Page 14 of Bear

“It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is. Only thing missin’s trust. As in you don’t trust me, so you’ve not told me the truth. You not tellin’ me what’s goin’ on makes me not trust you.”

“And I have to trust you to tell you so we’re back at the beginning.” She sounded equal parts exasperated and almost desperate. “I don’t know what to do!” she yelled at me, tears starting to stream down her face. “If I don’t tell you and something happens, I’m dead. If I tell you and you can’t protect me, I’m worse than dead! Like you said, there isn’t a scenario where this ends well for me!”

This was my opening. She wanted to tell me; it was easy to see. She’d given me just that little bit of an opening, and I knew I had to take it. I crossed the room, taking back the distance she’d put between us. “Listen to me, baby, and listen hard. I claimed you as mine. In the eyes of the club, you’re just as important as me. Maybe more so because you’re a woman. Grim Road is many things. Most of them not good. But we do not prey on the weak. We don’t subjugate our women. The club whores are here for one purpose. They know what’s expected of them before they come here. They still have the right to say no, and they can leave any time they want.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted. I could tell that, for whatever reason, I’d shocked her.

“All the women with us could be in danger just by associating with us. We accept responsibility for that and don’t take the danger to them lightly. We protect them. The women protect the children. We all protect each other.” I gave her my hardest stare. The one that said I meant every fucking word I was saying and had the means, motive, and opportunity to follow through with my promise. “You’re already mine, Liv. I claimed you. Told them you’re mine. That means every single man in this clubhouse will protect you with his life. Same as he would for all the women. You’re ours, and we’re all family. We protect our family.”

It was either the exact right thing or the exact wrong thing to say. Either way, Olivia dissolved into tears. She took in great gulps of air only to continue to sob as she sank to the floor in a small heap.

I crossed the distance to her in slow, careful steps. The last thing I wanted to do was spook her. I wanted her to feel safe with me. Then, maybe she’d tell me what the shit was going on, and I could take care of it for her.

When I reached her, I crouched down in front of her, taking her hand in mine. “Honey, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

She sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her wrist. I stood and got her a paper towel, letting her clean up while I went to the bathroom and got a wet washcloth. When I got back, she was rocking back and forth slightly, like a child trying to comfort herself.

I sat beside her, putting my arm around her and raising the cloth to her face to gently wipe the tear stains away. I felt her body shivering where we touched. When she looked up into my eyes there was a quiet resignation I hated. She was terrified. At the end of her rope with no idea what to do next. I willed her to take a leap of faith and give this to me. I’d take care of it and prove I could be a worthy protector.

She looked down at her hands, twisting the paper towel in her hand. “I’m supposed to…” She swallowed, closing her eyes tightly. “Spy. On the club.” Before I could say anything, she continued rapidly. Like she needed to get it out before she changed her mind. “I was supposed to activate an app on the phone they gave me and they’d do the rest. I have no idea what it does exactly, but I think it somehow lets them into anything connected to the Internet or a cell service or something.”

“Who’s ‘they’, Liv?”

“I only know him as Mr. Black. He was one of the guys who chased me to you and Ringo. He’s an associate of my father.”

The relief I felt was instant. She was telling the truth. Sure, I already knew this, but it was a step in the right direction. Maybe she was going to take the leap of faith after all. “Good, Olivia. That’s good. Do you know what he and your father do to help each other?”

She shook her head. “I’ll tell you everything I know.” She raised her head to meet my gaze with her own. She looked haunted. Terrified. “But you have to understand, I tried my best to keep my head down and not notice anything.”

“Just tell me what you know, and the club will take care of the rest.”

“My father is an international businessman. At least, that’s what he wants everyone to believe. What he really does is inform for the CIA.”

“Where?”

“You mean, what country? City?” When I nodded, she continued. “A lot of places. I’m not sure of the exact places, but I can tell you he has offices in Berlin, Dubai, Tripoli, Cairo… He’s even got offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg. All of it is a front. Oh, he makes money. Hand over fist. But it’s not his natural gas company or even the companies he owns under the table taking in all that money to clean up the Chernobyl site.”

“A front for what?”

She shrugged, shaking her head and looking about as miserable as a person could. “I swear I don’t know. All I know is Mr. Black is an integral part of it all. I know there are places they’re trying to clear out. Small places where no one will care.”

“Clear out?” Though I knew what she meant, I wanted to see how much she actually knew.

Fresh tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she started sobbing again. “I’m sure I don’t know the half of it, but I’ve heard them talking. Once I had to go with him to Tripoli. The day we left to come home there was a news report about a village not a hundred miles to the south that had been destroyed. The images looked like some kind of bomb had gone off. But the really horrible part was, there had been people who survived only to be shot as they fled. I heard Mr. Black and my father toasting ‘finally wiping that shithole off the map so we can make some fucking money.’ Their words. Not mine.”

“Did he tell you why he wanted you to spy on us?”

“He said he had a job for you, Bear. You by name. He said if I got caught, I was to tell you he had you by the balls and that you better do your fucking job this time.”

“He say how he had me by the balls? What he was holding over me and what he expected to happen?”

“Pretty sure he thought he was going to find something when I infiltrated this place and turned on that app. As to what he had planned, I don’t know for sure, but the target’s in the mountains of Afghanistan. I’m just not sure what or exactly where. I got the impression that, just like that town south of Tripoli, this was a small group, probably sitting on something the CIA wants and are unwilling or unable to negotiate for. They said it was very remote and no one would miss the place, but they don’t want to leave any evidence behind, so he’s looking for a professional cleaning crew. He said that’s what you used to do, Bear. You cleaned an area and left no trace. Not like the mess they had back in Tripoli.”

If she believed Leon Black when he’d told her I’d eliminated entire villages just because someone told me to, I could understand her hesitation to trust me.

“Telling me this took courage. I’m proud of you for taking a chance and trusting me.” I smiled down at her. “Thank you, Olivia.”

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