Page 27 of A First for the Playboy Dragon

“Look at the mess you made,” Mateo said, a note of accusation in his voice. “You should be ashamed of yourself. We tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen. Now we have to get this all cleaned up.”

“Hey, I didn’t know something like this was going to happen,” he said, defending himself. “I was starting to figure it out, I can’t help it if the island got impatient.”

Mateo put his hands on his hip. “Oh, so now you believe,” he said, a look of annoyance on his face. “I suppose you think that makes everything okay.”

Beginning to get angry, he took a deep breath. “Look, Mateo, I didn’t do this on purpose, okay? This is my life we’re talking about here. I just made the biggest commitment I’ll ever make. I’m sorry if the earthquake did some damage, but I’ll do my best to help get it cleaned up.”

After studying him for a few seconds, Mateo shook his head. “You should know better than to mess with magic,” he said. “Since Max came here, this island has become more active. Each time one of you falls in love, its power grows. I don’t know where it will all end.”

“Max is the only one of us left,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe it will end with him.”

Mateo opened his mouth but the radio in his hand crackled to life. “Is he there yet?” Max asked, his voice staticky. “He’d better be, or there’s going to be hell to pay.”

It was late afternoon when he finally climbed out of the water for the last time. It had taken most of the day to resecure the pier and troubleshoot the rest of the dock, but the only evidence of the earthquake was the damaged boats still floating sadly in the slips. Slipping off his fins, then shrugging out of his tank, he carried them over to the marina office and set them down before stripping off his wet suit.

Using the hose, he began to rinse his gear with fresh water, every muscle in his body screaming with exhaustion. “Well done, Harrison,” Max said, walking up to him. We couldn’t have done it without you. Sorry about before. I know you couldn’t have predicted this, but I haven’t had a moment’s peace since the seven of you started visiting.”

“I should have listened to you, I should have listened to what was going on inside me,” he said, turning off the hose. “But I can hear clearly now, and it’s over Max. Juliet and I are together, and nothing is going to tear us apart, so you can relax.”

Max snorted, “Are you kidding? There’s no way I can relax; I’m next, and there’s nothing I can do about it; I’m not leaving the island; this is my home now,” he said. “From now on, I’m going to spend all my time looking for her, because I promise you, I won’t make the mistakes the rest of you made. I’ll take what’s given to me and learn to live with it.”

He started laughing. “It’s not that bad, I promise,” he said. “But I sure do hope I’m here to see it.”

After giving him a dirty look, Max picked up his scuba tanks. “I’ll help you get your gear up to the office,” he said. “I still want you and Juliet over at my cabin for dinner. I’d like to hear the whole story, even if it means the end of my freedom.”

When he got back to his cabin, he was a bit disappointed to find it empty, but was too tired to go searching for Juliet. Instead, he collapsed on his bed, thinking that he’d rest for a few minutes. He woke a few hours later, looked at the clock onthe night table, then jumped out of bed and ran for the shower, sure that he would be late for dinner. Dressed and ready to go in record time, he left his cabin, warmth flooding him when he thought about seeing Juliet again, even if it was so that Max could interrogate them.

Hoping she hadn’t been waiting for him too long, he took the path in big strides but stopped short when he saw Juliet standing on the trail in front of him with another man. Slipping into the shadows of the trees, he watched as Juliet threw her arms around the man, a look of pure joy on her face. His blood instantly began to boil as jealousy shot through him, waking his dragon.

Fighting the urge to stomp over to them and claim what belonged to him, he watched, his heart sinking, as he realized that they knew each other. After several agonizing minutes, he forced himself to turn away, no longer able to watch the woman he loved with another man. She’d tried to tell him, tried to warn him, but he hadn’t listened, hadn’t wanted to believe that their love was anything but perfect. Now the truth was clear, and the burn of humiliation rose to the surface.

Determined to walk away, to leave the happy couple without a backward glance, he stepped back onto the trail but lost his resolve. When he turned, he was surprised to see that the man was gone, leaving Juliet standing alone in the middle of the path, staring into space, a stricken look on her face. A wave of pain and disbelief hit him, then heartache unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Instead of walking away, he stomped over to her, anger that she could make him feel that way, surging to the surface.

“Well, that was a touching reunion,” he barked. “Is that what you had to tell me, Juliet? It might have been nice if you’d told me that you were already involved with someone. Who is he? I guess all that virginity stuff was just a bunch of lies. Was anything you told me the truth?”

***Juliet***

Juliet couldn’t manage to take a deep breath. The pain of her brother’s betrayal was too great, a weight on her chest that only grew as each second passed. She’d been so happy to see him, so sure that their problems were over, but he’d been so angry with her, so full of venom that she’d known instantly something was wrong. Now as she stood there trying to come to terms with the truth about her brother, the magnitude of what she’d almost done began to settle over her.

She finally managed to suck in a deep breath, but it came back out in a sob, all her hopes and dreams for her brother evaporating as she remembered his terrible words. “It’s now or never, Juliet. You can either prove that you’ve got my back or do like you always do and take care of yourself,” he’d hissed at her. “I should have known you couldn’t do this, I should have known you’d make it all about you. Well, I’ve got news for you, I’m not going to blow this chance, I’ll get the files myself. Then you’ll see, I won’t be your screw-up little brother anymore, I’ll be a big man in the organization, and I’ll finally get that promotion I’ve been working for.”

It had taken a second for her to realize what he’d said. “Wait, what do you mean a promotion?” she’d asked, still completely innocent of what a truly horrible person her brother was. “You said Mr. Adaloni was going to kill you, you said it was life or death, that I had to help you.”

“And you believed me,” Joe said, starting to laugh. “You’re so gullible, sister dear. You always have been, even when we were kids. Did you know that I used to get in trouble on purpose just to watch you take my punishment? Sometimes it was the only fun I had.”

Shocked, she sucked in a breath. “Joe, you didn’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Did you?”

“Mr. Adaloni is willing to give you one more chance to hold up your end of the bargain,” Joe said, ignoring her question. “You have one more night to get the plans, or I’ll do it myself, and you can answer to him about all the money he spent sending you here. I have to warn you, he isn’t a very understanding man. Good luck, sister dear. Do your part, and everything will be fine.”

Feeling physically sick at the memory, she looked around, only then realizing that Harrison was standing only a few feet away. Guilt mixed with the pain and heartache when she looked into his eyes. Her stomach churned dangerously, and she started to stumble to the bushes nearby. Harrison grabbed her and tried to stop her, but she shoved him away and headed for the bushes, afraid that she was going to vomit on him if she didn’t get away.

He followed her, but by then, she was already on the ground on her hands and knees, retching into an especially pretty fern, and humiliation made her cheeks burn. She felt Harrison kneel down next to her and tried to push him away, but he didn’t move, so she finally gave up.

“I’m not going anywhere with you like this,” he said, rubbing her back. “Whatever it is, it will be okay, Juliet. We’ll talk it out. I’m sorry about what I said, I didn’t mean any of it.”

Sucking in deep breaths, trying to get her stomach under control, she didn’t move for a few minutes, then finally managed to look over at Harrison. “You don’t understand. He’s going to kill me if I don’t do what he wants. My brother betrayed me,” she said. “I can’t do it, I just can’t, I rather die…”

Harrison pulled her into his arms. “Hush, sweetheart, no one is going die, especially not you,” he said. “It’s going to be okay, I promise, I just need you to tell me what’s going on.”

---