Billionaire Dragon's Mate: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Dragon Romance Nove (2 page)

“
Неплохо,“ he managed in his passable Russian.

As far as he was concerned, things really ever were ’not bad’. Keeping expectations low made for a happier existence these days.

„Sit down, sit down! Dima, vodka for Cillian!“ the Siberian bear roared, sending a man skittering off for the drink.

Cillian dropped onto the cushioned seat, considering the situation he had managed to land himself in. Sergei, to his right, was an old friend by now and one of his most consistent clients. One would never guess by the looks of the large, joyous man, but that exterior hid a ruthless businessman and an even more dangerous criminal.

Cillian didn’t mind that too much. As long as they didn’t mess with him, he couldn’t care less what any of his clientele did for a living, as long as his sizeable bills were paid on time. The other man, though, was no one he knew. He was a short man with carefully coiffed black hair and alert brown eyes, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

A man with a problem
, Cillian noted, grinning inwardly. His favorite kind of person.

The vodka appeared before him, and as soon as he had downed the first of three shots, business could begin. No Russian discussion was complete without ample drinking.

„Cillian is the fixer I’ve been telling you about, Antonio. There isn’t an issue he can’t make go away,“ Sergei boasted, slamming his fist on the table so hard that the whole thing shook and shuddered, spilling alcohol from several glasses.

The Russian didn’t care, as he never seemed to. He was a werebear shifter, a true Siberian brown bear, and he had made his fortune in lumber and then slowly begun to take over the underground shipping business through Chicago and all the way down to Texas. A man like that often had problems that needed to disappear, and Cillian was just the man for the job.

„But he is a dragon...“ the smaller man commented, looking less than impressed. Cillian detected a slight accent, Italian probably. He pursed his lips slightly, smirking.

„That’s why no one ever sees it coming... And when they do, well, as you said, I’m a
dragon
,“ Cillian noted, relaxing his shoulders. This part was easy. He’d always been good at selling himself.

„That’s right!“ Sergei hollered, patting Cillian on the back again in a way that made the dragon brace himself against the table to keep from headbutting the polished wood. „Who do you want making sure that all of your affairs are in order? Some mongrel wolf or a pampered lion? No! A dragon is what you need. If he can’t fix it, he’ll just wipe it from the face of the earth,“ Sergei said confidently.

While it had never quite come to that, Cillian could mostly agree. Even purely size wise, a shifted dragon was not someone to be trifled with.

„Well, wolves
could
be the problem, currently,“ Antonio noted, nursing an imported beer in his hands.

A sadness fell over the man, so obvious that Cillian could almost taste it. Cillian cocked his head slightly, considering the quiet, thoughtful man before him. This wasn’t just a problem. It was a big problem.

Even better.

„Tell the man,“ Sergei urged, the boisterousness leaving his voice and the giant man falling quiet, one hand stroking his plentiful grayish-brown beard.

Antonio looked up and met Cillian’s gaze. It was easy to tell that the Italian was a proud man, a strong man, and it was taking more than one could put into words for him to come to someone for help. Cillian quieted, giving the man a moment to explain before he made any more assumptions.

„It is my daughter, Ruby,“ he started, fishing for his phone and looking at its lock screen while he spoke. „She has always been... rebellious. Has her own mind. She’s brilliant. A doctor – just like I always wanted. But I don’t think she approves of what it is that I do. I’ve tried to keep her away from it all, safe, but… She’s been looking for the wrong crowd and I’m worried that she’s found it.”

Antonio shared a quick, knowing look with Sergei and Cillian didn’t have to waste any time on guessing. Men who hung around Sergei were not the kind to spend their Sundays watching football and cooking steaks. He was sure that there was plenty to disapprove of, but that was none of his business, and he intended to keep it that way.

“Now, I don’t know where she is. She disappeared without a trace almost a month ago. My Ruby would never do that. She knows her mother’s heart is breaking and crumbling with each day we don’t hear from her.“

„Is there anyone, who might want to harm her?“ Cillian asked.

To his bemusement, both of the men broke into joyless laughter, exchanging glances before Sergei turned to Cillian.

„Antonio here is Antonio Accardo. You might have heard of him...“ Cillian’s expression cleared, and he looked at the diminutive man in front of him with a whole new understanding.

That glint in his eyes that he’d thought to be nervousness was the sign of a killer. The Butcher of Chicago. Yes, Cillian had heard of him, and his crew. It was nigh impossible to not know of the biggest mob family in Chicago.

„So that is a yes, then,“ Cillian offered with a mild smile, downing his second shot. „Allow me to rephrase it, then. Do you have a top five?“

„I do, but we have checked them all. My boys have shaken all of them down and none of them know anything about Ruby’s whereabouts. I think it might be someone not related to me at all... She has been getting in with some bad crowds lately.“

What kind of crowd does it have to be for Antonio Accardo to think it a bad influence?!

„Shifters, I think. Werewolves,“ Antonio rushed to add, after getting a look from Sergei that could make an army pack up and leave. „She was spending time with some... gangs. I don’t know which ones. And I don’t know where they could be or what they would want with her, or she with them. But it’s not something I can handle myself. I think she was dating someone, a werewolf biker. I just want her back, safe. So after I told Sergei about my... predicament, he suggested I get some outside help.“

„So you need me to find her. I’ll see what I can do. Do you have a picture?“ Cillian asked, filing away his questions for later.

It seemed like an easy enough job – bring home a petulant, sharp mob princess, receive countless treasures in return. Easy-peasy.

„I do,“ Antonio said, turning the phone around.

For a moment, Cillian’s world ground to a halt. The face that stared back at him from the photograph was positively mesmerizing. Long auburn hair that fell in soft curls, bright hazel eyes with a hint of trouble to them, sexy curves that needed to be discovered and pampered, and the plushest, most delicious lips he had ever seen, just begging to be kissed until they couldn’t be kissed anymore. His dragon stirred immediately, growling its approval.

Yes, this was a special woman, all right. Any shifter would be willing to kill to have her. Cillian cleared his throat, pressing down the almost violent reaction he had had to the picture, and nodded.

„Find and bring home Ruby Accardo. Got it.“

„If you do this, Cillian, I can make all your troubles go away. You understand?“ Sergei asked, resting his hand on Cillian’s shoulder after exchanging a glance with Antonio.

Cillian knew what that meant. He also knew what Sergei hadn’t said – fail and face the consequences.

“I understand,” Cillian confirmed, downing the last shot.

The only problem was, Cillian wasn’t entirely sure he could let her go once he did find her.
 

CHAPTER TWO

Ruby

Ruby Accardo was pissed off. Really,
really
pissed off. Like a storm that wouldn’t stop, she’d just got angrier and angrier with each day that passed. And with each day, her anger seemed to rattle less and less people. Ruby pouted to herself, her legs crossed and her stiletto shoe dangling absently from her toes. In the faint, musty light of the seedy bar she had been trapped in for the past month, the silver sparkles on it seemed a lot duller than they actually were.

Trapped is an awfully big word, Ruby,
she told herself, trying to find the silver lining and failing miserably.
Oh, who are you kidding. Yes, you’re trapped. Congratulations. You went from a father, who wouldn’t let you do anything, to a boyfriend, who is just as bad. Ex-boyfriend,
she corrected herself, taking a sip of her Tequila Sunrise.

And who do you have to blame for all of it? Yourself. Excellent work, Ruby. Way to show everyone how good you are at controlling your own life.

Like every night, the bar was crammed full of bustling bodies, mostly clad in leather and chains, laughing their hoarse laughter and swigging their cheap ales. The Rusty Nail was on a barren, forgotten street in the worst part of town, and that’s how the patrons preferred it. No one came here to be found – they came here to lose themselves in a crowd of people, each more dangerous than the last. And Ruby was their queen, whether she liked it or not.

While the bikers that frequented the dive bar struggled to find space, Ruby seemed to have all the room in the world. There was always a respectful perimeter of a good few feet around her, as if an invisible force field pushed people away from her. She knew exactly what that force field was – Cable Bloodhowl, the head of the Crimson Fang Riders. Her ex-boyfriend. Only, he wouldn’t accept the ‘ex’ part of that arrangement, and that was where all her troubles began

Well, honestly, it went back a bit further. Ruby should have probably realized that dating a scruffy, ragged and intensely violent werewolf biker wasn’t exactly the safest way to a good time. But that hadn’t mattered then. All that had really been important was that dating a guy like him would royally piss off her father, and she had been right on the money with that assumption. And, that it would give her a breather from being so prim and proper all the time.

Ruby lifted her chin a little, reveling in the small bit of solace that this shitty situation provided her – at least there was nowhere to go but up. She’d just have to take things into her own hands now and try and make better decisions. It was no wonder that sometimes, grabbing life by the horns came with a difficult, impossible to reason with werewolf.

Like her family often reminded her, she was brilliant. Smart, fast on her feet and ready to roll with the punches, she’d soared through school and come out on the other side as a promising, soon to be young doctor. But that was where things got iffy, too. Was it really what she wanted? Sure, she loved medicine, but it left a sour taste in her mouth that it was her father’s dream for her. She’d gone back and forth on what she wanted out of her life until opportunity presented itself to forget all about it for a while – Cable. Going for the easy choice might have just been the worse thing she could have done.

Ruby sighed, glancing in the direction she knew Cable to be at. It was always the loudest, rowdiest bit of the bar that she could find her ex in. Given enough time, a chair would surely fly or a biker would be slammed into a wall like he was a little annoying gnat and Cable had simply brushed him off. At first, it had been exciting to be around him – so brutal and straightforward with everything he wanted, Cable had been everything the men around her father weren’t.

While the Italians could be harsh, they were never crass. One didn’t last too long in the mob business if they hadn’t learned a little about politics or how to hide one’s tracks. But Cable and his gang knew nothing about that. They took what they wanted, did as they pleased and answered to no one. It had been intoxicating when Cable took an interest in her, showing her how wild life could be and how little rules really mattered. But after a while, Ruby found herself wishing that the rules she had shunned so readily would make an appearance again.

Apparently she didn’t quite have the stomach to watch a guy get beaten to within an inch of his life just because he had taken the wrong seat at the bar. And as much as it surprised Cable, a life of hanging out in bars and going out for rides to hit up other bars or liquor stores that they weren’t involved in turf wars already, kind of got old for the mob princess.

When she tried to leave, she’d found it impossible. Not that she was overly fond of Cable anymore anyway – that had passed quickly – but he just wouldn’t let her go. So there she sat, like a permanent fixture on a bar stool at The Rusty Nail, drinking drinks with umbrellas and waiting patiently for another chance to escape. Just like she’d done all month.

“Don’t look so down, chica,” Yaya said, elbowing a big biker out of her way and plopping down on a seat next to Ruby.