looking at her … oddly. As if he could see under her professional shield. She cleared her throat, feeling scrutinized and suddenly nervous. “My mom is a terrific cook.”
“I’m famished,” Dean said and sat down. He picked up the deck of cards. “What are you playing?”
“We were teaching Andres crazy eights.”
Dean smiled. “How about five-card draw?” He turned to Andres and said to him in Spanish, “Would you like to learn how to play poker?”
Andres’s eyes lit up. “I know how to play poker.”
“Well, let’s get a game on.”
Owen Knight left the room for a moment and came back with a box of poker chips. “A penny a chip.”
“You’ve gotten cheap, Dad,” Sonia said.
“We have federal law enforcement in the kitchen, I don’t want to be under indictment for illegal gambling.”
“I’ll grant you immunity tonight,” Dean said.
Dean watched Sonia interact with her family. She was still a bit on edge, but the events of the day, starting with Charlie Cammarata breaking into her house at three-thirty that morning, had to have worn her down. The adrenaline from the fear for her family had been replaced by relief, and now she was simply exhausted. But content. She seemed to draw both strength and comfort from the Knights. He’d seen how close she was to her brother, Riley, and now he realized that Sonia was all business, all the time, except when she was with her family.
She wasn’t playing cards with them, but stood at the counter and ate stew, chatting with Sean Rogan who was young-maybe twenty-two, twenty-three. Duke Rogan sat with Owen, Dean, and the ten-year-old Andres as they played a couple rounds of five-card draw.
Dean had a good childhood, but he wasn’t particularly close with his family. His dad died years ago; his brother, now married, lived in San Diego, three thousand miles from Dean’s home in D.C. He and Will had been pals growing up, but time and distance and demanding careers had separated them. Then their mother relocated to Florida and spent half the year traveling with her seniors’ group. They connected in person once or twice a year, and Dean had thought that was good enough.
Seeing Sonia with her family made him realize that it wasn’t. He should have made more of an effort to stay in contact with Will. The last time Dean had seen his brother was over a year ago, at his wedding. Dean had taken a week’s vacation, but cut it short by two days because of a break in one of his cases. That was two days he could have spent with his brother.
He envied the closeness Sonia had with her family. And he certainly now saw her in a different light. This smiling, relaxed Sonia was the Sonia hidden inside the fiery, passionate ICE agent. When she let her hair down, she was happy. Because she had her family to support and love her come hell or high water.
Dean caught Sonia watching him playing poker. He couldn’t read her mind, but she didn’t avert her eyes. He was drawn to her in ways he shouldn’t be thinking about, physically attracted but also with feelings that went deeper than lust. Feelings he shouldn’t be experiencing. She was a colleague, not a potential girlfriend. Still, he couldn’t help that he was seriously attracted.
Sonia Knight was beautiful, but she was also far more than a pretty face and hot body. She was smart and dedicated and driven. She didn’t let up on the job, she didn’t pretend to be anything but what she was. She had confidence, but in that confidence she was able to listen to others and allow others to help. Yet there was a vulnerability inside that showed itself only when she was worried. About Ann in the hospital, or the Vegas, or her family.
Her mouth parted slightly, full lips begging to be kissed. She glanced away with a hint of a blush tinting her tan, regal cheeks. What was she thinking? The same private thoughts that Dean had? That he wanted to be alone with her? That he wanted to touch her? He wanted to do more than touch her.
Her profile was elegant, aristocratic. Her nose long and slender, her neck even longer. Her large breasts were barely restrained beneath her standard black T-shirt. She’d taken off her light jacket; it was draped over a kitchen stool. Her stomach was flat, her waist narrow, and her long, long legs encased in well-worn, fitted jeans.
Ignoring the cards in his hand, Dean soaked all of her in. He noted that though Sonia was relaxed, she hadn’t stopped moving, a bundle of nervous energy. She helped her mother rinse out the bowls and put the remainder of the stew away, then wiped down the counters, though to Dean they looked clean enough to eat on. And when that was done, she grabbed a broom from the cabinet and swept the hardwood floor.
He wondered if she ever stopped moving, even when she slept. He wondered if he’d get a chance to find out.
She caught him staring again.
“I think you just lost to a ten-year-old,” she said with a smirk.
Dean returned his focus to the game. Andres was grinning, as were Duke and Owen. “Full house, right?” said the young card shark.
“Sure is.” Dean pushed his chips over to Andres. “Well, I’m out. We have a long day tomorrow. The stew was delicious, Mrs. Knight.”
“Thank you, Agent Hooper. You’re welcome anytime.”
Duke walked outside with Sonia and Dean. “Don’t worry about your family,” Duke told Sonia. “I’ll keep them safe.”
“Thank you,” she answered, though Dean knew she’d continue to worry until this case was over.
“No thanks necessary.” Duke took her hands in his and said with intensity, “You be careful, too. Kane said these people are vicious.”
“I’m always careful,” Sonia said.
“And I have her back,” Dean added, not quite sure what the relationship was between Sonia and the Rogans-specifically, the elusive Kane Rogan-and fearing that maybe she wasn’t a free woman.
He aimed to find out. Tonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dean walked Sonia into her small, tidy bungalow. There was a small light on in every room and Sonia felt the need to explain, though she sounded a bit sheepish. “I don’t like walking into a dark house. I have night-lights on a timer.”
Though Dean knew what Sonia meant, he let her save face and said, “I don’t blame you. Smart, from a security perspective.” Her bungalow wasn’t homey and well lived in like the Knight family house two blocks away. Dean suspected Sonia didn’t do much but sleep here, but it had a certain charm in the details: a collection of stuffed teddy bears dominated the love seat in the corner of the living room, lacy curtains covered generic venetian blinds, and perhaps the most revealing, an entire wall in the dining room was decorated with photographs of Sonia with her family.
But he was surprised that she didn’t have a security system.
“Why don’t you have an alarm?”
“I never felt the need for one,” she admitted. “Until now. But I’m okay.”
“You won’t mind if I stay here tonight, will you? There are two agents outside, but-”
“Wait.” She stared at him pointedly. “You have two agents watching my house?”
“I was going to tell you,” Dean fibbed. “It’s been a busy day.” Sonia was obviously irritated but too tired to argue. “Get some sleep,” he told her. “I’ll kick back on the couch.”
“I have a guest room,” she said.
“I’d rather be out here.”
“I’ll keep you company for a while.” She went into the kitchen and called, “Thirsty?”
“I’m fine.” He looked at the pictures on the wall. Sonia seemed to have been born a teenager. There were no childhood photos of her.
She came back with a half-glass of white wine and sipped, standing next to him. “That’s Max,” she said, pointing to a tall dark-haired young Marine in full dress. “He’s in Afghanistan right now. Career military.”
“Good for him, and for our country. I was in the Marines for three years.”
