I narrowed my gaze at him as Lee warned, “That’s enough, Trev.”

The younger brother flopped back in his seat, muttering, “Your girlfriend needs to chill out.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I protested at the same time Trevor’s gaze wandered to Lee’s hand firmly grasping my thigh. He shot me a cynical look that said it all. Sure you’re not.

A second later, his phone beeped and he pulled it out to read the message. I turned back around in my seat.

“Hey, where are we, bruv?” Trevor asked.

“Just coming up to Bethnal Green.”

“Pull up here and let me out. Got a few things to take care of.”

Lee stared at Trevor through the mirror, and they shared a moment of that weird silent communication again. Without questioning him, Lee stopped the car and his brother hopped out. When we were back on the road, I shot him a curious look.

“Where’s he off to?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“It’s almost two o’clock in the morning.”

“And Trevor’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

Now that we were alone in the car, Lee’s hand moved farther up my thigh. My skin prickled with goose bumps and I closed my eyes for a second, trying to summon the ability to think straight. When I opened them again, the engine was off, and I looked up to see we were parked outside my building.

“Come here,” Lee said, his voice a low command.

“I’d better get inside.”

“Not yet,” he argued, and grabbed my hand.

He lifted my body deftly until I was sitting astride him in the driver’s seat, his fingers trailing up and down the outside of my thighs. I heaved a shuddering a breath. He stared up at me with his mouth hanging slightly open. Looking like that, he was more or less impossible to resist. The adoration in his eyes made my chest feel too tight, and when he began to harden against me, I was done for.

It was late, and there was nobody around. Still, I shouldn’t have been considering having sex with Lee Cross in the front seat of his car where anyone could see.

“I can’t do this,” I said, shaking my head.

Reaching forward, Lee gripped the back of my neck and pulled my mouth to his for a quick, hard kiss. “Break the rules, Karla. Just this once,” he said breathlessly as his hands trailed down my body to palm my arse.

I whimpered when he squeezed, pulling me tight to his erection. Before I could protest further, he slid my underwear to the side and plunged two fingers inside me.

“Wet,” he hissed, and I melted against him, my face falling to the crook of his neck.

“Look at me. I need your eyes,” Lee said, and I pulled back, watching while he coaxed me to orgasm. He continued fingering me, and when his thumb moved over my clit, I moaned. “That’s it — give me those eyes. You’re so beautiful.”

His chest rose and fell as he watched me, his gaze glittering in the dark. The intensity in his expression made me flush, my breaths and sighs filling the small confines of the car. I bent down and kissed him. When I slid my tongue inside his mouth, I was rewarded with a deep, masculine groan, and the next time he circled my clit, I came with an unexpected ferocity right on his hand.

It took me a long time to recover, but Lee just held me, one hand running soothingly up and down my spine.

“Come on, I’ll walk you up to your flat,” he said, finally breaking the quiet.

I was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was still hard. Moving my hand to his crotch, I rubbed and whispered, “Do you need something?”

Lee groaned but grabbed my hand, stopping my movement. “As much as it pains me to say this, I’ll be okay.”

Staring at him, I watched his Adam’s apple as it bobbed in his throat, and I knew it really had taken a lot for him to say no. I wondered why all of a sudden he wanted the night to be over. Dark shadows flickered in his expression, and I knew he had other things on his mind. Things that hadn’t been there earlier tonight. It was the guy who’d been standing outside his car; something about the whole encounter had been just downright off.

My voice was quiet when I asked, “Do you have a lot of enemies, Lee?”

He turned back to me, his face intense as he answered, “It comes with the territory, Karla.”

***

It didn’t take me long to fall asleep that night, but the next morning when I woke up, everything came crashing down on me like a tonne of bricks. I couldn’t believe what I’d done, couldn’t believe I’d given in so easily. I may not have been the strongest woman in the world, but I’d always prided myself on living my life by a firm set of principles. Then Lee came along and threw a bomb on my rules, reducing them to a pile of meaningless rubble.

Now I wasn’t sure I had it in me to resist him, but really, it was all my fault. I never should have started texting him so regularly. It had allowed me to get to know him, but, more importantly, it had allowed him to get under my skin.

Seeing him in the club last night after interacting with him remotely for so long had felt drugging; I’d been completely under his spell.

 Anyhow, at least I had the day off and could take some time getting my head around everything. Alexis and I went grocery shopping, and then we caught a movie and got gelato on the way home. If my best friend hadn’t been so wrapped up in her own problems, I was sure she would have noticed there was something wrong with me. I’d deliberately left my phone off all day, telling myself it was because I wanted to go unplugged for a while. The truth was, I was afraid of Lee calling, and even more afraid of the fact that I wouldn’t be able to resist answering.

Remembering the man standing beside his car the night before, I knew I had to stop this before I got in too deep. He had enemies, and if any of them discovered Lee was conducting a relationship with a cop, it wouldn’t end pretty for either one of us.

Several days passed and I was back to work, finding a strange sort of relief in keeping busy. Tony and I were sent on call after call, from burglaries to street muggings to road accidents. We’d just pulled up outside a high-end clothing boutique, where a young woman was being held after a shop assistant caught her trying to steal some lingerie.

“You want to take this one?” Tony asked, shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat.

“Hey, I took the lead on the last call, and I need a break. You should go in. Fair’s fair.

He frowned. “Fine. I’ll be back in a few.”

Getting out, he slammed the car door, disgruntled, and made his way inside the boutique. Picturing him having to question the woman on the nature of the items she’d stolen made me grin, and I realised it had been my first proper smile in days. My phone chimed in my pocket and I pulled it out, finding a message from Alexis asking if I could grab milk on my way home.

I’d received a number of calls and messages from Lee, but nothing in the last two days. After I’d consistently ignored him, perhaps he’d given up. A guy like Lee didn’t need to pine after any woman; I was sure there were harems just waiting for a chance to keep his bed warm. All of a sudden, my grin faltered and I found myself frowning. I rubbed my thumb across the screen, scrolling through the texts he’d sent and feeling forlorn. I wanted him, but this was for the best. As I’d said, nothing good could come of us being together.

It was just as I was sliding the phone back in my pocket that I heard the car door open and Tony climbed inside.

“That was quick,” I said, lifting my head. When I saw who’d entered the car, all thought fled my mind. It wasn’t Tony. It was Lee. How the hell had he found me here?

I swallowed thickly, a bunch of gobbledygook coming out of my mouth, “You…ah…what the…huh?”

Lee didn’t smile at my fluster, but instead he stared forward, his lips set in a firm line as he slammed the door closed. He didn’t say a word as I gaped at him, and when the silence became too much, I finally managed to ask, “What are you doing here?”