, and all of them had treated her politely. Beyond polite, even.

  To the point she would almost consider it friendly, if there weren’t three-inch thick steel bars between them.

  “I am?” she asked, stepping forward as he opened the door. “But…how?”

  “Your bail was paid,” the deputy said with a shrug. “I don’t ask questions after that. Not my job.”

  Claire’s jaw dropped. “But it was set at a quarter-million dollars! Who in their right mind would pay that?”

  The deputy shrugged again. “No idea. Some tall, bald dude with lots of muscles, short sleeve shirt. Looks like he means business.”

  Things were getting weirder and weirder. Why would Pete put her in jail, just to spend money on her to get her out? Even more, where the hell had Pete gotten that kind of cash? He was not that well off, she knew. He and his crew always wasted their spoils from a successful heist.

  Lost in her own confusion as she followed the deputy out of her cell and to the front, Claire nearly walked into someone.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said, sidestepping them. “I didn’t see y—Pietro?”

  “Hi.”

  She stared up at him, covering up a giggle. The deputy hadn’t been lying. The man who’d bailed her out was tall, bald, and wearing a short sleeve shirt. He also looked like he meant business.

  “You’re the one who bailed me out?” she hissed. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that you’re in danger,” he rumbled, not a trace of humor in his voice.