Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2) (8 page)

Bailey didn’t like the way she was feeling. And it wasn’t just the gun. It was the feeling in her stomach. The feeling like she’d been had.

“I got news for you, girl. Your Jeremy isn’t rescuing nobody. You know why? Because he never would. Jeremy works for me. Always has. Best damn driver there is. Only reason we’re in this place was because he ran out on us. Gianni here got to craving a panini and found you by complete accident. A bonus. Anyway, Jeremy knew he needed to make it right with us, so he sold you out, girl. He gave us the briefcase.”

Bailey let out a horrible sigh. The worst was true. Jeremy had lied to her. And worse than that, he had betrayed her. Bailey couldn’t believe it. But she had to deal with what was in front of her.

“Where is he?”

“Doing a job for us.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t, do you?”

Vito picked up his phone. Dialed a number and put it on speaker.

“Jeremy. Where are you?”

“Five miles out. I’m dropping them off at the truck stop like you asked. Now I did the job. When do I get paid?”

“Point the camera at yourself,” Vito said.

“What?”

“Just point the camera.”

Vito smiled and shoved the phone into Bailey’s face. On the screen, Bailey saw that Jeremy was driving, wind in his hair, a bunch of other guys in the car. She recognized them. More of Vito’s guys. Vito hung up. Bailey couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe the betrayal. She felt tears welling up in her eyes in spite of herself, in spite of her commitment to stay strong.

“So your boyfriend’s an asshole. Big deal. Life sucks,” Vito said. He pulled out a pistol and stepped forward, gun in Bailey’s face. “Now it’s time.”

“Time for what?” Bailey asked.

“Time for you to tell me who else knows what’s in that case.”

************************

Jeremy drove. When he had called Vito he had expected a simple transaction. The case in return for being left alone. Vito had accepted the case, but he hadn’t wanted a simple transaction. He had wanted to play dirty. He already knew where Bailey was. He’d had one of his men track Jeremy’s phone. Not only had Vito known where Bailey was, he knew that no one else was at the house. So Jeremy had no choice. For Bailey’s sake he had to do what Vito wanted.
 

Jeremy had wanted to call Bailey to warn her what was up, but he hadn’t been afforded an opportunity. But Jeremy was done with his task now. He had picked up the men as Vito had asked. He had delivered them and their ill-gotten gain. Now it was about Bailey. He dialed her number but there was no answer. He needed to get to her.

Jeremy raced up the twisting road, the Corvette’s engine screaming. Brandon and Jada were out of town for the day and his father was in the city. It was up to him to ensure Bailey was safe. There was no reason to hurt her. Vito had the case and whatever it contained. But Vito was unpredictable. And that’s what had Jeremy worried. He felt his bear call out to Bailey as he raced up the hill. Bailey was his mate and he planned to claim her. He planned to claim her as soon as he could. But first he needed to deal with Vito. And that might be easier said than done.

When Jeremy pulled into the driveway he felt relief. At least there were no other vehicles there. Everything was exactly as he had left it. But when Jeremy got out of the car, he immediately felt his bear. His bear was agitated and he saw why. There were tracks in the gravel drive, tire tracks immediately in front of the farthest garage. But nobody used that garage. There was no reason for there to be tire tracks there. They hadn’t been there when he had left, he was sure of it. Which meant…

************************

Bailey stared into Vito’s scarred face. He was an ugly man made uglier by the gun he held in front of her. But what could she do? His horrible henchman Gianni was only a few steps away, and he, too, held a gun.

No,
Bailey thought,
it’s happening.
After all these years they had finally caught up with her. She had hidden the best she could, but she did have one serious regret. Whatever it was inside of that awful briefcase, she wished she’d destroyed it while she’d had the chance.

“Who else did you tell about the case?” Vito asked.

“Nobody.”

“I’m going to ask you one more time. Who else knows?”

“And I’m going to tell you one more time. Nobody,” Bailey said.

“Maybe she’s telling the truth,” Gianni said.

“Maybe you should shut up,” Vito replied. He moved in close to Bailey. So close that his face was right in hers. “Now this is your final warning. Tell me who you told or I’m done asking.”

“Screw you, Vito.”

“I couldn’t have heard that correctly.”

“No, I think you did,” Bailey said, “but in case you didn’t: Screw. You.”

Bailey smiled. For some reason, now that the other shoe had finally dropped, Bailey felt brave. Braver than she ever had in her life. And not only that, she felt angry. So she did something impulsive. She spit in Vito’s face. Bailey knew it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but she couldn’t help herself. She hated the man who had forced her into hiding. She hated him like she had never hated anyone in her life. But from the moment Vito reached up to wipe the spittle from his chin, Bailey knew she was going to have to pay for what she had done. White-hot rage flamed in Vito’s eyes. He gritted his teeth and raised his hand, swinging down with the pistol in a hard, brutal movement.

Bailey ducked away, rolling to the side of the couch.

And the front door burst open.

“Never hit a lady.”

Jeremy charged into the room, covering the distance between the door and Vito in a fraction of a second. He caught Vito’s wrist in his hand, squeezing it until the pistol fell out. Jeremy kicked the pistol away and Vito’s face turned gray with fear as Jeremy punched him to the ground.

“Gun!” Bailey screamed.

Jeremy turned to see Gianni pointing a gun at him. Jeremy strode toward him. Was Jeremy nuts? He was going to get himself shot. Like Max. But Jeremy wasn’t like Max. He strode ahead, directly into the path of the gun.

“I’ll shoot you, driver boy.”

“Good,” Jeremy said. “I’d like that.”

“Jeremy, what are you doing?!” Bailey screamed.

Boom!
Gianni fired. Jeremy flinched for a moment, but then he dived forward, and as he did, he shifted into the beautiful brown grizzly bear Bailey had seen at Wild Alpha Auto. The difference was that this grizzly bear wasn’t shuffling along biding his time. This grizzly bear was ferocious. He pounced, hurling Gianni down with a single swipe of his paw. The bear knocked Gianni right out. Then he began pulling him toward the door.

Bailey backed away as Vito got up and started edging toward the door himself. He looked like he was thinking about going for his gun. But there was no way of getting to it. Not without crossing in front of Jeremy’s bear. So Vito ran for the front door instead. Jeremy’s bear didn’t look concerned. He just continued pulling Vito’s henchman into the darkness. A few seconds later, Bailey heard Vito’s loud scream.
 

“Get away from me, bear!” Vito yelled.

After that she heard a roar. Then there was nothing at all.

Chapter Seven

Jeremy returned to the cabin. He had shifted back to his human form so as not to frighten Bailey, but he was naked since his clothes had been ripped and torn to rags in the shift. He saw Bailey sitting quietly on the couch. He wanted to go to her and embrace her, but he didn’t. He knew he would have to give her time. What had happened had been terrible. She would need to recover, to wrap her mind around it. So he took a quick turn into the bedroom to apply a bandage to the gunshot wound on his torso and to get dressed. Bailey came in behind him.

“You’re hurt,” she said.

“The bullet grazed me. It’s just a scratch. We shifters heal quickly.”

“And them?” Bailey said.

“Petroni and his guys won’t be bothering anybody ever again.”

“Good,” Bailey said. Her look hardened. “And goodbye.”

“Wait,” Jeremy said. He grabbed a pair of pants, pulling them on. “What do you mean, ‘goodbye?’ ”

Bailey walked out the bedroom door. “You lied to me, Jeremy. You told me you didn’t know them. That you hadn’t worked for them before.”

Jeremy sighed. She was right. He had lied. “Yes, I did.” He stared deep into her beautiful dark eyes. “But I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. I didn’t want to risk losing you.”

“I believe you,” she said.

Jeremy allowed himself a sigh of relief.

“But I can’t be with a liar.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s over, Jeremy. I never want to see you again.”

She walked out the door. Jeremy followed, pulling his pants up as he walked. “But where are you going to go?”

“Away from here.”

“You don’t even have a car. We’re five miles from town. It’s dark out.”

“What? You think a
bear
might get me?”

“Bailey, don’t be like that. At least let me give you a ride.”

“Fine,” she said.

Jeremy couldn’t believe the direction the night had taken. Yes, the Petronis were bad, but this was worse. He had lied, but he had only done it because that part of his life was over. Regarding the Petronis, he didn’t like what he’d had to do, but when they’d attacked Bailey they’d gone too far. There was no coming back from that. His bear had done what needed to be done. But how to explain his lying to Bailey so she understood? He opened the car door for her.

“Bailey, those men, they would have killed you.”

“Yes, I know.”

“So?”

“So you lied to me, Jeremy. End of story. You should have told me the truth from the beginning. You should have told me that you worked for them and that they were in town because they were looking for you.”

“If I’d said that, you never would have spoken to me again.”

“I’m never speaking to you again now.”

“I know, but…”

Bailey interrupted him. “I trusted a liar once. I trusted Max and it was a terrible mistake. I’ll never a trust a liar again and nothing you can say will change that. Please, drive me home.”

Jeremy did as she asked. He drove Bailey home. He told her he’d pull her car out of the service department in the morning for her, but she had just mumbled, “All right.”

“No worries,” Jeremy had replied. He felt terrible leaving her alone at her apartment after what had happened, but what could he do? He waited in the car and made sure she got into her apartment safely. Then he drove away. His bear had taken care of the Petronis, so he knew she was in no immediate danger, but still it pained him that everything had ended like this.

After all, she was the one for him. His mate. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to protect her by never leaving her side. Yes. He had lied. He had told Bailey he didn’t know the Petronis personally. But it was a white lie to protect her. He didn’t want her getting in any deeper than she had to.

Face it, Jeremy. That’s bullshit.

You didn’t tell her because you were ashamed. You were ashamed of how you’ve conducted your life. Of what you’ve done. Man up for a change.

Jeremy drove aimlessly. He didn’t know what he was going to do. All he knew was that the woman he loved, the woman he wanted to claim for his mate, never wanted to see him again. Ever. Just the thought of it cut to the quick. He had met his partner. There could be no other, and now he was alone, hopelessly alone forever. All because of a couple of cowardly lies. He pulled the old Porsche over on the deserted road and stared up at the moon. Then he shifted into his bear and roared. His bear felt a sharp pain all the way down to his soul, and he roared like he had never roared before.

************************

Bailey paced back and forth through her small apartment. From the kitchen to the patio door and back again. Her mind raced. The Petronis were gone. That was good. But what had happened with Jeremy was bad. It was not what she wanted. Yes, he had lied to her. And she abhorred liars. She had abhorred liars ever since Max had lied about his criminal career. She had vowed never to be involved with that sort of man again. But was it different this time? Was Jeremy different?

Don’t be stupid, Bailey. Of course he’s not different. He could have told you that he had worked for them and that would have been that.

Sure, she wouldn’t have been pleased, but at least it would have been honest. Of course, she would never have spoken to him again. Just like now. Or was she being foolish? Stupidly stubborn? Bailey paced back to the door. And then, there was a knock. Her heart stirred. Was it Jeremy? Had he come back despite her pig-headedness? There was another knock.

“Bailey? Are you home? It’s me, Jada.”

Jada? Bailey opened up. Her friend stood there with Brandon.

“Jeremy told us you were going to be at the guesthouse. But when we got home, we saw the blood.”

Bailey nodded meekly, then she just couldn’t contain herself anymore. She didn’t know what had come over her, but she began to cry. The sobs just came wailing out, more and more of them. Jada took her in her arms.

“Bailey, honey. What happened?”

“I, I…”

“Ssh… you can tell me later. Just let it out.”

Bailey cried and cried while Brandon stood stoically in the hall. She didn’t know where it was all coming from. All her pain. But she suspected it might have been coming from being hurt before, from the last time a man had lied to her. Yes, Jeremy had lied to her, but he didn’t deserve her wrath, at least not all of it. That was for the Petronis. And Max. And they were gone. Bailey tried to get a handle on her sobs. Then she spoke.

“There were men. Men I’d been hiding from. They found me.”

“Then what happened?” Jada asked.

“Jeremy. Jeremy happened.”

Brandon sighed.

“He did it to protect me,” Bailey said. “He didn’t have a choice.”

“Did you see…” Jada’s voice trailed off.

“Yes. I saw his bear.”

Bailey wiped away her tears.

“Where did he go, Bailey?” Brandon said. “It’s important.”

“I don’t know. Oh, no! I said I never wanted to see him again. It was just that I was so scared. So angry with him for lying.”