The Dragon Finds Forever
Emails to Pandora and Nick sent, Van now stared at his computer screen. He didn’t usually make his own flight arrangements because they were handled by the League’s travel department. It wasn’t hard, it was just unfamiliar. He sighed. The only flights to Vegas with vacant seats were tonight at eleven, tomorrow at eight, or two days from now on that same eight a.m. flight.
He picked the eleven p.m. flight. The seats were first class, which was all that was available, but also the only category he was interested in. He wasn’t built to fly coach. Plus, they could sleep.
He started to book the tickets, then realized he’d better check that he had Monalisa’s name right. He called out to her. “Monalisa, I need you in my office, please.”
“Coming,” she called back.
She walked in a minute later, still carrying the box of truffles and, from the looks of it, doing a pretty good job of making them disappear. “Did you find flights?”
“Yes. Tonight at eleven. Not the best, maybe, but there was not much to choose from.”
“It’s okay. We have to get there. The sooner the better for you.”
“We will have to leave in about an hour. Can you be ready?”
“I’m ready now.”
“Good.” He liked that. “I need to make sure I have your full name right for the ticket.”
“Okay. Monalisa Abigail Devlin.” She leaned against the doorframe of his office and popped another ten-dollar truffle into her mouth. “What’s yours?”
“Ivan Petrovich Tsvetkov.”
She smiled like something was very funny.
“What?”
She sucked the chocolate off the tip of one finger. It was very distracting. “I thought your middle name was ‘The Hammer.’”
He watched as her tongue worked on another bit of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. “Those truffles are good?”
“Very.” She held the box out, wiggling it back and forth, teasing him. “You want one, Hammer?”
It wasn’t the truffles he wanted. “Bring them over.”
He spun his desk chair around as she came toward him and pulled her onto his lap so that she was sitting across it.
She let out a little shriek at the sudden movement, then laughed. “You almost made me drop the truffles.”
He took the box out of her hands and tossed it onto his desk. “I do not like chocolate anyway.”
Then he put his hand on her hip and tugged her closer. “You are all the sweetness I need.”
She smiled and cupped his face in her hands. “I’m okay with that. More chocolate for me.”
He laughed. “I will set you up with an account at Delaney’s if that is what makes you happy.”
She shook her head. “You make me happy.”
He kissed her, tasting the truffles on her tongue. Maybe chocolate wasn’t so bad after all.
A soft moan of pleasure vibrated out of her throat, sending a thrill through him. He wanted this woman in a way that made him feel desperate and reckless. He knew without a doubt that he was willing to do dangerous things to have her.
He’d never prepared for a fight with so much on the line. It was daunting. But thinking about not having Monalisa in his life caused the fire in him to rage.
He would win. And her father would grant her freedom.
Or some very bad things were going to happen in Vegas.
As they settled into their first-class seats, Monalisa realized she had no idea what Van had done about a place to stay for them. She put her hand on his arm. “Van?”
He turned to look at her. “Yes?”
“Did you book a hotel? I have an apartment at the Shamrock, but I don’t think it’s the best place for us to go.”
He nodded. “It’s taken care of.”
“For both of us? Or…”
“I have a condo in the Skye Towers. It is my home away from Nocturne Falls. We will stay there.”
“Nice. Okay.” Skye Towers was one of the swankiest addresses in town. It sat a block off the Strip and was home to a lot of the big entertainers who played the Strip, most of whom were supernaturals. And since the building catered to that crowd, it made sense that he’d have a place there.
“You should try to sleep.” He slipped his hand under hers.
“I will.” She smiled at him, so happy in the moment despite everything that was going on. “You’re a good man.”
The side of his mouth came up in a wry smile. “That sounds like a goodbye.”
“No, not at all. Just wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate it.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it before returning it to the console between them. “Speaking of good men, Nick Hardwin and his girlfriend, Willa Iscove, are coming to the fight. I get ten tickets for each of my fights, and he has been wanting to see one. They will be staying at the condo too. Also, Pandora is coming with them.”
“That’s great.” She thought about that a moment. “I know those Skye Towers units are big, but just how large is your condo?”
“Four bedrooms. Plenty of space.”
“Okay, awesome.”
Van winked at her, then leaned back and closed his eyes.
She did the math. No doubt Nick and Willa would be in one bedroom, and Pandora in another, so that meant there was still a bedroom for her without crowding Van out of his. That was good. She didn’t want to interrupt his training in any way.
She also wasn’t ready to bunk with him. Their relationship was way too young for that. Plus, sleeping with a guy she was about to be separated from might kill her. She knew she was emotionally immature, never having had a real relationship before. It was a big factor in how fast she’d fallen for Van. She was all right with that, but she didn’t want to cause herself so much heartbreak that she’d never recover.