Her Dragon Billionaire (3 page)

He had thought Natalie was a perfect match. She came from pure blood dragon lineage. Their passion was fierce, smoldering. The moment he laid eyes on her, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

But he had mistaken their strong attraction as a
bond
. A year into their marriage, the passion was gone, reducing them to a pair of strangers living in the same house, sharing the same bed. They had started fighting. Liam wanted to reconcile, but Natalie wasn’t interested. One morning, she told him it was over and served him divorce papers. She left him for his best friend whom she had been seeing for months behind his back. He felt like a fool. A cuckolded husband.

He cleared his throat. “Eva can’t know about the truth until she’s ready. She’s already been through a lot.”

“Sooner or later, you need to tell her. What if she suddenly remembers who she was?”

“We’re talking a big ‘
what if
.’”

“Don’t you want her to heal well?”

“Of course I do.”

Rosa went busy slicing cucumber for a salad. “I personally think you sealed her fate when you initiated the rite, Mr. Caderyn. Whether you want it or not, she’s yours. She’s your bonded.”

“Bonded.” He snorted. “Natalie is currently living with my ex-best friend in the Bahamas, spending my money.”

Rosa snorted. “That’s not what I meant. Speaking of her, I don’t understand about Natalie. I don’t think she’s your true bonded.”

“Natalie is a pure-blood. Bairn House kept their lineage untainted back to the Celtic times.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a pure-blood to find the other half of your soul.”

Liam contemplated. Rosa was right. His mother was human and their parents had a great marriage. “What can I tell Eva about when we got married? Engaged? Wedding ring. She’ll want to see the wedding photos.”

“Maybe you should march back in there and tell her the truth.”

“No. I can’t do that.”

“You can’t or won’t?”

“I won’t. I already dipped my foot in the water. Besides, I’m rather…fond of her. What should I tell her if she wants to know more?”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “Sometimes the best lies are the truth.”

He considered her answer. “I’ll think of something,” he decided. He started to leave but then he remembered what brought him to the kitchen. “I need you to do something for me. I saw Eva in Natalie’s robe. Why did you keep Natalie’s clothes anyway?”

“Those are designer clothing. I meant to give them to charity, but didn’t get the chance.”

“Buy Eva a new wardrobe. I don’t want to see her in Natalie’s things.”

“Boy, are we grumpy today?” Rosa snatched a towel and wiped her hands. “Fine. I’ll run to Macy’s later.”

“I’ll be in my office if you need me. And Eva is hungry.” Liam wanted to call Anderson Cod to find out the progress of his investigation.

*

Eva clutched her cheeks while listening to the galloping pulse of her beating heart. She was married? To that handsome man? And she didn’t have any recollection of any of it? How awful. She married a hottie and couldn’t remember anything about him. What made them fall in love? How did they meet? When did they get married? So many questions and no answers. How long had they been married and why did he act like a stranger?

She had a headache. The revelation was too much.

Was their marriage in trouble?

Her discomfort turned into full-blown anxiety. It was bad enough she couldn’t remember who she was. It was devastating that she couldn’t remember anything about the man she loved and married.

Eva studied her hands. There were no rings. No engagement ring nor wedding ring.

Why didn’t she wear her rings? Were they lost in her accident? Were they in the process of separation? Or worse, divorce? That would explain his awkwardness toward her. If they were going to divorce, Eva wished for a reconciliation. Liam was the only one she had. She felt so vulnerable right now and she didn’t think she could face it alone. She needed someone. She needed him.

Her train of thoughts was suddenly distracted by a knock on the door.

Liam’s housekeeper, Rosa, came in with a tray of food. The aroma made Eva’s stomach growl. Did she smell chicken soup? She was famished.

“Hello, child. Here’s your lunch. I bet you’re hungry.” Rosa put the tray by the nightstand.

“I am, actually.”

“Good. Then eat up while it’s still hot.”

Eva craned her neck. “Chicken soup. Is it my favorite food?”

“Everybody loves my chicken soup. Mr. Caderyn wanted me to buy you some new clothes and essentials. Do you want something from Macy’s?”

“Don’t I have clothes in here?”

“No. Those are Natalie’s.”

“Who?”

“Mr. Caderyn’s ex-wife . I haven’t had a chance to donate them to charity. Mr. Caderyn didn’t wish you to wear Natalie’s clothes. He wanted me to buy new ones.”

Eva widened her eyes. “Liam was married before?”

“Divorced, child. Three years ago. It’s an old story.”

“Oh.” A pang of jealousy stabbed her. Liam kept his ex-wife’s clothes while she, the woman he was currently married to, didn’t have anything in the house they were sharing. She didn’t even have her wedding ring. What was going on here? “What happened?”

“Natalie left Mr. Caderyn. She’s a bad seed if you ask me.”

“He’s divorced and I can’t remember being married to him. When did we get married?”

“Just recently.”

“Are there any wedding photos I could see?”

Rosa smiled. “It’s best that you ask Mr. Caderyn. I’m not allowed to tell you anything. He wanted to tell you himself, considering your injury. You should take things easy.”

“Sorry. I was curious.”

“I know, child. Have lunch and rest. What’s your favorite color?”

“My favorite color?” Eva narrowed her eyes, thinking hard. “Do I have a favorite color? I can’t remember.”

“Do you like pink? Pastel colors?”

“Pink is pretty.”

“All women love pink. I’ll come later with your clothes. You take it easy, child.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah. You’re so precious.”

* * *

“Please have a seat, Mr. Cod. I hadn’t expected you to come back so soon. It’s only been a day since we talked on the phone,” said Liam. He closed the door of his home office and ushered the private investigator to the plush couches in front of the fireplace. Liam was about to talk to Eva when Rosa announced he had a visitor.

“The case turned out to be an interesting one.” Anderson Cod took out a large brown envelope from his trench coat before sinking his trunk-like body onto the sofa. He extracted the contents of the envelope. News clipping. Eight-by-ten photos. Police reports. Some classified documents.

Liam grabbed a paper and started reading with a sinking feeling. Like Liam had feared, the injuries inflicted against her weren’t just some random assaults. They were carried out by professional killers.

Eva Smith a.k.a Eva Walker was a librarian who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night after working late, she witnessed a man being murdered in the parking lot by a gang of men. The victim, Sanford Thomas, turned out to be a local businessman with ties to the Russian mafia.

He read news clippings about the Russian mafia boss dated a few months prior. The testimony from Eva, the prosecutor’s star witness, was what convinced the jury to return with the guilty verdict. It warranted Anton Kovalenko behind bars forever. No wonder the
vor
wanted her dead. One way or another, anyone who betrayed the
vor
would pay. Liam felt an inward shudder course through his veins.

“She’s in the witness protection program?”

“What a joke that was.” Cod snorted. “The Feds gave her new identities, but her medical history was tied up to her old name.”

“I know she’s diabetic. How did you find out she was in the witness protection program?”

“Wasn’t hard to find. Whoever created her new identity did a half-ass job.”

“Then I assume Eva has a handler.”

“She has. Her name is Mariah Jones. She works in the State Department.”

“Does Jones know Eva is missing?”

“My guess is no. The place where Eva worked hadn’t known she was missing. Eva was abducted on Friday. Today’s Sunday. Perhaps on Monday if Eva doesn’t show up for work, they’ll start making inquiries.”

“Don’t you think there’s a federal agent who’s checking on her on a daily basis to make sure she’s all right?”

“Perhaps before the trial. Since Eva gave her testimony against Anton Kovalenko, it seems to me she has been discarded.”

Liam pondered upon it. He felt disgusted. “I wish Eva’s whereabouts to remain secret.”

Anderson Cod stared unblinking.

“For now,” added Liam. “She’s suffering from amnesia. She couldn’t remember anything but her name. I don’t wish this information to aggravate her trauma.”

“Of course, Mr. Caderyn. I’m surprised that Ms. Walker survived the ordeal at all.”

“She’s lucky.”

“Forgive me for asking, you said she had a concussion?”

Liam hadn’t told Anderson Cod the whole story. He just said that he had found her in the stream with a head injury. He had employed Cod ever since he started running his business. Cod used to be his chief of security officer. But since Liam retired, Cod went solo with his new PI firm. Even though he and Cod went way back, the private investigator didn’t know the true nature of Liam himself, a secret closely guarded in Liam’s inner circle. “Yes,” he answered.

“Ms. Walker had testified against the boss of the
vory v zakone
. They are unforgiving son of the bitches if you ask me. When they send
vors
out to hunt, those men make sure the victim is dead before disposing of their body. They usually cut the fingers of the victims and pull the teeth to make identification impossible. They call it ‘professionally processed’. They have men that specialize in disposing of bodies. The fact that Ms. Walker only suffered a concussion makes her very lucky.”

“Maybe she got away.” Yeah, right. Three bullet wounds. Broken bones. Numerous cuts and bruises. Eva was an extremely lucky girl.

 “I have another favor to ask you,” Liam said. “Perhaps you could go to her apartment and pick up several of her things? Sentimental items, like her photo albums, diary, and such? If that’s no trouble for you.”

“No trouble at all.”

“I figure Eva would like those mementos to help with her recovery.”

“Of course.”

“I assume you’ll be very careful about this? I’d hate to think that the men who did this to her might be watching her place.”

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Caderyn, but you know I’m a professional.”

 “I imagine snooping on a mob victim isn’t like being a chief of security officer. At least corporate spies aren’t inclined to cut your fingers or remove all your teeth.”

“You never know what one will do to cover up a secret, sir. Well, if there’s nothing else, I’d like to get going with my work.” Anderson Cod rose from his seat.

Liam stood up and shook his hand. “Thank you for helping Eva.”

“No trouble at all, sir.”

Liam saw the private investigator to the door. “Call me if you find something new.”

Cod nodded.

After a bowl of chicken soup, a chicken salad sandwich, and a cup of ice tea, Eva felt sleepy. But she didn’t give into the temptation to curl back in bed and take an afternoon snooze. Instead, she went to the bathroom to take a long bath. While waiting for the tub to fill, she raided the dresser for clothes other than Liam’s ex-wife. She didn’t understand why she didn’t have personal belongings in this house. They were married right? Albeit newly-weds like he said. She should have some clothes in the house where they were living together.

The realization made her pause.

They were married and she didn’t even sleep in Liam’s bed. Judging from the lack of male possessions in this room, she was sure this wasn’t even their bed. Was this a guest bedroom? What kind of marriage were they having?

Eva spread her fingers in front of her. Suddenly she wanted like to cry. She didn’t even have a wedding ring. She didn’t know why she felt weepy. She was sure she wasn’t all mopey and whiny like this. Since when did she become a wuss?

Eva took a deep breath of exasperation.

Were they really married?

Ugh.

Biting her lip, she yanked open the bottom drawer. She found white men’s undershirts and boxer shorts.
Ha
! She looked at them with triumph. Liam’s clothes. She grabbed a pair and shoved the drawer shut. Liam shouldn’t mind if she borrowed his things. There was no way she would put on his ex’s clothes. And after her bath, she would march out of this room and find him and demand explanations. She didn’t care if she was trying too hard to remember. These unanswered questions were driving her insane….

After the bath, she put on Liam’s boxers and undershirt, combed her hair, and set out to find him. She was about to turn the doorknob when Liam beat her to it. He stood speechless in the doorframe. Apparently, he was amused by her choice of fashion. A smile blossomed on his handsome face.

“Lovely,” he said.

Eva looked down and saw what he meant. Her lush boobs tented the shirt, leaving little to the imagination. She pursed her lips. Her cheeks heated. “Well. There’s no way I’d wear
her
stuff.”

It took him seconds to realize what she meant. “I’m sorry, love.” He entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Why don’t we talk about this?”

“Sure. Just the things I’d like to ask you. I don’t feel that we’re really ma…” Her words trailed off when he held out his palm. Well, not actually his palm…he had something in his palm. Something gleaming. Rings. “What are those?”

Liam settled himself in a chair and hooked an arm around her waist. He pulled her closer. Eva sat on his lap.

“These are yours.” He took her left hand and slipped a platinum ring with a big Ceylon sapphire surrounded by glittering diamonds on her finger. “This is your engagement ring. It was my mother’s. And this…“ He slipped on another ring, a simple gold one with one paved diamond, “…is our wedding ring. I thought you’d like to have them back.”