Page 100 of Chosen Beta

“I’m Owen Lennox, the new head of security at Goldcrest. And your name is?”

He glowers back at me, as he moves around the desk and picks a book up from the coffee table.

The guest book is bulky, and it takes dayshift guy a second to find my entry, despite the pen being wedged in the most recent spot.

“Huh,” he mutters, closing the book and setting it back down.

“Name,” I repeat, seriously tempted to use my Alpha command voice.

“Melvin Harcourt. Senior security officer. Ten years this month.”

“And what are you doing in Lana Cole’s office?”

His expression sours. “I don’t answer to you.”

Lana, who’s clearly been paying close attention to the entire conversation from her secure spot beside me, takes this moment to clear her throat, and to move into sight at my side.

I get to watch the color drain from Melvin’s face, as his actual boss throws him a questioning stare. She doesn’t even have to say the words. He knows he’s been caught doing something shady, and he’s eager to talk his way out of it.

“Ms. Cole! I was looking for you.” He gives me one last frowning glance before he goes back to Lana’s desk and picks up a file. He brings it toward us, and I move to let Lana step into the room and take it from him.

“You might want to rethink hiring Lennox Securities. One of their men has mislead you about his identity. Everything you need to know is in this file.”

She nods slowly, but she doesn’t open the file.

“I have a team member on standby to pick up and detain Peter Phillips. All you need to do is give the word,” Melvin states, throwing me a derisive sneer.

“That won’t be necessary,” Lana states, a tightness in her tone that I don’t expect. “Thank you for the information, but it’s not news to me and it’s irrelevant.”

She hasn’t even looked and she’s defending Pete.

My Beta must have made a good impression.

I take a few steps into the room and out of the doorway to let Melvin leave. He hesitates for a beat, clearly thinking about saying something more, since he didn’t get the reaction he wanted.

I stare at him until his gaze meets mine, and I let a growl rise in my throat that helps him to reconsider arguing his point with Lana further.

He gets the fuck out of the room.

I close the door and turn back to Lana.

She lets out a weary sigh as she drops the file on top of the guest book on the coffee table.

“He has a key to this office.”

It’s not completely unusual, but I don’t like it.

If he was only using it for emergencies, that would be one thing.

The fact that he used it to get in while Lana was out for no good reason …

Pete thought he was shady, and this behavior only confirms that observation.

“He’s head of security,” she says. “He has a skeleton key that unlocks any room in the building, just like the one I carry around with me.”

She gets into her chair and starts her PC.

“You’re not going to look at the shit he dug up on Pete?”

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