Chapter 30
BERNADETTE CRENSHAW
After feeding Edgar in record time, I make my way back downstairs, tiptoeing down the stairs in my socks, trying to make as little noise as possible as I listen for anyone talking.
There’s no way in hell I’m sitting upstairs and not ear hustling to find out what’s going on.
Vampires, werewolves, and Frank Stein, oh my.
The closer I get to the bottom step, the louder the voices, and once I make it to the bottom step, I realize I can just barely make out what they’re saying.
“She’s not going.” Frank’s voice is firm.
“What do you mean she’s not going? The mayor insisted she be there,” Mikael protests.
My gaze flies wide, and I cover my mouth at what I’m hearing.
“Bernadette isn’t leaving this house,” Frank growls.
They’re talking about me. I get to my feet, my brows furrowing as I walk into the nearby dining room. Frank sits at the head of the table, a scowl pulling across his face as I walk inside.
He might as well be dressed in his normal three-piece suits and not the dressed-down jogging outfit he’s wearing with how he seems to preside over the dining room like it’s a boardroom.
I notice two new faces, men I haven’t met before who look to be in their mid-twenties, along with Mikael, Nero, and Bruno, who sit on the opposite side of the table in their monotonous black.
Bruno smirks while the others gape at me like I’m a freak show and they don’t know how to react.
“I heard my name,” I say, and it’s like the times in the movies where you can hear a pin drop.
I glance around the table filled with people, trying not to remember how Frank blew my mind sitting in that very seat not long ago. Has it really only been a few days?
“What’s going on?” I ask, meeting his gaze.
A muscle ticks in his jaw, but he doesn’t answer.
“There’s a gala tomorrow night we need you to attend,” Mikael says, responding for him.
“I told you she’s not going,” Frank states, scowling at Mikael.
“Not going where? What gala?” I ask.
“The one celebrating your engagement,” Mikael says.
Oh shit. I wince at Frank, feeling a bit sheepish now while his face seems to turn into a thundercloud, and a wave of nausea pulses in my middle.
“I, for one, can’t wait. I hear all the media outlets are going to be there, even SupTV,” Bruno says, leaning back in his chair.
“Your dress for the occasion is waiting in the parlor room,” Mikael says.
“There’s already a dress? Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on? I’m starting to get a headache,” I say, stepping further into the room and falling into the empty chair next to Bruno.
“We can all see what’s happening between the two of you, Frank, and I realize now why you’re so concerned, but she has to go.
It’s the only way the plan works. While you’ve been holed up away from the world, the team has been hard at work taking back what was stolen from Talbot using the information she found.
We still need her to find who has the rest,” Mikael says, balling his fist on the table as he glares at Frank.
My tummy does a flip as I’m not sure what’s happening between Frank and me, as my mind snags on one detail. “Did you find those shipments?” I ask, wishing I’d thought to ask what was in them before.
I know better than most that billionaires are weird with their money.
One of my grandmother’s wealthier friends was known for traveling the world with a line of servants behind her and famously traveled with shipping containers filled with her bedroom suite and living room furniture.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on lugging the contents of a house around with her while she picked out which continent she wanted to live on.
It just never occurred to me to ask when Frank interrogated me that first night.
“They found them all but one container,” Frank says, his gaze boring into mine.
If anyone is shocked that Frank already let me in on the shipments and things, no one says anything. An image of the glowing blue flower in a shiny glass comes to mind, and I recall how he mentioned they’re toxic to humans, chills racking up my spine.
“Oh my god,” I mumble. It’s my fault they took it.
A sense of security washes over me the next instant, and my brows pull into a frown as I gaze up at Frank at the head of the table.
Mikael clears his throat, stealing my attention away. “It seems it was the company owner’s idea to hack our security system and steal information for his new startup idea. Our largest issue is that he stupidly shared the formula with his shareholders to get the backing he needed,” he says.
“What does the formula do?” I ask him.
“The effects are euphoric for the first few weeks, and the aging reversal is almost instantaneous, but the humans are left with only months to live after ingestion,” he says.
Too bad it wasn’t one of the horny ones. My stomach flips in response at the thought I could be responsible for people dying. “Right, okay. I get why we have to track down these guys, but an engagement party? We’re not even really engaged,” I announce to the table, frowning when Nero snickers.
“We know,” Mikael says.
“For all intents and purposes, we are engaged,” Frank articulates, his tone of voice full of possessiveness sending shivers down my spine.
For a moment I allow myself to sit with the idea, but unlike every time in the past when I’ve been faced with the thought of commitment to a man, there’s only a sense of safety and security.
I frown. “But you guys know I only did that, so you didn’t you know…
” I say, slicing the air with my hand at my throat.
“The mayor is throwing an engagement party for Frank and you because of his generous donation to the city,” Mikael says.
“Oh my god,” I groan, rubbing my hands down my face and putting my elbows onto the hardwood table. No wonder he wanted to kill me.
“In any case, we need you there, Bernadette. Frank is notorious for only attending events hosted by himself and the mayor is trying to play his hand at being the first to have Frank under his roof, so to speak. The issue is Pelican Group’s, the company who stole Talbot property, their board of directors are now all in and have updated their security measures.
We just need the access code that’s on his device to narrow down the list on Jackman’s phone, but we need you to do it.
We’ve already placed a surveillance team at the event location, and everyone is in place to get the list from Charles Jackman, owner of Pelican Group,” Mikael says.
I go still as I recognize the name. “The pharmaceutical company guy?”
“Yes, but you’re not going. It’s too dangerous,” Frank states, his tone brooking no argument from his end of the table.
A sharp pang enters my gut when our gazes clash, followed by a sharp wave of protectiveness.
I can take care of myself in most cases, but with a whole SWAT force there, it’ll be cake.
I bite my lip, unsure of how Frank will respond, but it’s better he figures out now that I can make my own decisions, and I think it’s only right to stop people from dying.
Especially when it’s my fault to begin with.
“So, you’re telling me there’s the opportunity to hack some bad guys during my very own engagement party? I’m in there like swimwear,” I state.
Bruno laughs aloud while his twin huffs as Frank’s expression turns murderous.
“It makes the most sense and you know it. We’ve had surveillance in place for a while now, and we’ll be able to protect her,” Mikael says.
“Anything could happen with her around. Within minutes of telling you to focus on the shipments and leave her to me, I found her in Brom’s paddock,” Frank says to Mikael as more than one gasp goes up around the room.
“How did she survive?” Nero asks, his gaze squarely on Frank.
“He likes me,” I say, shrugging one shoulder, and I notice Bruno nodding at me, an expression on his face that says he’s impressed.
“If we don’t do this tomorrow, we could lose the opportunity. Everyone who’s everyone in your society will be there and so will the board members who were given a dose of the formula. We can use the tracking system we already have in place for her,” Mikael says.
“Wait. You’ve had trackers on me all this time?” I interrupt.
“If I hadn’t, you could’ve died that day with Brom. They’ve been there since you arrived, and the day you mentioned your shoe bothering you, I thought you found me out,” Frank says, like it’s his right to invade my privacy this way.
I think back to how I’d thought I’d somehow gotten straw or something in my boot that day.
“Every piece of your clothing is lined with location trackers, even your new dress and shoes for the gala. He’s been so uptight since you showed up he can’t let you out of his sight, but had the cameras turned off in the house almost the same day you arrived,” Bruno says with a snicker, looking down the table at Frank.
“Enough,” Frank snaps, but doesn't lose his temper.
Being tracked doesn’t really bother me. I’d have done the exact same in his situation had our roles been reversed and he hacked my billion-dollar empire. But it doesn’t make sense why he’d turned off the surveillance in the house. Unless he didn’t want them to see.
I think back to what all we’ve done in this house, the very table we’re sitting at now and my face heats a bit. I meet Frank’s gaze and lift a brow. “What is it you need me to do?” I ask Mikael.
Frank and I can discuss why he had the cameras turned off later, when we don’t have anyone listening.
His gaze hardens and he purses his lips, but he doesn’t naysay or argue about me not going again, and I realize maybe there really is some hope for us even as a wave of worry comes over me out of nowhere.
I glance at Frank, and his nostrils flare just as I notice his teeth are grinding in his mouth again. I can just imagine what he’s experiencing because Mikael made it abundantly clear I’ve got to go, and Frank is obviously warring with himself.
I can practically sense it just by looking at him. He doesn’t want me to go, not even a little.
A wash of nervousness flows through me as his gaze meets mine, and it dawns on me what’s happening.
My gaze goes wide as clarity spreads. These emotions I’m feeling aren’t mine, they’re Frank’s.