Escaping Vegas (The Inheritance Book 1) (16 page)

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-O
NE

M
adalina saw nothing but red, the proper color for fury. It boiled to the surface faster than she could control it, exacerbated by too many days of fear and frustration. The part of her that was relieved to see Cole alive and breathing took a backseat to everything else. Hand stinging from the slap, she took two steps back as he took two steps forward. He closed the door with a quiet click and a snap of the dead bolt, then leaned his shoulders against the wood, as casual as you please.

Madalina didn’t care how good (or familiar) he smelled, how broad his shoulders looked in the black short-sleeved shirt, or how she wished she could sink into the hard contours of his chest. She certainly didn’t care how narrow the black pants made his hips look or how tight she remembered his thighs being when they’d pinned her down to the mattress. When his gaze tracked down her body to the Mace she held tightly in a fist, she said, “Oh, don’t tempt me. I will
so
use this on you.”

He flashed a devastating smile that held no humor. “I have no doubt that you would, too.”

“Well?” she asked, unable to keep her incredulousness under control. Her face felt hot, the muscles of her arms and legs twitching with either shock or the need to strike out again.

“Why don’t we have a seat—”

“No. You tell me
right now
why you stole the dragon. I know it was you! We didn’t tell anyone else exactly where it was, and if it had been the agents—”

“I took the dragon, Madalina. Yes. This will all go easier if you’ll let me come in—”

“You’re already in, and I don’t remember issuing an invitation.”

“—if you’ll let me come in, calm down, and listen while I explain.”

“I’ve
been
calm. Mostly. The time for calm is over. You stole something you knew was precious to me, you
lied
to me . . .
used
me, and I can’t imagine why you’re here now. But I expect you to tell me.” Madalina found herself short of breath after that. Making fists of both hands, she attempted to gain control of her runaway emotions.

“I did,” he said in his quiet, raspy voice. “I misled you. But I didn’t use you.”

To hear him state it so bluntly was a blow Madalina wasn’t expecting. She swallowed past a sudden knot in her throat, then lifted her chin an inch. “I’m glad you’re not denying you lied, at least. Now, give me back what belongs to me—unless you’ve gotten rid of it already—and get out. I have nothing more to say to you.”

He didn’t move. Not one inch. He also didn’t respond to her demand.

“Nothing to say, all of a sudden? Well, I have a
lot
to say. You intentionally used me to get your hands on the dragon—”

“I didn’t use you, Madalina. But I’ve known all along what the dragon is and who wants it—besides me.”

Madalina’s lips parted over a gasp. “What? You’ve known all along? Do you mean since Vegas?”

“Yes. I intended to bump into you there. It wasn’t an accident that we made contact.”

“So, you planned to steal the dragon all along. You weren’t helping me just to help me; you were protecting your investment. As soon as you saw it here at Lianne’s, you wasted no time taking it into your possession.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. She was too angry to let any of them fall. It hurt to know he’d used her, and that she’d fallen for his lies—hook, line, and sinker.

Cole held up a hand. “Wait, wait. That’s not how it was. Not how it
is
.”

“So, tell me.”

“I’ve been trying to.”

“I don’t want to get comfortable; I don’t want to sit down. I want to know
everything
.”

He pressed his lips together in apparent frustration. Then, he said, “I wanted the dragon because someone hired me three years ago to find it—”

“
Three
years?” she said, incredulous.

“Are you going to let me finish, or stand there and keep demanding answers?” he said with a fresh note of irritation in his voice.

“Oh, please, go on. But you’ll have to forgive my outbursts when you suddenly drop bombs like that on me.” The more she heard, the more furious she became.

“Someone, a private collector whose name I won’t give you, has sought the four remaining dragons for the last thirty years. He’s been looking a lot longer than I’ve been aware the damn things existed. The artifact your grandfather left you is called the Treasure Dragon. Its history is based in—you guessed it—China. There are nineteen dragons in all. Fifteen are in a special, cherished collection that the Chinese government keeps on display for the upper echelon of society. The dragons all predate the Yuan Dynasty. They’re old.
Very
old. And it’s not just the age that makes them priceless; it’s based on culture and a belief that all the dragons need to be together to create harmony. So, you see, this is a lot more complicated than you can imagine.” He told the story in an even, quiet tone.

Madalina listened attentively, and then raptly. It sounded impossible,
incredible
. That little nondescript dragon couldn’t be that important—could it?

“The government of China has been searching for the dragons for centuries. The other fifteen were found over a length of time, and these are the last four. So, now you understand the urgency behind the chases and the attacks. They’re probably trying to keep a low profile here in the US so it doesn’t become an international story. That’s the last thing they want to happen.”

“Because then, everyone and their brother will be hunting these down, hoping to sell them for big profits,” Madalina said.

“Yes.”

“Like you.”

“Yes. The knowledge of the dragons and their importance goes beyond China’s borders. There are a few specific collectors, extremely rich men—and women—who have sought the dragons for a long time. I work for one of them.”

“So, you’re not a bodyguard at all,” she said with a scoff. “That was a lie, too.”

He lowered his head.

“Unbelievable.” Finally, Madalina turned away. She paced past the small kitchen table and into the living area, too agitated to sit down. Stuffing the Mace into her pocket, she considered everything he’d told her. It was surreal to know that he’d wanted the dragon as badly as the agents, just for different reasons.

“What you don’t know is that I planned to meet you first, find out more about the dragon, and then offer to buy it from you. I had to know whether the dragon was real or not before I made any kind of payout, but the plans got interrupted when the agents showed up in Vegas. I didn’t help you
just
because I wanted the dragon, Madalina. I helped you in the beginning because I wouldn’t have just walked out on someone in such dire straits. It became more than that, more than wanting the artifact,” he said.

At some point during the telling, Madalina had stopped pacing to listen. To stare across the small space between the living and dining room to gauge his expression. Trying to discern emotion from the neutral set of his features was impossible. She resisted the resonant lure of his voice, which might have otherwise mollified some of her anger. He’d admitted to knowing who she was and what she had well before their first “accidental” encounter, and hadn’t bothered to say anything during the entire trip from Nevada to Southern California. Despite her anger, she found her resolve weakening at the end, when he confessed that the ordeal had become more than wanting the dragon. Straightening her posture, she reminded herself that he’d taken her to bed knowing full well that he intended to steal the dragon before morning. She decided he needed to hear her concerns out loud.

“Maybe it did—
but you should have told me
. You should have come out and simply stated your intentions, or at least what you originally wanted. Instead, you abused my trust and
stole
the dragon, and I’m guessing that you’re going to go ahead and sell it to your collector friend regardless of how much it’ll hurt me. You can go straight to hell, Cole West.” Voicing the circumstances brought the hurt and fury full circle.

“Actually, Madalina, I’m going to give it back to the Chinese government. No, they’re not paying me. This situation needs to end
right now
, before you get seriously hurt. The agents won’t stop until they have what they want, and although we’ve been lucky so far, that luck won’t last. I’ve said that before, and I wholly believe it.”

“And there isn’t anything about you making my decisions for me that smacks of conceit and a power grab? Let me also remind you that
you
knew from the start what the danger was and I didn’t. I’ve been flailing around, wondering if it was the dragon or if it was something else, so don’t stand there and insinuate that I should have given the dragon back at the beginning.” She was furious that he’d taken the choice out of her hands, yet understood that
he
thought he was doing it to save her. Madalina hadn’t felt this confused and conflicted in a long time. She tensed when he pushed away from the back door and slowly closed the distance between them.
Remember what he did; don’t let the memories of last night get in the way.
Madalina ceased her internal pep talk when Cole came to a halt less than a foot from where she was standing. A flush rose under the skin of her cheeks and lingered, thanks to his direct stare.

“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m telling you what I intend to do. And I’m
trying
to tell you that something changed along the way. This started out as one thing and became another. I can’t put labels and terms on it; I only know that I don’t want to see you hurt. The only reason I took the dragon is because I knew damned well that you would balk and argue and fight me the whole way. You and Lianne both. This puts an end to the danger. In fact, I’ve already had someone make contact with the agents, letting them know that you don’t have possession of the dragon any longer. That means the agents shouldn’t be breathing down your back anymore, and once I make the exchange, that should be the end of it.”

Madalina read sincerity in Cole’s eyes. The longer she stared, the more she believed him. Yet that didn’t mean she forgave him for taking such an upper-handed move, as if she was incapable of making her own decisions
once she had all the correct information
. She was still angry, still wary. A niggle of unease lingered, and she couldn’t at first figure out why.

Then it hit her. She narrowed her eyes. “You’re good. I’ll give you that. I very nearly believed you. But my memory isn’t as faulty as all that, so you can start in with the questions about my grandfather anytime. That’s why you’re
really
here, isn’t it? You’d like to know if he hid away another dragon or left clues about the others.”

Cole watched Madalina battle back tears, anger, and other, less-developed emotions. He didn’t blame her for the anger—he’d known that was part of the deal when he’d taken the dragon. The unpredictable aspect was not knowing what she would
do
with the anger. Now he had a better idea.

She wasn’t just angry; she was hurt in all the places it mattered most. She cared, even though she didn’t want to admit it. Just like he cared about her. It had taken him a while to realize it, then do something about it.

“I
am
curious what your grandfather knew, and yes, whether or not he’s got the other three dragons. But that’s not the reason I did what I did, and it’s not the reason I’m here now. You can get as mad as you want, Madalina, but I’ll wait you out. I’m not going anywhere. Eventually you’ll understand that I’m doing this on your behalf, because I care, not because I still have an ulterior motive. I’m not getting anything out of the exchange—except your safety. And that’s all I want,” he said. Surprised when she took a step closer, tilting her chin to maintain eye contact, Cole forced his hands to remain at his sides. He wanted to drag her firmly against him, feel the now-familiar contours of her body.

When his phone vibrated to indicate an incoming message, he ignored it.

“That’s noble of you, Cole. But if you care as much as you say you do, then what would your answer be if I asked for my dragon back? What if I said I’d like to give it back to the Chinese on my own terms, instead of yours?” She tipped her hand out, as if she expected him to produce the dragon.

Glancing at her empty palm, realizing she still had the Mace on her somewhere, he grunted and said, “I can’t do that. Things are already in motion, and it’s safer for me to make the transaction than you. I’ve done this before; you haven’t. Besides, I don’t have the dragon on me.”

Madalina raked her gaze up and down his body, as if considering whether or not he was telling the truth. All of a sudden, the devil took control of his tongue. “You’re welcome to frisk me.”

The challenge was barely out of his mouth before Madalina dropped into an easy crouch.
Dammit.
Great. Fantastic, Cole.

He braced himself for the onset of her intimately wandering hands.