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Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

“ S hit,” Addie muttered when she dropped a file folder, sending the papers flying all over the floor behind the reception desk. She’d been shaking and nervous all morning, waiting on pins and needles for Joseph to show up again.

“Adelaine Albrecht,” Daddy chastised from his seat on a stool at the far end of the desk. He’d been buried in his computer for the last hour, but now he was staring at her with a narrowed gaze.

She straightened her spine, blinking at him. He’d never used her full name, not since she’d told him she preferred Addie. But the look on his face made her laugh. She couldn’t stop, either. Even when she covered her mouth with her hand, giggles still erupted.

“What’s so funny, naughty girl?” Bear asked as he slid off the stool and bent to pick up all the papers.

“You. You used my full name. I didn’t even know you knew my last name.” She cocked her head to one side as he rose with the mess of papers in hand.

After setting them on the counter, he lifted her chin with a finger. “I saw your job application sitting on the desk the day you started working. And you can expect to hear your full name from me only when you’re naughty.” He lifted a brow.

“What’d I do?”

He released her chin to tap her nose. “No cussing. Little girls who use naughty words get their bottoms swatted.”

“Oh. Are you going to spank me?” She hoped she didn’t sound too hopeful, but she’d kind of liked the spanking he’d given her the other day. He hadn’t done it again. Maybe if he spanked her hard enough, he could chase away her nerves.

He searched her eyes. “Do you need me to spank you, Angel?”

“Maybe.”

He gave her a slow, crooked grin before planting a quick kiss on her lips. “After work, okay?”

Her cheeks heated. It seemed strange to arrange a spanking. “Okay,” she whispered.

He pulled her into his arms. “I know you’re nervous, but I’m right here with you.”

“Why is he still hanging around town?” she asked. She knew he was because Bear had a PI following his every move.

“I don’t know, Angel. Apparently, he thinks he can still convince you to go back with him.”

“But why?” She knew she was asking rhetorical questions.

“Hopefully, my PI has dug up something else interesting. I’m waiting to hear from him.”

Addie tipped her head way back and set her chin on her Daddy’s chest. “You know what?”

“What, Angel?”

“I don’t know your name at all. Not even your first name. I assume your mother didn’t name you Bear.”

He chuckled. “Nope. She did not.”

“So?”

He groaned. “Only one person in the club knows my name, Little one, and that’s Atlas, and only because I gave him a check once.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Were you sleeping with Atlas?”

He flinched as his face scrunched up. “Noooo… I can’t say I’ve ever slept with Atlas.”

“But he knows your name. You’re sleeping with me, and I don’t.”

He tipped his head back and laughed. “Touché.” He looked around, eyeing every door. She assumed he was making sure no one could hear him.

Suddenly, he picked her up by the hips and set her on the counter before crowding her with a hand on either side of her. “First of all, you have to promise never to utter it out loud to anyone, understood?”

She narrowed her gaze. “Why is it such a secret?”

“For several reasons. One is that it’s a stupid name I don’t use. It’s my father’s name, and my grandfather’s before him. Secondly, it’s pretentious. If it spread among my brothers, I’d never hear the end of it. Third, no one but Atlas, and now you, knows that I once bailed the club out of a financial situation. I won’t keep secrets from you, Angel, but I don’t want people to look at me differently.”

Addie’s chest tightened. He was sharing deep secrets with her. It made her realize how much she meant to him. “I would never tell a soul. I promise. Thank you for trusting me.”

“You’ll still call me Bear or Daddy.”

“And you’ll still call me Addie or Angel,” she teased.

“Except when you’re in trouble. If you hear your full name come out of my mouth, you can assume my palm is going to make contact with your bottom in the near future.”

She squirmed at the thought. “Yes, Sir.”

“My full, given, pretentious name is Edmund Maximus George III.”

She winced. “Yikes. I see the problem. That is incredibly pretentious. It could only belong to someone rich.”

“Exactly.”

“How long have you gone by Bear?”

“Almost from the moment I arrived here and joined the club. Before I moved here, most people called me Eddie.”

“You didn’t even introduce yourself as Edmund or Eddie?”

“Nope. At the time, Rock’s wife was still alive. She passed away several years ago, but when she first saw me, she said I looked like a Bear. It stuck. Everyone called me Bear, and no one ever asked questions.”

“Oh. I wondered what happened to Remi and Atlas’s mother.”

“Yeah, it was sad. She was a good woman. But it’s been a long time, and most of us hate that Rock hasn’t met someone new. He’s a wonderful guy and a great Daddy. He deserves to find someone who will spend the rest of his life with him. He’s too young to give up.”

Addie set her hands on Bear’s chest. “You’re forty-four, and you insisted you didn’t want a Little girl until a few weeks ago,” she reminded him.

He sighed. “How did you get so smart, Angel?”

She shrugged. “It’s that useless English degree. Think how much smarter I’ll be when I get my finance degree.”

He chuckled. “Smarter than me. That’s for sure. Did you know Atlas is an accountant?”

She shook her head.

“Yep. Until recently, he was living in the big city. The Shadowridge Guardians ran into some trouble with our treasurer. Basically, the asshole stole club money and took off. Rock asked Atlas to come home and help us get our accounting straight. Atlas reunited with Carlee, and the rest is history.”

“That’s so sweet. He stayed because he was in love.”

“That’s how it happened. Then, he opened an accounting office in town. Maybe in a few years, when you finish your degree, he’ll have grown enough to need a partner.”

Addie’s spine went straight. The idea made her feel giddy inside. “That would be awesome.”

Daddy kissed her nose. “I can’t guarantee it will work out that way, but it’s certainly an option. If you let me help pay for your classes, I bet you could speed up your timetable.” He lifted a brow.

She shook her head and patted his chest. “Nope. It wouldn’t even help. Most of the classes I need have to be taken in order. I can’t take them all at the same time. So, I’m forced to take about two a semester.”

“Ah. Well, that settles that then.” He lifted her off the counter and set her on her feet. “I’m going to check in with my PI.”

“Okay, I’ll make sense out of these papers I dropped and put the file back together.”

“Holy shit.”

Addie jerked her gaze toward her Daddy. He’d been on the phone for about five minutes, but he’d been mostly listening. His sudden outburst surprised her. He was shaking his head and grinning, too.

She hoped he was talking to his private investigator and that the man had found some useful information, but she couldn’t imagine what it could be or why Bear would find it amusing.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and Addie stiffened as Joseph stepped into the shop.

Bear spoke again into the phone. “Thanks for the info. I’ve gotta call you back.” He must have ended the call because he didn’t say another word. He did, however, rise from his seat to stand next to Addie.

Joseph sighed as he approached. “Could I please talk to you alone, Addie?”

Bear surprised Addie when he responded before she could manage to. “I’ll tell you what, Joseph. I’ll step outside and let you have a chance to talk to Addie under two conditions.”

Joseph groaned. “She can make her own decisions. She doesn’t need some giant bodyguard to tell her what to do.”

Bear lifted a brow. “Take it or leave it.”

Joseph ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. What are these conditions?”

“You stay on that side of the desk. She stays on this side. Don’t even think about getting close enough to touch her.”

Joseph gritted his teeth. “Fine.”

“And my second condition is that you tell her all about Luke.”

Joseph stiffened. If he gritted his teeth any tighter, they would crack. His face turned bright red, and he looked like he might faint.

Addie was beyond confused. Who was Luke? She didn’t dare interrupt, though. Bear knew what he was doing.

“Do we have a deal?”

Joseph growled. “Yes.”

Bear rounded the counter and pointed at the shop’s glass front. “I’ll be watching you. Don’t give me a reason to come back in here. You won’t like the consequences.”

Joseph simply narrowed his gaze and stared at Bear as if he could take him on in a battle of wills. For the first time in her life, Addie was seeing Joseph through a new lens. He wasn’t just some rich asshole who thought he could have anything he wanted, including her. He was also a wimp, especially compared to Bear. Her Daddy towered over Joseph, making him look smaller than he was.

As soon as the door closed, Addie nearly laughed. Bear stood right outside, hands on his hips, facing the two of them. She was incredibly shocked that he’d consented to this arrangement. In fact, he’d suggested it. Something his PI had told him must have caused him to find Joseph at least marginally harmless.

Joseph looked defeated as he leaned a hip against the counter, his shoulders sagging. “I had a plan,” he murmured.

“Apparently. What was my role in your plan?” Addie asked, feeling stronger than she had the other day. She forced herself not to look in Bear’s direction because every time she did, it was hard to keep a straight face, and she didn’t want to laugh at Joseph. He was looking rather pitiful and broken.

“I figured you and I could cohabitate and come up with a mutual understanding.”

“A mutual understanding?” What the hell was he talking about?

“Yeah. I knew you didn’t know me well enough to have feelings for me. I did that on purpose. You’re a nice enough girl. I hoped after the ceremony we could agree to pretend we were happily married but keep separate lives.”

Her breath hitched. That was kind of surprising. “You didn’t even want to try to get to know me and make it real?”

“No. I’m sorry, Adelaine.” He winced. “Addie… I’m not interested in you like that, but I need you.”

When he switched to the present tense and looked at her directly, she realized he was still hoping to win her over. “Why?”

He stood taller and faced her fully. “It would be so tidy. Think about it. I would never ask anything of you. You could do whatever you want. You’d have freedoms you’ve never had. I know your mother has always had you on a tight leash. I would never do that to you. Come and go as you please. Decorate our home however you want. Have friends. Take a lover. I wouldn’t care.”

She winced. Take a lover?

He sighed. “Please come home with me. If you want to write up a contract, I’ll be happy to do it. We can come to an agreement.”

She shook her head in confusion. “Joseph, I’m not understanding why you’d want to go to such lengths to marry someone you’re not interested in. There are plenty of women in the city who have a social standing your parents would approve of. Why don’t you date all of them until you find someone you love?”

He stared at her, swallowing. His face was pale, and he was breathing shallowly.

Suddenly, Addie remembered what Bear had said before he stepped outside. She glanced at her Daddy to find him watching intently, brows lifted, a slight smirk on his face. “Who’s Luke?”

God, she was an idiot. She knew the answer, but she wanted Joseph to tell her himself.

“Joseph, who’s Luke?” she prodded, her voice firmer.

“My boyfriend.”

Even though his response had been expected, it was still startling to hear.

He ran his palm down his face. “Now you understand why I’ll give you anything you want to stand by my side as my wife in name only. Please, Adelaine.”

She laughed. “You can’t even get my name right, Joseph.”

He winced. “I’ll work on it.”

“I’m not going home with you, Joseph. Never. I feel pretty damn dense for not realizing you were in a relationship. That never occurred to me. But you’re far denser than me if you don’t realize I’m in a relationship, too.”

Joseph’s eyes bugged out. A few seconds ticked by before he glanced out the front window. “Are you serious? With him?” His voice rose from his shock.

Addie crossed her arms and glared at him. “Yes, with him. I’m in love with him. He treats me like spun gold, Joseph. He looks me in the eyes and talks to me about anything and everything. He opens doors, cooks for me, drives me to class, and dotes on me like I’m the most important person in the universe. I’m happy, and I wouldn’t leave here for all the money in the world.”

She kind of hated that she’d told Joseph she was in love with Bear before telling Bear himself. She’d rectify that soon.

Joseph drew in a deep breath. “Do you have any idea what you’re giving up? Your mother will never speak to you again. She’ll cut you off permanently. Hell, she’ll probably leave her fortune to the pigeons at the park just to spite you.”

Addie chuckled. “That’s fine. I don’t care. If she wants to be so stubborn that she doesn’t even care about my happiness over her idea of a perfect family union, then I’ll be relieved to be cut out of the family will. Life isn’t all about money. There are far more important things than fancy cars, designer clothes, and luxurious, pretentious houses.”

“Are there?”

She flinched. “If you don’t realize that, you’re not in a relationship with the right man. If you’re willing to hide and lie and keep him a secret, then you must not love him like I love my man. I would never treat him like that. You might be able to trail Luke around for a while, but eventually, he’ll leave you. He’ll grow tired of being your sidepiece and walk away. That makes me sad for you, Joseph. You need to go home, reevaluate your priorities, and think hard about what matters to you.”

Joseph continued to stare at her, but she thought he was listening. She thought she was reaching him. Finally, he blew out a breath. “You won’t reconsider?”

Jesus . “No. This is my home. This is where I belong. I’m never going back to that life. I shouldn’t have stayed as long as I did.”

“What the hell will I tell your mother?”

“Joseph, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you tell my mother. Like I suggested yesterday, how about you marry her yourself? Maybe she’d agree to your terms. It’s not going to be me.”

“You’re putting me in a tough position, Addie.”

She shook her head. “I’m not putting you in any position at all. I’m following my heart. You should do the same.” She rounded the desk, took long strides to the door, and opened it. She was done with this conversation. Permanently. “Goodbye, Joseph. And good luck.”

He glared at her as he walked past her, and then he shifted his attention to Bear. He had to tip his head back to make eye contact. He didn’t say a word, though. He simply stared as though trying to make sense of her decision before he finally turned and stomped toward his fancy rental car.

Bear stepped inside and wrapped his arms around Addie. “I love you, too, Angel. And I’m so fucking proud of you.”

She gasped. “You heard me?”

“Every word. Sorry. The glass isn’t that thick, and I kicked a stick into the door so it was propped open just a sliver. I figured you might have realized I would be listening when I stepped out there.”

She hadn’t, but she wasn’t sorry. At least she didn’t have to reiterate everything to Bear now that Joseph was gone. Plus, she hadn’t said a single thing she wouldn’t say to his face.

“How did you know about Luke?”

“My PI found him. It wasn’t hard. Your ex isn’t particularly careful. He meets his boyfriend most days of the week in restaurants and bars. They even have a motel they use pretty often for a few hours.”

Addie winced. “I can’t believe I almost married him.”

“The important thing is you didn’t, and now you’re available to marry me instead.”

She gasped. “What? We just met, and that is not a proposal.”

He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Little girl, I would marry you this afternoon if you’d agree to it, but I’m also fine letting you take some time to trust that I’m never going anywhere. Not too much time, mind you, but a reasonable amount of time. One of these days, I will drop onto one knee and propose properly. I promise.”

“Okay, I’m not ready for that heavy of a discussion. I’m still reeling from finding out my ex-fiancé is gay. I’m also kind of kicking myself for not noticing or paying attention. The man never paid a single bit of attention to me, not because he was an ass or didn’t care but because he isn’t interested in women.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You dodged a bullet. Now you’re free.”

“I could really use that spanking about now. Do you think someone else could watch the desk and answer the phone?”

Bear chuckled. “It’s a pretty damn slow afternoon. That phone hasn’t rung a single time, and no one came in, which was lucky.” He released her and took a step back. “I’ll go talk to Kade. You go to our apartment. When I get there, I want to find you naked, face down on the bed, a pillow under your hips. Understood?”

Her pussy throbbed at his words. “Yes, Sir.” She turned and practically ran for the door to the clubhouse.

“No running,” Bear shouted as the door shut behind her.

She switched to a skip, giggling as she continued toward her destination.

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