your attention? I am a Cain, too.”
He opened his mouth, but she silenced him with a hard shake of her head.
“You might be my mate, Shaw, but we are not going to be together. I could never trust you. Not after all of this.”
It was his turn to leap off of the bed. He reached out to try to take her hand in his, but she moved away from him.
“No. Shaw, I mean it.”
“I get it. I do. You can’t trust me. I respect that. If you don’t want me as a mate, I will respect it.” His words were like a knife to her already broken heart. “But at least come with me. I want to show you something.”
Poppy opened her mouth to respond, but she was rudely interrupted by Nick. He barged into the room like the angry lion he was. He pointed a finger at Shaw, fury burning in his eyes.
“You. Explain yourself. Now.”
Shaw sighed. “I don’t think I’m done talking with Poppy.”
“Sorry, you don’t get to dictate how this is going to play out. You lost that right when you stole from me. From my client Bennett. He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?”
With another deep exhale, Shaw explained his sob story all over again. Poppy wanted to leave, but her feet were refusing to cooperate. She was glued to the floor. She listened to Shaw tell Nick everything. From the Cains’ terror over his childhood to the thievery they were doing in the poorer parts of town.
Nick was listening carefully, his arms crossed. Poppy didn’t miss the way eventually, the other shifter’s physical stance softened. He was actually beginning to like Shaw and his tale of absolute sadness.
“If you had come to me with this, I would have helped you.”
Shaw shook his head. “You wouldn’t have,” he corrected. “No one gets involved with the Cains. I don’t care if you’re a lion shifter with the backing of a hyped-up pride with all kinds of super shifters. The Cains have all the money in the city. You would have turned me away.”
“You’re right, I would have. Especially with a shit plan like that.”
“But it worked,” Shaw insisted.
“To what cost?” Nick asked, his eyes sliding over to Poppy.
“I didn’t realize what the price would be,” Shaw agreed.
“Do you have any intention of giving the money back?”
“No. I don’t. And now that the Cains don’t have the funds to hire fancy lawyers, I sent all of their financial information to the IRS and to the state department. They’re going to have to explain a lot about their business dealings and how they made their money.”
“And did you stop to consider, for one second, what the sons were up to behind the father’s back?” Nick’s question sent a shiver down Poppy’s spine. Shaw’s reaction was much the same.
His brow furrowed, and he shook his head. “No, I don’t know what you mean.”
“The three sons are involved in drug trafficking. That’s why I refuse to get mixed up with the Cains.” Nick looked over to Poppy.
Understanding crossed between them then. Nick hadn’t refused to help her strictly because she was a Cain. It was so much more than that. He didn’t want to put his people in the line of drug-dealing panther shifters, who were renowned for their complete lack of control and dangerous tempers.
“Do you think the information you’ve given to the police will be enough to pinch the brothers on the drug stuff?”
“No,” Shaw answered truthfully. “I hadn’t realized that was part of the equation. Now that I do, I can definitely send whatever I have on them to the DEA, and even the ATF if you think it’ll help.”
“Fine,” Nick snapped. “And in the meantime, what are we going to do with both of you?”
“I’m more concerned with my nana. She’s going to be the first place the Cains go to get revenge if they can’t get to me. I can take care of Poppy and me.”
“I am vetoing that,” Poppy cut in. “Hard. I don’t care he’s my mate, I am not going to work with him.” She turned her cold gaze toward Shaw. “I do not trust him.”
Nick blew out a breath and put his hands on his hips. “Shifters. We can’t ever do things the simple way, can we? Here’s what is going to happen. Poppy, you are going to go with Shaw to get his nana out of her apartment. Can you get her a temporary spot at the nursing home where you