"Dane, did you just see someone you know?"
The group with Dane wasn't clueless. He kept glancing over and of course, they noticed.
"Yeah. Looks like she might be in a tough spot.” Dane's answer made everything clear enough.
One of the men nodded. "You should check on her. Things might be calmer here than overseas, but it's not exactly the safest either."
“I'll be right back, just wait a second."
Dane hurried over to Claire and her group. They looked ready to leave, so he couldn't help but pick up the pace.
"Claire."
She turned when she heard her name.
"Heiress, is that guy calling you?" Dewitt leaned against the car window, eyeing Dane.
"Dewitt, just call me Claire, please. Every time you say 'Heiress,' I feel like there's way too much pressure," Claire said, smiling.
Dewitt immediately switched gears. "Okay, Claire. Do you know him?"
"Yeah, something like that. He's a friend of my grandmother's."
"Pandora knows him?" Dewitt looked surprised for a second, then seemed to remember that Pandora basically knew everyone important anyway. When he thought about it, Pandora herself was quite a legend.
Dane reached them, and Claire introduced him. "Dane, this is Dewitt."
Both guys had heard plenty about each other before.
"I've heard a lot about you," Dane said as he stuck out a hand.
Dewitt shook it, more out of politeness than anything. "Same here. I didn't realize our families had so much history."
"Yeah, my grandparents used to live in your village back in the day, and Pandora looked out for them," Dane said, easygoing as ever.
Dewitt didn't look like an easy person to deal with. Dane hoped he wouldn't end up coming between him and Claire.
Dewitt had heard of Dane too. The Green Family's young boss had a serious reputation-sharp,
ambitious, always ahead of the
Qurve Dewitt's own work was in râm gemstones, while the Green Family handled jewelry. Close, but not quite the same thing.
“So, where are you all headed? I thought I saw someone trying to mess with Claire earlier. Everything alright?"
Dane had almost stepped in when Kendrick was bothering Claire, but Dewitt showing up stopped him for the moment. Now that it seemed sorted out, he still wanted to double-check.
"We're going to the hospital," Claire explained. “I bought a piece of rough stone earlier..."
She quickly filled him in, and Dane glanced over toward Kendrick, who by now had left. Even so, he figured things wouldn't be over that easily. If someone wanted to go after his fiancee, it wasn't happening on his watch.
Phis!
"You guys go ahead to the hospital. I'm stuck here for now since I have friends visiting, but text me your hotel address and I'll come by tonight," Dane said, looking at Claire.
She didn't bother being formal about it. She gave him the address, then added, "If you get busy, don't worry about it. This is just a graduation trip for us. We're mainly here to see the sights, no big plans. Plus, Dewitt can show me around."
Dewitt shot Dane a sideways look and grinned, clearly amused. “That's right, I'm definitely going to make sure Claire has a good time."
Before this, he'd only heard the family had a new heiress. He hadn't realized just how lively she would be.