Renegade Alpha (ALPHA 5) Read Free

ask for their help anyway. These men all owed her father, and she was here to collect.
    She gave a tight smile. “Must have been some night.”
    He ran a tired hand over his face. “You have no idea.”
    Callie wasn’t sure she wanted to know either. “I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep, Mr. Smith. Perhaps I should just talk to Mr. Armstrong instead and let you get back to it.”
    “Lijah,” he growled.
    “Short for Elijah?”
    “Short for Lijah.” He stood up.
    And up.
    And up.
    Lord, this man wasn’t just muscle, he was tall too, at least three, possibly four inches over six feet. Which caused Callie to tilt her head back in order to be able to look at him as he strolled round to lean back against the desk next to the other man.
    If she had thought there was too much testosterone in the room before, then the close proximity of these two men now became totally overwhelming.
    Lijah Smith gave off— No, he didn’t just give off an air of danger. He undoubtedly was dangerous.
    Seth Armstrong had at least made an attempt at urbanity by wearing the suit. A sophistication totally belied by those wicked dark eyes and the vicious scar on his face.
    These two men might be as different to look at as night and day, but they were both undoubtedly the warriors her father had described his men as being.
    Good.
    Because warriors were exactly what Callie was going to need if she was going to find her father.
    Wherever he might be…

Chapter 2
    “Hey.” Seth Armstrong reached out and caught Callie’s arm as she swayed slightly on her feet even as she felt the blood drain from her cheeks.
    No doubt out of a feeling of relief, because she no longer felt quite so alone in her worry over her father.
    “Here, sit down.” Seth helped her to sit in the chair facing the desk. “Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee? Something stronger? I’m sure Lijah has a bottle of scotch hidden away somewhere in one of his desk drawers,” he added with a derisive sideways glance at the other man.
    A man who hadn’t made a move to prevent Callie from falling but instead continued to observe her guardedly through that fringe of dark lashes.
    Callie felt uncomfortably self-conscious under the intensity of that indigo gaze. As if Lijah Smith saw past the effort she was making to cover up her desperation and worry, as well as the makeup she’d worn to hide the pallor of her cheeks and the shadows beneath her eyes from too many sleepless nights. It felt as if that piercing gaze saw straight into her “bleeding heart.”
    She dragged her gaze away from his as she turned to smile gratefully at the other man. “Tea would be lovely, thank you, Mr. Armstrong.”
    “Seth,” he invited smoothly. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”
    Callie’s smile faded as she realized Seth had to leave the room in order to go and make the cup of tea.
    Leaving her alone with a now fully alert and watchful Lijah Smith.
    “So.” Callie gave him a nervous smile after several long seconds of uncomfortable silence.
    “So,” he echoed in a slow drawl.
    She shifted restlessly. “Has Mr. Grayson retired from the company?”
    Those chiseled lips twisted into a humorless smile. “Tamed and loving every minute of it might better describe his current situation.”
    Her eyes widened. “Tamed…?”
    “Long story,” he dismissed. “Exactly what are you doing here, Miss Morgan?”
    “I already told you, I came to speak to Mr. Grayson—”
    “No, I meant if there’s a problem, then why are you here and not Peter?” His tone was hard and implacable.
    Callie’s gaze shifted down to those scuffed cowboy boots. Now that it had actually come down to the moment of telling these men why she needed their help, she didn’t even know where to begin.
    Because it was Lijah Smith she was talking to.
    Something about this enigmatic man unnerved her. Inwardly disturbed her in a way she could never remember being disturbed by anyone else before.
    Maybe it was those