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CHAPTER TWENTY

N ina tugged at her hair and shot Robert a glance. The man kept surprising her at every turn, whether it was asking her out for a drink or accusing her of setting fire to the nightclub.

That afternoon, Billy had painted yet another picture of Robert, a very believable picture. Hell, the man had let her cry on his shoulder after she’d confessed to a murder.

Once again she snuck a look. The more time she spent with him, the more she… started to feel something for him.

When he’d hightailed it out of the pub, Nina had run after him. They hadn’t spoken on their way back to the flat or since. She’d noticed how he clammed up after something intense occurred. Still, the silence between them felt easy, almost companionable, like she supported him just by being there.

After she’d left Mumbai aged twenty-four, Nina hadn’t really been there for anyone. And no one had been there for… She cleared her throat. ‘How long have you been a cop?’

Robert frowned. ‘Fifteen years, give or take. I joined as soon as I could.’

So why hadn’t he progressed beyond the rank of constable? He certainly had the talent for it.

Something buzzed in the silence of the night – it wasn’t her phone; she didn’t have one anymore – before the sound switched off. A minute later, the buzzing sounded again.

Robert’s feet faltered. He groaned and reached into his pocket.

Nina stopped beside him, adjusting her hair again. Robert used his left hand to swat her hand and stop her from fidgeting, then checked his phone.

The screen displayed a photo of a woman – Cheryl Spiers. Nina remembered her from the alley.

Robert rejected the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

Nina raised an eyebrow. ‘Ghosting your boss?’

His phone rang again, and again Robert cut the call off, and this time set the phone on airplane mode. ‘Not my boss, just an insistent pain in my arse. And we’re on a mission.’

Oh aye, the mission. The mission that had led them to a costume store to purchase a wig for Nina. Now stuck to her head, the wig irritated her scalp and tickled her middle back. To make it worse, Robert had stuck a pink beanie – with a pom-pom – on her head.

If it wasn’t as cold as the bloody Antarctic, Nina would have decked Robert and risked her chances of being identified.

She smacked the hair falling into her eyes, and this time Robert reached out and clutched her wrist – right where her coat sleeve ended. Nina gasped at the skin-to-skin contact.

‘Sorry, my hands must be freezing.’ He dropped her arm.

Nina wanted to roll her eyes. That wasn’t why she’d gasped. However, some things were best left unexplained, especially regarding her, her heart and Robert. He didn’t understand her silence, though.

Robert continued, ‘You can’t play with that hair – the wig might come off.’

She could point out that his perfect hair wasn’t currently being pulled so tight it looked like he’d had Botox. His get-up consisted of only a fucking blue beanie. Nina growled. ‘Let’s get this over with.’

Instead of sharing the plan with Nina, Robert had simply asked her to wear that wig and follow him. She could’ve pointed out that she wasn’t, actually, his well-trained bitch. But as he hadn’t really spoken to her since the pub, she didn’t plan on needling him in case he called Cheryl and sent Nina away in handcuffs.

So here they were, out on a night-time stroll with the streetlights spotlighting them. They dodged a handful of people finding their way back home, then jaywalked across the empty street towards their destination.

Nina’s heart rate kicked up. She now knew exactly where they were headed.

The alley that led to Walls Street didn’t scream safety, and it definitely wasn’t a road Nina would’ve taken in the middle of the night.

Robert reached out to her, once again grasping her hand, and she held on to him, more out of a need to calm her racing heart than anything.

The first time they’d met, Nina had taken shelter in this alley. But it had been much lighter outside then.

Robert led her along to the street where her life had changed forever. Even in the dark, the charred remnants of the building stood out, now haloed in gold by a streetlight. The beige stones of its walls had turned black with soot, its windows splintered.

Robert halted alongside the opposite building. All the buildings here leaned on each other, forming a chain. It was a miracle the other ones hadn’t burned that night. Unlike this one, they weren’t all derelict.

She heard Robert gulp and turned towards him. Instead of the building, he was staring at her. ‘The day we met… Did you notice something?’

Nina startled at his whispered question. ‘What?’

Robert raised a finger towards the building. ‘See the scarring on the top floor?’

She nodded. The fire had eaten up most of the top floor, even shattering the windows.

Robert’s finger moved to the nightclub on the ground floor. Here, the plywood that had once boarded up the windows had also been chewed up in the fire.

‘It’s fire damage,’ she whispered back, still unsure why they were here.

‘See what’s not been damaged?’

Nina frowned. ‘Er, the building next to it?’

‘Aye. The fire was reported at half four when someone noticed it.’ Once again, Robert reached for her and led her to the other side of the building, the one facing the adjacent street. ‘Now Now, what do you see?’

A gasp escaped Nina’s lips. She hadn’t actually been back here, loitering in the other alley instead. From there, she hadn’t been able to see this side of the building, but from here… Though the top floor showed extensive damage by fire, that wasn’t the case for the ground floor. ‘It’s almost like it was before the fire.’

Robert snapped his fingers. ‘And the middle two floors aren’t damaged at all. If a gas leak caused the fire, why is there no damage to the middle two floors or, like you pointed out, to the adjoining buildings?’

Before Nina could piece together an explanation, Robert was gone. She saw his dark silhouette slinking towards the building, almost like a cat burglar. How the man could be so buff and still sneak around, she couldn’t fathom.

When she made to follow him, Nina’s footsteps rang out like a horse’s hooves. She almost tripped over the pavement, yelped and fell onto Robert’s back.

Despite his focus on the door in front of them, he reached back with one hand and pressed her to him – her front to his delicious, hard backside.

Nina bit back a moan. ‘R-Robert! What are you doing?’

Still cocooning her against him, he led them towards the door, then crouched. Metal tinkled against metal as he worked with a set of lock picks. ‘Anne died in there.’

‘But—’

He paused and shot her a glare. ‘And I need answers, Nina. I’m done with this fucking mess.’

The desperation in his voice hurt her heart. She couldn’t imagine what he must be going through. But now wasn’t the time to lose patience. She touched his shoulder and tugged. ‘You getting us arrested for breaking in isn’t going to give you those answers.’

With a click, the lock turned. Robert looked over his shoulder and smirked. ‘Do you honestly think I care?’

A shuffle sounded behind Nina. She jumped, her eyes darting around. ‘What was?—?’

Robert leaped into action, spotting the danger before she did. He shoved Nina to the floor and lay on her. And just in time too because something metallic clanged against the door at her back and smacked to the ground. Even in the dark, it’s serrated edge gleamed. A knife.

Had someone just thrown a knife at her, aimed directly at her head? ‘I-I…’ Nina sputtered, too shocked to actually scream.

But Robert wasn’t by her side anymore. He’d sprinted into the alley, ordering her to stay low.

If she wanted her head intact, she would! Nina crouched and ran behind him.

Their footsteps clapped on the road now, loud in the silence. But whoever had attacked them with a knife didn’t care either. A third set of footsteps joined them, gaining fast.

‘Robert!’ Nina wanted to urge him to go on, to leave her.

Instead, he stopped with a curse. Nina smacked straight into his chest, then found herself once again protected behind him. ‘No, don’t!’

The next thing she knew, Robert was on the ground, wrestling with someone. This other person wore an all-black outfit. He was lean and short, legs flying in all directions, and he was clearly trained in some form of martial arts.

Robert, despite his years as a cop, could fight, but not with a lithe, trained fighter.

They rolled on the ground, Robert trying to find purchase, then their attacker twisted and wrapped his legs around Robert’s neck.

Oh hell!

Billy’s words came to Nina’s mind – he’d called Robert one of the good ones . Aye, he was. She’d interviewed enough people to know a genuine one when she met them. And he didn’t deserve to die trying to protect her.

She wouldn’t have his blood on her hands.

Even though her experience in combat was sorely lacking, she jumped in, her fingers curled into claws. Nina scratched at their attacker’s face only to realise he wore some sort of mask.

The man’s hands came up to stop her, but Robert acted, kicking out at him.

Nina nodded her thanks to Robert then realised the attacker’s legs were squeezing Robert’s neck, so he might just have kicked him out of reflex.

She did the only thing she could: Nina gripped the attacker’s mask and pulled it upward. The force had the man’s head banging against the ground. Voila ! She did it again and again, pounding his head like a baker kneading dough.

She continued her attack, even when the man’s legs fell away from Robert’s neck.

‘Nina, stop!’

But she didn’t, not until Robert’s arms wound around her, pulling her back. ‘Stop it, darling.’

Her chest was heaving, a scream broiling inside of her. ‘I… He tried killing me. Almost killed you.’

Instead of responding, Robert reached down and pulled the mask away entirely.

Their attacker couldn’t have been more than twenty. His skin was pale but fresh in a way that only someone youthful would possess.

Nina’s hands shook, so she clasped them together.

Robert reached out to check the lad’s pulse. ‘He’s breathing.’ Then he checked the boy’s head. ‘And he’s not bleeding, but I’m calling the medics. He might die of hypothermia otherwise.’

‘No!’ Nina gripped Robert’s coat. ‘You can’t call anyone – they’ll find us.’

Robert reached up and cupped her face. His hand was warm, a balm to her spiralling control. This was the second time someone had tried to kill her. Actually kill her .

‘Rob—’

Her words dissolved, and so did the panic when Robert leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Nina wrapped her arms around Robert, drawing him in close. He cradled her in his arms, the feeling so foreign, it had her heart leaping with the feeling of safety.

She slanted her head, giving him deeper access to her, and he obliged, nibbling at her lower lip until she moaned.

‘Oh, Nina.’ He pressed a kiss to her lips and drew away with a sigh. Then he reached into his coat pocket and handed her a set of keys. ‘Go home. I’ll join you in a bit.’

Home . Nina snatched the keys, her hands now trembling for a different reason entirely. She gripped that talisman of freedom, then gazed into Robert’s eyes.

Even now, a storm swirled in those green pools. She leaned in and pecked him on the lips again. ‘Thank you.’ She got up and ran.