Free Adam (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 1) by Becca Fanning Page B

thought Hyde) bellowed over the intercom.

    Leo slammed his hand down on the talk button. “Family meeting, kitchen, five minutes,” he growled. “We’ve got some shit to discuss.”

    Annie wobbled to the kitchen, leaning heavily on Rick.

    “Is it always like that?” she asked him, struggling not to vomit.

    “I’m going to go ahead and let you in on a secret,” he said, smiling at her. “The answer to that question will always be ‘yes, but you’ll get used to it,’ unless you’re asking about Custer singing in the shower in which case the answer is ‘no, actually, it only gets worse from here.’”

    “Good to know,” Annie said as he helped her into a chair. She leaned forward and shut her eyes, trying to relax enough to let her stomach unknot. The effect was ruined when Custer and Hyde barged in.

    “What’s happening? Are we running from pirates again?” Custer asked excitedly.

    “Not… exactly,” Rick answered. “I’ll let the captain explain.”

    “No, I think you wanna tell me now,” Hyde said, nostrils flaring. He pushed the bandana keeping his dreadlocks out of his face up to glare more effectively. “Look at Custer. How does he look to you?”

    “He looks happy,” Rick said in a resigned voice.

    “Exactly. And do you know what the leading cause of that psychopathic little shit being happy is?” Hyde said, barreling on before Rick could answer. “You and the captain pulling some stupid shit that the rest of us have to handle. Now, there’s a girl at our table who Strathmore— the Strathmore—is looking for and Custer is smiling like he just got a puppy for Christmas, so maybe tell me why we’re flying like our ass is on fire because I am leaping to some very disturbing conclusions.”

    Rick hesitated. “It’s exactly what you think it is.”

    Hyde nodded, took a deep breath, and then released a series of expletives of such variety and creativity that Annie felt the urge to take notes. Custer laughed.

    “What’s going on?” Dominic asked as he walked in. “I need to get back to engineering. Captain’s gonna pull our girl apart if he keeps overworking her like this.”

    “Stupid motherfucker just went to war with Strathmore,” answered Hyde, his head now resting against a wall.

    Dominic looked hard at Annie, his already blank gaze somehow managing to become even more expressionless. He pulled out a chair and sat.

    “I’ll just wait until Leo gets down here, then,” he said calmly.

    From what Leo had told her, she didn’t want to see him when that calmness faded away.

    Leo walked in after a moment of tense silence.  

    “I take it Rick’s filled you in on the situation?” he said when he was greeted by two glares and one manic smile.

    “A bit,” Custer said. “Care to fill us in.”

    Leo sighed explosively and ran his hands through his hair. “At the moment, we are currently at odds with the good Captain Strathmore. He demanded Annie’s return, I refused.”

    Hyde threw his hands up and tossed out a few more choice swears.  

    “So what do we do now?” Dominic asked.

    “You can’t take it back,” Annie said, her voice thin. “He doesn’t give second chances. There was probably a bounty on this ship the minute you cut the line.”

    Hyde snorted. “Who do you think we are? We’re not in the flesh trade.” He looked at Leo. “I’d say space her, but that wouldn’t solve our problems, would it?”

    “Not as such, no,” Rick said. “We need to run.”

    “I wasn’t aware we could outrun Strathmore,” Dominic said. “The Appomattox isn’t the fastest ship, but if there’s a bounty on us we’re not just going to be dealing with one ship.”

    “Custer? What say you?” Rick asked.

    “I say we just kill Strathmore,” Custer replied.

    “Great idea, idiot, we just waltz up to the best guarded man in the galaxy and shoot him. No way that gets us killed,” Hyde said.

    The crew continued to argue amongst themselves, but