Her Lion Billionaire (9 page)

Chapter Nine

The pancakes her father made were delicious. She could eat forever if she wanted to; she realized this wasn’t real life, and she could stuff her face for hours and not get full. Charlotte put down her fork and wiped her mouth with the white linen napkin.

“Are you finished already?” her father asked.

“I don’t want to get fat. Oh, sorry. I don’t want to get even fatter.” She pushed her plate away.

Her father eyed her critically. “You’re a healthy and beautiful young woman. Don’t try to change a thing. You’re perfect as you are.”

“You sound like Grandmaman.”

“Because she’s right.”

Charlotte thought about her grandmother, who always scolded her to eat right. “Do you ever meet her?”

“Naturally. It would be rude if I didn’t.”

“Do you still…” Charlotte hesitated, “see mom in her dreams?”

“I do. She lives in Dreamscape most of the time.”

“Am I here because you want our family to be together?”

“I cannot deny that is the wish I desire most in this world, but it isn’t your time yet—yours nor your mother’s.”

“I have so many questions for you.”

The Dream Lord watched her dotingly. “Ask away.”

“I never got around to asking Mom how you two met.”

“Well.” Her father played with a teaspoon, twirling it between his long, tapered fingers. There was child-like excitement in his face as he told his tale. “When your mother was young, she had an accident that landed her in hospital for a long time. Afterward, she wasn’t able to dream at all. Can you imagine how bad a person would feel if she didn’t have the ability to dream? It’s quite different from people who can’t remember their dreams.”

She nodded. “It feels like you don’t sleep at all. When you wake up, it feels like you just dozed off even though you slept all night long.”

“That is correct. Your mother wanted to dream so badly that she started to pray to me. Her faith in me was so great that a special bond between us was forged. Naturally, we fell in love and you were born.”

“Huh.” Charlotte thought for a second. “How come I never saw you all these years?”

“I visited you often when you were little, but you said you hated me so I never came into your dreams again.”

“Is that so?”

“It pains me to have my own flesh and blood resent me, but I know that one day we’ll be able to clear up our misunderstanding.”

“I see. Dad, am I already dead?”

The man called Dream Lord didn’t answer her question immediately. “No,” he finally said. “At least, not yet.”

“Oh.” She stared out the kitchen window. It was sunny outside. She could see the branch of a peach tree swaying, green leaves shyly covered the ripe, blushed fruits. From where she was sitting, she could smell the freshly cut June grass mixed with the acrid smell of lawnmower fuel, and the scent of laundry that her mother had hung outdoors. A waft of caramelized burgers on the hot grill from the neighbor’s yard. The smell of summer. The season she loved most at the childhood place she cherished in her memory, safely tucked away in the recesses of her mind. Her father had chosen this particular clip for a special reason. “I’m not ready to leave. Besides, I’ve made a promise to someone that I would stay by his side.”

Her father smiled. “I know of him.”

“Can you help me get back to Daniel?”

He tilted his head gracefully. “It would be my pleasure, but you have to help him first.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you hate dream-walking, but this is the only way to help him find his way to you.”

She jumped up from her seat. “I’ll do anything.”

The Dream Lord laughed.

Against the protests of his pride members, Daniel went ahead with the transfer of ownership of his stocks and dividends to Jeremy, and wrote an official announcement of his resignation from the company. He also documented his abdication as alpha of the Manhattan lions. Liam Ruska, the pride treasurer and corporate lawyer for the company, who strongly objected to the transfer of power, added a clause for Daniel’s protection: in the event that Jeremy was found responsible for Charlotte’s injuries, the aforementioned agreement would be nullified and Jeremy would be punished according to the pride’s law.

As Daniel headed to the rendezvous point, phone calls and texts flurried in the background. Daniel’s chief of staff was overwhelmed with fending off people who wanted to talk to Daniel, including Daniel’s father and his sister Anika. With the exception of his stepmother, everyone was not thrilled with his decision. Daniel, however, had made up his mind. Nothing could sway his determination to save Charlotte.

Daniel made it to Peter Luger on time. Against the advice of his trusted men, he went alone. The maître d’ directed him to Jeremy’s table. His stepbrother was dining with three of his friends. Seeing him arrive, Jeremy dismissed his friends temporarily. Daniel recognized Jeremy’s lackeys. The three of them were young lions from his stepmother’s former pride, which had long ago dissolved and merged into the Addington pride.

Daniel took the empty seat across from Jeremy. Without a word, Daniel pushed the documents in Jeremy’s direction.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” said Jeremy.

“I’m a man of my word.”

Jeremy looked at the documents briefly. “It seems everything is in order.”

“Where’s Mary-Anne?” Daniel demanded.

“She’s on her way to Seattle. You’ll see her tomorrow morning.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You don’t. You just have to trust me.” Jeremy gloated. “We are blood, after all.”

Daniel suppressed the urge to take a swipe at him with his sharp claws. He willed himself to stay calm and focus. He’d sacrificed his place as alpha to his pride to save the woman he loved. For her, he willingly took this kind of insult. “You better pray you had nothing to do with Charlotte’s accident like you said. If you did, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Jeremy pretended to look hurt. “You don’t trust me, big brother?”

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “I hope you don’t plan to travel overseas in the near future, Jeremy. Stay in the country.” He rose and left the restaurant.

Outside, his men greeted him with worried eyes.

“How was it, Alpha?” asked Liam Ruska.

“It is done. And don’t call me ‘Alpha’ anymore.” Daniel got into the car.

Ruska and the others didn’t seem happy with the sudden power change. The lawyer climbed in, sat next to Daniel and said stubbornly, “In my heart, you remain my alpha, Mr. Addington.”

His private Gulfstream jet touched down at Seattle-Tacoma Airport before dawn, and by six A.M, Daniel was sitting by Charlotte’s bedside. The doctor gave him a brief report on her condition. Daniel promised that the donor would come shortly so they could start the transplant procedures.

Anika stormed in and started raising hell about his arrangement with Jeremy.

“Have you lost your mind?” Anika railed at him. “You risk the sanctity of our pride! Ninety percent of our members are loyal to you! With you not in charge, we could lose many important people.”

Daniel regarded her with little interest.

“Danny—” Anika started.

“Sister,” cut in Daniel. “It is a done deal.”

“You’ve made a selfish decision. How could you—”

Daniel shut her up with a withering glare. “It’s Jeremy. You share the same mother with him. Why do you take my side?”

Anika quieted, eyes still blazing. “My loyalty lies in the pride’s best interests.”

“Jeremy will make an excellent alpha.”

“Jeremy will destroy our pride.”

“Give him a chance, sister.”

“You don’t know him as well as I do.”

“Oh?” Daniel turned to her. “Is there something I should know about?”

Anika quieted.

Before she could utter a word, Dr. Huang entered the room, interrupting them. “Mr. Addington? We have someone who claims to be Ms. Winters’ donor.”

They went to a private examination room where a nurse was checking vital signs of a woman in a wheelchair. Daniel saw Mary-Anne Winters for the first time, and she didn’t look too good. The woman was in her mid-forties, pale, thin, and she was shivering uncontrollably. Her vacant eyes gazed straight at him, but she saw no one.

Dr. Huang ordered the nurse to put an IV line into Mrs. Winters and to prepare a bag for her. Without the doctor telling him so, Daniel could see that Charlotte’s mother was in no condition for a serious medical procedure, let alone becoming a donor. His hopes of saving Charlotte crumbled apart.

“Where is her guardian?” Daniel asked the nurse. “I’d like to speak with him.”

“A young man wheeled her in and then left,” said the nurse.

Daniel’s headache multiplied. “He just dumped her here?”

The nurse looked uncomfortable.

Anika touched her brother’s arm. “Danny…”

Daniel fisted his hand. It occurred to him that Jeremy was toying with him. He was worried about Charlotte too much, and he couldn’t see he was playing right into Jeremy’s hands. How could his brother transfer Mrs. Winters from New York when she displayed signs of hypothermia? Anger crept into his veins.

“Doctor,” Daniel addressed Huang. “Please give Mrs. Winters the best care available and make her comfortable. After she is recovered and stable, if you could arrange for her to be admitted into a private clinic suitable for her condition, I’d really appreciate it. Money is not an issue.”

“I understand,” said Huang.

“In the meantime, I will continue searching for a suitable donor for Charlotte. Please do everything you can to keep her alive.”

“Yes, Mr. Addington.”

Daniel returned to Charlotte’s room, and Anika followed him. She seemed like she wanted to say something but decided against it. Without a word, Anika turned around on her heels and left.

Daniel called his lawyer and told him to find out where Jeremy was. He also instructed him to triple the reward for finding a donor. Buying and selling organs was prohibited in the real world, but human regulations didn’t reach the far end of the Netherworld. As an influential figure there, Daniel exercised his pride’s power to reach his objective. Still, the result was disappointing. Charlotte was as close to human as she was to Netherworlder, and her kind was the rarest of the rare.

After he finished his phone calls, Daniel leaned back in the chair, allowing himself a little luxury of relaxing. He hadn’t slept since Charlotte was hospitalized. Suddenly, all the weight on his shoulders came crushing down. He was tired to the bone. He took Charlotte’s hand and squeezed it gently.

Don’t give up, my love. I’m never giving up on you.
He rested his head on the bed.

Daniel Addington was asleep instantly.

Charlotte watched her father drawing a sigil in the air. There was a spark and a glimmer in the blank space before it slowly imploded into a gateway to another reality. In this case, it was another dream. The doorway became larger until it could allow the two of them to pass.

“Where are we going?” asked Charlotte.

“To find the culprit behind your accident.”

She grabbed the Dream Lord’s sleeves and followed in his steps. The scenery changed as soon as she walked across the threshold.

They were in a bar, and a shoddy one at that. The establishment was frequented by blue-collar folks winding down after a day of backbreaking work. Several men in work clothes congregated around a table. Some harsh-looking men in biker jackets played pool, accompanied by scantily dressed women.

Nobody paid any attention to Charlotte and her father because their presence was non-corporeal. The Dream Lord pointed to a man trying to woo a woman by the bar. Charlotte and her father glided toward them.

The man was dressed as a body-shop employee that hadn’t bothered to change even though it was already after hours. He seemed to be in his late twenties but was already showing premature baldness. He had beady eyes, too large of a nose and a scrawny frame.

The woman sitting next to him seemed to know the man. She was a redhead, rather comely and busty. If she weren’t an acquaintance, Charlotte doubted she’d give him the time of the day.

“Let me buy you a drink. Or twenty,” said the man.

“Oh?” The redhead arched a stenciled eyebrow. “Feeling generous tonight?”

“Just got me some dough today.”

“Whose wares did you fence?”

“Ouch.” The man pretended to look hurt. “It’s legit, Darlene. I got paid for doing some guy a favor.”

The Dream Lord turned to Charlotte. “Do you recognize him?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Is he the one who ran me over?”

The Dream Lord looked at the man and touched his forehead.

Suddenly, Charlotte could see a cinematic view of the man’s memory. His name was John Bettuci, and he was flat broke. When his former boss, a drug dealer in Compton, approached Bettuci with a job, Bettuci jumped on it without a second thought. The job paid ten grand in cash. Bettuci was given a burner cell and told to wait for instructions.