Pierre cleared his throat.“I’ve also put together a dossier of sorts on all the artifacts that were stolen.And additional ones that might be at risk.”
He opened a new digital file.“I worked with Dr.Yoshimura today to gather provenance records, authentication documents, and even statements from cultural practitioners about each piece.”
“That’s great.Not sure what we will need that for, but I have a feeling it could be useful.Merci,Pierre.You were busy today.”
The house had gone quiet around them except for the electronic hum of Sophie’s tech equipment and the distant rumble of the dishwasher running.Despite the darkness of what they’d discussed involving the case, the moment felt oddly peaceful as they sat in companionable silence.
Sophie spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.“I’d forgotten what it was like to have someone to really talk to.”
Pierre’s chest tightened.“Different perspectives can be valuable,” he said lightly.
“More than valuable.”She turned to face him fully, and something in her expression made his heart rate spike.“Pierre, knowing I can count on you ...”
The moment stretched between them, fragile as a spiderweb, until a monitor across the room erupted in a series of electronic chimes.
Sophie was on her feet instantly.
She crossed to the screens.“Someone’s at the gate.”She pulled up the camera feed.“Bill’s on it.He’s ...talking to someone.This must be Connor’s operative arriving.”
Pierre moved beside her to see the screen.
A sleek black car had pulled up to the gate kiosk.The driver was visible through the windshield—a simply-dressed Asian man with his hands visible on the steering wheel, his posture relaxed but alert.
“I recognize him,” Sophie said sharply.She fumbled her phone from her pocket, her fingers finding the speed dial without looking.“Bill, let him in.It’s Feirn, Connor’s second in command.”
“I recognize him too.”Professional caution came through her phone’s speaker in Bill’s voice.“We’re checking the vehicle first to make sure it’s clear.”
On the monitors, Sophie’s security team materialized around the black car.They surrounded the vehicle with practiced efficiency, running bomb detection wands along its chassis, popping the trunk to verify its contents.A moment later the gate retracted and the car glided through like a shark entering a lagoon.
Sophie turned to Pierre.“Thank you for all this research.I need you to pass it on to Marcella and the FBI team immediately.But right now I have to deal with Feirn’s arrival.Connor said he was sending someone to help, but I didn’t expect it to be his closest lieutenant.”
“It shows how much he values you,” Pierre said carefully.
Sophie snorted and fired off what sounded like a particularly creative curse in Thai as she headed for the door, leaving it ajar for him to follow.
As Pierre began forwarding his research to the FBI team, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted between them.The tiny spark of hope in his chest burned a little brighter.
12
SOPHIE
“Twenty minutes to Wailea.”The pilot’s voice crackled through their headsets as the FBI helicopter banked over the Kaiwi Channel.Sophie pressed her face close to the window as the late afternoon sun painted Molokai’s sea cliffs in shades of green, black, and rust.The turquoise waters below churned white where the currents collided.She could almost taste the sea in the recycled cabin air.
Her stomach did a flip—not from the turbulence, but from familiar pre-mission tension coiling in her gut.She and Feirn, her new bodyguard, had been summoned by the FBI to accompany Special Agent Marcella Scott to the scene of the latest antiquity theft.This time the mysterious burglars had hit a private collector on Maui.
“So much for Dr.Yoshimura’s likely list of targets,” Sophie muttered.
Belted in across from her was Feirn, and beside him, Marcella.Feirn sat ramrod straight in his black Security Solutions tactical outfit.Connor’s choice to send Feirn still surprised Sophie.The Thai man was young, only in his twenties.Though strong and well-trained, there were more experienced and deadly ninjas Connor could have sent.
Her former lover had few he let into his inner circle, and Feirn was one of them.It must be as Pierre had said: Connor had sent the young man to Sophie because he trusted Feirn to protect her.
Meanwhile,Pierre.
She’d thought about kissing him last night.Almost had, in fact.
The way he fit in with her family was so comfortable; his interest in her children was genuine.Something about the intimacy of working together and the way his scent meshed with hers had been magnetic.Last night’s slightly rumpled expensive linen and unfamiliar beard shadow had made him almost ...irresistible.
She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed the gate alarm had stolen the moment.
