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

It wasn’t a graceful move—it was a single, hard, boxer’s punch. It landed square in the centre of the kid’s face, Rob’s arm faster than a lightning strike, and Eli heard the sick crunch of the kid’s nose. He dropped, for good this time, and Eli saw the advantage Rob had when the other two hesitated before attacking—they were already scared of him, despite Danny’s lounging and non-interference, despite their being armed and Rob not.


One of them smashed what looked in the gloom to be a screwdriver down in a stabbing motion, but his aim was poor and his speed crap. Rob caught his wrist and snapped it with a deft twist, effortlessly bringing the kid to his knees. He cut off the yowl by kneeing the kid in the underside of the jaw. The clank of teeth didn’t come; the muffled scream and the flood of blood down his chin said why.


Chapter 81