Alpha 1 Read Online Free PDF

to him and Jimmy, something about her had gotten his attention in a way he hadn’t thought would ever happen to him.
    He looked in through the window as they approached the diner door and what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Lucy was standing with a man in an expensive suit. The man handed her something and then kissed her briefly. Holden was surprised at the reaction he had. He hadn’t even realized he cared about Lucy in that way. Now he saw that he cared about her a great deal. Something about seeing that guy kiss Lucy, the way he did it, it got to him. The guy was so arrogant. Holden knew the type only too well. It irked him.
    The guy kissed Lucy and then left. Holden had stopped outside the door. Jimmy was behind him. The guy came out through the door and walked past Holden and Jimmy without looking at them.
    Holden watched him get into the new limo that was waiting by the accident. The man got into the limo and it pulled away and disappeared into the traffic.
    Holden turned and walked back toward the pickup.
    “Where are you going?” Jimmy said. “What about lunch?”
    “I’m not hungry, Jimmy.”

VIII
    “W HAT WAS THAT?” Jimmy said as they climbed back into the pickup truck.
    “Nothing.”
    “What do you mean, nothing? That guy came out of the diner and you just changed your mind?”
    “I saw something.”
    “What do you mean, you saw something?”
    “I saw him kiss Lucy.”
    “Oh,” Jimmy said. He understood instantly. Holden had never said he liked Lucy, in fact, whenever Jimmy brought it up Holden had shot him down, but Jimmy knew. He knew by the way Holden looked at Lucy, the way he spoke to her, the way he acted when she was around, that there was something between them. And he understood why he was upset to see her with another man. It was a blow.
    Jimmy slapped Holden on the back. He’d taken the death of his wife very hard. Anyone would, but for Holden it had been two years and he still couldn’t seem to shake the sadness of it. She’d been dead almost as long as she and Holden had been married, but Holden showed very few signs of being ready to move forward with his life.
    They were sitting in the J10 outside the diner. Lucy hadn’t seen them outside. Holden sighed.
    His phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocked. “Damn it,” he said. “I’ve got to get this. Sorry.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Jimmy said.
    Holden answered his phone.
    “Mr. West. Am I disturbing you?”
    “Not at all, Megan.” Megan was Holden’s executive assistant.
    “The head of your legal team is on his way in. He called ahead and asked me to let you know.”
    “Alright,” Holden said. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and turned to Jimmy. “Would you mind coming into the office with me?”
    “Hey, of course not.”
    “It shouldn’t take long.”
    “I don’t mind at all,” Jimmy said. “Maybe we can get some lunch there.”
    “Thanks,” Holden said. He pulled out his phone again and called back his office. “Megan, it’s me. Would you mind sending someone out to pick up two takeout orders.”
    “Sure, Mr. West.”
    “It’s Angel’s Diner. Bacon, eggs easy over, toast, home fries, beans, black coffee, times two.”
    “We’ve got great coffee here at the office,” Megan said.
    “I like the diner coffee,” Holden said.
    “I’ll have someone go right over and pick it up,” Megan said.
    “Thank you,” Holden said.
    They drove the J10 down Pearl and onto Wall Street. It was always a shock to Jimmy that Holden had his own building in this part of the city. Amidst all the modern glass and steel office buildings was a hundred year old edifice that looked more like a bank or an old European church than an office. Holden pulled the J10 up in front of the entrance and got out. The building was incredibly grand, it almost put the more modern buildings around it to shame. It was a fine piece of classical architecture, solid and elegant and incredibly expensive looking. A