Page 46 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

“Oh, yeah,” Eddie replied without hesitation. “Not a full manhunt yet, but they want to talk to you. You’re officially a question mark, my friend, and that’s not a safe place to be. I rather suspected you went to the beach house, but of course I would never say anything.”

Chance glanced out toward the water again, just an endless stretch of movement and noise, and a reminder that the world hadn’t slowed down at all.

“Keep an ear on it,” Chance said finally, his voice steady again, even if everything underneath it was anything but. “If anything changes, you call this number. No one else.”

Eddie exhaled. “You know I will. Just be careful, alright? This is messy.”

Chance almost laughed at that. “It was messy the second it started.”

“Do you know who the attempted kidnappers were?”

“Just some men that I suspect my father sent after me using Randi as a target.”

Eddie let out a low whistle. “So, exactly what you were worried about.”

“Yep. Thanks, Eddie.”

He ended the call before Eddie could respond. He lowered the phone and sank down into a patio chair. He needed to figure this out quickly and have a story ready for law enforcement.

His carefully constructed world was gone and it wasn’t going to stay quiet for long.

Chapter 20

Randi

Randi woke up happy, sated… and alone. She rose and stretched, all effects from the drugs seeming to be gone. She couldn’t help but smile at the unfamiliar twinges she felt from the unusual activity from the hours before.

She found Chance sitting on the deck. He looked up at her and the look in his eyes almost made her recoil. Instead, she sat down next to him but made sure not to touch him. If he had switched to cold again, she wanted to be able to just walk away.

“What’s wrong?” She set her shoulders as she waited for his answer.

“Let’s start with what’s not wrong. I spoke to a friend who told me that Josh is fine. Bump on the head, but he’s alive and kicking.”

“That’s good.”

“You’re not totally relieved that your boyfriend is fine after the attack?”

She refused to rise to the challenge. “Not my boyfriend. Glad he’s okay. Now what’s wrong?” She didn’t want to be heartless about Josh, but she knew that had nothing to do with the pensive expression on Chance’s face.

“I might have to leave.”

There is was. The words were quiet but they carried enough weight to hold her full attention. “Leave me?”

She almost wept in relief when he reached over and stroked her cheek. “Not you. I couldn’t. I mean Florida.” Chance held her gaze for a moment. “I don’t think I can avoid Noriveille anymore.”

She nodded as she mulled it over.

“It’s where my father’s power is strongest,” he added. “Where everything leads back to. And I can’t bring the fight to Tampa so he can destroy everything here.”

Where everything waits to destroy him. Randi leaned forward slightly. “Then I’ll go with you.”

For a second, Chance looked at her like he’d misheard her. “You what?”

“I’ll go with you,” she repeated. It was the obvious answer and no other option was worth considering.

“That’s not…” He closed his eyes and let out a short breath as he pushed a hand through his hair. “Randi, that’s not how this works.”

“Then explain it to me,” she shot back, her tone calm but firm. “Because from where I’m sitting, I don’t see why I wouldn’t.”