Page 78 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

“You’re fucking joking,” he guffawed, slapping one knee.

I stared at him.

His eyes opened wide, the laughter gone. “You’re not joking.”

“He told me himself about his agreement with the sovereign,” I said. “Make me fall in love with him. If he can do that, she pays off his debts.”

Reed rolled his eyes. “Just shut up.” Shaking his head, he got up off the table, walking across the empty room to crouch next to my face. “You’re an idiot, you know that.”

“He wasn’t lying,” I said defensively.

I knew he wasn’t. I’d felt it through the bond we already shared, thanks to him slapping a scale on my back. Linking us together forever. It had made it clear to me he was telling the truth.

“Of course he wasn’t lying.” Reed shook his head. “You stupid humans. He agreed to that deal because he was desperate. Then he acted as stupid as you are and went and fell in love like an idiot!”

Cade. In love?

I frowned.

“Trust me,” Reed said.

“What? Are you some sort of dragon version of cupid? I have my doubts about that.”

Reed’s hand hit me across the jaw, staggering me. I rocked with the blow, my cheek stinging.

“Next time I’ll actually hit you,” he said.

“Whatever,” I muttered as the sting faded.

“He loves you. Is crazy about you. If you’re too dumb and blind to see it, then that’s just your own fault. Typical human attitude. Not that I understand how a dragon could love a human. So, maybe the two of you are meant for one another. Whatever it is, he and his dragon believe you’re his mate.”

I stared at him, trying to pick up on any deception in his voice and failing.

“Can’t believe I managed to say that without vomiting,” Reed mumbled to himself as he walked back to his seat on the desk, where he’d been waiting ever since he finished tying me to the chair.

Cade … in love with me?

I reeled mentally, trying to understand. To cope. To see if I believed the goon who’d kidnapped me. It certainly seemed like a good way to fuck with my mind.

But there was one thing I couldn’t get past. They kidnapped me because they wanted the gold. They wanted to get paid. And therefore, they truly believed I, of all people, was their ticket to a big payday. They harbored no doubts Cade would pay them off just to get me back in one piece.

“How much am I worth?” I asked.

Reed lifted his head as I broke the silence. “Worth?”

“Yes. The gold. How much are you making him pay you for me?”

The goon’s face twisted into a smile that chilled my blood. “All of it,” he hissed.

“All? You can’t know how much is in there,” I said.

“Don’t need to. He’s going to sign it over to us. Make us the owners of that land.”

All of it? There was no way Cade would do that.

“Not us,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind me. Footsteps announced the presence of someone entering the room. “Me.”

“Of course,” Reed said, bowing his head respectfully. “I simply meant the organization as a whole, sir.”

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