Rogue Alpha (Alpha 7) Read Online Free PDF Page A

days. “Are you trying to get me drunk?” She took one of the two glasses of brandy he had poured after they had finished eating and returned to sit beside the comfort and warmth of the fire in his study. She’d already had several sips of the whisky he gave her earlier, and they had emptied the bottle of red wine he had opened to go with their meal.
    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    She immediately tensed at the harshness of his tone. “I… Why, nothing. It was only something to say. I meant it as a joke…”
    Seth realized he had just overreacted to a perfectly innocent remark.
    It was Diana’s response to that overreaction that was interesting. Jumpy and wary, as if she was nervous about what he might say or do in response.
    He had realized over the past couple of hours that Diana was currently living on her nerves—with good reason, she believed—but her nervousness now seemed to be a direct reaction to him snapping at her.
    Her voice had been warm when she spoke of her parents earlier. The fact that Stephen Baxter had provided the necessary ransom money for the release of his daughter and Diana had stayed with her parents for so long after she came back from Colombia, were all indications she enjoyed a loving relationship with them.
    So what, or who, made her respond so warily to what had only been a show of impatience on his part?
    Could it possibly be her husband, the smooth and charming Jeremy Moore?
    Seth had done the necessary background check on the Moores eight months ago, and that information was probably still on his computer somewhere, but from memory, he thought the young couple had been married for only a matter of months before the kidnapping followed by Moore’s death. Still in the honeymoon period, if Dair’s and Lijah’s respective marriages were any indication of married life.
    So maybe it was simply being here with him that was adding to Diana’s tension?
    Was she scared of him? Because of the way things had gone down in Colombia?
    He knew how he must have looked to her that day. A painted warrior who would kill if he had to. Who did kill because he had to.
    Or maybe it was the scar that made her nervous?
    It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been repulsed by it. Any woman who responded that way wasn’t someone he wanted to be involved with.
    Damn it, he wasn’t involved with Diana Moore.
    And while he’d been standing here mulling over the reason for her reaction to him a few minutes ago, Diana had fallen asleep in the chair.
    She looked young and achingly beautiful now the lines of worry were smoothed from her brow. Her hair was a cloud of auburn as it fell silkily about her face and onto her shoulders. Her cheeks were slightly flushed too, probably from the wine she had consumed with their meal.
    She looked very young, and very vulnerable.
    In that moment, whether Seth liked it or not, his decision as to whether or not he was going to help her was made.

Chapter 3
    “How’s the head today?” Seth inquired the following morning when Diana came—slunk?—into the kitchen, still wearing the clothes she had been wearing yesterday and also slept in the night before.
    He’d thought briefly of undressing her after carrying her upstairs and putting her to bed in one of his spare bedrooms, but then decided she probably wouldn’t appreciate waking up and finding herself stark naked and realized why that was.
    He barely stopped himself from grinning now as he received a baleful glare in response to his question. “We had a word for that in the army. Lightweight,” he supplied at Diana’s questioning frown.
    “I’ll be fine once I’ve had some coffee.” Her expression was slightly pained as she made her way across the kitchen to take the mug of coffee he had poured for her. “You were in the army?” She took a reviving sip.
    He turned to lean back against the kitchen unit, arms folded in front of his chest. “Most of the people who work for Grayson Security