Her Dragon Billionaire (Supernatural Billionaire Mates 1)

“Who she was? About you?”

Liam made a face. Discomfort ambushed him when he was confronted by the matronly woman. Rosa had been in the Caderyn family since her twenties. She wasn’t a full-blooded dragon, but she had dragon blood in her. Rosa’s mother was a Halfling and married to a human. The bloodline weakened. Because of it, Rosa couldn’t shift. Only boys sired by a Halfling father and human mother retained their shifter ability. The blood remained strong on the patriarchal line.

“I told her I’m her husband,” he confessed.

“Husband?” Rosa parroted in a mocking tone. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m afraid not. I panicked. I didn’t think she’d wake up that soon.”

“Blood magic has a powerful healing property, Mr. Caderyn. I’m surprised it took twenty-four hours to make her whole. Your mother needed only thirty minutes to recuperate from the bypass surgery after your father administered it.”

He ran his fingers on his head. “If I tell her the truth, she’ll leave. I can’t let her go. What if she turns into one of us?”

“Have you forgotten? One is born as a dragon. Not made. Your mother received blood magic from your father and it didn’t turn her into one.”

About twenty years ago, his father had incited the rite so his mother would be given long life. But five years later, his father had an unfortunate accident that had taken his life. His mother died within months from grief. Dragons mated for life. Liam didn’t know why his marriage with Natalie hadn’t worked out. Once bonded, dragons wouldn’t desire someone else. The more he thought about it, his marriage with Natalie had felt wrong from the beginning. He didn’t feel the bond—an attachment between husband and wife like a pair of soul mates should have. Perhaps that was what had turned his marriage into a shambles.

He had thought Natalie was a perfect match. She came from pure blood dragon lineage. Their passion was fierce, smoldering. The moment he laid eyes on her, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

But he had mistaken their strong attraction as a bond. A year into their marriage, the passion was gone, reducing them to a pair of strangers living in the same house, sharing the same bed. They had started fighting. Liam wanted to reconcile, but Natalie wasn’t interested. One morning, she told him it was over and served him divorce papers. She left him for his best friend whom she had been seeing for months behind his back. He felt like a fool. A cuckolded husband.

He cleared his throat. “Eva can’t know about the truth until she’s ready. She’s already been through a lot.”

“Sooner or later, you need to tell her. What if she suddenly remembers who she was?”

“We’re talking a big ‘what if.’”

“Don’t you want her to heal well?”

“Of course I do.”

Rosa went busy slicing cucumber for a salad. “I personally think you sealed her fate when you initiated the rite, Mr. Caderyn. Whether you want it or not, she’s yours. She’s your bonded.”

“Bonded.” He snorted. “Natalie is currently living with my ex-best friend in the Bahamas, spending my money.”

Rosa snorted. “That’s not what I meant. Speaking of her, I don’t understand about Natalie. I don’t think she’s your true bonded.”

“Natalie is a pure-blood. Bairn House kept their lineage untainted back to the Celtic times.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a pure-blood to find the other half of your soul.”

Liam contemplated. Rosa was right. His mother was human and their parents had a great marriage. “What can I tell Eva about when we got married? Engaged? Wedding ring. She’ll want to see the wedding photos.”

“Maybe you should march back in there and tell her the truth.”

“No. I can’t do that.”

“You can’t or won’t?”

“I won’t. I already dipped my foot in the water. Besides, I’m rather…fond of her. What should I tell her if she wants to know more?”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “Sometimes the best lies are the truth.”

He considered her answer. “I’ll think of something,” he decided. He started to leave but then he remembered what brought him to the kitchen. “I need you to do something for me. I saw Eva in Natalie’s robe. Why did you keep Natalie’s clothes anyway?”

“Those are designer clothing. I meant to give them to charity, but didn’t get the chance.”

“Buy Eva a new wardrobe. I don’t want to see her in Natalie’s things.”