King slid a briefcase across to him and Lee took a peek inside, letting out a low whistle when he saw the cash. One eyebrow went up. “Shit, should I have asked for more?”

It must have been Lee’s tone that made King chuckle. Karla let out a long sigh and glared at me. “I can’t believe you’re making me be a witness to this. You seriously owe me one, Lexie.”

Lee cocked his head to her. “I’ll owe you one any day of the week, babe.”

She scowled at him and he grinned in delight. I mouthed a silent “sorry” at her and thought maybe she should stop being so disgruntled with him, because it was obvious that he liked it. A moment of quiet passed before Lee clasped his hands together and started to speak.

“So, Mr King, it seems you’re in luck. I’ve done some discreet asking around, and it appears Brucey’s been getting sloppy in his old age. If you ask me, it’s all the prostitutes. Syphilis fucks with the brain.”

King grew stiff at Lee’s words, and I reached over to lace my fingers with his. Silence followed. Lee chuckled. “What? Was that poor taste?” No response. He raised his brows. “Okay, I’ll keep the jokes to myself in future. So, word has it that Bruce shot a copper a couple of months back.”

Karla gasped. “What?”

Lee nodded. “True story. But don’t worry, this cop was dirty. It won’t happen to you, Snap. You’re lily white. I can tell.”

“Fuck off.”

Lee flashed her a toothy smile. “Feisty. I like it. Anyways, shit went down. The cop was on Bruce’s payroll but sold him out to the competition, a bloke named Tiny McGee. Ironic, since he’s a fat fucker. I’ve managed to get my hands on the gun Bruce used to shoot the cop. He chucked it in the Thames, but one of his men, seeing an opportunity for blackmail down the line, as you do, fished it out and kept it for future use. This fella’s agreed to sell the gun to me for 25K,” he said, and glanced at Karla. “See, I’m not completely despicable. Half the money isn’t even for me.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re a real saint,” Karla deadpanned.

Lee brought his attention back to King. “So all you need to do is sit back, relax, and let me take care of the rest. Shooting a cop is bad business, and he’s not going to want this to go public. I’ll give Bruce a little call. Tell him how it’s gonna play out, and see if he wants to be clever or stupid. I can’t guarantee he’ll be clever. Like I said, it’s the syphilis.” He paused, waiting for us to laugh. “What? Still not funny? Fine, I give up.”

Lee stood as King addressed him. “When can I expect to hear from you?”

Glancing down at his watch, Lee answered, “Around this time tomorrow.”

“Very good,” said King, holding out his hand and shaking with Lee.

“It was a pleasure doing business with ya.”

Lee stood to leave, but before he did, he bent over the couch, startling Karla by giving her a surprise peck on the cheek. It might have been a sweet gesture if it wasn’t so brazen. She immediately recoiled, glaring daggers at him. He winked at her. “Little something for you to remember me by, Snap. Until next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” she called after him.

He flashed her one final grin. “We’ll see.”

When he opened the door, I saw Stu standing there impatiently. “I want to talk with Lex,” he told his brother.

Lee put a hand on Stu’s chest, pushing him back. “Nah, mate, you’re good.”

Stu grew irritable. “It’ll only take a minute.”

Lee held firm, eyeing his brother sharply. “If I say you’re good, you’re good. Now come on, she’s not interested.”

I knew Stu wanted to protest further, but he must have realised his brother wasn’t going to budge on the matter. I wondered why. Perhaps Lee saw something in the way I interacted with King. He definitely had an intuitive nature; maybe he’d figured out there was no way I was going back to Stu, come hell or high water.

The door finally closed over, and King excused himself to use the bathroom.

“I’m sorry about Lee. He’s such a flirt,” I said to Karla.

“No worries. I can handle it.” Her voice grew hushed as she leaned forward, eyes flicking to the bathroom door. “What the hell is going on with you and Mr Tall, Blond, and Perfect, though?”

I heaved out a sigh. “It’s complicated.”

“I can see that. Isn’t it against company policy for you to be seeing one another?”

“No. He said it wasn’t. We haven’t really discussed things properly yet. I think we’ll wait until this whole thing with Bruce blows over to start figuring stuff out.”

I went quiet when I heard the toilet flush, and then King re-emerged.

“So, I should probably make a move. I need to check on Mum,” he began.

Karla turned up the volume on the TV a little and focused on the screen, discreetly giving us some privacy. Bless her. I walked over to King and took his hands in mine. He raised them to his mouth and brushed his lips across my knuckles. I trembled, remembering our brief time together in Rome. It had only been two days, and yet it felt like a lifetime ago. But I knew now wasn’t the time for sex. Everything was too tense.

God, life, why do you have to be such a cockblocker sometimes?

“Come spend the evening with me tomorrow after work,” said King, his voice hushed. “I’m having someone watch Mum’s house. You can bring an overnight bag. I’ll cook dinner.”