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What was she implying? That she wanted to see more of him when the assignment was over? His brain scrambled to see outside of this moment. Did she feel the spark between them? “I—we work. I mean . . . this partnership works well between us.” Why was his tongue always tied in knots around her? His mind conjured a myriad of words to describe Kira.

Beautiful. Intense. Alluring.

Dangerous.

But none of that came out. At least he hadn’t called her adequate again.

She gave his arm a squeeze. “We work.”

Wait, did he imagine that she just leaned in a fraction of an inch closer? He mirrored the subtle movement. His focus zeroed in on her lips, stained burgundy from a makeover with her new friend. His vision hazed over and he felt a little lightheaded. If they got any closer, he’d kiss her.

He reached up and caressed her cheek with his thumb. She didn’t pull away. With a tilt of his head, his lips hovered over hers. His heart thumped.

The sound of a gunshot jarred him out of the most perfect moment in his life, saving him from the inevitable regret that was sure to follow.

12

THE FACT THAT KIRA had almost kissed Bryce took a back seat to the sound of a gunshot.

She’d unpack her emotional baggage later. “That was a . . .”

“Gunshot? Yes. It came from next door.” Bryce was on his feet, gun in his hand, and halfway out the front door before Kira regained her senses. The back door clanged as Agent Hudson headed out to investigate. Kira palmed her own weapon and raced after Bryce.

The brownstone next door had lights blazing in every room. Alex’s security team streamed in and out of the house, and a few congregated in front of their unit. They didn’t have to walk far to peer over the hedges and see a man, lying still, on the front steps of the Dominik residence.

A Mercedes pulled up to the curb and parked. Ivan Sokolov stepped out. The man must have radar, because anytime there was a whiff of danger or drama, he inserted himself right into the middle of it.

Ivan spotted Kira and Bryce standing in their front yard and sauntered over as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“What happened?” he asked. “Alex called me with an emergency.”

Kira decided to work with the man and tell him what she knew. Which wasn’t much. “We heard what we think was a gunshot. Maybe a break-in?”

Ivan walked toward the Dominiks’ residence like he owned the place. Kira shot Bryce a look, and he raised his shoulders slightly, so they followed the man until Bryce stopped short.

They stood behind the row of bushes that separated the two houses. From her vantage point, she could see a hand sticking out from under a rumpled bomber jacket. “A dead body. And that jacket seems familiar, doesn’t it?”

“That explains the gunshot,” Bryce whispered. “And we’ve definitely seen that jacket before.”

Derek Young had been wearing that exact same jacket.

She pointed to the back of the brownstone. “I’ll watch out front. You should back up Hudson and monitor anyone coming and going from next door.”

He put his hands on his hips. “I’m not leaving you alone. At a murder scene with all these—”

“I’ll be fine. I just think we need to cover our bases. Now go.”

“Fine.” His growl conveyed his resistance, but he headed through their unit to the back of the property.

Kira kept watch through the hedges. Ivan had disappeared. Sirens sounded in the background. She’d have to watch her cover with the police involved and fired off a text to SSA Turner asking if he’d notify the authorities of the FBI presence.

At least the action shut down her inner monologue that nagged her about getting too close to Bryce. The man wasn’t looking for a relationship—he’d made that clear—and she most definitely wasn’t interested in getting involved with a colleague from another state. She’d made that mistake once.

And yet, Bryce had opened up to her, sharing some of his darkest childhood trauma. If only she could reciprocate. Emotional expressions never came easy to her. It was best to move on, create something new—not rehash the past.

Her heart stirred at the dismal upbringing he had that mirrored her own. She knew what it was like to work twice as hard to prove her worth. Which was why she refused to revisit her past.

She spotted Sophia standing on the other side of the yard, away from the body.