small talk and when they lapped past Kate, she waved. Another two laps and they stopped in front of her sister-in-law. “This is Kate, Tommy’s mother.”
“Hi, there.”
“Nice to see you again. No skating, I presume.”
“Not safe enough.”
“Would you two like some hot chocolate?”
They both nodded. When he skated off, and Alessia plopped down, Kate said, “Speaking of hot chocolate, that’s the color of Mr. Baron’s eyes.”
“Yeah. I noticed.”
“That’s something new.”
“Why?”
“There was a time when you would never have noticed. Looks like your relationship with Derek has opened you up to more possibilities.”
She stared at Kate, then said, “After Gideon’s accident, I admitted I felt more than friendship for him.”
“Yeah, honey, it was pretty obvious at the wedding and Thanksgiving. Does he feel the same?”
“He cares about me, but he isn’t ready to get serious.”
“He certainly acts like he’s ready. But if he’s not, maybe you should flirt a little with that attractive hunk of man heading over with the drinks that match his eyes.”
“Huh. Maybe.” But Alessia just didn’t have it in her to flirt with other guys.
* * *
They headed to the diner together and Grant fumed. The wind mussed his gray hair and his eyes were flaming. “This fucking ticks me off, Drake. I told you repeatedly to stay away from her.”
“I know. You were right. However, we have to deal with the situation at hand.”
“I have the research on him. He’s clean. So, we can tell him what we’re doing.”
“I suppose that’s good news.”
When they entered the diner, the chatter of patrons, the rattle of dishes filled the air. Ronan sat in the back booth. His brows rose when he saw Grant. When they took seats, Derek said, “Ronan, this is my colleague, Grant Wilson. He’s my handler.”
Ronan nodded to Grant.
“So,” Derek began. “Grant says we vetted you.”
“Ha. I’ve been vetted by law enforcement before.”
“Yeah, you come up clean.”
“And?”
“I’m going to read you in on this because we don’t have an alternative.” Grant’s tone was reluctant. Stern. “I’m not happy about it, Casella, but it’s a necessary risk now that you’ve made yourself a problem for us.”
Ronan’s gaze turned hot. “I’m not happy about my cousin being duped.”
“Derek is a topnotch undercover agent with the FBI. He recently joined a task force which includes police, social services and the FBI.”
“What for?”
“We suspect there’s a covert human trafficking ring at City College and may extend to other institutions. Derek’s job is to locate the victims and ferret out who in the administration is facilitating the abductions.”
Ronan didn’t show shock. But his jaw pulsed. Derek guessed this was something he’d never even considered. Why would he? “If it’s this important, why tell me?”
“Because we don’t think you’re involved in the ring.”
“Christ. Of course, I’m not. So, what the fuck is he doing fooling around with my cousin?”
“I’ve objected all along about his closeness with Alessia. He didn’t listen.”
“Why, Drake. Surely you know you’re endangering her.”
“I—I can’t answer that.”
“Then I’m going to tell her about you.”
“Ronan, you can’t do that. The more people that know, including you, the less likely we’ll zero in on the culprits.”
“Then stop seeing Alessia. You were at Hayley’s wedding and at Thanksgiving. Sounds to me like it’s serious.”
It was. He couldn’t continue to kid himself about that fact. And they were right. If something he did endangered Alessia, he’d never forgive himself.
There was only one way out of this. “All right, I’ll stop spending time with her.”
“That’s what I want.
It wasn’t what Derek wanted. In truth, he felt gutted by the thought.
* * *
Anxious to see Derek tonight, Alessia tried to banish the fact that he hadn’t texted or called her over the weekend to see how she—or Gideon, for that matter—was doing. But first, she went in the administrative entrance and headed to Jane Carlin’s office to drop off her final schedule for classes next semester. She had plenty of time before class so she could see Derek.
When she got to Jane’s office, she found the door ajar. A murmur of voices flooded out. The deeper one was familiar. “I know,” Derek said “I had a great time Saturday, too. How about going to a play this week?”
A feminine giggle. Jane. “Nah, let me cook dinner for you. At my place.”
A male chuckle. “If you insist, sweetheart.”
Alessia almost dropped her purse. She was grateful she didn’t and pivoted, then bolted down the hall. She reached the stairwell and dropped down on the top step. She put her head in her hands.
What were you thinking,