The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (5 page)

***

Tosca
was an old favorite, and the performance was spectacular, but Samuel found his eyes on Theresa more than the stage.

She'd never been to the opera before, she'd told him, her eyes flickering down, embarrassed.

"Then I think you're in for a treat," he'd said, offering her his arm. And he'd been right; she was obviously entranced by the show.

Sue had delivered the dress in person, ready to make a few last-minute adjustments if needed. She'd helped Theresa with her hair and make-up, too.

"I didn't know you did make-up," Samuel had said, surprised. She'd tailored his suits for years, but make-up hadn't ever come up.

Sue had laughed. "I worked at the theater for a decade, honey. I did
everything
."

She'd twisted Theresa's hair up in an elegant knot, with a few curling tendrils falling softly around her face, and done something with make-up that made her eyes look huge and luminous. Together with the dress, the full effect was spectacularly beautiful.

But Theresa had been beautiful with her hair tousled and her cheeks reddened by the wind, too. What really made the whole effort worth it for Samuel was the look in her eyes when she saw herself in the mirror for the first time, the shy, startled pleasure on her face.

On the stage, Tosca was bent over the dead body of her lover, singing her anguish. Theresa was looking down at the scene, rapt, her eyes damp. Samuel reached out and caught her hand. Theresa squeezed back firmly.

There was a cocktail reception after the end of the opera. Theresa hooked her hand into the crook of his arm again, beaming at him with her eyes still damp and reddened.

"That was... I don't even know what to say. Thank you so much," she said.

"I'm glad you liked it."

They shared a bottle of water standing by the bar. "Seriously, thank you again," Theresa said. "I loved it. The costumes alone, and the music..."

"It's really something, isn't it. I've seen it performed four or five times before, but I never get tired of it," Samuel said.

The back of his neck was tingling. When he turned his head, a dark shadow at the other end of the room resolved into Severin's slender figure.

Severin was watching them intently. When he caught Samuel's eyes, he gave an ironic little salute with his glass.

Samuel turned away, taking a deep breath. He'd expected Severin to come. Their taste in opera was one of the few things they still shared, and moreover, Severin would know he'd be coming with a woman. Samuel knew he was being watched; he'd known Severin would be curious. Better to let him sate his curiosity now, when Samuel could see him coming.

Theresa excused herself to the bathroom, and Severin immediately seized his chance to come over, Vivienne by his side. They made a striking pair, him all in black, tall and slender as a dagger, and her in a dress the color of glacier ice, her long blonde hair tumbling halfway down her back in artful curls.

"Severin. Vivienne," Samuel said, inclining his head in greeting. They all knew this wasn't a friendly talk, and yet of course it was unthinkable to be anything less than polite in public.

"Little brother," Severin said, giving him a smile full of sharp white teeth. Vivienne held out her hand to be kissed. She'd grown up European royalty, from one of the few human families that had known of the existence of dragons for centuries, and liked to make a show of her courtly manners.

Samuel was aware of people's eyes on them as he kissed her hand, knew Vivienne was aware of the scene she'd created: The two brothers with their almost identical dark looks, her in her striking pale dress; the old-fashioned, courtly greeting. She'd always enjoyed being the center of attention.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Severin asked.

"Immensely," Samuel said. "Ms. Carmelo has really grown as a soprano, don't you think?" If Severin wanted to pretend they were having a polite conversation between brothers, he was willing to play along.

"She's gotten quite impressive," Severin said. "And I couldn't help noticing what a beautiful companion you brought along tonight."

Ah. So they were finally getting to the point.

"Her name is Theresa," Samuel said, volunteering nothing else, just for the pleasure of seeing Severin grit his teeth in annoyance.

"Well, I certainly hope you know what you're doing," Severin said, and this time the threat was blatant in his voice. "Maybe I should have a little talk with her."

"You could do that," Samuel said blandly. "Just don't take up too much of her time. I'm paying her by the hour, after all," he added, and had the rare pleasure of seeing Severin truly startled for once.

"Are you," Severin said slowly. "My do-gooder little brother. Really."

Samuel sternly reminded himself that nothing good could possibly come from punching Severin's face in, no matter how much he wanted to. Showing that he cared would only give Severin a reason to try and chase Theresa off.

"You're always telling me I ought to blow off some steam," he said.

Severin watched him for a long moment, a flicker of distrust in his sharp cold eyes. And then he laughed and slapped Samuel on the back, hard enough to stagger him. "Good for you. A man's got needs."

Vivienne was watching them with her mouth twisted up into an exaggerated pout. "You men are disgusting," she said.

Frankly, given the topic of this conversation, Samuel completely agreed. He hated this deception. He wasn't a liar, and the games Severin and Vivienne liked to play disgusted him. He respected Theresa, and he liked her, and having to pretend that she didn't matter to him was horrible. But if Severin got even a vague suspicion Theresa might be his potential mate, Samuel knew he wouldn't hesitate to drive her away.

Still, he'd much rather have fought Severin outright, and he would have if there'd been even a small chance he might win. But there wasn't. A dragon didn't gain his full powers until he met his mate. Severin was at the height of his strength; that alone would be enough, even without Vivienne by his side, and the powers she'd gained when they'd bonded.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I have to leave now," Samuel said.

Vivienne grabbed his arm, holding him back for a second. "If this is some sort of trick..." she hissed. Where her hands were touching him, cold was spreading up his arm, an icy, prickling numbness. Samuel stopped himself from pulling away. He wasn't impressed by her little games.

"Samuel, hey. Sorry I took so long, there was a queue," Theresa said from behind him.

Vivienne let go of his arm with a little pat that almost looked like a friendly gesture, if you weren't paying attention. "Hello! You must be Theresa. Samuel was just telling us about you," she said, the flat stare she'd been giving him disappearing back beneath her friendly mask. "That dress is the most amazing thing, you have to tell me where you got it! This is my husband, Severin."

"Nice to meet you," Severin said. Like Vivienne, he'd hidden the hostility behind a practiced smile.

"Theresa, this is my brother Severin, and his wife, Vivienne," Samuel said, suppressing the urge to bare his teeth. He wanted to get Theresa far away from them. But of course Severin insisted on making small talk for a few more minutes until they could finally excuse themselves.

Samuel guided Theresa away with a hand on her back, hoping he didn't look as crazily overprotective as he felt right now. The dragon inside him wanted to turn right around and go for Severin's throat with his teeth. He tightened his arm around Theresa, pulling her slightly closer, and then instantly worried that he might have made her uncomfortable.

But Theresa didn't seem to object to staying close by his side.

"Your brother seems a little...Um." Samuel watched her flounder, trying to come up with an adjective to describe Severin's shark-like intensity without sounding insulting. There weren't a lot of people who could look past Severin's smooth, charming facade so quickly. He wasn't surprised she was one of them.

"He's a terrible person," Samuel said.

Theresa looked up at him, startled. "Really?"

"We used to be close, when we were kids," Samuel said. "But when we grew up, he turned into someone I barely recognize anymore. He's ruthless as hell. Greedy, too."

"Huh. I always heard he was a good CEO, that Aurum's a really nice place to work. You know, the kind of company that treats its employees well."

"That's how my father always handled it," Samuel said. "I managed to convince Severin it was in our best interest to keep it that way. You know what it costs to replace a good engineer? It's cheaper to pay people a decent wage in the first place and treat them well, make sure they know they've got it better here than elsewhere. I guess that argument made sense to him."

He sighed. "Severin's not crazy. He doesn't go around mistreating people for fun. He just doesn't have much of a conscience, either. He can be charming as hell when he wants to, but there's no real feeling behind it. He doesn't care about people."

"So his wife—They seemed really close. Is he faking all that, too?" Theresa sounded saddened at the very idea.

"No. That's real," Samuel said. Over by the buffet, Vivienne tapped Severin's elbow and then leaned close to whisper something in his ear. For a moment, Severin's face softened into a real smile, the one he only ever had for her.

"I think she's the only person in the world who's real to him. He'd die for her. When he first met her, I hoped..." Samuel swallowed hard. He'd really thought Severin might change. In love for the first time in his life, dizzy with it, the matebond burying through to the heart that turned out to be hidden somewhere deep beneath the shell of Severin's icy indifference after all.

Samuel gave a low laugh, knew he sounded bitter. "Turned out she was exactly like him."

If ever there'd been two people made for each other in the world, it was those two, Severin and his ice queen.

"I'm sorry," Theresa said.

Samuel shrugged. He hadn't wanted to dampen her enjoyment of the evening. "Let's talk about something else, okay? Do you want another drink?"

***

They ended the evening with a drink on the couch again, looking down at the glittering lights of the city below them.

"Will you tell me why you're here?" Samuel asked. The question had plagued him more and more all day. "You don't really seem like someone who'd care about money that much. There's some reason you need that check, isn't there?"

"Yeah," Theresa said, looking down. "There is."

Samuel listened as she told him about her nephew and his illness, and the bargain with the devil her sister had made to pay his medical bills.

"I'm so sorry. That's horrible," he said quietly.

"It really was," Theresa said. She stroked the edge of her thumb over her purse, which still held the check Samuel had given her. "But it's gonna be okay now. Joey's healthy, and I'm gonna take care of Carolyn."

"If there's anything I can do to help—" Samuel said. "You said she's struggling with her mortgage, too—"

Theresa shook her head. "That's incredibly generous of you, but she wouldn't accept that. But as long as I can get the Grigorieff brothers off her back, we can manage everything else."

She touched her purse again, smiling.

Samuel looked at her. It seemed like such a small sum to him. He'd grown up with all the wealth a family of dragons could hoard over generations. But for Theresa, it was a life-changing amount of money.

And yet, Theresa had something that he could only dream of. Samuel had felt a pang in his chest, listening to her talk about her sister, about how close the two of them were. Severin was the only remaining member of his family. They'd been close, as children, until Samuel had grown up and started to see who Severin really was: his ruthlessness and his hunger for power. Even after that, there'd been a time when they'd gotten along all right. He'd used to be his brother's conscience, once. But at some point Severin had stopped listening to him. They'd grown apart after that. These days, every interaction was strained politeness and veiled hostility. Samuel still missed the friend he'd had in his brother when they were kids.

Theresa had let her head sink back against the sofa cushions, her eyes falling shut. Samuel gently nudged her arm. "Go to bed. You're falling asleep," he said.

Theresa made a tired sound and cuddled deeper into the cushions.

Samuel smiled. "Hey, wake up. You'll regret it tomorrow if you fall asleep here. This couch is comfortable but it's not
that
comfortable." He gave her another gentle nudge, but she only grumbled something indistinct, hiding her face against a cushion. A wave of protectiveness swamped him at the sight of her. His dragon wanted to place itself between her and the rest of the world, to keep her safe and protected for the rest of her life. "Come on, then. I'll take you to bed," he said, giving in to impulse. He picked her up in his arms, as carefully a she could. Theresa startled, blinking her eyes open sleepily.

"It's okay, keep sleeping," Samuel said. She leaned her head against his shoulder and let her eyes fall closed again. She was most of the way asleep, Samuel reminded himself, but still, the gesture of trust made the dragon inside him roar protectively.