“How could I not?” Stefan answered, the words brimming with hostility. Peter let the smile slip off his face and said nothing. After a tense second Stefan ducked his head in submission. Once Peter was sure he was properly cowed, he nodded.
“Watch yourself,” he warned, taking his seat. Stefan followed his lead, still bowing his head and acting chastised.
Peter leaned back in his chair and observed the other alpha. He knew he’d overreacted, but he couldn’t help himself. Disrespect from an alpha less dominant than himself was something he couldn’t bring himself to tolerate.
But now he needed to get things back on track.
It would be unsportsmanlike to bully Stewart into signing a deal with him, not to mention illegal. Stewart had to be able to take the deal back to his superiors and defend his recommendation to hire Tank Security with something other thanhe made me.
“I can understand why you would be angry with Tank Security for breaching your systems, but the truth is that we did you a favor. Even if you don’t hire us, you’re now aware of the problem and can take appropriate action.”
Stewart swallowed and visibly pulled himself together, lifting his head to look Peter in the eye.
“And if we don’t hire you, what happens to all the data you stole?” his tone was respectful, but hard. Peter was impressed by his quick recovery.
“Nothing. Selling it to the highest bidder would be unethical.”
Peter smirked, and Stewart blinked. Before he could say anything that would get him in trouble, Peter continued. “But in all seriousness, we were not the first to gain access to your servers and help ourselves to your data. Your security is five years out of date, and that’s being generous. You need us.”
Stewart narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean you’re not the first to gain access to our data?” he demanded.
Peter shrugged. “Just what I said. Our experts detected evidence of three large-scale breaches within the past three years. We know who was behind the last two, and we have a pretty good idea of the one before that. If you were to hire us, we would be happy to discuss retaliatory measures—digital or otherwise—in addition to securing you against future attacks.”
Stewart watched Peter’s face, perhaps searching for some sign that Peter was lying or trying to trick him.
“I’m listening,” he said after a moment. Peter allowed himself a small smile before launching into his pitch, making sure to hit every point Dawn had outlined in her brief. By the end of it, Stewart looked grudgingly impressed.
“I’ll take this to the board, Mr. Tank. I can’t guarantee they’ll hire you, but my recommendation will be that they do.”
Mission accomplished, Peter thought to himself.
“Thank you, Mr. Stewart. I’m sure they’ll come to the right decision.”
“I think they will,” Stewart said. He pushed his chair back like he was going to leave, and Peter debated with himself if he should make an excuse to get him to stay. “I’ll get in touch once I have an answer.”
Peter let him go without protest. The deal was too important to wreck by adding sex to the mix. Maybe once Novotech was a client Peter would make a play for their rising star, but not before.
Chapter 3
Making his way out to the sidewalk, Chad counted his money and wondered if there was an ATM nearby. Beer and shots were a lot more expensive here in the city than he was used to, and he’d almost used up all his cash.
He was down to his last ten dollar bill, and from what he’d learned at the three bars he’d already visited, that wouldn’t get him more than a single pint of beer.
He was analpha, for fuck’s sake. How was he supposed to get drunk at these prices?
Heading into what looked like a lively establishment, Chad removed his hands from his pockets and looked around. The interior of the bar was larger than it appeared on the outside, bending around the store next to it in an L-shape, with high ceilings and soft track lighting. The bar area took up the entire left wall, with four bartenders busy at work mixing drinks and serving beer.
The bar was made up to look like an old hunting lodge, with animal trophies and rifles decorating every wall. Looking around the room Chad was surprised by the number of alphas present.
The bar seemed classier than what he was used to, but turning around now wasn’t an option. He knew that he’d been noticed by every alpha in the room, and if he walked out they might think he was intimidated by them.
He wasn’t.
Spotting an empty chair by the bar, Chad walked confidently across the crowded room and took a seat.
“What can I get you?” the single female bartender asked him, smiling invitingly as she finished pouring an ale for the beta sitting next to him.
“Can I start a tab?” Chad said, handing her his credit card. If the drinks were more than ten dollars and they didn’t take credit, he didn’t want to embarrass himself by not being able to pay.
