Eli Bell is the only son of a police chief inspector and a forensic scientist. He's grown up wonky in a world that only deals with the straight and narrow -- and his new boyfriend isn't helping. Rob Hawkes is six feet of muscle, tattoos, and arrest warrants. A career criminal and a former guest of Her Majesty's Prison Service, he'd rather hit Eli's parents than sit down to dinner with them. One wrong move, and Rob could destroy Eli -- and his family -- without a second thought. But this isn't what it looks like. Rob's not in control here -- and Eli's the one to blame.

What It Looks Like

“You know a record on a computer screen,” Eli snapped. “You know rumours and hearsay around your stations—and if you did look up Rob’s criminal record, that’s atotal violation, you had no—what is it, no policing purpose?—no good reason to.”


Dad went scarlet. “Are you accusing me of—”


“Stop it, both of you!” Mum shouted, banging the bowl of dough on the counter loudly to get their attention. “Now calm down. Everyone just calm down.”


Eli stared at the oven, and willed it to explode.


“Right,” Mum said, rinsing her hands off. “Eli, you must understand why we’re upset. Christmas is a time for family, and we don’t feel you’ve known Rob long enough for him to be family…”


Chapter 9