Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(58)

Ava had joined the police force with the aim of never being powerless again. Being an FBI agent reinforced that need. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if her job was taken away from her.

And now Dominic was trying to negotiate with a man who’d decided a seven-year-old girl wasn’t even worth a bullet.

Did she tell Dominic the truth and risk him sending her away? The thought of losing her job made her feel physically ill. But she wanted to be braver. She wanted to trust…

Was he awake? She listened attentively for the sound of his breathing, but she couldn’t hear a thing. Slightly panicked that he’d left her here alone, she caught the bottom of the makeshift curtain and raised it high enough to see the man lying on his back, features softened in sleep.

She stared, taking in the straight nose, thick brows and stubborn jaw. The bruises from the accident looked like darker shadows in this dusky twilight. His lips were parted, and she found herself wondering what it might be like to kiss him.

He rolled onto the side facing her and suddenly opened his eyes.

Ava froze, then whispered slowly, “I thought you might have left me behind…” She tried to swallow her mortification at being caught staring at him. The words revealed more than she wanted.

He reached out and touched her cheek, which was more or less healed now. “Still here, Kanas. Go back to sleep. It’s four AM.”

Her heart pounded crazily as she held his gaze. She should tell him about Gino. Confide the truth. He’d understand and wouldn’t send her away. His palm was so hot against her skin it burned. She wanted to get closer to that heat. The craving was so overwhelming it terrified her, paralyzed her.

He removed his hand with a slight smile that she could get used to and sleepily closed his eyes. Murmured, “Go to sleep, Ava.”

She lay there staring up at the ceiling, until dawn flooded the room with light. She didn’t sleep another wink.

*

When Dominic woke at six, he discovered Ava had left a breakfast sandwich in the kitchenette along with a cup of coffee, which he assumed were for him. He got dressed and took his breakfast outside.

Where was she?

He found her talking to one of the HRT guys. She was dressed in another black pantsuit with the sleeves rolled up, blue, beaded bracelet adorning her wrist. Combined with the shoulder holster and long hair pinned up in a messy bun, the woman looked hot as hell.

Dominic was friendly with most of the team even if there was some residual institutionalized rivalry between these two sections of the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG). HRT and SWAT guys were the tip of the spear when it came to the Federal Government’s toolbox, but at the end of the day everyone wanted to go home. Negotiators helped end standoffs nonviolently when at all possible and after the debacles of Ruby Ridge and Waco—thank you, ATF, for those fuck ups—the FBI had been authorized by Congress to use peaceful means to end sieges when at all possible.

Dominic walked over and nodded to the guy and recognized the male glint of interest in the agent’s eyes. The guy was hot for Kanas and probably trying to get her number.

Who wouldn’t?

Dominic remembered reaching out and touching Ava’s cheek in the small hours and mentally winced. The touch had settled something deep inside him. And she hadn’t flinched away like she had on the roof the day of Van’s funeral—he still didn’t know where she’d gotten that damn scar, but he’d find out eventually. Dominic had had to clamp down on the desire to draw her close and tuck her in beside him. Who knew what would have happened then. In his imagination some scorching hot sex where they both got off multiple times. She’d probably lain on the mattress terrified all night.

“Morning.” He greeted them both. “Thanks for breakfast,” he said to Ava, finishing off the sandwich and crumpling the wrapper with one hand.

“Any progress with the prisoners?” the HRT agent asked him.

“I got out of bed five minutes ago so you probably know more than me.” His voice came out a little sharp, which he did not need. “Ava, can I have a word?”

Her hazel eyes went wide. She thought she was in trouble. “Of course.”

A small smile twisted the HRT agent’s mouth, and he backed away out of earshot. He knew why Dominic was snarky. Fucker.

“So about last night—”

Her eyes went massive. “I am so sorry—”

“Why the hell are you sorry?”

“Because you must think I’m a freak to have been staring at you like that.”

Dominic blinked. He hadn’t even thought about it which was odd considering how rarely he slept so close to another person. “That’s not it. I was going to apologize for touching your face.”

“My face?” Ava touched her cheek in the same place he had last night. The graze had healed well with just a small, brown scab marking the spot.

“I realize I overstepped what is probably considered appropriate boundaries.” His face heated. He hadn’t been this humiliated since he’d woken up in bed with Suzanna after a drunken hookup he couldn’t even remember.

Lines appeared between her brows as her forehead crinkled. “I didn’t think you touching my face was inappropriate.” She sounded confused by the idea. “Maybe it depends on whether or not the other person wants to be touched?” Her cheeks filled with the same amount of color as his, and she went to take a step back, but there was a wall behind her.