She let go of the door to grab the towel, but the damn thing started to swing open. Dominic stuck his foot to stop it.
God. Even the idea of seeing her naked was stirring his blood. Dammit. “If you’re finished in there, how about you get dried and dressed out here while I grab a shower?”
“Good idea. Just give me a second.” She came out wrapped in a towel that hit mid-thigh. Her shoulders were bare. Perfect collarbones emphasized a long, slender neck and pointed chin. She was brushing her wet hair completely unaware that she looked absolutely stunning. “It’s all yours.”
If only.
Dominic hated himself for being turned on by this woman, this rookie agent. But there was nothing he could do about it right now except not get involved. They were stuck with each other.
He went inside the tiny bathroom, stripped off and turned on the cold water before stepping under the freezing spray. Anything to get his body under control and his blood cooled.
Chapter Sixteen
Ava woke in the middle of the night disorientated and confused as to where she was and why she was sleeping on the floor. Slowly her night vision made out the slivers of light coming through cheap venetian blinds. Muted sounds of police radios crackled in the distance.
She was in the trailer near the prison just outside Buffalo. She rolled over and tried to get comfortable, but no matter what, she was wide awake.
Yesterday had been traumatic, but she’d got through it without Sheridan suspecting anything was amiss. Hearing Gino-the-snake’s voice had whipped her back to the night her father died. The long, tedious months of living in safe houses with a team of US Deputy Marshals protecting them from threats of intimidation and death before she’d been called to testify against the man.
Gino had shot her father and then smashed the same gun into her face and kicked her as she lay unconscious on the floor, left for dead. They were to be examples in the tough Greek community as to what happened if you didn’t pay “protection” money. Her mother had found her alive and called the FBI rather than the cops because she had a cousin who had a cousin who worked for the FBI in New York. That cousin of a cousin had turned out to be a man named Vangelis Stamos—who’d had a profound effect on Ava’s life from the day they met.
Van was the man who’d persuaded her terrified mother that the only way they’d get justice for her husband was by pretending little Emmeleia Stophodopolis was dead—until she turned up and testified in court. Emmeleia had her own white coffin and her name was engraved on her father’s tombstone. Van had talked her mom into changing their identities and entering the witness protection program. Considering it meant leaving behind her entire life, this was not a minor undertaking.
Ava’s mother was her hero. She’d sacrificed so much to keep her kids safe while still standing up to the bad guys.
Van had helped them when they’d moved. He’d suggested a small town just outside Portland, Oregon, where many of his relatives lived. The tight Greek community had helped hide them and also supported them by giving her mother a job and a place to live.
Then the court case had happened. DNA and ballistics evidence, combined with photographs of Emmeleia’s injuries, of her father’s brutally slain body, and her unshakable eye-witness testimony had been enough to convict Gino and one of his associates. That associate, a man who’d only recently been initiated into the crime family, had rolled on the others and enabled the Feds to dismantle the entire corrupt empire as well as landing most of the players in prison for life without parole. To say Ava’s real identity was unpopular with Cosa Nostra was an understatement. But no one knew who that girl was anymore. No one. Not even Dominic Sheridan.
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.