Ruthless Mate

RUTHLESS MATE THE MARKED DRAGON PRINCE TRILOGY JEN L. GREY Copyright © 2023 by Grey Valor Publishing, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Leave A Review About the Author Also by Jen L. Grey CHAPTER ONE The lump in my throat was so bulky, I couldn’t swallow. I placed one hand on the back of the black leather sofa and ran the other down my stomach, where it hit the black belt of my short polka-dotted dress. I couldn’t fathom what might be so urgent that Drake Hale, heir to a billion-dollar company, would show up here at eight on a Friday night. I’d arrived home in Asheville, North Carolina, just an hour ago to stay for a few weeks before starting med school at UNC this summer, and he’d come knocking about fifteen minutes ago. I’d let him in and pointed to the door that led to the finished basement where my stepdad’s office was. My twin half siblings didn’t even glance up from whatever video game they were playing. I hadn’t gotten more than a hi from them since getting back, which…wasn’t abnormal. Eva punched the buttons on her controller harder than necessary, a victorious grin spreading across her face. A lock of dark brown hair fell over the back of her white strapless shirt, and her steel blue eyes narrowed. “I told you I’d learned some things since the last time we played.” “I see that.” Elliott scowled. The only difference between them appearance-wise was that he was male and a little taller. Also, his hair was shorter, but it still hung in his eyes. Everything else about them was like looking into a mirror. “How the hell is that possible? We just played a few nights ago.” “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she sang as she continued to press the buttons on the controller. If I left, I was certain neither of them would notice. “Aren’t you at all curious why a certain visitor is here?” I asked. “Not at all.” Elliott leaned forward on the sofa, focusing on the flat-screen TV hanging on the dark gray wall. “The few times I saw him at Dad’s office, he made me uncomfortable, so my motto is ‘stay the fuck away.’” “Elliott,” I hissed. “Language.” Before Mom passed away six years ago, she’d asked me to watch over the twins. She’d said she hated putting the burden on me, but she had no one else to ask since my stepdad had begun acting strangely. So here I was, trying to make her proud. However, I couldn’t stop wondering why the owner of the largest rental property company, whose assets my stepfather managed as part of his realty business, was visiting this late on a Friday night. “Oh, please, Ev.” Eva rolled her eyes but kept her attention glued to the game. “We’re eighteen. We can totally cuss.” My heart panged. They were growing up quickly, and every passing year was another reminder of how long Mom had been gone. God, I missed her. She’d wanted me to change the world with my love of painting and art, but when cancer had stolen the only parent I’d ever known, I’d decided to change the world in a different way—through medicine. I didn’t want another kid to lose a parent to this horrible disease. It had left me an orphan and my half siblings with only one parent. Something boomed from downstairs, and the walls shook all the way up to the living room. My lungs seized. That was definitely something. But the twins kept playing their game as if they hadn’t noticed a thing. Figures. This was another thing I’d have to deal with on my own. I marched toward the white-framed door in the middle of the wall behind me. My black strappy heels clacked on the white oak floors as I walked past the sizable kitchen on the right. As I put a hand on the doorknob, a deep, angry voice stopped me in my tracks. “Did you really think we wouldn’t find out about what you did, Peter?” It was Drake. The man emanated power even when he wasn’t speaking. Peter had been Mom’s husband, and he’d allowed me to live under this roof after she’d died. I couldn’t stand idly by while Drake attacked him. I inhaled deeply, straightened my shoulders, and cracked open the oak door. As quietly as possible, I slipped down a few of the dark gray carpeted steps and peeked into the basement. My world tilted. Drake stood behind my stepdad’s cherrywood desk, leaning his more than seven-foot-tall frame over my stepdad in his leather desk chair, which had crashed into the white wall behind him. Drake’s formidable muscles were evident through his black suit, and his onyx eyes narrowed as he grasped the black armrests. Despite the turmoil, his brown-black hair remained perfectly in place, styled upward in small spikes, and his olive complexion glowed. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, but even when he wasn’t furious, something about him unsettled me. My stepdad’s bottom lip quivered, and the crow’s feet lining his chestnut eyes deepened. I could’ve sworn more gray had appeared at the temples of his light brown hair. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas, when I’d come home to visit. “I…I’m sorry.” My stepdad’s voice quivered. “I wasn’t thinking.” “Clearly,” Drake rasped, and his hand flinched like he wanted to