The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate(13)

Frankly, given the topic of this conversation, Samuel completely agreed. He hated this deception. He wasn't a liar, and the games Severin and Vivienne liked to play disgusted him. He respected Theresa, and he liked her, and having to pretend that she didn't matter to him was horrible. But if Severin got even a vague suspicion Theresa might be his potential mate, Samuel knew he wouldn't hesitate to drive her away.

Still, he'd much rather have fought Severin outright, and he would have if there'd been even a small chance he might win. But there wasn't. A dragon didn't gain his full powers until he met his mate. Severin was at the height of his strength; that alone would be enough, even without Vivienne by his side, and the powers she'd gained when they'd bonded.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I have to leave now," Samuel said.

Vivienne grabbed his arm, holding him back for a second. "If this is some sort of trick..." she hissed. Where her hands were touching him, cold was spreading up his arm, an icy, prickling numbness. Samuel stopped himself from pulling away. He wasn't impressed by her little games.

"Samuel, hey. Sorry I took so long, there was a queue," Theresa said from behind him.

Vivienne let go of his arm with a little pat that almost looked like a friendly gesture, if you weren't paying attention. "Hello! You must be Theresa. Samuel was just telling us about you," she said, the flat stare she'd been giving him disappearing back beneath her friendly mask. "That dress is the most amazing thing, you have to tell me where you got it! This is my husband, Severin."

"Nice to meet you," Severin said. Like Vivienne, he'd hidden the hostility behind a practiced smile.

"Theresa, this is my brother Severin, and his wife, Vivienne," Samuel said, suppressing the urge to bare his teeth. He wanted to get Theresa far away from them. But of course Severin insisted on making small talk for a few more minutes until they could finally excuse themselves.

Samuel guided Theresa away with a hand on her back, hoping he didn't look as crazily overprotective as he felt right now. The dragon inside him wanted to turn right around and go for Severin's throat with his teeth. He tightened his arm around Theresa, pulling her slightly closer, and then instantly worried that he might have made her uncomfortable.

But Theresa didn't seem to object to staying close by his side.

"Your brother seems a little...Um." Samuel watched her flounder, trying to come up with an adjective to describe Severin's shark-like intensity without sounding insulting. There weren't a lot of people who could look past Severin's smooth, charming facade so quickly. He wasn't surprised she was one of them.

"He's a terrible person," Samuel said.

Theresa looked up at him, startled. "Really?"

"We used to be close, when we were kids," Samuel said. "But when we grew up, he turned into someone I barely recognize anymore. He's ruthless as hell. Greedy, too."

"Huh. I always heard he was a good CEO, that Aurum's a really nice place to work. You know, the kind of company that treats its employees well."

"That's how my father always handled it," Samuel said. "I managed to convince Severin it was in our best interest to keep it that way. You know what it costs to replace a good engineer? It's cheaper to pay people a decent wage in the first place and treat them well, make sure they know they've got it better here than elsewhere. I guess that argument made sense to him."

He sighed. "Severin's not crazy. He doesn't go around mistreating people for fun. He just doesn't have much of a conscience, either. He can be charming as hell when he wants to, but there's no real feeling behind it. He doesn't care about people."

"So his wife—They seemed really close. Is he faking all that, too?" Theresa sounded saddened at the very idea.

"No. That's real," Samuel said. Over by the buffet, Vivienne tapped Severin's elbow and then leaned close to whisper something in his ear. For a moment, Severin's face softened into a real smile, the one he only ever had for her.

"I think she's the only person in the world who's real to him. He'd die for her. When he first met her, I hoped..." Samuel swallowed hard. He'd really thought Severin might change. In love for the first time in his life, dizzy with it, the matebond burying through to the heart that turned out to be hidden somewhere deep beneath the shell of Severin's icy indifference after all.

Samuel gave a low laugh, knew he sounded bitter. "Turned out she was exactly like him."

If ever there'd been two people made for each other in the world, it was those two, Severin and his ice queen.

"I'm sorry," Theresa said.

Samuel shrugged. He hadn't wanted to dampen her enjoyment of the evening. "Let's talk about something else, okay? Do you want another drink?"