ROMANCE: Bear Naked Passion (Billionaire Bear Trio Book 2) (255 page)

Chapter 5

              After Andrea had hidden the tape recorder deep in her suitcase, she spent the rest of the day making Reed feel good. Her words of reassurance to him felt empty to her, knowing that she was lying to him—using him—but she could only hope that, in some way, this time they spent together would be enjoyable to him—a reprieve for him, even, from his own fear-filled mind. It was such a nice thought that she was tempted to truly believe it possible, despite the naivety of it all.

              However, the burden of her decisions didn’t truly hit her until the following morning when her boss called.

              Groggy from sleep and the previous day’s amount of…satisfaction, Andrea slid out of bed and practically collapsed next to her suitcase. Once there, she fished out her phone and blindly answered it with a disgruntled greeting.

              “What the hell have you been doing?” Ms. Lee snapped, her sharp voice marred by static.

              Andrea’s eyes bulged. Barely restraining herself from spitting out a curse, she looked over her shoulder and back at the bed.

              Reed snored beneath the covers, his body curled toward her.

              “I’ve gotten a lot of quotes from Reed O’Connor,” Andrea whispered into the phone, glancing away from the sleeping man in question. “It’s taking me a while, but the longer I’m with him, the more he opens up.”

              “With him? What does that mean?”

              Andrea frowned, an ache emerging within her temple. She opened her mouth to clarify—to sound detached and dutiful no matter how much it pained her—but Ms. Lee interrupted her.

              “Forget it,” her boss said, sighing. “I don’t want to know. Just tell me the information you are getting is actually interesting. I can’t condone you wasting money messing around with these dangerous men.”

              “Reed’s not dangerous,” Andrea whispered fiercely, jumping when Reed snorted loudly in his sleep. She glanced back at him, her heart hammering. “He’s…good.”

              Ms. Lee sighed again. “Just tell me if he owns a bear or not. That’s all this story was supposed to be about. If you’re risking your life just for some thrill—”

              “You know I would never do that.”

              “Do I? You never kept me in the dark before.”

              “I wrote about house plants before.”

              Ms. Lee didn’t say anything, but despite that, Andrea could still somehow feel the woman’s rage emanate through the phone. With the silly articles about maintaining plants, Andrea had never had to be daring—never needed to make that kind of choice. But ever since she started this assignment, taking huge risks and crossing lines was all she had been doing. Ms. Lee obviously knew, even though Andrea hadn’t told her everything about her discoveries.

              Aware of this—of the looming threat of losing her job and her credibility—Andrea sagged and huffed out a taut breath. Shame and pride warred with another as she contemplated her choices for a second longer before saying, “Ms. Lee, these people,” She glanced back at Reed—still snoring, “think they are bears. I have recorded quotes from Reed O’Connor confessing as much, and Hank told me the same thing when I spoke with him. They think they are ‘bear-shifters’ in a world ruled by humans. It’s all so crazy, I didn’t know how you would react, but they take it seriously. I think this is a better story than what we initially thought it was.”

              As Andrea spoke, her mind raced with various plans. She wanted to expose the truth of these bear-shifters, not a falsified truth about mentally unstable billionaires. But she didn’t have any kind of evidence that showed Reed or Hank transforming, and even if she did, there would be skeptics of such footage. She bit her lip, and she became frustrated when she didn’t instantly know what to do about this.

              “I agree,” Ms. Lee said eventually, her voice much softer now. “It is much, much crazier than we suspected, and it makes for a good story. Does Fernando share this belief with the other two?”

              “That’s what I’ve been told.”

              “Then get a quote for him about it, and then get back here. Understood? You’ve spent enough time in enough danger as it is, and dealing with some bear-cult is no easy task.”

              “I know,” Andrea said, hunching forward. “But please believe me when I say Reed is much, much better than Hank. I’m safe here.”

              “I do believe you. But danger doesn’t always come from marks; it sometimes come from ourselves. Be aware of this, for your sake and for Monumental Press’s. Don’t waste any more time with Reed. You need to get out of there before you get sucked into…whatever the hell is going on over there.”

              She felt as if Ms. Lee had struck her, the sincerity and the truth in her boss’s words shocking and painful. Stupidly, Andrea nodded with tears in her eyes. When she remembered that Ms. Lee couldn’t actually see her, Andrea managed to choke out, “Yes ma’am. I’ll leave by tonight.”

              “Good. Don’t make me worry about you any more than I need to.”

              “Yes, ma’am.”

              Ms. Lee hung up, and Andrea lowered her phone. Reed continued to snore behind her, the sound boisterous and erratic. Andrea closed her eyes and just listened for a while—let herself be distracted from the situation for just a moment.

              The moment passed too quickly, but her frayed nerves wouldn’t allow her to extend it. Swallowing thickly, she put the phone back into her suitcase before she snaked her way back into bed, beneath the covers. She stared at Reed then, his face lax and his mouth wide open.

              Gently, she reached over to touch him, but suddenly, she felt like all of her atoms were tainted. She flinched back, scooting away from the sweet man beside her. But, as much as it hurt her to do so, she couldn’t tear his gaze away from him.

              Would he forgive her? Would he understand? She asked herself these questions repeatedly, and she was terrified of what the answers would be.

              During breakfast, Andrea couldn’t bring herself to eat much. She ate a few bites from the fruit salad Reed had made, but shy of that, she mostly just tapped her fork against her plate. The dining room—hell, the dining table—was much too big for just the two of them to eat, but she and Reed often ate their meals in there, if not in the front room where she conducted her first interview with him. She never questioned this pattern, only appreciated it. Until now.

              “You all right, Andrea?” Reed asked. Sitting close beside her, he reached his hand out and ran his fingers over her arm. “You look upset about something.”

              “I’m tired,” she said truthfully. Dealing with her doubts, her guilt, her pride, her dreams—she was mentally and somehow physically exhausted. She was all but sagging forehead, her eyelids lowering on their own accord. “Very, very tired.”

              Reed gave her a sheepish frown. “Did I snore?”

              It was such an innocent, menial question that Andrea couldn’t prevent herself from chortling. “Yes, you did.”

              “I’m sorry. I could try a nasal strip or something tonight, but those things haven’t worked for me in the past.”

              She managed to keep herself from laughing again at his sweetness—his unfortunate ignorance—and told herself to just get this over with. Resigned, she raised her head and stared into his eyes. “What are you, Hank, and Fernando really up to?”

              Reed blanched. “What? What are you—?”

              “Reed,” She grabbed the hand that was against her arm and squeezed it. Her breath shuddered for a second, but she forced to continue smoothly, “Hank told me that Fernando was up to something, and based on the way you talk about the three of you…it doesn’t make sense. You always make it sound like bear-shifters stay away from each other, but the three of you make appointments to meet with another in the form of parties.”

              “They’re my friends,” Reed croaked.

              Andrea gave him a sweet, patient smile, all the while knowing that she was going to go to Hell for this. “You’ve told me how haunted you feel just being yourself. You told me a little about your ‘friends’ and their significance. Please, Reed…don’t hide from me anymore. I just want to help.”

              Reed stared at her for a long moment, his expression hardening into something unreadable. For several frightening seconds, Andrea was convinced that he was finally seeing her for what she truly was: a liar, a manipulator. But she forced herself to keep looking earnest and ignore the way her heart shattered.

              “All right,” Reed said at last, a whoosh of air blowing past his lips. Relief relaxed his features as he nodded. “All right.

              “I’ve known Hank and Fernando for a long, long time. Coming from rich families who are also bear-shifters is a rare thing, and it was something that gravitated our mothers closer together. They had plans—dreams—for our species, but…well, that’s neither here nor there now.

              “Anyway, the real secret about us is that…” Reed inhaled sharply, his eyes fluttering closed for a brief moment. When Andrea squeezed his hand again, she felt him lose more tension in his body. “Fernando, a few years back, found out that he was a descendant of the first man who was cursed to be like us.”

              Andrea’s breath caught in her throat. “But you said that it was a myth.”

              “I still think it is, for the most part,” Reed said, his gaze lowering to his plate. “But Fernando claimed he met this seer who could look into the past rather than the future, and Fernando…he doesn’t trust people easily, if at all. For him to trust the seer’s assessment is everything.”

              Andrea believed that well enough; Fernando was known to be a paranoid man, only ever being seen when he was with Hank and/or Reed. And the fact that there were psychic people called “seers,” well…Andrea knew she didn’t have time to be overly critical or shocked by the claim. There was something in the way Reed spoke—the hope and the doubt twisting in his tone…it made Andrea look at him closer, her blood searing through her with the addictive desire to know and understand.

              “What else aren’t you telling me?” she asked. “What more to the story is there?”

              Reed kept his gaze aimed at his unfinished breakfast. “The seer told him that with the blood—or DNA—of the original cursed man, the curse could be broken.”

              “Broken,” Andrea repeated, mind reeling even as the rest of her felt numb. Complete comprehension came to her a second later. “You guys are trying to break the curse. But…how? How can it be done, and if it can be done, why haven’t you…?” She shook her head, her brow furrowing.

              “We don’t actually know how,” Reed said. He looked back up at her, his eyes glistening. “All we know is that the curse can be broken with Fernando’s DNA, but shy of that, we know nothing else. We all have traveled the world—done research, searched for particular people with particular gifts…” Reed bellowed out a sigh, frustration tensing his form up again.

              “Why do you even want the curse broken? I thought you didn’t mind being what you are.”

              “If we break the curse, it would end everyone’s curse. Bear-shifters would turn back to humans.”

              Nausea shot up her gut, and she nearly gagged at the horrid sensation. Reed wanted to destroy her story—her reveal of this magnificent species. They all did.

              “There would be a greater chance for world peace in this way,” Reed continued, smiling sadly at her. “I know it. No one would ever trust someone who can turn into a massive monster. Well,” Fondness softened his expression further, “other than you, of course.”

              “You’re not a monster,” she said fiercely, protectively. “You are the farthest thing from that, I promise you.”

              “I’m glad,” he said, still smiling. “I just wish you could say the same thing about Hank.”

              That made her go rigid. She hesitated only a moment, thinking about all that he revealed to her, before she forced herself to push forward—to do her job. “Do you know where Fernando is right now?”

              Reed narrowed his gaze at her. “Why?”

              “I want to help,” she lied. She reached over and grabbed his upper arms, her elbows brushing over his plate. “I want to help all of you break the curse, and Fernando is such a…private person, it would be hard for me to find him by myself.”

              “You would go looking for him? Without me?”

              “To save you,” she said, nearly flinching at the disgusting words. She reminded herself of Fernando’s heritage, of their abilities—of the story that would make her career and probably change the world. An exciting thrill shot through her, and she tightened her grip on Reed. “I can’t just let you deal with this alone, now that I know. Let me help you find people, find cures—dig in all kinds of spots you guys may not have thought of.”

              His brow lowered, as did the corners of his mouth. “Andrea, I don’t think that is wise. I…I appreciate you caring so much about this, but Fernando is secretive for a reason. I don’t want to betray his trust.”