Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,23

always appreciated that about him.

Nathan sat down in one of the big comfy chairs in front of Connor’s desk, relaxing back into the soft leather and taking another sip of his coffee before he spoke.

“I need to break the rule,” he finally said. Nathan was wearing a flannel shirt over a thermal, his worn-out old work boots, and a faded pair of work jeans. His brother wore a double-breasted suit and his hair was slicked back, his fresh beard the only gesture toward the bear within.

Connor leaned on his hand and sighed. “Tell me why.”

“Listen…,” Nathan took a deep breath. “I was gonna just go do it and not tell you because it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, but...there’s something going on in room 27 with that girl. I think this girl might be… I don’t know. I mean she might just be an unhappy wife or she might be a hostage, you know what I mean? The scary thing is, I can’t tell.”

Connor nodded, absorbing this. “Why are you coming to me now? Did something happen?”

“I...just saw her,” Nathan said. He hadn’t actually imagined what he would tell Connor about the kiss...or the dance...or the garage. He wasn’t going to be happy about any of that. “We’ve talked a few times. Just um...friendly conversation. But she got really upset. She’s terrified. I know she’s scared of the guy who’s with her in that room, if nothing else.”

“Hmm.” Connor raised an eyebrow. “I mean, did something happen between you two?”

“Okay, she kissed me,” Nathan said, sitting up.

“Did you kiss her back?”

“Of course!” Nathan laughed. “Of course I did. I mean she’s beautiful, but it’s…I’ve never had a conversation with anyone like I have with her, it’s—”

“Nathan,” Connor said, the warning in his voice.

“Alright, forget all that. That stuff doesn’t matter. I’m just afraid she’s in serious trouble. There are...red flags.”

Connor sighed and tapped away at his laptop. “They’re booked for another few days.”

“Okay.” Nathan chewed on his lip. “So…”

“You should go with your gut,” Connor said, shrugging. “I trust you.”

“You trust me?” His eyebrows shot up. That didn’t sound like the same Connor who’d been so suspicious of him in the kitchen.

“You used to be reckless when you were younger,” Connor said, shrugging. “But you’re not that troublemaking young cub anymore. You know I just like to give you shit. Yeah, we have the rule, but that’s just because I don’t want us starting stupid drama with the guests. I know this isn’t that.”

“Right,” Nathan muttered. He knew Connor was doing the opposite of holding his past over his head. But still, he hated to be reminded of it.

He had only been seventeen when he’d met the big, charismatic grizzly named Rawley. Rawley had just seemed fun and adventurous at just the time when Nathan was seeking those things out, having left home to see some of the world for himself. He’d followed Rawley and a make-shift sleuth he’d formed around the West. They’d seen some of the most beautiful parts of the country while scavenging for themselves what they could and living in forests most of the time and then finding abandoned buildings to throw parties in for any nearby shifters. Girls had flocked to them. It had all just been fun, even if they stole sometimes and even if Rawley had an edge that gave Nathan a bad feeling on occasion. And then suddenly, things had changed. Rawley didn’t want to just steal on occasion from humans, he wanted to pillage from other shifters.

Nathan’s biggest regret in life was that he hadn’t walked away right then. He’d fallen under Rawley’s spell, he supposed. He’d made Nathan think they would take on the world as if it owed them something. They would take what they wanted when they wanted. So Nathan had followed Rawley again and helped him take down lone bears without sleuths because they had no protection. The shifters were always fairly tough guys like them so Nathan had justified it to himself. But the day he’d watched Rawley murder a fairly young cub in cold blood just because he’d naively tried to protect his own family’s territory, that had been it. Nathan had walked away for good and never looked back.

He supposed he still wanted to make up for ever going along with someone like that and the guilt over that murdered cub still haunted him.

I wonder if this is karma, he thought wryly.

“Just be careful,” Connor said. “Don’t be rash or reckless. You’re