“Alright,” he said thickly, wiping his nose and getting blood on his wrist. “I deserved that. But I’m not lying. I am actually trying to save your life. Cops in Vegas are corrupt as hell. You don’t know what you’re doing. But you’re safe here with me.”
“So, you just thought you’d take it upon yourself to decide what’s safe for me,” Lucy said, practically snarling as she walked up to him. She wanted him to know she wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t look surprised or impressed. They stood there nose to nose, chests heaving, and she had a strong urge to punch him again, yet this close, with the way his muscles quivered under his thin t-shirt, his cologne a faint whiff of sexy and his eyes glittering, she was turned on despite herself.
She really hated that. Yet she couldn’t deny the heat she felt. She licked her lips, not realizing she was doing it, and saw his eyes dilate slightly.
Oh, this is annoying, she thought.
A small part of her knew very well that she’d always been attracted to Jack Damon.
But this was absolute bullshit. She found her gaze dropping to his lips and was angry about it and then Jack was taking a step back, clearing his throat.
“Listen, I don’t need you to like me,” Jack said gruffly. “I just need you to stay here and I need you to do something else too.”
“Oh, are you enslaving me now too?” Lucy said wryly. “That’s great. What would you like, master?”
He glared at her and stalked out the door and she waited, adjusting her fishnet stockings. This outfit had been uncomfortable hours ago. It was bordering on a phenomenon. She tried the doorknob again but he’d locked it on his way out.
Son of a bitch.
Jack came back with a small cardboard box and she watched him warily as he set it on a table against the wall. He cast her an annoyed glare before leaving again (and again locking the door behind him). When he returned, he was carrying a heat lamp and a bottle of olive oil with him and he set both on the table next to the box. Lucy watched him and began to wonder if Jack Damon was all there in the mental sense of the word.
He stood in the middle of the room and crossed his arms. “I need you to do something for me,” he said slowly. “I truly am trying to save your life here but I’m also trying to save another life-”
“Whose life?” Lucy asked. Her genuine curiosity was beginning to outweigh her knee-jerk suspicion.
Jack beckoned her over to the box and she frowned before slowly rising to approach it. He stood back, as if giving her some space. She would have liked to have played a guessing game as to what the box could possibly contain that would necessitate a heat lamp and a bottle of olive oil.
But given a year to guess, she was pretty sure nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she peered into the box.
It was an egg.
It was a giant egg, a deep blue color and slightly slimy looking. She couldn’t think of what kind of animal it could possible be for, it was so big. She’d never seen anything like it. She’d seen blue eggs before. Robin’s eggs were blue. They weren’t this blue. This was almost a navy blue.
“What kind of animal is this for?” Lucy asked.
She forgot to be angry, she was now so curious and baffled, her thirst for knowledge far outweighing her indignation now as she reached out and gently touched the egg. It was real. There was no doubt about that.
“A dragon,” Jack said flatly.
“Like a Komodo dragon?” Lucy muttered. “No...those aren’t blue? And they aren’t this big…”
“Not a Komodo dragon,” Jack said slowly.
“What other kind of lizard would lay something like this?” Lucy said with a snort. “I mean, reptile? What-”
“I’m talking about an actual dragon,” Jack said. He turned to face her, crossing his arms, regarding her steadily. “Like in fairytales. Sort of.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Lucy narrowed her eyes, annoyed.
She had just been about to prepare herself for a weird rich guy thing. He was collecting exotic animals and he was taking care of a Komodo dragon egg. Fine. But this was getting into “Jack Damon is definitely crazy” territory.
Jack sighed and looked around the room. “I can’t show you in here. The room is too small. I’d put holes in the walls. Just trust me. It’s a dragon egg. And I need you to take care of it.” She went about setting up the heat lamp so that the bulb was right over the box
“You have to rub olive oil all over the egg twice a day. In the morning and in the evening. It still needs a rubdown for tonight.” Jack took a pen from his pocket and wrote it down in the notepad. “That wasn’t in here, I’m just writing it down...okay.” He handed her the notepad and the bottle of oil and smiled tightly as if everything was settled now.
Just take care of the dragon egg.
The actual egg from an actual dragon.
“You’re crazy,” Lucy whispered.
She had been so angry at him initially but she still believed he was, in his own infuriating and entitled way, trying to help her, even if it must have had something to do with his own interests.
But this was something else entirely. This was delusional.
“You’re supposed to hold it a lot,” Jack said, sighing and totally ignoring what she’d just said. “And play music…” He gestured vaguely at the small stereo and stack of CDs in the corner. Lucy couldn’t even remember the last time she’d played a CD. But Jack had swiped her phone, of course. “I haven’t been doing that. I haven’t been…”
He looked around the room, his expression suddenly angry and he shook his head as if tossing off whatever intrusive thoughts were bothering him.
“Anyway, you take care of the egg and you stay here.” He shrugged. “Until it’s safe again.”
Lucy stared at the box. He was crazy. He had to be. But this was the only thing he was acting crazy about. It didn’t make any sense…
“When will it be safe again?” She asked, sneering more than she’d even intended.
“I decide that, Lucy!” Jack shouted, suddenly blowing up, and she took a step back. His eyes were wide, his face red. “Sean’s fucking dead! He’s dead! So I decide when it’s safe again! You don’t! Now, just take care of the goddamn egg, alright!” He stormed out of the room and slammed the door and Lucy stared after him, a single tear born only of fear sliding down her face.
8
Delilah
“This...is not ideal,” Delilah said, sighing.
Her couple was together. That was good. That was what was supposed to happen. Except they hated each other. It had seemed like a decent idea, one of those “so crazy it just might work” ideas. Get the guy to kidnap the girl but for the right reasons. Except that putting them in close proximity had so far, not done the job it had done for other couples. Lucy and Jack needed to understand each other, or at least find a connection. That was how love grew, from what Delilah could tell.
But how to make that happen?
Lucy was already a feisty type of woman. She didn’t cave easily, although Delilah had noticed, as she observed from the window of the guestroom where Lucy was being kept, that she tended to break her stubborn facade in the face of intellectual curiosity. If she was interested in something, like the possibility of a dragon, she was potentially willing to make certain allowances, maybe step beyond her usual bounds.
Delilah sat by a koi pond in Jack’s backyard, considering all this.
She needed to take advantage of Lucy’s possible interest in the dragon egg to bring the both of them together. That would be good for Jack, anyway. He seemed to be having trouble articulating his grief over the death of his friend. Delilah couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. The idea of having such deep sympathy for...anyone was still a fresh concept. It took her by surprise, yet she felt her heart aching a little at the idea that Jack, who had truly wanted to help his friend, had lost him. Sean had been dear to him and now he was gone. He was obviously in pain. Perhaps that was also something that Lucy
could help him with… Maybe it could even bring them together? Forcing it would be a stretch though. Sometimes things like that needed to happen organically.
For now, Delilah decided she would focus on the egg angle.
It was a relief, at least, that her Oracle device seemed to be working well enough. She’d been able to get onto Jack’s estate via power imbued by the Council of Three through the Oracle. She’d need it again to get inside without setting off any alarms. Then she would plant her seed of intellectual curiosity for Lucy. She’d plant it right where Lucy could find it.
Delilah unlaced her boots and took them off, setting them beside her. She peeled off her socks and rolled up the cuffs of her black skinny jeans and dunked her feet in the pond, sending orange fish swimming away. She watched her pale feet in the water and thought about what she could potentially get Jack and Lucy to do that would bring them closer.
“Oracle,” Delilah said. The otherworldly device that looked not unlike a smartphone sat behind her on the ground. “I need you to help me write a book and then make it appear. And...it should look nice and old…”
9
Jack
I scared her.
It was all Jack could think about as he left the mansion and headed back to the casino just to check on business and make sure everything was running smoothly. He felt absolutely disgusted with himself. He could justify a lot of things he had done. He had really kidnapped Lucy because it was safer that way and having her take care of the egg was just a bonus. But he hadn’t meant to scare her. His entire intention had been not to scare her.
The truth was, he’d been so angry and he could hardly even understand why. It wasn’t Lucy’s fault at all, as much as he would have liked it to be. She was angry herself but that was totally justifiable - if frustrating, at least from his point of view. She was stubborn as a mule too. He didn’t even know if she was really going to take care of the egg and now, as he thought about that, he was angry again, but not at...her. Not exactly. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. He could scream at Lucy all day. But he knew somehow that it wouldn’t make him feel better.
“Fuck this,” Jack muttered. He pulled into his regular parking space right next to the back entrance to the casino and was greeted about thirty times as he made his way through the place. He headed over to the Cypress Stage and was immediately accosted by that stage manager who always liked to kick his ass.
“Jack!” The guy gripped Jack’s t-shirt and Jack backed away, grimacing, looking over his shoulder and feeling a little paranoid. There was always the chance that the guys who had killed Sean would be on to him next. As far as he knew, he was safe. But he had to keep an eye out. “Jack, I mean, Mr. Damon… Lucy Carter’s missing! I’m down a dancer!” Louis’ hair was frazzled as he threw up his arms. Jack glanced over his shoulder at the half-empty lounge where a show was starting in just ten minutes.
This was the kind of problem that would have seemed somehow significant before. But it sure didn’t now.
“Okay,” Jack said, shrugging. “So you’re down a dancer. Dance with one less girl. I doubt anyone will even notice.”
“Fucking flake,” Louis grumbled.
The casino was crowded now, even if the lounge was half empty. The cocktail waitresses were practically running to fulfill drink orders, their aprons bulging with cash. Sirens and beeps and bells rang shrilly and shouts of triumph or agony sounded above the fray. Jack’s Joker was doing very well tonight. Enough business like this and he’d be able to build that second resort in Atlantic City sooner than he’d thought.
He found that he didn’t even care. He didn’t care at all, even given all his hard work and careful planning. He had nobody to share this shit with. None of it mattered next to, say, Sean’s life…
He found that rage rising up inside him again. His dragon was pissed.
He hadn’t flown in too long. That was what the problem was. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling like he was crawling out of his skin. He would fly tonight, breathe some fire. There was plenty of room to fly in the middle of the desert, that was what it made it so ideal for dragons. There was also plenty of opportunity to earn gold. He, like every dragon, loved some gold.
Still, none of it meant anything just now…
“Fucking goddamn flake,” Louis said again, curling his lip and scowling. “Don’t worry, Mr. Damon. I’ll fire her ass. Just goes missing in the middle of the week like this, no warning. Fucking-”
All at once Jack gripped Louis’s lapels and shoved him up against the wall, earning some startled glances from a few waitresses and patrons alike.
“Listen to me, you son of a bitch!” Jack snarled. “Lucy Carter hasn’t done a goddamn thing wrong! You’re a real asshole, you know that? One of your girls goes missing, you’re not even worried about her? In this town? What if she’s hurt, huh? What if she’s out there, hurt? Son of a bitch!” He shoved Louis again and grit his teeth, the urge to punch his lights out coming up over him like a rush. But he stepped away and wiped his eyes, sniffing. “You’re fired, Louis. Go home. Collect your last check tomorrow. Get the hell outta here.”
“What?” Louis gaped at him. “But Mr. Damon-”
“You’re fired, I said!”
Louis slinked away and Jack slumped against the wall, catching his breath and feeling winded. He hadn’t intended to get so angry. He’d just felt so pissed off on Lucy’s behalf. She’d been through so much already. She didn’t deserve that lecherous ass-kissing asshole treating her badly on top of it. He shouldn’t have been treating his other dancers that way either.
“Need a drink,” Jack muttered, stalking off to the giant circular bar in the middle of the casino to get a couple of fingers of the high-end stuff under the counter.
He found himself wanting to get back to the mansion and check on Lucy more than anything and he’d only just come from there. He knocked back his drink and went to the indoor strip of shops and boutiques in the hotel, picking up some clothes and sundries for Lucy before heading off to the steakhouse attached to his casino for a hot meal, grabbing the same thing to go to bring for Lucy. He’d need to open up the rest of the house to her, he knew. It just wasn’t fair to keep her locked in that one little room and it would be easier if she had access to the kitchen and could make her own food. But that would necessitate them being on the same page. He didn’t see that happening.
Maybe if you just apologized, you asshole.
That was a thought.
He grabbed the box of food to go and the drink that went with it and made his way back through the casino to the back entrance to his parking spot.
It was time to make peace with Lucy Carter.
Jack paused outside the door of the guest room, the take out-steak burger meal and a soda in his hands, the bags of clothes and other things he’d bought for her over his wrist. He took a deep breath and frowned at the door. He had been so angry when he’d last left Lucy. He had never intended to get that angry. Her reactions to what he had done were reasonable. He had been lucky she hadn’t tried to gouge his eyes out. It wasn’t Lucy he was even angry at.
It was…
Sean.
But he didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Lucy,” Jack said, knocking softly. “Lucy, it’s me. I’m coming in, alright?”
He didn’t get a response and wondered if she was asleep. He felt a burst of anxiety on behalf of the egg. It had probably been a dumb idea to leave Lucy with the egg, demanding she take care of it. It might have worked for somebody more easily intimidated, but Lucy was not that. She had been when he had left. He’d scared her. But she was strong and willful. She could leave the egg to die and what was he going to do about it?
He opened the door and warily crept in and saw Lucy sitting on the bed, a book open in her lap. He had left a stack of books in the room with her just in case she got bored. But he didn’t recognize this one and couldn’t think of where it had come from. She had taken off her fishnet
stockings and now wore the skirt from her cocktail outfit and the tanktop from under her shirt.
She didn’t even look up when he walked in. She was too absorbed in her book. His eyes immediately went to the corner where he expected to see the egg box on its desk but it wasn’t there and he only now noticed that the box was on the floor, but the egg was nestled in a blanket in Lucy’s lap.
“Hi…” Jack frowned at her.
“Hey,” Lucy muttered, not looking up from her book.
Jack approached tentatively and set the food on the nightstand and the bags of clothes at the foot of the bed. He stood there, arms crossed, staring at Lucy as she read as if waiting for her to finish so she would finally acknowledge him but she didn’t. She turned a page, her eyes wide with wonder. The egg, Jack noticed, looked much better. It didn’t look slimy anymore, although it had a sheen to its surface that he suspected was due to the olive oil which he could smell in the air. He found himself smiling softly at the sight. The egg was doing well. It wasn’t sitting under the heat lamp but it was its original navy blue. That pleased him more than he’d thought he would be pleased.
Jack licked his lips and finally said, “Hey, what book is that?”
He was positive now that he hadn’t left it in the room. Perhaps it had been hiding under something? But it wasn’t even familiar.
Lucy looked up at him and blinked. She looked unaccountably pretty, and she was probably a knockout even on a bad day, if she’d ever had one. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high, loose ponytail with little tendrils falling down. She wore no makeup, and he noticed, now, all the little freckles all over her face and the natural peachy blush of her lips. He cleared his throat and shifted, annoyed by his own thoughts.
Vegas Baby Dragon (Guardian of Mates Agency) Page 6
