by Alicia Banks
Alpha Dragon’s Nanny
A Dragon Shifter Romance (BILLIONAIRE SHIFTERS’ NANNY MATES SERIES BOOK 1
Alicia Banks
Contents
Title Page
Alpha Dragon’s Nanny: A Dragon Shifter Romance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Author’s Note
Sample: Alpha Wolf's Nanny (Billionaire Shifters’ Nanny Mates Series Book 2)
Prologue
Chapter 1
How to Connect
Books By This Author
Copyright © 2021 by Alicia Banks:
All rights are reserved.
It is illegal to reproduce any part of this Book in any form i.e. mechanical, electronical, printed, or audible form including storage information and retrieval system without any written permission from the Author, except brief quotation in a Book Review.
ALPHA DRAGON’S NANNY: A DRAGON SHIFTER ROMANCE (BILLIONAIRE SHIFTERS’ NANNY MATES SERIES)
Alpha Dragon’s Nanny: A Dragon Shifter Romance
BLURB:
One advert in the paper and one reply. That’s all it took to change two lives.
Josselin
My life sucked with my family.
My parents died when I was young, and I was left with my evil uncle.
I needed to get away and one day I came across an ad for a nanny position.
I liked kids and I liked the room and board that would come with it.
I really liked the chance to finally escape.
Once I got the job, everything turned strange.
The little girl ran around pretending to be a dragon, burning up and starting fires.
Her father was handsome, making me forget it all.
A kiss changed my mind about possibilities.
A book full of journal entries, told me the truth.
Antonio wasn’t just a regular man.
He was something else, something dangerous.
Antonio
Josselin was my assistant’s idea. He was convinced that she was perfect.
And she was.
Possibly, she was a little too perfect.
Short, sassy, with an angelic face and a mind that turned me on instead of annoying me.
She was unlike anyone I’d ever met.
But Josselin was human.
Off limits.
I knew better.
So, why was it so hard to deny myself the pleasure?
And what pleasure it was…
The council finds out about Josselin. Antonio will have to keep Josselin safe from the council bent on killing her, as well as herself. Nothing will make him give her up. Nothing. Antonio would fight the world for her.
***
Chapter 1
“I was going to call and ask why you weren’t in school today, but Daniel said you weren’t there. I should have known why.”
Josselin waved her off and tried to avoid looking at her best friend Melanie. They’d been friends for years, and Melanie knew how her uncle was, but it was still embarrassing to Josselin, like she’d somehow done something wrong. She hadn’t, of course, never had, yet she still had a huge bruise over her left eye and cheek. Josselin didn’t even remember what he was yelling at her about, but she was sure that it was something she’d done horribly wrong in his eyes. In her uncle’s eyes, she couldn’t even breathe correctly to suit him.
“You need to get out of here, Josselin.”
She agreed with her friend yet paused when it came to the news that was hidden inside of her. Josselin wanted to tell someone and in reality, there was only Melanie. She certainly couldn’t tell anyone at her house. They would find a way to ruin it and keep her there for the rest of her life, making Josselin miserable the whole way.
“I know I do, Mel. It’s just going to take some time. I have to go somewhere where I won’t be found, or I will just get dragged back here and you know that Daniel won’t forgive me for that. He’ll just make everything worse. I have to do it right.”
Melanie shook her head. She worked at a women’s shelter and was convinced that Josselin needed to go there. Josselin didn’t want to tell her what would really happen. Josselin knew that her uncle and maybe his brother would come and get her. They might burn the place down, attack people, there really was no telling. A lot of what happened in Josselin’s family, she kept to herself. Josselin had learned not to drag anyone else into her problems. They didn’t make it out to the other side, and if they did manage to, they were never unscathed.
“So, you are just going to stay there?”
Josselin agreed, shaking her head. She didn’t look happy about it because she wasn’t, but Josselin knew what other options she had, none. If she did have a way to get away from them and never look back, she’d have done it in a heartbeat. Josselin hated how her life had turned out.
“When I can leave, I’m going to leave. I have something in the works, but I don’t know if it is going to pan out or not. I hope it does.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is?”
Josselin paused, wondering if she should say anything or not. Josselin pressed her lips together and then came out with it. She was dying to anyway.
“I have applied to several nanny positions. They are far enough away that I would be able to disappear. I would have room and board, as well as making money that I could save and do what I wanted with it. I could do some traveling and then find a place further away to live.”
Melanie was shocked and Josselin didn’t blame her. It wasn’t like her at all, but that was the best part. Her uncle and the rest of her torturous family wouldn’t know where she was. They wouldn’t be able to find her, and she could finally do what she’d been wanting to do for a long time. She just wanted to be on her own, away from them.
“Woah.”
Josselin laughed and agreed. “I know, right?”
“So, you’re really going to do it?”
She nodded. “Hell yeah. I mean, getting away from these people is all I’ve ever dreamed of. There has to be some way that I can work and make money. You know I’ve never been able to have anything here. I don’t want to go out with nowhere to go and no money in my pocket.”
“You can always stay with me.”
Josselin shook her head that it wouldn’t do. “Trust me, Melanie, you don’t know my family. It’s best just to stay out of this. I worry that they’re already going to ask you too hard about what is going on. When I take off, they’re going to go to my best friend and ask a lot of questions.”
Melanie said that she wasn’t worried about it. Josselin wanted to believe her, but she didn’t. She was very nervous about leaving her friend behind. She knew in the same breath, that she couldn’t tell her all that much. It would mean that she wouldn’t be able to give away her location, though it did mean that she would likely be asked harder because of it. That wasn’t a good feeling to have.
“I wish you would go with me.”
“You know that I have classes.”
Josselin ag
reed and she went back to stringing the boots for her friend. “When are we going to go out again?”
Josselin shrugged. “Once I get a job, get out of here, and get a day off. You will be the first person that I call.”
“Would you really call me first?”
“Of course. Who else am I going to call, my brother?” She chuckled. “He would just tell Uncle Daniel where I was and rat me out the first chance he got.”
Melanie agreed, but said that her brother Josh didn’t have a choice.
“He has it just as bad.”
Josselin didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure that she agreed with it, though she knew that Melanie was just trying to make her see it in a better light. Josselin didn’t believe that there was good to see in it at all. Her brother was one of those people too. No amount of perspective was going to ever let her think that her brother had anything to feel sorry about. His level of cruelty was not made, it was somehow in him from the start. She didn’t know him like Josselin did. Melanie had no clue.
“Anyways, enough siding with the enemy. Why don’t you help me with this dress, and I will finish up? I know that you want to see the good in all things, which is why I need you as my friend, but some things, my brother Josh included, don’t have any good to showcase. Just know that. Some have no good at all, no matter how long you sit there and look.”
Josselin wasn’t too enthused about what she had to do that day. Her cousin was getting married, her uncles’ son and she had to go to the wedding. It wasn't like she was going to be there like the rest of the family, though. She was there to do the catering and to clean up afterward. Josselin had thought of herself more than once as Cinderella, though in the story, Cinderella never had a black eye.
Josselin tried her best not to worry about the day. She would have given anything to get married, if it meant that she could once and for all get away from her family. Although she was waiting to see if she could get a job to get away, she would have gone for an alternative. Josselin would have done about anything to get out of her current situation. It was one that she found completely intolerable.
Everyone around her was ridiculously happy. They were gushing about how cute the couple was. Josselin didn't see it that way. Josselin saw a woman that did not know what she was getting into.
Josselin wanted to go to the new cousin and tell her some hard truths that she needed to hear. If she thought she would listen and not run to Danny, she may have told her what she needed to know.
She would have told Amanda that she needed to run. As far and as fast as she possibly could. It was the only way to get away from the family.
That was what Josselin wanted to do, but the real fear was that Amanda would instead go to her soon to be husband, aghast at the lies that Josselin was telling. Then Danny would find a way to really make Josselin pay for it. She had absolutely no misconceptions about that.
Even though the music was playing and the main event starting, Josselin had too much to do. She was cursing the fact that she had to wear a bridesmaid dress like everyone else, even though she was going to be slaving away in the kitchen all day. It was her job to make sure that everyone was fed and happy. It was going to save her cousin a couple of dollars and apparently that was her gift to them. Josselin probably wouldn't have given them anything, but like most everything in her life, she didn't have a choice.
Melanie called to check and see how she was doing, but Josselin couldn’t talk to her very long. She had too much going on and was afraid of burning something. That would have been a complete disaster, and it would have been something that she would paid for. It scared her to even think about what the consequences would be. Something so little would get her so much. Something so big like that, very well may kill her.
***
That kept her on her toes and even though it was a joyous event around her, Josselin was just filled with anxiety herself. There was no way that any of the good mood around her could rub off.
“You seem to have a little extra time.”
Josselin jumped when she heard Danny's voice.
“I didn't see you there.”
“I guess not. You probably wouldn't be leaning about if you had known that I was going to be here. What are you even doing?”
She tried to give him a rundown of what she was doing, the food that was being plated at that time. The reception was about to start. She had about ten minutes to finish up, and the last thing she needed was her bossy cousin in the middle of the kitchen right in her way.
When she finally said something about it, he got defensive and told her that she had no right to say anything at all. It was his wedding after all.
Josselin just nodded her head.
“I just didn't want to ruin your big day, Danny. Some things won’t taste good if you let them get cold or soggy.”
“It better taste good. If not, I'll make sure that my dad punishes you.”
Josselin pressed her lips together and just nodded her head in agreement. The last thing she wanted was for her uncle to have another reason to punish her. He had no problem coming up with reasons all on his own.
Josselin was really starting to think that there was no getting out of her family or the situation she was in. Or maybe the truth was right in front of her. She wasn't going to be able to run away like she wanted to. She was going to have to go with nothing, or she wasn’t going to be able to leave at all. Going with nothing, sounded better than going back to her home for even one more night.
She started to put up the food and thankfully, no one seemed to take offense to it too much. She even got a couple of smiles her way, but it was all people that weren't part of her family, of course. Her family had no idea what appreciation looked like and if they did, they certainly didn't show any to her. She had been made to understand how it was. She was lucky that they had taken her in when her parents had died. Them being kind to her was obviously more than they were capable of. Keeping her alive was good enough for them. In that way, it had to be good enough for her as well.
Josselin was about to get out of there when her uncle showed up and barked some orders at her. It was time for her to bring out the cake and it signified that her part of the wedding was almost over. She couldn't have been more delighted.
Josselin avoided the dirty look on his face, and she ignored the comment about how she needed to cover up the marks he left better. He didn't see it as it being his fault. Her uncle was the one that had left it, but it was her fault for deserving it. If she would have listened, then he wouldn't have had to punish her. At the end of the day, it was always her fault.
The cake was picture perfect and for once, everyone seemed to be satisfied. As soon as people started to leave the venue and go to another party that was waiting for them, Josselin got to work on cleaning it all up. She wasn't even resentful that she had to stay behind. She didn't care for most of the people that were there anyway. She enjoyed the quiet solitude, and it took Josselin several minutes for her to realize that she wasn't alone.
Chapter 2
Josselin was taken aback by the short and squatty man that was standing in front of her. He must have come in through the back door and that alarmed her. When he said her name, her full name like he knew her, it made her wonder who he was and how he had come to know information about her. More importantly, what was it that he wanted?
When she asked him that question, he impressed that he was there for someone else.
“I am here for my employer. He wishes he could be here, but of course he has a lot of other things to do. He got your application and wanted me to invite you to an interview.”
Josselin was confused for a moment, because most places would have just called on the phone. They wouldn't have come in person or sent somebody else rather.
When she got over the shock of it all, she pulled herself together and asked him when the current employer wanted to meet.
“Also, how did you even know I was here?”
“It is my job to kn
ow everything about who Antonio wants to do business with.”
“Business? I thought that he needed a nanny for his three-year-old?”
The older man agreed. “His child is the most important person in his life. He puts in just as much effort and due diligence.”
“Right, of course. I didn't mean anything by that.”
Josselin felt like she was putting a foot in her mouth and she really didn't know what to say. When he told her that she would need to go with him right then and there, Josselin looked around and said that she still had a bit more that she needed to finish.
“I will send somebody to finish up. Write down very quickly what it is that you need done and it will be taken care of.”
Josselin didn’t say anything to that. She couldn’t find words or even imagine someone coming in and cleaning up for her. How could that actually happen? He insisted that she make a list, though.
“Are you sure?”
He agreed that it was. It is in your best interest to leave this place. I know enough about you and your background to know that you don't belong here, Josselin. What my employer is offering you in the way of employment will drastically improve your life. There are some rules that will have to be followed, but I have a feeling that they will be quite easy and even positive rules for you.”
He was being a bit ambiguous, and Josselin wanted to know what exactly it all meant. She had the first moment of thought and of course, it was to get out of there as quickly as she possibly could. Or conversely, it was the moment that Josselin had been waiting for. She hated where she was. She hated her family and even though her best friend was sometimes enough to keep her going, it certainly wasn't enough to keep her there for too much longer. Josselin had told herself again and again if the opportunity ever arose, she was going to take it, jump on it, and never look back. So why was she even hesitating?
It took her a moment to formulate the words, but she finally agreed that she would go with him. It felt like this was her chance, and Josselin didn't want to mess it up.
