Page 20 of Hoarded By the Dragon

He looks behind me as if expecting more. “How did you get past the gate?”

“I need to speak to Kalos,” I say.

His brow twitches. “It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just demand an audience with him. I’ll schedule you a meeting in the next couple of weeks—”

“That’s not going to work.” I swallow, my knees almost buckling from a wave of dizziness. “This is very important. Time sensitive.”

His eyes focus on me, worry creasing his brow. “Are you okay?”

Aw, this guy seems nice.

“Not really,” I admit. “Please, I just really need to speak with him. Tell him it’s the thief from last week. That should get his attention.”

His brows shoot up, and he reluctantly opens the door wider to let me in. I wince, but step inside. Sure enough, the interior of the house is cool. The air conditioning no doubt delightfully chilly for everyone else.

I pull the jacket tighter around me, the sweater I have layered underneath bunching, but it’s a useless gesture. The cold air invades anyway.

“I’ll wait while you get him. I won’t run off,” I say. He’s more likely to return to me as an icicle.

He must realize something to that effect because he shakes his head.

“Follow me,” he says. “If he’s displeased, he’ll just eat you.”

I huff a laugh but the shiver that travels through me is too violent to make it audible.

I follow behind him. If I thought the outside of the house was gorgeous, it’s nothing compared to the inside. Gold banisters on white veined marble, art nouveau mirrors heavy with filigree.

I’m so stunned by this short walk down the hallway that I don’t realize that we’ve reached a dark-wood carved door to what appears to be an office until the man stops me.

“Stay here.”

I nod, and he knocks on the heavy door before entering.

“Ben, do you have the numbers from Keller?” Kalos’s words muffle as the man who must be Ben closes the door behind him. I’m glad I no longer have an audience because I’m frozen to the spot.

Dear God, hisvoice. It’s as rumbly and deep as I remember. Maybe if I’d had more time and space it wouldn’t affect me as much as it does, but the memories that surface are too fresh. Him calling me little queen in hushed tones as he makes me beg, the warmth of his laugh when I’d surprise him, the snarling way he’d cut me down to size in the end.

I can’t do this.

I take a deep breath and squeeze the hand warmers that have gone cold in my jacket pockets. Those and the chill in my chest are a good reminder of why I’m here. I couldn’t even have a week of space because the troublemaker in my womb is already causing problems.

I have to do this. This isn’t for me. This is for us. The baby… and me. Because I don’t know if I’m going to survive otherwise.

The door whips open the next moment, and I tilt my head back to take in the fury on the too familiar, achingly beautiful face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kalos hisses.

His anger is outsized to the situation in my opinion, and he doesn’t even know the half of it.

“I need to speak with you.” I look at Ben, who must be Kalos’s assistant. “Alone.”

“Anything you need to say to me, you can say in front of Ben.”

Ben’s face remains expressionless, but I have the sense he’s surprised.

I shrug. Telling two strangers this news is only a little more awkward than telling one.

“Are you going to invite me in?” I ask, more to give myself time to think of exactly how to say what I need to than being offended that he’s stopped me in the hall like a child listening at doors.

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