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I can’t help but smile smugly. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Celebrating the demise of a fellow human being.”

“I’ll dance on their graves if they’ve hurt you.”

“So romantic,” I gush falsely.

“I’ll romance the crap out of you, baby.” He rolls over me, pressing his dick against my pussy.

I giggle, which turns into a full-on laugh as he nuzzles my neck, tickling me. Harvey’s phone buzzes on the table next to us and he leans over to check it. I watch as the laughter leaves his eyes and his nostrils flare.

“Everything okay?”

He quickly places his phone down and plasters on a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Of course. I just need to pop out tomorrow, my grandmother needs help putting a shelf up.”

“Okay,” I say, forcing a smile but feeling a tug of doubt in the back of my head; one I haven’t felt around Harvey for a long time.

42

HARVEY

So, I’m in love with Annika Wolfe. The leader of a crime syndicate. The queen of evil. Or so I thought not so long ago. I’ll admit it’s mildly inconvenient. After watching her relax with the family she’s found and then having her beg me not to leave her while I brought her to orgasm, it came crashing over me like a bucket of ice water. I’m in love with Annika Wolfe.

I’d already made the decision that I needed to speak to the captain and tell him I would no longer be taking part in the mission. That I will graciously be turning down the opportunity to get my job back. But it seems he beat me to it. As I park up in the parking lot of the police station, I re-read his text for the hundredth time.

CAPTAIN:Meet me at the station tomorrow. Urgent update on the case. 10:00.

I take a deep breath, feeling seven kinds of anxiety. I hate to let down the guy who taught me everything I know about being a cop. The guy has been like a father to me for twenty years and I’m about to tell him that I’m abandoning him to work with theenemy. I mean, I’m not planning on explicitly telling him that I’m sticking with Annika, but it’ll be there in the subtext. I’m also worrying about what it is he has to say to me. What if he’s found something on Annika of his own accord and now needs my help to bring her down. Whatever this meeting is about, I don’t think I’ll be leaving with a smile.

I head up the steps to the front entrance and head straight for the second floor where my old bullpen sits, on the other side of Captain Marks’ office. When the elevator opens, I can feel all the eyes on me as I walk through the desks. Judgement is thick, like constantly walking through a velvet curtain. I keep my eyes ahead of me, not letting them see that I feel their gazes.

“Oh, hey detective.”

I look up to find a young and fresh-faced uni standing from a desk. “Hi Gibson.” I don’t stop walking, but he falls in line beside me. “It’s not detective anymore.”

His freckled cheeks blush as he looks to the floor. “Right. Still, I just wanted to say it’s good to see you back here again.”

“Thank you.” I give him a tight smile. He’s a good kid, young and enthusiastic. He’s helped me on a couple of cases in the past and I have always admired his dedication.

“Good luck in there,” he says shyly as we reach Gary’s office.

“Thanks.”

I knock and hear the captain beckon me in. Swinging the door open, I find Marks sat behind his desk as usual, a steaming mug of black coffee in front of him. He smiles when he sees me, which seems to settle some anxiety. It seems even as a nearly forty year old man, being in trouble with my superior still makes me nervous.

“Harv! Come on in, shut the door.” He’s jollier than I think I’ve ever seen him, his smile broad and his cheeks rosy. If he had a beard, he’d look like Santa.

“Captain,” I greet, taking a seat opposite him.

“How’ve you been, son?”

“Good,” I say cautiously. “I still don’t have anything for you.”

The smile drops from his eyes but not his mouth. He drops his gaze to the desk and readjusts some paperwork that’s spread out haphazardly. “I see. That’s okay, it’s not why I asked you here.”

“Okay. Then why am I here?”

“We’re dropping the mission, Harv. You can stop working with The Talons.”

I swear my heartbeat can be heard all the way across the bullpen. “Okay, why?”