Page 45 of Dragon His Heels
“After that, I paid your parents a visit, milked them for information. And then I made a few calls, found the rehab facility you checked her into. Flew down there, asked a bunch of questions that, for some reason, she was more than willing to answer. I called him. I only thought—I expected—I didn’t know he would dothis.” Petra flapped her hand at Jasmine, lying on the couch.
Talia continued to stare at the woman who had been her best friend for the last five years. What could have possibly possessed her to do something so stupid? “Why?”
“I don’t know. I thought he would just show up and demand his daughter back.”
“Hiswhat?”
“Ruby isn’t Gabe’s, Talia.”
Okay, yeah, Talia knew that much. But Jasmine hadn’t told her who the father was.
If Gabe finds out…
Petra grabbed her arm. “Please tell me you don’t hate me.”
Talia stared at her friend’s hand, the fingers leaving indentations on her skin. “Why did you contact him?”
Petra wrapped her arms around her midsection as a sob escaped. “I was jealous.”
“Of what?” Of Jasmine? But why?
“Of Gabe.” She stabbed at her own chest. “I should be reeve. I should have succeeded Uncle Blake. Not Gabe. He’s—he’s useless. And now he has an heir and it isn’t fair. That position should be mine!”
“How could you?” Talia whispered. And then louder, “Look what you did.” She waved at Jasmine. “To my sister. She was recovering, Petra,” she shouted, the realization hitting her like a brick.
Jasmine hadn’t left that treatment center of her own accord. Petra had given her the idea, Talia would bet her freaking job on it. And she’d led Darius Redd here.
To Ruby.
“Ruby!” She started to rush from the room, but Petra grabbed her arm again.
“What?”
“Ruby,” Talia said again, struggling to free herself from the other woman’s grip. “I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“What can I do?” Petra asked.
“Are you serious? You want me to tell you how to make it worse?”
“No.” Petra was openly crying now, clearly devastated. Or maybe it was an act. Who the hell knew. “I want to help. To do something to make up for this.”
“If she dies, you can’t ever make up for this,” Talia said, pointing at her sister.
“I’ll take care of her,” Petra promised, dropping to her knees next to Jasmine. “I’ll make sure she gets better. That she’s healed and—and I’ll even make sure she gets over her addiction. I promise. Please forgive me, Talia.”
“I can’t even…” Talia vacillated, shifting from foot to foot, trying to determine her next move. She had no idea where Gabe was. She needed to get to Ruby, make sure she was okay. Safe.
Charging through the foyer and down the hall, she burst into the kitchen, shouting, “Julian!”
He paused in the act of scrubbing the sink. “Yeah?”
“Can you go watch over Petra, please? She’s in the entertainment room. Just—just make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Um, okay.”
“Thanks.”
It was the best she could do. She had to get out of here. She had to get down to that schoolhouse.
Now.
Before Gabe figured out there were Rojo dragons here. And that they had come for the little girl he believed was his daughter.
