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 need to get yourself home, love,” the nurse said.


“Can’t,” Eli mumbled, the brightness of the phone screen hurting his eyes, then—


Then he jumped up from the chair and was making a beeline for the door.


Out of surgery. ward 3 bay 2 theres a green curten by the door.


He forwarded the text to his mother and broke into a light jog as he headed for the stairs. It was irrational, the way his heart was pounding against his ribs. He knew Rob, he knew Danny—if there was bad news, Danny would have come and got him in person, or…or called, if he couldn’t leave Rob. Neither of them said heavy shit by text, they weren’t those kinds of guys, and yet…


And yet Eli’s fingers felt hot and wet with Rob’s blood again, the phantom sensation disturbing and chilling. It hadn’t been that bad—Rob had still been conscious when they took him in the ambulance, after all—but then…how could that much blood not be bad? It had been everywhere, and Rob had been so white…


Chapter 86