Speaker 1: Dragon called a slow burned, sexy paranormal romance written by
Carl Lockhart and Cassie Alexander, read for you by Victoria
may Hi. This is Cassie Alexander, and welcome to chapter one.
The car that came to pick Andy up was black
like Damien's, but it wasn't a pagani or being driven
by a dragon. Andy sat in the back of the
uber and looked at her phone with that I'm expected somewhere.
Don't kidnap me. Pretends that solo women keep up, although
in her case it wasn't entirely true. She'd snuck out
that night after getting a call from her brother, who'd
been missing for three weeks. No one knew where she was,
not even her roommate. She was okay with that, she'd
worried Sammy enough lately. Her driver cleared his throat politely,
glancing back at her in the rear. Nothing personal, he said,
but I do Downtown runs a lot. You either have
too much clothing on for this place or not nearly enough.
He wasn't wrong. The Lynx was a nightclub with a reputation,
which was exactly why Andy was going there. She gave
him a tight smile and hugged herself with Damien's leather jacket.
She was only wearing it because she hadn't had time
to get her own coat cleaned, or so she told herself,
and it had nothing at all to do with the
fact that it still smelled like him. I'm good thanks.
The driver led her off right in front of the building.
Last call was four, and it was about twenty two.
She knew from her old life hustling with Danny that
now would be ripe with opportunity if she were still
interested in playing games, the same kind of stuff that
had gotten her brother into trouble in the first place.
But she had stopped, gone to nursing school and become legitimate.
Her brother, he'd skipped out on his bailbond, then out
on her until about an hour ago with his strange
cell phone call asking for help on a bad connection,
which had brought her here. She bit her lips and
watched the entrance to the club. Well dressed drunken people
stumbled out, casting arms up like the street lights were
too bright for them. But then she saw him, Damien.
She remembered his touch on her skin and the way
he'd her heart flew into her throat and her stomach nodded.
She could handle herself, She could handle this him. This
didn't have to be awkward. In fact, maybe she could.
He turned and it was definitely not Damien. Her heart
fell and her stomach didn't relax, and the weirdness she
was feeling, most assuredly not disappointment. It was exhaustion from
last night's shift was all. It was fatigue from trying
to come to her brother's rescue yet again. She'd vowed
on the steps of the courthouse after realizing she was
stuck with it. Ten thousand dollars bond to be done
with Danny's shit permanently, and yet here she was all
because he'd called her andy bear. How long had it
been since he'd said that when they were sixteen, She
could remember it now, her going off on her first
date and him threatening to hurt the guy if he
hurt her out loud in their living room. When he'd
picked her up. It had been humiliating and making his
andy Bear promise to tell him afterward if anything needed breaking.
It had been fucked up later on that night, after
absolutely nothing had happened, no matter how much she'd wanted
it to. She'd screamed at him to never call her
that again. Because of all that and so much more,
she was tired now, which was surely why she was
taking a moment and watching the back of the man
who was not Damien with a queasy, sinking feeling. Until
the crowd blocked her view. Andy inhaled and shook herself
free of her past. She walked up to the door,
the heels of her low boots clicking the pavement, and
went straight up to the bouncer. Hey is Julian here.
If he is, can you tell him I need to
speak to him. Tell him it's Andy, Danny's sister. The
man was shaped like a gorilla, and his thick brow
rose in disbelief, but then he shrugged and called it
into the walkie on his collar. Someone responded in his ear,
and he reached over to open the door. Right this way, thanks,
she said. Stepping inside, the music was overwhelming, trying to
pound a pulse into the last partiers of the night. Luckily,
the places she'd gone with Danny to play poker and
pool had been quieter, because if she'd hustled here she'd
be deaf. She hovered by the door, arms crossed, trying
to look like she didn't belong so that Julian would
find her more quickly. Hey, a lean man in his
thirties with dark curly hair and brown eyes, appeared in
the thinning crowd with a drink in each hand. His
shirt was sharp and shiny, just like his shoes. Andy
knew he was a promoter, whatever the hell that was,
and that he also sometimes helped Danny sell his boosted
aftermarket car parts. Andy. He shouted, barely audible over the
noise in the club. Good to see you again. Drink,
he offered, pushing one on her. Andy didn't trust him,
and she didn't trust her drink not to be rufied. Thanks,
She pretended to be happy taking it. Anyhow. Can we talk,
of course, he said, gently taking her elbow with his
free hand, directing her around the dance floor to the back.
They went into an office and he closed the door,
which cut out all the trouble, leaving just the base
as it reverberated like a drum in its frame. He
sat down backward in an office chair, letting itsplay his legs,
while she sat down on a short couch that she
was sure had seen its share of effluvia. She held
her hands around her drink, careful not to touch it.
Did you rethink my awesome idea? Andy squinted? Which one was? That?
Julian and Danny were full of ideas, and none of
them were good about diverting some meds from the hospital
to me, He said, making a gimmy, gimmey gesture with
his fingers. She laughed nervously. Yeah, no, I need my license.
One of us has to be straight now to keep
the other out of jail. I heard about that, Julian said,
and tissed. He left you holding the bag pretty much.
Andy gave him a tight grin and got to the point,
do you know where he is? Nope? As good as
Andy was at reading faces, Julian's gave nothing away. If
you did know, would you tell me, she asked, and
he laughed. If I did know, which I don't, I'd
tell him you were concerned and he needed to get
in touch. He patted his own chest. A sister too,
you know, I sympathize. Andy set her drink on the
floor and brought her phone out to show him. Do
you recognize this number? He called me from it and
said things were bad. Julian took the phone and squinted
at it. Not off the top of my head. Hang on,
He set his drink down and pulled his own phone out,
typing in some numbers before double checking hers. Ooh what
she leaned over. He flipped his phone around to show
her the s and his contacts list. It was full
of people's names with charming extra appellations like shiny Jamil,
slutty SARAHI, and stupid fucker Joe. But his finger was
pointing to one in particular with the same number that
matched Andy's. Stay the fuck away, our gento. I take
it that's not really his last name, Andy asked, as
Julian put his phone away. Maybe it is an Italian
I don't know, but if Danny's with him, just give
up why Julian shook his head. I ain't saying. I
don't want to wind you up into making bad choices.
But if Danny's in danger, if he told me so himself,
she passed. He frowned deeply and lifted his cocktail for
a long swig before speaking again. He's a dangerous dude.
Always wears a lot of silver, including guns. You don't
want any of him, trust me. How about you just
tell me everything you know and let me be the
judge of that. How about no, Julian rolled his eyes.
I mean, come on, you can't just barge in here
like you own the place and ask for favors. He
slid one foot out and carefully nudged her cocktail closer.
I mean, I require some foreplay first, have a drink
at least, and he glanced down at the glass, more
determined than ever not to touch it. I don't have
time for this, Julian, Just tell me where he is.
What good would that do? The Cobs aren't going after him,
not for Danny. Andy knew the police, in her tone,
had no love for her brother. Fine, I'll tell a
bounty hunter there's a warrant out for him, right, because
you know so many of those types, Julian said, leaning back,
letting his eyes rove up and down her body. She
huddled back into her coat, A priss like you, trying
to figure out where to find him. No way. He
stood and shook his head slowly, making a show of
how much he couldn't help her, and she was acutely
aware of how he was blocking the door. Now, if
you could promise me a vial of fentanel or two
or a sheet of oxy Fuck. No, she almost spit
shit like this was why she'd had to stop playing
games with Danny. Gambling for tuition was one thing, but
now that she had her license, she wasn't ever going
to risk it again. Oh, no offense, Julian said, with
a smirk, waving his hands back and forth and dismissal.
I mean he's only your brother in all, although if
he's on Argento's shit list, that's gonna be past tense
real soon. She stood, trying to take up more space,
and used her best disappointed in everything going on here voice,
the one that sometimes got through to drunkards and psychos
at work. And to think, Danny used to talk so
highly of you. He made you sound like the shit,
like you were his family, not me. Why do you
think he never ratted you out in any of his
dumbass schemes, And now when it would cost you nothing
to be even vaguely helpful, you can't be bothered. Julian
stared at her coldly. He always said you could be
an annoying bitch, you know that. She swallowed, but held
her ground. If Danny didn't want to hear her opinions
on his activities, then he should have kept his goddamned
mouth shut. Fine, Julian hofft, appraising her again. What do
you got? Your phone is old? I don't need that shit,
Andy blinked as he went on. And you're cute, but
a bad lay, I can tell. Does nagging women ever
actually work? Andy asked him. You tell me, he said,
with a leer. You feeling anything? Yeah? No, look other
than drugs, what do you want? She had ten thousand
dollars in an envelope at home right now, courtesy of Damien.
But if she acted like cash was an option, Julian
would shake her down to the last buck. He sucked
on his upper lip, then jerked his chin at her.
That that's a pretty dope leather coat, Andy froze. It's
just a fucking coat, she told herself, just dead animal
skin sewn together to keep someone warm. It's not even yours,
and Damien is not yours he never will be. Besides,
that's what you wanted, remember, all right, she said, sliding
out of Damien's coat, taking everything of hers out of
the pocket and shoving them into her jeans. Julian took
it from her and put it on. It was too
big for him, but that didn't stop him from smoothing
the leather with his hands. When he was done at
praising it, he nodded. Argenta was down by the docks.
He's in the shipping business, which is another reason you
should stay away from him. You cross him, they won't
find your body in the bay. He'll just chip your
dead ass to China. Charming, and you can't be any
more specific. Julian broadly shook his head. Not even if
you brought me, dilauded, and he frowned. Some information was
better than none. But the docks were huge. Even if
her brother was in danger, it wasn't an area she
could tackle solo tonight, but she had to do something.
She wove around Julian off to figure out what that was. Hey,
he shouted as she reached the door. The base outside
had turned impossibly loud, all the better to shake the
last patrons of the night into the street. Look good
in it, No, he asked, She knew by mostly reading
his lips. No, she said, flipping him off with both
hands before walking out. Other club patrons kept her company
on the sidewalk as she waited for her ride. As
much as she wanted to, she didn't keep her phone out.
Just because her two gens old iPhone wasn't sexy enough
for Julian didn't mean there weren't other people who'd be
interested in swiping it, and all the people stumbling out
of the club looked like easy marks to her, so
she waited until she was buckled into the back of
her uber to pull it out and hopped into her
recent category. After Danny had gone missing following the hearing,
she'd texted their uncle Lee, who she knew had both
money and connections. She never pressed to find out from
what or with whom, because her mother had told her
that was rude, but now she wished she had because
Uncle Lee had promised her he'd handle things. But what
had he been doing all this time? And why hadn't
she asked him what was happening sooner? She supposed a
part of her was just tired of dealing with Danny's
shit and had been perfectly happy passing it off. Andy
scrolled through her contacts for the upteenth time, trying to
figure out who else she could call. She stopped at
the name blackwood, and her finger hovered it probably wasn't
even Danmien's real number, but some work number or a burner.
She should just delete it. It'd be better for everyone involved.
Her thumb hovered over the delete button just for a second,
then scrolled past it with a sigh, back down to
Uncle Lee and started typing out a text. Hey Uncle,
I'm sorry, it's late, she lied, But Danny just called
me from a strange number and said he was in
trouble before we got cut off. I know you just
got back to town and the last thing you need is
to clean up another Danny mess. But I don't know
what to do. He said something about the docks and
some guy named our Gentile. She kept lying because she
might as well give him all the information she had. Again,
super sorry, thanks for letting me reschedule last week's dinner.
Look forward to seeing you tonight. Love you, hey, her
driver said, startling her. It was the first thing he'd said.
I'll ride. You're not going to be sick, are you?
He started swerving to the side of the road. Huh no,
why sorry, he just looked sick there for a bit.
He shrugged in the rear view as he pulled them
back into traffic. It's a hazard of picking people up
from clumps. Oh no, I'm fine.