Shaw (Alpha Geek #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,3

answered, crossing his arms over his barrel of a chest.

“I need your help. I…need…” Mother fucking poopsack. What did she need? Help. Yes. That much was obvious. But she needed a safe place, a new identity, maybe a new body if these people could help with that. Ha. Not fucking likely.

“Miss?” Nick frowned at her. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Again, all that Poppy could do was nod. The last week had erased all of her sass-fueled attitude. She didn’t feel like herself. This scared little kitten was definitely not who she was.

But when the Cain shifters were after your tail? Well, you better be scared. They were no joke.

“I’m sorry. Would it be possible to talk to Dakota alone?”

Nick’s eyes darkened, and his lips puckered in disapproval. “Dakota is a new employee. If you need our services, we can book an appointment. I’m busy right now, but if you could wait a day—”

“No!” Poppy shook her head, making those damn bangs move again. “No, please. It’s urgent. I don’t have a day. I need help now.”

“I’ve known Poppy for a long time, Nick. We were friends in college.”

“You didn’t go to college,” Nick pointed out with sass that would have been better served coming out of a woman’s mouth.

Dakota rolled her eyes at her boss, and it made Poppy’s heart sink. Man alive, did she miss being her sparky self. This cloud of fear was getting a little too much for her. Could she go insane if her sauciness wasn’t regularly used? She was pretty sure that required medical condition.

“Ha ha. Real funny. You know I went for a few months. I can take this client meeting, Nick. And hey, look at it this way. We’re friends. It can’t go badly.”

“You’d be the one to make things go sideways,” he snipped.

“Please, Mr. Milan. I am in some serious danger. I would much prefer talking to a woman. Especially one I know,” Poppy quickly added before Nick asked another one of his employees to meet with her.

She knew that she needed someone she could trust. Dakota might be one spunky little flake, but she was a good friend, and she knew Poppy’s history. That was important, given what was going on.

“Fine,” Nick growled. “Use Blake’s office. Thin ice, Dakota,” he reminded her before retreating into his office.

“Sure thing, boss man,” she shot back with a wink.

Dakota led her to the office, and no sooner was the door closed than the truth—the ugly, scary truth that was haunting Poppy—came tumbling out.

“I’ve run away from the family fold because my uncle and cousins were going to force me into an arranged marriage.”

Chapter Three

Shaw

“Sorry about that.” Nick closed the door behind him before grunting. “Damn that girl. I completely forgot what I was doing.” He snapped his fingers in annoyance as he recalled his task. “I was going to grab those files for you.” The shifter shook his head with a loud, exasperated sigh. “I do apologize, Mr. Eagan. I can assure you that we are typically a much more organized company. We’ve recently made a few new hires, and they’re proving to be troublesome.” He added the last part begrudgingly.

With another growled apology, Nick left Shaw in the office. He didn’t mind. There was no rush, really. He had gotten exactly what he wanted.

Not only had he gotten an interview with Nick Milan, but he had been hired on the spot the day before. It was Shaw’s first day working for the renowned protection company, and he could make quick work of finding out where the serum was kept.

Shaw had nailed the interview, and not only because he had described to Nick how the hacker had gotten into their system, but also because he had a solid plan to fix it.

He had the edge, of course.

After all, he had been the hacker responsible for the security breach.

That was the only tricky part for Shaw. Bluffing—or you know, flat out lying—wasn’t his strong suit as a general rule. But add to that the mere fact that it was damn well near impossible to lie to shifters, and Shaw was a ball of nerves. Nick, like all of his kind, was a pro at sensing out deceptions. Shaw had to be careful with his answers and his scent—yup, that was right, his scent. Shifters could smell lies. It was one of their superpowers.

One that Shaw was particularly excited about getting as soon as he got his hands on the serum.

Nick reappeared with a