Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) by Georgette St. Clair Page B

Italy, and a little research had revealed his motive pretty quickly. His girlfriend had left him to have an affair with Benedetta, and he was furious about it. Since he really was a waiter at a high-end restaurant and had no criminal record, he’d been able to get hired easily.
    So that’s it, Tonya thought. Or was it? The waiter had been carrying out a crime of passion. From what little she’d gleaned from Heath, she gathered that they were on the alert for a professional assassin.
    The waiter hardly seemed to be enough of a threat to warrant having two security companies on board. She’d been able to disarm him single-handedly.
    “Well, that is done,” Antonia said. “I go to work now. I think you should talk to Big Bear. You miss him. I see it.”
    “If I had a shotgun, I wouldn’t miss him,” Tonya grumbled as Antonia started to walk off towards the servants’ quarters.
    “Just one minute!” Tom barked, barreling down the walkway towards them. He was accompanied by a big, burly man whom Tonya vaguely recognized as another Hammersmith employee. Tom grabbed Antonia’s arm and began hauling her with him.
    “You thought you’d get away with it? Nothing gets past me,” he barked at her.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Tonya yelled, her fangs descending and her eyes blazing with rage. “Let go of her before I rip your face off!”
    He sneered at her. “They turned the internet back on so they could do a background check on that waiter, and I had the time to do some research on your little friend here. And we’re looking into you too, mark my words.”
    Antonia went as white as a sheet as Tom hustled her off, towards the security headquarters, Tonya suspected. “I’ll get you out of there!” Tonya yelled after them.
    Damn it, she couldn’t call a lawyer – they were in the middle of the ocean. She also couldn’t let Antonia be framed for anything. She was positive that Antonia hadn’t done anything wrong, and she suspected that Tom had just targeted Antonia because he knew they were friends. That rat-bastard. She really had wanted to shift and shred his face, but it wouldn’t have helped anything.
    Tonya thought and thought, and finally came to the conclusion that she had no choice. She had to go to Heath for help. She couldn’t think of anyone else who could intercede.
    Heath opened the door when she banged on it. His face lit up with joy and relief when he saw her. “Where have you been?” he asked. “I looked everywhere for you. I was about to start tearing the ship apart to find you.”
    Well, that knocked her for a loop. “Why were you trying to find me?” she asked.
    “Because you’re my Fated Mate, and I’m a dumb asshole.”
    She clutched at the doorframe for support. “Excuse you? I mean, the second part of that statement is right, but – why would you say that you’re my Fated Mate?”
    “Because it’s true. I know it and you know it. I’ve just been trying to deny it to myself, ever since I met you, really, because…I don’t know. I’m an idiot. And caring for someone as much as I care for you scares me, and before this, literally nothing scared me.”
    He stepped back, waving her inside. Numbly, she walked in and he shut the door. The room had mostly been repaired; there was a new mattress, comforter and sheets, and even a new sofa. There were still gouge marks in the wall.
    “But I… I mean…”
    He gripped her shoulders, staring earnestly into her eyes. “You know, my sister Bobbi was the first one to tell me that you were my Fated Mate, back at the art gallery.”
    “Your sister was there?” She was desperately trying to gather her thoughts.
    “The girl I was talking to at the bar.”
    “Oh, that was your sister.” She felt enormous relief rush through her. So he hadn’t been with another woman the night before the cruise. Not in that way, at least.
    “So, you had one bear parent and one coyote parent?” That was the only way a coyote could be his