Chapter 12
“What the hell?” Garrett hissed as they followed the two Russians and a bemused Holly from Markovic’s office.
Dylan scowled. “How the fuck should I know?” Over the centuries, he and his brothers had gone to great lengths to ensure their anonymity as dragon shifters, and Markovic had just blown that careful manipulation away in a single sentence. Even more interesting, the Russian hadn’t even hinted at that knowledge during their telephone conversation earlier this evening.
Any more than Markovic had revealed his plan was to abduct Gayle at the first opportunity.
If she had been abducted.
Which now seemed to be in some doubt.
Whatever Gayle’s method or reason for coming here, Dylan sensed Holly’s relief when they entered a room farther down the hallway and she saw her sister seated next to a young man in front of a computer terminal. The two were both too absorbed in what they were doing to even notice there were now other people in the room with them.
“As you can see, Gayle is under no restraint,” the Russian drawled dryly. “Adam is my own computer expert, and the two of them are obviously enjoying working together,” he added as Gayle gave the man seated beside her a playful punch on the shoulder.
“Hey,” Adam protested before tickling Gayle about the waist and causing her to giggle.
“Gayle?” Holly cut in sharply.
The younger girl glanced over at her. “Oh hey, Holly,” she greeted lightly. “Come and say hi to Adam.”
Yes, Dylan decided, his future sister-in-law definitely needed to be firmly taken in hand. Preferably by having that hand painfully administered to her ass!
Holly couldn’t deny feeling totally bewildered as her sister introduced her to Adam Bishop. He was a blond-haired man of about Holly’s age or maybe a little older, but who dressed with exactly the same disregard for fashion as Gayle, in a raggedy T-shirt and faded jeans.
He didn’t so much as break concentration from his fingers flying across the computer keyboard and his eyes on the screen as he muttered a greeting to Holly.
“Gayle and Adam have been conversing by email for the past twenty-four hours,” Gregori Markovic confided. “She telephoned me earlier this evening, explained the situation regarding the theft of my money, and offered to return the fifty thousand pounds she was paid. I accepted her suggestion that she and Adam should work together to track down the person who stole the rest of my money. I immediately sent a car to collect her, and they are now using both their considerable computer skills to trace the money.”
Holly gaped. “You sent a car to collect her?”
The Russian nodded. “It is not safe for a young woman to wander about the streets of London alone this time of night.”
“He also said I can keep the fifty thousand if Adam and I solve the problem,” Gayle put in happily. “Win-win.”
Holly turned to her sister. “Only if you solve the problem.” She didn’t want to think what would happen if Gayle and Adam weren’t able to return Markovic’s money to him. “Don’t you think you should have told me you were going out, and why and where?” she prompted impatiently.
Gayle gave a derisive snort. “You and loverboy were so wrapped up in each other after dinner, I didn’t like to interrupt.”
“Loverboy?” Markovic arched a mocking brow in Dylan’s direction.
Dylan couldn’t say he was exactly thrilled by the description. Lover. Yes. Boy. Hardly! Nor did he care for the fact that Gayle was once again embarrassing her sister. Holly’s cheeks were now blazing a bright red.
“You’re coming back to Dylan’s apartment with us,” she told Gayle firmly. “Now.”
Dylan winced, knowing this was the wrong attitude for Holly to take with her rebellious younger sister.
An opinion that was confirmed as Gayle stood up, her eyes narrowed and an angry flush coloring her cheeks. “Didn’t you hear Mr. Markovic say I’m assisting Adam to find out who I helped to steal his money?”
“Yes, of course I heard him.”
“And aren’t you always telling me I should take responsibility for my actions?”
“Yes…”
Gayle crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Well, that’s what I’m doing. As such, I’m not leaving here until Adam and I have got to the bottom of this problem and hopefully returned Mr. Markovic’s money to him.”
“We’ve narrowed it down to the instruction having come from this building.” Adam turned to inform his employer. “Another couple of hours and we should have the terminal, maybe even the user.”
“This building?” Markovic’s tone had sharpened.
Adam grimaced. “’Fraid so.”
The Russian glanced at Nikolai Volkov. “You will deal with this thief once you have a name.”
Holly gave a shiver at the threat she heard behind those words, knowing from the grimness of Volkov’s expression, as he nodded, that “deal with” meant something nasty was going to happen to the person who had dared to steal from Markovic. The Russian bratva didn’t allow people to take their money without some form of retribution. Usually of the fatal kind. It was the very reason Holly had gone to Dylan for help when she’d learned what Gayle had done and to whom she had done it.
“In the meantime…” Markovic’s voice lost that dangerous edge as he turned to them with a polite smile. “Perhaps we might retire to my office and enjoy that refreshment after all?” He arched a brow at Dylan. “I believe you have several things you wish to ask me.”
Dylan had a lot of questions he wanted to ask the Russian.
The first obviously being how the other man knew he was a dragon shifter.
How Markovic knew Holly was Dylan’s mate.
More importantly, had the other man shared that knowledge with anyone else.
“I’m not happy leaving Gayle there,” Holly huffed beside Dylan as he drove them back to his apartment an hour or so later.
“Garrett stayed too, to make sure she comes to no harm,” he reasoned.
Holly was grateful to Garrett for offering to remain as Gayle’s bodyguard as part of the agreement to allowing her sister to remain at Utopia. Allowing Gayle to stay? Holly doubted she could have made her sister leave even if she had tried.
She gave a scornful snort. “Not that I’m not grateful to him, but I’m more worried about Gayle making the situation worse than it already is. Where did I go wrong with her?”
“You didn’t,” Dylan answered with certainty. “Your parents were the ones to initially allow her too much freedom to do exactly as she pleases. A hard habit to break once it’s become such a part of her character. Besides.” He grinned. “I half admire her balls in having gone to Markovic herself.”
Holly deflated slightly. “So do I,” she allowed grudgingly. “Maybe I should have just let her do that in the first place instead of dragging you and your family into this.”
Dylan frowned. “Do you really think that?”
Did she? If she hadn’t gone to Wales to ask for Dylan’s help, maybe she never would have seen him again. Dylan seemed to think that she would, that once he’d answered the puzzle as to why he’d blacked out, he would have returned to claim her as his mate.
Learning Gayle had left the apartment building earlier and been taken away by Markovic’s employees had put everything else but saving her sister out of Holly’s mind.
But now it all came back to her with a vengeance.
Most importantly, Garrett having appeared on the roof as a dragon.
Well…she hadn’t exactly seen him shift into a dragon or back into a human. But there was no doubt in her mind Garrett had been the dragon she was talking to up on that roof. He’d also been waiting for them at Utopia in his human form, as requested by Dylan.
Which meant Dylan must also be a dragon shifter.
As were all his brothers.
Gregori Markovic had confirmed he was also aware of this during the time they spent in his office before leaving. Dylan had refused anything to drink, but Holly had accepted and drunk a much-needed glass of brandy. The Russian had then gone on to tell Dylan he’d known about him and his brothers for some time. That nothing, absolutely nothing, went on in his territory that he didn’t know about.
Except, apparently, that one of his own employees was responsible for stealing millions of pounds from him.
The look on Markovic’s face when he added that comment had sent an icy shiver down Holly’s spine.
She gave Dylan another glance. “Did you believe Gregori Markovic when he said he has no intention of telling anyone you and your brothers are dragon shifters?” The Russian had assured Dylan that as long as the Pendragon brothers didn’t kill anyone on his territory without consulting him that their secret would remain safe with him. Holly had been more than a little concerned at the implication Dylan and his brothers ever killed anyone. Although perhaps that wasn’t being realistic when he was sixteen hundred years old and a dragon shifter…
“Oh yes,” Dylan answered ruefully. “Just as I have no doubt that at some time in the future, he will ask for and expect our help.”
“With what?”
He shrugged. “With whatever he needs help with at the time. Don’t worry about it, Holly,” he dismissed lightly as he drove the car into the underground garage.
“Aren’t you worried?” Holly prompted as they got out of the car.
“Not really.” He took hold of her arm as they walked over to the elevator. “Ridding the world of scum is what Pendragon Security does.”
“But isn’t Markovic one of those people himself?”
Dylan shrugged. “Markovic is the strong and undisputed head of the Russian bratva in London, but the operation is mainly legit nowadays.” He had looked into the Russian’s business dealings and family before talking to the other man on the telephone earlier. “His wife insisted on it before she’d marry him. Volkov’s wife was in the British army and then private security, and no one, least of all Nikolai, messes with her either. Markovic is actually a very talented pianist and composer.”
“Wow.” Holly’s brows rose. “I would never have guessed that.”
“Besides,” Dylan grinned. “If Markovic does become a problem, I can always use compulsion on him.”
She gave a rueful smile. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“But I’m not expecting him to break his word,” Dylan continued. “Whatever else he might be, my research on Markovic showed he’s a man of honor. Maybe all of us are more than we seem on the outside,” he added as they stepped into the quiet of the apartment.
A quiet that reminded Dylan the two of them were now very much alone here.
Holly gave a self-derisive grimace. “Well, you and your brothers certainly are.”
Dylan could see that her nervousness was returning, no doubt because she’d also realized they were completely alone in the apartment. Unfortunately, the things he still had to tell her about being his mate weren’t going to ease that nervousness in the slightest. “Would you like another brandy?”
“Am I going to need one?” she came back pertly.
“Probably,” Dylan acknowledged. “You liked Garrett’s dragon earlier?” he prompted as he poured and then handed Holly the glass of brandy.
She eyed him warily as she sat at one end of the couch. “Is this a trick question?”
“In what way?”
“In the way that if I say yes, you’re going to be annoyed all over again because I thought the gray dragon was beautiful.”
Dylan had been more than annoyed by Holly’s obvious admiration for Garrett’s dragon. “You knew that?”
She chuckled. “You were a bit obvious, and Garrett was enjoying himself far too much at your expense.”
He scowled darkly. “It should have been my dragon you saw first.”
“Why?”
“It’s a dragon-and-mate thing.”
“I think I’m handling the whole dragon-shifter experience quite well.” Her hand shook a little as she lifted the glass and took a sip of her brandy.
Dylan sat beside her on the couch. He could feel how much she was trembling as he took her free hand into both of his. “I seem to recall you were a little distracted by other things at the time.”
“Yes.” She sighed heavily. “I really don’t have any idea what I’m going to do with Gayle. She’s out of control.”
“We’ll take her back to Wales with us.”
Her eyes widened. “I haven’t said I’m going to Wales with you.”
Dylan drew in a deep breath. “There’s something about a dragon mating I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet.”
The wariness returned to her expression. “Something worse than biting me on the back of the neck during sex and having a barb on your cock attach itself inside me, all while you suck and swallow my blood and transfer more of the mating aphrodisiac into me?”
He winced. “Yes.”
Holly placed the brandy glass down on the coffee table before pulling her hand from Dylan’s and standing, instinctively knowing she needed to put some distance between them before he continued. “Tell me,” she invited cautiously. “Don’t sugarcoat it,” she added as she saw Dylan’s own wariness. “Just tell me.”
He held her gaze with his. “Ordinarily, I would have told you you’re my mate, and you could have decided whether or not you wanted to accept that mating.”
“But?”
“But our mating began two days ago when you kissed me, and if we don’t complete that mating within the next two and a half weeks, then we will both die.”
“We— We’ll both—” Holly couldn’t have completed that sentence if her life depended on it.
Which, it now seemed, was a distinct possibility if she and Dylan didn’t complete the mating.
Dylan stood restlessly and began to pace the room. “I would never have willingly put you in this position. I had no idea you were going to kiss me that day on the beach. Otherwise, I would have prevented it from happening.”
“And what would have happened if I hadn’t ingested some of the mating aphrodisiac and had chosen not to mate with you?”
“To you? Nothing. My dragon would turn feral, and my brothers would have had to destroy me before I hurt any humans.”
“And if the mating begins but isn’t completed?”
He sighed heavily. “History has shown if that happens, the dragon shifter and his mate both die, one after three weeks, the other three weeks later. My brother Rufus was…killed before his mating was completed, and his mate died three weeks after he did. That isn’t the only example. There have been others.”
Holly’s lips felt numb. All of her felt numb. If she didn’t agree to become Dylan’s mate, they were both going to die. “But that’s… It’s unfair. Barbaric.”
Dylan winced at her vehemence. “I’m so sorry, Holly. Please believe I would never have put you in this position voluntarily.”
She gave a dismissive movement of her hand. “I’m not talking about me. It’s unfair to you. This whole thing is unfair to you and your brothers. You’ve all lived for centuries, doing your duty, first for your king and then for humankind. The latter all without any thanks or acknowledgment from any of them because they aren’t allowed to know you even exist. Your mate is chosen for you by fate and a bloody mating aphrodisiac.” She gave a disgusted shake of her head. “If your mate rejects you, you turn feral and your brothers have to kill you. If the mating begins but isn’t completed, you die within weeks. I’d call that barbaric, wouldn’t you?” Her eyes glittered a deep green.
Dylan had to admit to being more than a little surprised at the depth of Holly’s anger. On his behalf, not her own. “You’ll die too,” he repeated, not completely sure she understood the situation.
“I heard you the first time,” she dismissed. “Who the hell made up this stupid rule about fated mates and dying?”
“Our goddess mothers, I believe,” he answered distractedly.
“Wow, they take maternal love to a whole different level, don’t they?” she muttered disgustedly.
Dylan frowned. “We never question the goddesses—”
“Then thank God the same rules don’t apply to me, because if I ever meet your mother, I can think of several things I would like to say to her on your behalf!”
Dylan didn’t know whether to laugh or rebuke his mate for showing such disrespect to his mother. Cerridwen, like all the goddesses, believed herself omnipotent. She would not appreciate having her dictates questioned by a human.
But most of all, his heart swelled with love and pride for his mate. No one, apart from his brothers, had ever championed him in this way. It was the very last reaction he’d expected from Holly when he told her they would both die if they didn’t complete their mating.
Holly eyed him warily. “I know I said I’m accepting all this dragon-shifter stuff quite well. For a human,” she added ruefully. “But I still need a little time to get used to the possibility of becoming a dragon shifter’s mate.”
Dylan placed a hand on either side of her face. “Take all the time you need to decide that.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “As long as I do it within two and a half weeks.”
“No.” Dylan shook his head. “If you decide you don’t want to be my mate, then I’ll accept that decision.” He gazed into her eyes. “I vow to you now never to force you into doing anything you don’t wish to do.”
It felt as if Holly’s heart had turned over in her chest. Or as if it was suddenly filled with so much emotion, her heart couldn’t contain it all.
The emotion, she realized with shock, was love.
She’d fallen in love with Dylan.
It wasn’t fate or because of the mating aphrodisiac. It was him.
Dylan.
A man who hadn’t hesitated to help her and Gayle when she asked him to, and had put himself in danger by doing so.
He was also the man who’d just vowed not to pressure or force her into mating him, even though it would cost him his own life as well as her own.
It helped that Dylan also happened to be the most gorgeous and sexy man Holly had ever set eyes on!
How could she not have fallen in love with him?
How could she not agree to become his mate, if that was true?
“Holly?” Dylan had no idea what she was thinking or feeling, which, as her mate, was intensely frustrating.
He’d seen the anger and indignation on his behalf.
But then her face had gone blank of all emotion, and her eyes had become as blank of emotion as her expression.
Neither he nor his dragon liked being shut out of their mate’s emotions.
Mine, his dragon rumbled his agreement.
Holly was their mate. Dylan had absolutely no doubts about that. But she was also a woman who had a life of her own. She’d spent years of hardship, both financially and physically, training to become a doctor. He had no doubt she had friends she valued and who valued her. A sister who may be a pain in Holly’s ass, but she still loved her.
If Holly became his mate, she would, with time, have to give up all those things.
Everyone else would eventually age and die, while Holly continued on, as a dragon’s mate.
Oh, initially, she could continue with her medical career, but not indefinitely, and not in the way she’d trained, for the benefit of humans. Gayle would eventually die of old age, and Dylan and his family would become Holly’s only family.
Was that enough, was he enough, for Holly to want to choose that future with him?