TRUSTING THE BETRAYED
Emilia Hartley
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Chapter One
Evangeline Abercrombie tugged her beanie down over her silver hair as she peered around nervously. There were old ladies getting their bananas for the week and men old enough to be her father eyeing her as they passed on their way to get a forty pack of cheap beer. She’d thought the grocery store would be a good neutral ground to meet her ex.
She tried to keep her spine straight, but her gut churned nervously as she watched the entrance. Her three-year relationship with Trevor MacFarlane had ended after he’d tried to sleep with her best friend. Her world had come crashing down around her ears when Isabella came to her to explain what’d happened, or what hadn’t happened because Isabella knew Trevor was taken. Evangeline had seen all the warning signs before that, but had willfully ignored them, not wanting to lose the three years she’d sunk into him.
Trevor’s attempt to cheat on her had been the last straw. Evangeline told him to pack his things and leave. Bitter and cruel, Trevor had taken more than his share of what they owned. He’d also grabbed her grandfather’s signet ring.
That bastard knew that her grandfather had practically raised her. There was no denying what that ring meant to her when she almost always wore it around her neck. Her grandfather was the whole reason she’d gotten into art and tattooing. Trevor had waited until the moment she took it off to shower and snatched it out from under her just to be spiteful.
She shifted her weight from foot to foot when the door slid open. She could feel the lingering gazes of other shoppers and employees, so she grabbed a pomegranate and pretended to inspect it. The last thing she wanted was a complicated fruit that needed dissection.
But when the heat of someone’s attention burned the back of her neck, she turned around. The man entering the store brought her to a halt. The automatic doors could barely move out of the way of his broad shoulders in time. His shoulder length brown hair was half pulled up, revealing his intense blue eyes as they cascaded over her.
Even though her heart thumped wildly at the sight of this burly man, she told herself to stay far away. His motorcycle boots slapped the floor like he had a grudge against it. A man like that would only bruise her already broken heart.
She didn’t have time for new men. She had sketches to finish for tattoo clients. She had to get her car inspected before the week was out. She had to get her grandfather’s ring back.
Still, the unfamiliar man watched her. Evangeline ducked her head and pretended not to notice him or the two men walking behind him. They carried themselves the same way, though the guy with the sunglasses had a cocky smirk painted onto his lips. Behind him was a man with a shaved head and thick beard.
Probably a group of power-lifting bros, she thought to herself.
As much as Evangeline wanted to watch the blue-eyed man, a familiar voice drew her attention away. She flinched, a reaction that caused shame to curl deep in her stomach.
Trevor marched her way, the chain that ran from his beltloop to his wallet bouncing on his thigh. With his chin tilted up, he wore a cocky grin that made Evangeline want to punch him in the face.
She let out a breath and forced the tension in her chest to dissipate. A war raged inside her, between the part of her that missed that devilish smile and the part of her that wanted to shrink when he was around. She hated how much she missed him, or, more accurately, the man she’d thought him to be.
“Have you thought about making things work?” he asked once he reached her. “I’m ready to forgive you.”
She reeled. “Forgive me? For what?”
He tugged at the end of her long hair. “For kicking me out of my own house. I understand you weren’t thinking clearly. I gave you ample time to see past your crazy hormones. You give in to your emotions too easily, but once you can think rationally, you’ll see that you were in the wrong.”
Oh no, she thought. Every last ounce of attraction she’d once had for him died the instant she realized he was trying to gaslight her again. He brought up hormones and emotions, like they were dirty things no one should ever have. Just like that, he made her feel out of control. Had the rage in her chest not burned it away, she would have uttered an apology.
She’d been right to kick him out. Her name was on the lease agreement, not his. Trevor had moved in with her when they’d gotten together because his name wouldn’t have gotten them anything.
She shook her head and held out her hand. “Just give me the ring.”
He raised a brow and held up his tattooed hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any rings.”
A small whimper escaped her throat.
“How about you and I go outside and talk things out? It’s time we patched this little spat. If I can come home, I’ll help you look for your grandfather’s ring. I’m sure it fell between the wall and the bed.”
It hadn’t. Evangeline had checked there. She’d checked under the bed, under the couch, and behind the bookshelves even though she knew the ring had gone missing from the bathroom vanity while she was in the shower. She hated the way Trevor could make her doubt what she knew. He’d taken it. She was sure. The ring was nowhere to be found. Trevor must have taken it.
“I’m not taking you back,” she snapped. “You fucked up. You fucked up, and it cost you everything, but you’re too much of an asshole to admit it.”
His grin vanished. He grabbed her by the arm before she could move and yanked her close. The pomegranate in her hand tumbled to the floor and rolled away. Evangeline tried to hold her ground, but Trevor was bigger than she was. She was only a waif of a woman, barely a hundred pounds of bone and baby fat.
“Let’s take this conversation outside,” he said, keeping his voice low.
She looked to the people milling around them, silently pleading for an intervention, but everyone who eyed them went back about their business. No one wanted to get in the middle of their argument. They all thought she and Trevor were on drugs. To them, only drug addicts got so many tattoos or dyed their hair crazy colors.
No one did anything as he hauled her toward the exit.
***
Casey’s dragon had been on high alert since he’d walked into the store. The moment he’d laid eyes on the silver-haired woman near the produce section, his beast had lingered close to the surface. He’d tried everything to get the beast to settle back down until he gave in and backtracked to the woman.
What he saw made heat roll across his tongue. The old man beside him sidestepped him as a growl emanated from his chest.
“Everything okay?” Dillon called from the beer section.
“Yep. Fine. Be right back.” Casey’s hands curled into fists
, and he stalked forward, his eyes trained on the greasy guy trying to drag the silver-haired woman out by her arm.
Fear filled her eyes, even though she’d pulled an unreadable mask over her face.
Casey was going to rip the greaseball limb from limb, starting with his fingers. He stopped only for a second to snatch a fallen pomegranate from the floor.
“I think you dropped this,” Casey said, chucking the fruit at the greaseball’s face.
It landed with a satisfying crunch. Casey wished the sound had been bones breaking and not the fruit shattering. Red juice dripped down the man’s startled face. The woman leapt back, holding her hands over her mouth. The flowers inked onto the back of her hands framed her face.
Casey wanted to stare at her forever, find every bit of ink decorating her skin and listen to the stories behind it, but he placed himself between her and the greaseball. With his back to her, his beast clawed at him. He told the creature that she was fine for now. Their attention needed to be on the man.
“Man, you really need to learn how to catch,” Casey said, flicking a piece of broken fruit off the man’s face.
He looked up at Casey, slack jawed as red juice trickled down his cheeks. The man’s shoulders tensed, like he wanted to fight, but it quickly fled when he sized Casey up. It wasn’t easy for a man to take down someone a whole head taller than him unless he had training, and Casey guessed this asshole had sustained his shitty behavior by picking on those smaller than him his entire life.
Casey knew he was right when the man’s attention dropped to the woman just out of sight. The man leaned to look at her before he said, “Have you replaced me already? Are you really that easy?”
Only Casey could hear her small gulp. The simple sound filled Casey’s mouth with fire. If he wasn’t careful, he would lose control in the middle of a grocery store. The beast was willing to protect her at all costs, though Casey couldn’t figure out why.
She was just a woman, someone he’d seen in passing. He didn’t even know her name. When this was over, she would go about the rest of her day and never think of him again. That was what everyone did to him. He would vanish into the background while everyone else got on with their lives.
“Turn around and march your ass on out of here before I’m forced to drag you out,” Casey said to the man.
There was a moment where it looked like the man would argue, but it passed. The guy backpedaled without another word, spinning to speed-walk away only when his back hit the automatic door.
Casey thought his beast would settle, but it still writhed just under his skin when he turned to face the silver-haired woman. She was ethereal, slim enough that she would float away on a stiff breeze if he didn’t hold her down. Not even the weight of her earrings would keep her tethered to the earth.
“Have a good day, ma’am.”
He had to leave her. He had to walk away.
If he didn’t…
“Hey! Thank you,” she called out. Her footsteps caught up with him. “I don’t know how to repay you for that. Can I ask your name, at least?”
Casey grunted. “I’m not here for long. Not here looking to make friends.”
The pout that overcame her glossy pink lips nearly tore his heart in two. A tiny multi-colored gem winked in her button nose. He wanted to take her under his wing and keep her safe from whatever the world might throw at her, but Casey had been sent here on a mission. To keep this fairy girl would be to invite her into danger.
“Well,” she said as she dug through her tiny purse. Finally, she came up with a little cardboard square. “Take my business card. Good for one free tattoo. You look like the kind of guy who likes ink.”
On one side was an inky black dragon over a crescent moon. His heart nearly stopped. He stared down at it, captivated. That was just enough time for the woman to put a hand on his arm and lift herself up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered before turning away.
His heart started again, racing too fast now. She got about five feet from him before he called for her to wait. “I can’t let you go out there alone. That dickhole of a human being might still be out there.”
She stopped and waited for him, her smile so bright that he felt like he’d just stared into the sun. Walking behind her, he caught the scent of lilacs and Vaseline. That wasn’t a combination he’d ever thought would turn him on, but he had to adjust the crotch of his jeans several times.
“Looks like Trevor didn’t stick around,” she muttered.
The disappointment in her voice confused Casey. He raised one brow as he looked down at her. “Why would you want to run into him again? That man was going to hurt you.”
She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. Her hand went to her throat, like there should have been something around her neck. “He took something that means a lot to me.”
Casey sucked his teeth and glared at the parking lot. If he followed the greaseball’s scent, he could track him down.
What was he thinking? He couldn’t afford to get involved in these human matters. There was too much on the line. It didn’t matter how badly his dragon wanted this woman. Casey had a clanmate to bring home.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered and turned away.
His beast growled, a sound that shook him to his bones. Ahead, Dillon and Erik exited the store. They each had a forty-pack. He hoped they’d remembered to get the burger patties and buns or else he was going to remove their heads from their shoulders.
Erik lowered his glasses and narrowed his multi-colored eyes at Casey like he could read the violent thoughts rolling through Casey’s head. The weirdo probably could.
This wasn’t the group Casey would have chosen to retrieve Gavin. There were probably ten other dragons more capable of detaining their clan-leader’s rogue son, but Zander had chosen the weirdo with a cracked personality and the mute. It wasn’t that Dillon couldn’t talk, but that he chose not to.
In almost every situation.
Casey couldn’t deny that Dillon threw a hell of a right hook, though. Erik, as unpredictable as he was, probably packed a punch, too.
So, it fell on the shoulders of three fucked up dragons to bring home the biggest fuck-up. Casey wasn’t ready, but he unlocked the truck and got behind the wheel anyway.
Chapter Two
“Come on out and play, dickweed!” Erik shouted as he leapt out of the back of Casey’s truck.
Zander Masters had told them that his son was posting up in a cabin in the mountains, but he’d failed to mention that it was a luxury cabin. The damn building sprawled like a mansion, crouched under towering pine trees that cast shade over the ponds and…was that a pool?
Casey wanted to punch every window. He wanted to rip the front door off. He expected his beast to rage alongside him, but the creature was still distracted by the memory of the woman from the grocery store. Casey patted his pocket to make sure her card was still there, and then got out of the truck.
He thought Gavin would ignore them, or that the dragon was hiding deep beneath the earth. Then, the front door flew open. Gavin’s shoulders heaved. His eyes glowed red. He had to have been seconds from his beast breaking free of him.
Casey put a foot on the mailbox and kicked it over.
Gavin roared. He burst out of the doorway, wings unfurling around him as he grew into a massive red-scaled beast. Casey planted one foot behind him and laughed as his own beast spilled out of him. Teeth clashed with claws. Gavin slammed his tail into Casey’s side, but Casey savored the pain.
He would make Gavin feel it plus some. He would show Gavin how it felt to wake up alone. Casey had pledged his life to Gavin, supported his best friend while he trained to become the next clan leader. Then, Gavin left.
Without his best friend, Casey quickly realized that everyone he knew and loved had only paid attention to him because of Gavin. The red dragon was the clan’s prince. He would become the next leader, the next king.
“Cal
m the fuck down,” Erik grumbled.
Dillon sighed.
The fight raged on, but Casey twisted and threw Gavin away from the truck. If it got smashed, they’d never get Gavin home. This mission was to save him. Zander issued a warning. If they couldn’t bring him home, then Gavin’s life was forfeit.
As much as Casey wanted to hate Gavin for abandoning him, he didn’t want his friend to die, either. So, Casey would drag him home by the scruff of his neck, throw the man at his father’s feet, and then wipe his hands clean of both father and son.
“I’m heading inside,” Erik said while Casey and Gavin traded blows. “I’m fucking starving, and watching the two of you thrash about like livestock is only making me hungrier.”
Both Casey and Gavin stopped to stare at the back of Erik’s head. They shared a look, clearly confused. Gavin wrinkled his nose and snarled, but his form began to shrink. Red scales curled back into sun-kissed skin.
Casey also shifted back. He stormed over to his shredded shirt and frantically searched for the woman’s business card, praying that the shift and fight hadn’t destroyed it. He shouldn’t have cared, because he would likely never see her again, let alone take her up on the free tattoo offer, but relief flooded him when he found the little cardboard square.
He flipped it over in his hand.
Evangeline Abercrombie. Tattoo Artist.
His beast played her name on repeat. When he closed his eyes, he could see the soft pout of her pink lips.
Casey pinched the bridge of his nose. This was already going horribly. He’d met a girl he couldn’t stop thinking about. Erik might have threatened to eat them. Gavin was the same asshole as always.
Gavin stopped at his mailbox just long enough to slam it back into the ground and growl with frustration when it canted to the left. He flung out a finger at Casey.
“You’re going to pay for a new one.”
“You can eat my hairy ass,” Casey grumbled.
Trusting The Betrayed (Rogue Dragons Book 1) Page 1
