Bearly In Control (7 page)

The bear groaned and let Edwin phase to the surface. His large paws turned into hands and his brown fur receded back into skin.

“What the fuck was that?!?” Alfred asked, still on the counter. “Shifters are real?”

Edwin gathered his torn clothes and put them back on, tying them together.

He didn’t know what he was thinking, coming here. This would happen again and again. It wasn’t fair to Grace. She deserved a normal life. A happy life. And it was clear that Edwin couldn’t give it to her.

“I’ll leave. Now,” he said to Alfred.

He wasn’t going to say goodbye to Grace. He didn’t want to drag her into his cursed life any more than he already had. He would suffer for her: a bear without his mate. It was a horrible way to live but it was what was best for Grace.

She would marry some rich guy and have kids and be happy and have a normal life.

And he would remain alone like he should.

There was something wrong with him. Something that made him not worth loving. His parents were the first to have seen it. That’s why they abandoned him. Grace’s Dad had seen it and Alfred too. It wouldn’t be long before Grace saw it as well.

He didn’t want to drag her down for another second. It was better this way.

For her.

And it was all about what was best for her.

Edwin glanced up at the terrified man on the counter. “How do I walk to the train station?”

six

“Miss Briggs,” Alfred said, snootier than usual.

Grace clenched her jaw. “Now is not the time Alfred.” She had been looking everywhere for Edwin. It was like he had disappeared.

“It concerns Mr. Edwin,” he said, following her down the hallway.

She stopped, feeling a sudden emptiness in the pit of her stomach. She turned and Alfred had a smug look on his face. He was trying to hide a smile.

“Where is he?”

Alfred smirked. “Come with me.”

Grace followed him through the enormous mansion into the control room. Alfred opened the door and Grace gasped at all of the monitors. There were at least forty of them, at least one for each room. She always got a twinge of nausea in here. She hated being reminded that her home was as private as a casino, always being watched, always being recorded. Only the bedrooms and bathrooms were camera-free.

She glanced over the screens searching for Edwin. Or for a bear. She couldn’t find either.

“Well what is it?” she snapped.

Alfred could barely contain his giddiness. “I knew that Mr. Edwin was trouble from the first time that I saw him,” he said.

This can’t be good.

Alfred leaned over the control panel of endless buttons and switches. “Watch this.”

He hit a button and every screen was playing the same scene. Edwin standing in the kitchen with Alfred. There was no sound. Edwin looked stressed. He looked like how he did when he was on the verge of phasing.

Uh oh.

Alfred moved towards him and struck him with a black object. And then Edwin phased. Right on camera.

Grace peeled her eyes from the screen and glared at Alfred. He had his arms crossed.

“Imagine what your father would say if I told him you brought a shifter into his house.”

Grace couldn’t care less about what her father would say but she wanted to wipe that smug look off of the butler’s face.

“You’re going to show this to my father?” she asked.

“If I ever see that monster’s face again I will.”

She paused the footage. Alfred was on top of the counter swinging a spatula.

“Did you shock him?” she asked.

He thrust his chin in the air. “He threatened me.”

Grace didn’t believe that for a second. She rewound the tape and raised the volume. Alfred uncrossed his arms and his mouth dropped open. Apparently he wasn’t aware that there was volume on certain security cameras. Her Dad was always paranoid that the staff was stealing from them so he installed cameras that recorded audio as well.

“That’s not really necessary,” Alfred said, moving forward.

Grace raised her hand, stopping him in his tracks.

Edwin had never threatened him, as she suspected. He hadn’t even said one word.

Alfred’s panicked voice played through the speakers:
“What the flying fuck?!?”

Grace couldn’t keep herself from chuckling. His British accent was gone. He was as American as a bald eagle shitting in an apple pie.
“Holy shit balls,”
he screamed.
“He just changed into a fucking bear!”

She paused the video and turned to him. His cheeks were red.

“Where in England did you say you were from again?” she asked.

“Berkshire,” he said, laying the English accent on extra thick.

She hit play again and his screaming American voice came back on. She paused it. “Well unless Berkshire is the name of a street in San Diego…than that would make you a liar.” He was ringing his hands together. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple. “And you know how much my father hates liars. He hired you specifically because you were British.” It made her Dad feel like royalty to have a British butler.

Alfred gulped.

“I’m assuming that you weren’t trained to serve the royalty as you claimed?”

He stared at the floor. “I took an online class,” he said, dropping his phony accent.

Grace stifled a laugh. “Perhaps we should go show my father together and you can explain why you lied about your citizenship and your credentials. And then you can start looking for a new job.”

Alfred’s head sprung up. “That’s quite unnecessary Miss Grace.” His fake accent back. “I just wanted to bring it to your attention.”

“Well consider it brought.”

He nodded and headed for the door.

“Alfred,” she called out. He cursed under his breath.

“Yes Miss Grace.” He turned around with a big smile.

“Where is Edwin?”

“Mr Edwin wished to leave,” he said. Grace’s heart sank. “Mr Matthew drove him to the train station.”

He wished to leave?

Grace turned back to the monitors as Alfred slipped out the door.

Why would he leave without saying goodbye? She was going to go find out but first she had to erase this footage.

She rewound the tape and her half naked stepmom ran onto the screen backwards. She was all over Edwin.

“What the hell?” she whispered under her breath.

She felt a swell of pride when she saw how Edwin had resisted her. Daisy was hot and it wasn’t easy for a man to turn down a sexy, naked woman who was throwing herself at him. But Edwin did it.

“I’m in love with Grace,”
he said, as Daisy clawed at his pants.

She smiled and felt her stomach flutter at hearing him say it. She rewound it and listened to it again.

Then why would he leave without saying goodbye?

She had to find out, but first she had to show this part of the video to her Dad.

Grace found her father in front of the mirror in the living room. “And that is why I am running for the President of the United States of America,” he said to himself, practicing.

He winked at his reflection. Grace rolled her eyes.

She had downloaded the footage onto her cellphone. She squeezed it in her hand. Her Dad wasn’t going to take this well.

Grace didn’t want to ruin his moment but it was too important to hide. Plus she couldn’t stand next to that whore on camera and smile.

Her Dad could postpone the press conference to a later date. The primary elections weren’t for another few months anyways. A couple of days wouldn’t make a big difference. She couldn’t imagine that her Dad would want Daisy by his side after he found out that she cheated on him. Multiple times. With her boyfriends. That part still made Grace’s blood boil.

It would be better to split up with Daisy before he announced his running than after anyways. The press would only focus on that and it might ruin his chances. It would be hard to hear but Grace was sure that she was doing the right thing.

“I have something to show you,” she said. Her hand holding the cellphone was shaking.

“Ci Ci,” he said, glancing at her for half a second before turning back to the mirror. “Does my hair look okay?”

“Dad it’s important.” She took a deep breath. “The camera in the kitchen recorded-”

He raised his finger to her face, cutting her off. He pulled out his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and answered it. “Walter!” he said, laughing. “I guess this means you’ll finally let me win our next golf game?”

Grace snatched the phone out of his hand and hung up on Walter, whoever that was.

He looked at her with wide eyes.

“Look,” she said, thrusting the phone in front of him. The scene was playing on the screen.

“You don’t have to play that game with me.”
Daisy’s voice came through the small speakers. Her father watched it with a furrowed brow.

Grace could hardly breathe while he watched it. She didn’t want to be the one to break her father’s heart.

The scene cut off as Daisy ran out of the kitchen, before he phased into a bear. Her Dad looked up at her.

“She’s slept with all of my boyfriends,” Grace blurted out. That part was still a shock to her. “She tried to seduce Edwin!”

“Is this the only copy of the video?” he asked.

Grace nodded. “I deleted the videos from the control room.”

Her Dad turned back to the phone and deleted it. He handed her the phone back. His face was calm. He didn’t seem like he cared.

“Forget that you saw this,” he said.

Grace gasped. “What?” she asked, confused. “She had her hand down Edwin’s pants!”

He held her hand and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Now is not the time for this. This is a very big day for our family. A historic day.”

Grace’s mouth dropped. “But-”

“We need to put up the face of a strong family unit.” He patted the back of her hand. “Polls show that the American public will vote for family men more than single men. I need to have a wife by my side for the cameras.”

Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was speechless.

“We have to keep this under the rug.” He let go of her hand and pulled out his comb. He turned back towards the mirror and ran it through his hair. “It’s for the best. It’s for the good of the family.”

“You mean what’s good for your career?”

He frowned.

Grace squeezed her hands into fists. She was tired of the charade. She was tired of the lies.

“You’re always claiming that everything you do is for the good of the family but you don’t care about the family. And you don’t care about me.”

“Ci Ci,” he said, still combing his hair.

“You don’t even care about Daisy. Or my dead Mom. What was it ten months before you remarried?” She was trying hard to hold in her tears. Tears of anger not sadness.

“Watch yourself Ci Ci,” he warned. “Now is not the time.”

“It’s never the time,” she snapped. “You always preach what’s good for the family but you only care what’s good for you. What’s good for your image. What will get you to the Presidency.”

He rolled his eyes. It enraged her further.

“You’ve always made me do things that I don’t want to do.” Her pulse was racing. “You’ve never cared about my happiness. All I ever wanted to do was become a painter. I had talent and you just knocked me down. You made me go to law school.”

“And you refuse to become a lawyer so what’s your problem?” he asked, shaking his head, looking annoyed. “You organize charity events and you don’t even get paid for it. I told you then and I’ll tell you now. You’ll never get any respect as a painter.”

“I don’t care!” she yelled, the clenched tears escaping down her cheeks. “I just want to be happy.”

She wiped the tears away angrily, furious at herself for showing any weakness. Her Dad would just blow it off as ‘that time of the month.’

“And now the one guy that I love and who loves me comes along and you don’t want to have anything to do with him because he doesn’t fit into your perfect mold.”

“He’s a nobody,” he said. “Devon is an-”

“Asshole,” Grace said, finishing his sentence. “Just like your wife. You don’t even care that she cheated on you. You’re going to ignore it because dealing with it will be bad for your image.”

Her Dad exhaled in frustration. “I have a chance to bring this family to-”

“Stop saying that word,” she interrupted. “You don’t care about family and you certainly don’t care about me.”

Grace shook her head and stepped back. “I’m so sick of this fake lifestyle. It’s so phony.” She turned towards the exit. “I’m done here.”

“Ci Ci wait,” he said. She stopped but didn’t turn around.

“I need you for the press conference Ci Ci. I need to look like a family man.”

She took a deep breath. “Well
I
need to go. I have to do something for me for once.” She stepped towards the exit.

“If you leave now,” he warned, “there’s no more allowance, no more trust fund. I’ll take back all of your stuff.”