Page 102 of Bear
“You make me nervous,” I said. I pulled my shoulders around my ears. It was only partially true but I knew I definitely couldn’t sayyou make me nervous because you’re so fucking gross and stupid, you’re unpredictability at its worst. Griffon’s ego wouldn’t digest that well.
He patted his lap for me to sit down as Lane walked in with a tray of drinks for everyone. She wore a smile that was bright and alert. To anyone else she probably looked happy and upbeat but I knew that look. She was on high alert.
“Hey Griff, want another drink?” She sauntered over with an extra swivel in her full hips and Griffon’s copper eyes honed in on them. I seemed to fade into the background. I knew Lane did that on purpose and I was eternally grateful.
“Yeah, I’ll take another drink.” He reached up to the tray and grabbed one.
“What about you, Shadow…is it?” Lane’s brown eyes lifted and I felt the presence of someone significantly taller than me standing right behind me. I turned slowly and smiled, I was genuinely happy to see him.
“Nah, no more drinks right now. I’ll take this pretty little darling for a moment though.” Before Griffon could object, Lane struck up a conversation with him and Titan swept me out of the room with the slightest nod of approval from Bear. As we passed by him, in the middle of a circle of soldiers, I felt his warm hand reach out and grab mine. It was only for a split second but it sent fire through me.
I hated pretending that I didn’t belong solely to Bear. He was my everything. God, if I had my pistol on me I’d probably shoot Griffon my goddamn self to get it over with but I understood Bear wanting to wait until he was sure.
“You okay?” Titan asked once we were in the hallway.
“Yeah. A little grossed out that he wanted me on his lap but I’m cool,” I told him.
“You wanna go outside to the guesthouse?”
“Yes and no. I want to get the fuck away from the resident jailbird but I don’t want to leave Mom.”
“Lane is watching out for her and so are Bear and Ace.” I followed Titan to the guesthouse where things were much quieter. There were a few of Bear’s men inside drinking and playing cards but it was nothing like the crowd inside the main house.
Titan sat at the kitchen table and I sat across from him. He looked at me with those secret-holding coal eyes of his and smirked a little. “What are you hiding, Titan Devereaux? Every time I look at you I see secrets rolling around in your head.”
“They’re gonna stay secrets too.” He handed me a beer from a nearby cooler and I cracked it open. “Some things aren’t meant to see the light of day.” Titan pulled out his phone and scrolled for a few quiet minutes then he smirked again. “Stop being nosey, Cecily.”
“I’m gonna get the secrets out of you one day, Titan. I’m persistent.”
“I believe you’re persistent but there’s one thing you haven’t accounted for,” he said looking at me.
“What’s that?” I quizzed with a playful attitude.
“I’m more stubborn than you are persistent.” He cracked a smile and I glared at him before taking a swallow of my beer. Titan and I talked for a little while more while I tried futilely to make him spill his guts about his secrets then Bear walked in.
My heart leaped into my throat at the sight of his smooth chocolate skin and perfectly coifed short crop of locs. That man was a god. From his chiseled jaw to the gold rings on his fingers. His entire presence was enough to stop every conversation floating through the air in the guesthouse.
“Everything alright?” Titan asked, standing.
“Yeah. I got away for a little while and wanted to check on Cecily.” His eyes never left mine and it made my stomach buzz. I walked over to him and he tossed a heavy arm around my shoulders before kissing my temple. “You okay, baby doll?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Is your father still looking for me?” I frowned.
“He is. That’s why I came out here.” Bear sighed a little and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. Even the slightest brush from the pads of his fingers warmed my skin. “I’m waiting on Tito to get here so we can really kick this party off.” His eyes glowed when he spoke of his plan rolling into motion. I wanted more of that glow. That glow made me hungry.
“Man, I’ve wanted a lot of people dead before, but your father is in the top five,” Titan said shaking his head. “You sure you don’t want to put a bullet in his brain now and save the theatrics?”
“Normally, I’d do that,” Bear said in his ever-calm voice. “My father doesn’t deserve a quick and unsuspected death though. I want him to see it coming. I even want him to fight for his life a little bit so I can see his fear rise to the surface. I want him to know the deep burn of betrayal and the heat of embarrassment. I want him to know he’s going to die as a motherfucking disgrace to everything he built and I want him to know that I’m the one responsible for it all. Then he can die.”
Bear’s words left no room for further conversation. He said what the fuck he said. It rendered everyone in the room silent. I wondered if they were busy thinking what I was thinking. I wondered if they were in awe at how a man’s own son could so intricately plot his father’s demise and do it was with such fervor and care.
Bear was so dark and tortured but it called out to me. It made me love him even more. It made me love him because I knew that side of him only existed as a means to protect the vulnerable boy inside the savage.
That’s why I knew in the deepest parts of my heart that Bear wasn’t bad. None of the men he hung around were bad either. Just damaged. Just bruised and scarred. Bear didn’t need people cowering at his feet. He needed unconditional love.
I had it in spades to give.
BEAR
