by Love, L. J.
BEAR BOSS
by
L.J. Love
OTHER BOOKS BY L.J. LOVE
Bear Boss
Bad Boy Bear (coming soon)
The Bear and the Lady (coming soon)
Bear Boss
Published by L.J. Love
Copyright © 2015 by L.J. Love
All rights reserved.
Ebook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Bear Boss
Prologue
He looked through ursine eyes at his ruined surroundings and hung his head. Months of such a cage-like existence had finally erupted in one, catastrophic episode and all his encapsulated rage, frustration, excitement and pent up desires were let loose. He’d achieved the greatest feeling of relief he’d had since leaving Georgia for Hong Kong almost a year before, but at what cost?
As soon as his latest female conquest had shut the hotel room door behind her he’d busted out of his human skin like a too tight costume and gone berserk; the bed sheets were ripped to shreds and so was the mattress and the headboard. He’d ripped the TV from the dresser and thrown it to the ground, shattering it into a thousand pieces; the bedside lamps and the night stands they’d been on had gone through the plate glass window, hurtling their way down into the pool below. Half the carpet had been ripped up from the floor and was in tatters; the drapes and their curtain rods pulled down from the windows and destroyed.
Now, he sat in the middle of the chaos he’d created and felt as the anger, lust and satisfaction faded away into remorse and outright panic. He knew that the noise from his outburst would have caused anyone in the neighboring rooms to alert hotel security by now and any minute someone would be breaking down the room door. What would they see when they got there? A huge brown bear sitting in the middle of a completely trashed hotel room and only God knew what they would do to him. The worst part was that he couldn’t shift back. Nothing he tried was working and the anxiety was mounting.
Then he had an idea. He sat in the middle of the floor and looked down at his two paws raised in front of him. Concentrating hard on them, he turned them over slowly to look at their pads, then again to look at their claws. Several times he repeated the process as his heart rate returned to normal and he began to think clearly again. The first course of action at that point was to get out of the room before anyone arrived there to investigate the noise and as an idea began to form in his half bear half human mind, he finally hit the sweet spot. He turned his claws over slowly one more time and instead of seeing the pads of his paws, Zach saw the palms of his hands.
He heaved a heavy breath of relief and without missing a beat, dove across the room towards the bathroom where his clothes had been carelessly discarded as he’d prepared for his encounter with the sexy blonde from the craps table. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his pants and hit the speed dial button that would get Fitz, his pilot, on the phone.
“Fitz, get up here now! The room is wrecked, I’m almost certain that hotel security is on their way and I’m about to pass out. I gotta get out of here.”
He didn’t wait for Fitz to reply that he’d be there in two minutes; Zach just got moving pulling on his clothes. At any moment he was going to lose consciousness from overexertion and he wasn’t keen on getting caught with his pants down, literally.
When he was somewhat dressed, Zach gathered his belongings and made for the door. The corridor outside was miraculously empty, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case for very much longer. He could feel the world getting darker by the second, his legs buckling beneath him and knew that he was working with very little time. Quickly, he made it to the open foyer just off from the elevator bay and allowed himself to collapse on the large sofa there knowing Fitz would be able to find him quickly and hopefully elude anyone who might arrive on the scene ahead of him. Fitz would be able to easily pass him off as his drunken friend who’d fallen asleep on the couch when he was unable to find his room.
As promised, the pilot was there in two minutes. As he rode the elevator up to Zach’s floor with the three security guards who had been dispatched to investigate the disturbance, he prayed silently that Zach had made it out already. As was customary, the hotel employees let their guest exit the elevator ahead of them and as they then rushed towards room 1634, Fitz scooped up Zach and made a beeline back to the elevators.
Chapter One
Guyton Industries, Alpharetta, Georgia.
I can’t believe he’s dragging everyone off to the islands in the middle of November. The weather’s got to be worse there than in Alpharetta at this time of year. Not to mention it’s the hurricane season, Aurora thought as she looked about John Guyton’s office.
She was busying herself packing up her boss’ desk for its removal to the study in his house in the Florida Keys. The feeling was bittersweet. Guyton & Lexington was the only company she had ever worked for; Mr. Guyton, the only boss she had ever had. It was sad to see him go even though her position as Senior Executive Assistant had been tenured by him as part of his succession plan. His eldest son, Will Guyton, would probably be the firm’s next managing partner, but for some strange reason, Guyton Sr. had kept those details to himself. It was Aurora’s guess that the trip to Bermuda was so that the old man could reveal those plans.
The spacious corner office boasted the clean lines and angles of modern architecture at its finest but the furnishings and the use of space were a true reminder of who, or what, her boss really was. He was a homegrown success; born and bred in South Georgia and a transplant into Atlanta society all rolled into one. In summary, Mr. Guyton was an old school, southern gentleman who made it to the big time on the back of good old fashioned hard work and the constant support of a good wife: Rae Lexington- Guyton, his college sweetheart. While she had grown up amongst the comfort and influence of Atlanta society, she had gone off to law school on a whim and a dare from her oldest brother. John had worked in steel mills and metal works to help put himself and his two siblings through the local high school of his small hometown. Then he’d gone to Georgia State University on a mayor’s scholarship. After getting a degree in law and then an MBA – that he got while at work in the public defender’s office – he began seriously thinking about bringing his own firm to life. He dreamt of helping to rebuild commerce and trade in the town that had been so good to him and his family and making something of the Guyton name. His wife had wholeheartedly agreed with him.
With a small business loan and a few first cases from Rae’s father and his friends, they had opened Guyton & Lexington in a small abandoned building they rented from the city of Alpharetta and had hit the ground running. Rae had worked civil cases, while John tried to grow their criminal case load. In a few years, they had become one of Alpharetta’s most successful comprehensive law practices. Mrs. Guyton didn’t live long enough to see the firm move into the own building ten years later. She had died from complications while delivering the couple’s fourth child; a little girl that was stillborn.
Aurora knew the story of the family and the company she had worked at for the last seven years by heart. Hell, she had delivered the company’s history a couple of times in the orientation classes the Human Resources department held for new employees. She hated doing it, but matronly Mrs. Hardee always reminded her that an hour with her in a conference room was as close as many of the new recruits was likely to ever get to Mr. Guyton and that meant a lot to them.
There were currently eight partners at the firm. Each had brought their own impressive list of clients and with the support of the company; their lists had all grown exponentially. Since then, Mr. Guyton had expanded his business interests.
He’d branched into civil engineering and made a killing brokering construction commodities deals when Hong Kong had been returned to China from Britain. At that point, he had made a big decision and not everyone had been pleased with it. Deciding that he preferred industry over practicing law, John Guyton took a step back from the firm. He put a management team in place to support the partners and took the position of managing partner. Then he created Guyton Industries to serve as an umbrella company for all his new interests. He’d found himself suddenly with almost unlimited resources and Mr. G had decided that for the first time in his life, he was going to have some fun.
Guyton Engineering handled the China commodities and the South American interests in fossil fuels and natural resources. Will had brokered a deal with his new friends in the Venezuelan government to critique their existing gemstone and precious metal buyers, and if required, get rid of them and find new ones. They were highly suspicious of everyone who had done business with their predecessors.
Guyton Transport was his ‘fun company’ and he had really just formed it so he could have garages and maintenance for his expanding fleet of vehicles, boats and planes.
Aurora absentmindedly left the large desk which was a copy of the Resolute, the famous desk that had stood in the Oval office of the White House since 1880. She walked past the entertainment system on the built-in shelf unit and pressed a button to turn the unit on. Instantly, the raspy sound of Edith Piaf’s voice jumped out at her as the song, Emporte-moi rolled to its dramatic close. Josephine Baker’s rendition of J’ai Deux Amours followed. Aurora was intrigued. Ever since she had bought the surround sound system with the Bluetooth receiver for Mr. Guyton’s seventieth birthday, she loved to periodically check what he was listening to.
Music had always been Aurora’s ultimate escape. Whatever she was feeling: lonely, doubtful, elated; it didn’t matter, she had a soundtrack for that. Early in her time with Mr. Guyton, she had found out that they shared that passion. The first time she had been to his mansion in Stone Mountain, she had been blown away by his fervor. It had been one of the few times she had seen all of the Guyton men in one room, let alone under one roof. She remembered that there had been a compact stereo unit in every room of the house and a surround system in the den, the library and dining areas downstairs. There was a theatre-quality system in the entertainment room. He even had music outside on the patio and in the garden.
Aurora herself was extremely talented with music too. Had life gone more to her plan, she would have become an opera singer, but her parents were having none of that; she was going to make them proud and go to college to get a real degree. There were no two ways about it. It didn’t bother her much though; her life had turned out great, being the only person in her small town graduating class to have gained a four year college education and managed to not get pregnant while she was doing it.
Aurora Aldridge had received her Bachelor’s in business law with a minor in administration and was scooped up by Mrs. Hardee’s assistant at a college job fair. But even fresh out of college, she had eased into her new station at the company seamlessly and the old man had been smitten with her from the very start. Aurora was convinced that it had been her entrance on the first day, having been extremely prepared with his day’s calendar, his coffee and a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that had won him over. She had more of a penchant for organization than she did for paralegal work. Mrs. Hardee insisted that it was because her black-rimmed glasses and ponytail reminded him of his late wife when they were young while the rest of the office had attributed the man’s instant adoration of her to her push-up bra and tight pencil skirt.
Despite being met with excessive opposition, she’d kept on plowing her way through, taking on everything that Mr. Guyton had to throw at her and polishing her knack for staying a few steps ahead of him as well. After a few years at the company, Aurora’s personal assistant position had started to grow into more. Guyton Sr. began to teach her more about what they did as a company and how the firm was run. At first, she thought nothing of it, relishing the opportunity to learn as much about real business as she could. He took her to more of the big meetings and engagements that she confirmed for him and Aurora was thrown head first into a whole new circle of colleagues, businessmen, corporate executives, builders and contractors; the list was endless. It excited her initially, but then she became worried that Mr. Guyton had ulterior motives. Still, she took Mrs. Hardee’s advice and embraced every opportunity to learn from him. The move had turned her whole world around and suddenly she had found a place where she felt that she truly belonged.
She sighed and turned to look at the desk again. Besides the ‘Resolute,’ Mr. Guyton’s office spoke volumes about his life, character, background and interests. There were three trophy heads mounted elegantly on the wall above the fireplace; a gigantic moose bull, a Kodiak bear and a wild boar; one animal for each corner of the continental United States that the man had hunted while in his prime. He had often regaled Aurora with the stories of his hunting trips to Louisiana, Maine and Alaska. On the fireplace’s marble topped mantle was a three-tiered stand that displayed three priceless Japanese blades that he had bought at an auction at Sotheby’s. They were the katana, wakizashi and tanto swords of the last samurai, Saigo Takamori. At either end of the mantle was a small cluster of Chinese and Japanese vessels; all antique and of various precious metals. They had either been gifts or the result of John Guyton’s extensive collecting. The room was dusted with an opulent mix of period furniture and tasteful artwork and was a testament to his wealth and influence.
“Thank God, I got DeMarco’s to do the moving. No one else sure as hell wanted to touch the job with a ten foot pole!” Aurora thought out loud.
“What did you say, dear?”
Mrs. Hardee’s voice came wafting in from Aurora’s place just outside Mr. Guyton’s office door. Soon after, she stepped inside.
“I was just saying to myself how pleased I am that Mr. DeMarco and his people agreed to move the office effects, ma’am. It’s quite a collection and they were really my first choice for the job. When they hesitated at first, I was rather disappointed.”
“Yes. It was an insurance issue, for sure. Fred would have hated for anything to go wrong and not be able to do right by Mr. Guyton.”
“I realized that was what it was; and I’m grateful for his integrity too.”
“So, how’s the packing coming along?”
“Well, I’ve backed up his PC and packed the knickknacks from the desk,” she said, waving her hands toward the ‘resolute,’ “but I’m just not sure what else to do.”
“You’ll want to get all his old diaries and such from the bottom cabinet of the credenza,” Mrs. Hardee replied. “Also the writing box and his collection of Tibaldi pens.”
“Yes, Mrs. Hardee.”
“Gerald will be here with the Expedition in around an hour. While the rest of you are in Bermuda, he’ll be accompanying Mr. Guyton’s personal effects to Key West.”
“Okay. I’ll be sure everything is ready by the time he gets here. Did he already take the luggage to the hangar?”
“That’s where he is right now. Will and Zach will be meeting the three of you in Hamilton tomorrow night. Remember, all the boys will play...”
“…Golf at Belmont Hills on Saturday morning. Yes, Mrs. Hardee.”
The older woman smiled. In seven years, Aurora had never missed a beat. She was amazing; a steel trap when it came to information that was pertinent to the comfort and functionality of her beloved boss. Hardee had been back to the college job fairs every year since she had employed Aurora and she was yet to find anyone remotely as efficient.
“As usual, they’re all in good hands. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am.”
As the woman exited the office, Aurora plucked her cell phone from her pocket. She loved the little device which, to her, was like having a tiny computer in the palm of her hands. She kept both Mr. Guyt
on’s and her schedules on it as well as both their contacts and emails; she had even set it up to follow the company’s social media.
She swiped the screen a few times and pulled up all the current itineraries for Guyton Transport. The company had five planes, all Gulfstreams, and a fleet of more than forty private vehicles. The garage’s inventory ranged from Bugattis to panel vans; there was always a vehicle for every purpose available. Instantly, she saw that Guyton 1 was being prepared for their flight the next day and Guyton 2 was in Savannah for routine maintenance. Guyton 3 was in a hangar at the Caracas airport where Will Guyton was in the middle of fuel renegotiations with that country’s new government. He was scheduled to depart the next day at 2 p.m. and arrive in Hamilton at around 6. Guyton 4 was in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That piece of information raised Aurora’s eyebrows. A smile curled at the corner of her mouth. It seemed that Mr. Playboy, Zach, had made it over safely from Hong Kong but had decided to make a pit stop in Sin City.
Why was she not surprised?
However, an updated flight schedule had already been uploaded by the pilot, which stated that they would be on their way on a direct flight to the island at 9 a.m.
At least he won’t be late, she thought, still smiling. Maybe not sober, but certainly not late.
She circled the information with her finger and jotted a reminder for herself to check in on the pilot’s flight plan the next morning; just to be sure they were on their way. It was certainly not the time for Zach to play the fool and mess up all of Mr. Guyton’s weekend plans.
Just then, the old man walked into the office. His second born son, Robin, stepped in behind him. John Guyton surprised Aurora as he bellowed his greeting to her.
“Well, good morning, Precious!” He beamed as he watched Aurora’s usual reaction to his favorite pet name for her. Though a common term of endearment in the ‘Deep South,’ it reminded her of her grandfather and she always blushed when Guyton Sr. called her that. Robin cringed at what he always thought was inappropriate terminology.