Page 30 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

If he chose to push her away even if he was interested, then it was a losing fight before it even started.

And she just needed to move on.

Chapter 13

Chance

The storm moved across the city in typical Florida fashion. On the top floor, Chance could hear the wind buffeting against the windows as the skies grew dark hours before they should have. The thunder grew louder and closer until one clap was so violent that it shook the building. Lightning followed close behind just before the rain came down in sudden, relentless sheets that blurred the edges of the world outside Chance’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

The supercharged power of the storms always made him restless. He paced his apartment until he thought he’d go stir crazy. It was too late for anyone to still be in the office and too early for bed.

Chance grabbed his phone to make a call that he had put off. Maybe the storm would hide some of his guilt for delving into Randi’s life behind her back. But that tattoo. He needed to know.

He stared at the number on his phone and his thumb hovered just above the screen as if the extra second might somehow change the kind of man he was about to be. It was something that felt a hell of a lot like betrayal, but if he didn’t find out her story, it might change his life anyhow. Her anger would be better than his world blowing up in his face. If she had anything to do with his father, he needed to know.

He exhaled through his nose and hit the speed dial number.

The line rang and each hollow tone stretched thin against his patience. He had a tight coil of unease sitting low in his gut, the kind that didn’t ease no matter how many times he told himself this was just precaution or he was just being smart by making sure he wasn’t about to get blindsided by something he should’ve seen coming.

Another ring. His jaw flexed.

By the third, he was already regretting the whole decision because the truth was, it hadn’t felt right even when he’d hired the guy and talked about Randi like she was a problem to be solved instead of a person who laughed with her whole body and looked at him like she actually saw him.

The line clicked as it answered. Chance straightened slightly and his pulse kicked up.

Voicemail spoke to him. A bland, automated voice filled his ear and asked him to leave a message after the tone. Something in his chest snapped tight and irritation flared hot. He didn’t leave a message.

Instead, he pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call. He stared at the darkened screen for half a second before a surge of frustration surged up his arm and he slammed the phone down onto the table. The sound cracked through the quiet room like the lightning outside.

“Damn it,” he muttered and dragged a hand over his face.

Randi had lied to him about why she had the dragon on her wrist. He held on to that one little detail. Other than that, she hadn’t given him any real reason to doubt her, but somehow, that one little thing had been enough for him to justify digging.

He let out a rough breath and paced across the room again. This wasn’t about her, not really. It was about him not liking what he didn’t know. He glanced back at the phone.

It sat there, silent now, harmless, like it hadn’t just exposed something in him he didn’t particularly want to see.

“I’m an idiot,” he muttered.

And the worst part was, even as the guilt settled in, heavy and deserved, that question still lingered. What did that tattoo mean?

There was also the bigger question. What had that kiss meant? He could still feel her lips, no matter how hard he tried to forget. The way she had melted into him instead of pushing him away. The way she would make love to him given the chance.

His jaw tightened again, because he wanted to know, but she was the one thing he couldn’t have.

He paced once more and then headed for the door. He needed to go downstairs and find something to do. There had to be some contract that needed updating or some plans that needed to be tweaked. He was going to drive himself crazy in his apartment.

The office was quiet where the usual hum of activity had faded into silence punctuated only by the distant roll of thunder and the occasional flicker of overhead lights responding to the strain of the storm.

He expected emptiness but instead was greeted with a light in one of the far offices. He started to turn around when he realized it was Randi’s office. Instead, he walked to where he could see in her open door.

She sat at her desk with papers spread out in careful disarray, her focus so intent she didn’t notice him at first. The lamp cast a warm glow over her workspace that stood in quiet defiance of the storm raging just beyond the walls.

For a moment, he said nothing and just watched. Something in his chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with the weather.

“You know,” he said finally, “most people go home when a storm like this hits.”

She almost jumped out of her chair as her head snapped up. Her eyes widened from the fright for a fraction of a second before recognition settled in, soon followed by something more guarded.