Page 47 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

“Because Noriveille isn’t this,” he said and gestured vaguely around them. “It’s not a place you just decide to visit. It’s controlled. My father doesn’t miss things. He doesn’t allow things.”

“And if you go and I stay here?” she challenged. “Then what?” She knew the answer.

“You staying here doesn’t guarantee your safety,” he admitted. “If my father’s already reaching this far…”

“Exactly,” she said softly.

“And taking you with me doesn’t guarantee your safety either.”

“I know.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment.

“I’m going,” she said. “With or without your permission.”

A faint, disbelieving huff of breath escaped him.

“That’s not how this works.”

“Seems like it is. I’m definitely not staying behind.”

Chance blinked at her. “That’s your takeaway?”

“Listen to me. You think I don’t know what I’m signing up for.” Her voice didn’t waver but instead sharpened. “My sister is there. She spent her life taking care of me, and I’m not turning my back on the fact that she could be in danger now.”

Chance’s shoulders slumped but he didn’t speak.

Randi continued with her gaze locked onto his. “You said everything leads back there? Then it leads to her, too. Obviously, Sven thinks so, and Jakob. So, I’m not sitting here hoping things work out while you walk straight into that.”

“You don’t understand what you’d be walking into.”

“Then help me understand,” she fired back immediately.

He shook his head and stood before he turned back to her. “It’s not just my father. It’s what he controls. The people around him. The expectations. The… rules.” His jaw tightened. “You don’t get to just exist there. You’re either useful or you’re a liability.”

“And we already know how he feels about me.” Randi exhaled slowly, but she didn’t back down. “I’ve already been taken once. I’ve already been dragged into this whether I agreed to it or not. So no, I’m not pretending I can just step out of it now because it’s inconvenient or dangerous.”

“It’s more than dangerous,” Chance explained with a sigh. “You could get hurt. Or worse.”

“And you couldn’t?” she challenged.

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

He started to say something but stopped. Instead, he said, “Because I’ve lived in that world my entire life.”

“And I haven’t,” she countered. “But I know enough about it that I can speak for myself.”

“That’s not enough to cover the risk.”

“It’s my choice.”

Chance studied her for a long moment. “You don’t know everything yet,” he said finally, quieter now.

Her brows knit slightly. “Then tell me.” What else could there be that she didn’t know?

Chance dragged a hand down his face. “There are things about that place,” he said carefully, “about my family that are going to sound impossible.”