Read Online Rogue Alpha (Alpha 7) by Carole Mortimer - Free Book Online
Authors: Carole Mortimer
Ads: Link
farther inside.
There was a scowl on Seth’s face as he glanced at their surroundings. “It’s a bloody mausoleum!”
Diana grinned. “Which is exactly the reason I love it.”
Seth indulged himself by appreciating her smile for several seconds. Teasing. Even mischievous. Something he knew she’d had little reason to feel in recent months. “Dair must have been out of his mind to buy this place.” He gave a shake of his head.
“Dair…?”
“The owner of Grayson Security. Although I’m not sure he will be for much longer,” he added with a grimace. “I have a feeling he might sell. He’s all but retired anyway, and the other operatives are dropping like flies too.”
Diana froze. “They died?”
“Married. Which is as good as being dead,” he added disgustedly.
“I would argue that comment with you, but my own marriage was so awful, I really can’t recommend it.” She sighed. “My parents’ marriage has always been very happy, though.” She brightened a little.
“Lucky them.” Seth threw open the doors to a large sitting room, again filled with antique furnishings.
“Your own parents’ marriage isn’t happy?” Diana prompted curiously. She couldn’t help herself, Seth had offered up so little information about himself so far.
“Wasn’t,” he corrected tersely. “They both died in a car accident seventeen years ago. My father was drunk at the wheel. I survived the crash, and luckily, no other vehicle was involved. The lamppost took a beating, though.”
A thought occurred to her. “Is that how your face was cut—Sorry.” She winced as Seth’s eyes turned as hard as jet.
His fingers moved as if by habit to touch the six-inch scar down his left cheek and throat. “The car was a mess, all twisted metal. Some of it sliced through my face.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.” She shuddered as she could almost feel the metal slicing through his flesh. “I’m sorry.”
He mouth twisted humorlessly. “It’s the only legacy they left me.”
She winced at the bitterness she sensed behind the comment. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No, thank God.” He snorted. “Bad enough they always made it clear I was a constant nuisance to them without adding some other poor kid to the mix.”
His childhood sounded miserable. The total opposite of her own. She was also an only child, but a treasured and loved one. “I really am sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Seth gave an unconcerned shrug. “I never think about it anymore.”
He probably didn’t, but that didn’t mean his childhood hadn’t affected the way he lived his own life. He didn’t appear to have formed any close attachments in adult life. Deliberately so, probably. Again, Diana couldn’t really comment on that, not after her own disastrous marriage to Jeremy.
“I dread to think what the kitchen is going to be like,” Seth muttered as he left the room to walk down the hallway toward the back of the house.
The kitchen was as antiquated as the rest of the house, plus the windows were so dirty in this room, it was gloomy as hell. In fact, the only positive things Seth could say about this safe house were that the electricity worked, the windows were bulletproof, and a state-of-the-art security system had been installed. Otherwise, it was as fusty and dusty as the back room of any museum.
Which was probably the reason Diana felt so at home.
She certainly seemed more relaxed here. As a consequence, more beautiful. More desirable.
God, she had felt so good in his arms earlier. Tasted good too. Her responses exquisite. Those uninhibited responses, the way she had come for him, not once but twice, had almost been his own undoing.
Because she trusted you, you stupid bastard.
It was a trust he’d taken advantage of.
Maybe so, but it really wasn’t a good idea for Diana to keep herself so distant from him. When she’d been in danger in Colombia, he’d had no choice but to knock her out so he could take her out of there.
There was a scowl on Seth’s face as he glanced at their surroundings. “It’s a bloody mausoleum!”
Diana grinned. “Which is exactly the reason I love it.”
Seth indulged himself by appreciating her smile for several seconds. Teasing. Even mischievous. Something he knew she’d had little reason to feel in recent months. “Dair must have been out of his mind to buy this place.” He gave a shake of his head.
“Dair…?”
“The owner of Grayson Security. Although I’m not sure he will be for much longer,” he added with a grimace. “I have a feeling he might sell. He’s all but retired anyway, and the other operatives are dropping like flies too.”
Diana froze. “They died?”
“Married. Which is as good as being dead,” he added disgustedly.
“I would argue that comment with you, but my own marriage was so awful, I really can’t recommend it.” She sighed. “My parents’ marriage has always been very happy, though.” She brightened a little.
“Lucky them.” Seth threw open the doors to a large sitting room, again filled with antique furnishings.
“Your own parents’ marriage isn’t happy?” Diana prompted curiously. She couldn’t help herself, Seth had offered up so little information about himself so far.
“Wasn’t,” he corrected tersely. “They both died in a car accident seventeen years ago. My father was drunk at the wheel. I survived the crash, and luckily, no other vehicle was involved. The lamppost took a beating, though.”
A thought occurred to her. “Is that how your face was cut—Sorry.” She winced as Seth’s eyes turned as hard as jet.
His fingers moved as if by habit to touch the six-inch scar down his left cheek and throat. “The car was a mess, all twisted metal. Some of it sliced through my face.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.” She shuddered as she could almost feel the metal slicing through his flesh. “I’m sorry.”
He mouth twisted humorlessly. “It’s the only legacy they left me.”
She winced at the bitterness she sensed behind the comment. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No, thank God.” He snorted. “Bad enough they always made it clear I was a constant nuisance to them without adding some other poor kid to the mix.”
His childhood sounded miserable. The total opposite of her own. She was also an only child, but a treasured and loved one. “I really am sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Seth gave an unconcerned shrug. “I never think about it anymore.”
He probably didn’t, but that didn’t mean his childhood hadn’t affected the way he lived his own life. He didn’t appear to have formed any close attachments in adult life. Deliberately so, probably. Again, Diana couldn’t really comment on that, not after her own disastrous marriage to Jeremy.
“I dread to think what the kitchen is going to be like,” Seth muttered as he left the room to walk down the hallway toward the back of the house.
The kitchen was as antiquated as the rest of the house, plus the windows were so dirty in this room, it was gloomy as hell. In fact, the only positive things Seth could say about this safe house were that the electricity worked, the windows were bulletproof, and a state-of-the-art security system had been installed. Otherwise, it was as fusty and dusty as the back room of any museum.
Which was probably the reason Diana felt so at home.
She certainly seemed more relaxed here. As a consequence, more beautiful. More desirable.
God, she had felt so good in his arms earlier. Tasted good too. Her responses exquisite. Those uninhibited responses, the way she had come for him, not once but twice, had almost been his own undoing.
Because she trusted you, you stupid bastard.
It was a trust he’d taken advantage of.
Maybe so, but it really wasn’t a good idea for Diana to keep herself so distant from him. When she’d been in danger in Colombia, he’d had no choice but to knock her out so he could take her out of there.
Similar Books
