Big Strong Bear Read Online Free PDF Page A

job he’d done most of his life.
    Cassie was being uncharacteristically quiet as he took her outside and opened the door to his sports car. It wasn’t the most protective car, like Ares’s black truck, but it was fast, and with Hades’s incredible reflexes and skill behind the wheel, it’d get them out of trouble quicker than anything else.
    Besides, he liked its name. Viper. Something poisonous that struck with deadly precision. Rather like himself. He started the car and they drove to her place. He parked and went in with her. It was as warm and nicely scented as he always remembered from growing up. It had been his second home. And while her father never really approved of him, and he hadn’t known him well, Hades still felt the loss of him when he walked through the house.
    He almost wanted to bring it up with Cassie, express his condolences, even though he’d already done so from the field. But it didn’t seem like the right time, so he just followed her up to her bedroom and waited while she packed a bag.
    He smiled when he saw the window he used to sneak in through as a teenager. The bed where they’d innocently snuggled and then made out, which was a queen now instead of a twin. “You use the same room?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said. “I’m not ready to move… you know… to his room.”
    Hades suddenly hated himself for bringing it up. Of course she’d lived here while taking care of her father, and of course she wouldn’t want to move immediately. Hades had never had any family that particularly cared for him, so he wasn’t the most sensitive about things like grief. He’d lost friends in combat, but his grief for them was different than this kind of sadness.
    She waved a hand and tucked hair behind her ear as she shut the suitcase. He loved those unruly blond curls, wanted to come forward, stroke through them, pulling them back off her face, see her expression come alive with pleasure at his touch. But instead, he just reached for her heavy suitcase so he could carry it down the stairs.
    “Don’t look so guilty,” she said. “It’s fine that you brought it up. One thing about him taking three years to die… I was prepared when it happened. I mean, deep down, I did always hope it wouldn’t happen, but I knew on a rational level it was only a matter of time. At least we got to say good-bye.”
    He nodded silently, following her downstairs, waiting for her to lock up all the doors.
    “I know you probably remember that he and I never exactly saw eye to eye, but he was my dad. Sometimes you don’t realize just how close you are until you have to face losing someone.”
    He nodded again. He didn’t really know how she felt, so he couldn’t pretend to. But he could let her know she was heard.
    When her house was locked and they were in the car with everything they needed, he started them on their long journey out of town.
    It was quiet except for the rumble of the engine, the sound of shifting gears.
    When did it get so hard to talk to her? He supposed even over the years when things were good, they hadn’t had a lot of time together between missions. They’d saved all their thoughts for later, when he was out for good. He guessed a part of it had been the dangerous work he was involved in. Things he couldn’t tell her that came with a very real risk of dying.
    Still, it’d been a long time since he’d talked much with a woman, outside of mission-related communications.
    “So, um, the bakery. How’s that going?” he asked awkwardly when they were stopped at a light just before going onto the freeway.
    She sent him a sidelong glare. “Small talk, Hades? Really?”
    “John,” he said sardonically. “I like that it forces you to remember what we were to each other. Even though it was apparently easy for you to walk away from it.”
    She grimaced and looked away.
    Damn. Why had he said that? There was so much resentment buried between them. It was said the harder you loved, the more