“No, Karla. He’s right. What I just did to Stu was shitty. And I’m not proud of myself, not at all.”

“I’ll tell him you said that,” Lee responded, looking slightly appeased.

“I thought you said that Stu was emotionally uninvolved when it comes to women,” I said. “He didn’t seem that way tonight.”

Alexis pulled a face. “Oh, my God, Lee, you corny bastard. I didn’t know you were dealing in clichés now.”

He suppressed a smirk. “What? It’s the truth, though he’s always had a soft spot for you. Maybe you’ll be the one he finally decides to turn over a new leaf for.”

“Yeah, because I’m such a special snowflake. That shit only happens in rom-coms, and my shit stinks the same as everybody else’s.”

“Ugh, you had to go and make it gross,” I complained.

“Hey, you’d better get used to it. I’m going to be a single mother, and I’ve decided you’ll be godmother. That means lots and lots of nappy changes.”

Even though we were joking around, what she said made me emotional, and my voice got a little scratchy. “You want me to be godmother, seriously?”

“Who the hell else would I ask?! Of course I do.”

I reached over and grabbed her hand, forgetting for a second that Lee was in the car with us. “You know that means a lot to me, right? I’ll never take it for granted.”

We shared a meaningful look, and I squeezed her hand before letting go. The car fell silent, and when I looked up, I found Lee watching me again. I swallowed and glanced away, staring intently out the window. A few minutes later, we’d reached my and Lexie’s building. She got out first and hurried toward the door entry system. I hovered, looking back to Lee. There was something about his expression that made me think he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he shot me a sober nod and restarted the engine.

“See you around, Snap,” he said right before he pulled away from the kerb.

I stood on the path, watching his black car disappear into the black night and worrying about how my life was changing, all because he was in it.

Five

“Oi, Burrows, where’d ya get the shiner?” Tony called after Steve, who’d just stepped inside the break room. Steve flicked his attention to Tony, a face like thunder and a black eye to boot.

“Your missus wanted to try something a little different in the sack,” he sneered, and Tony bristled. My workmate wasn’t an easy man to rile, but what Steve had said got his back up. He went silent, and believe me, since he was normally a happy, chatty sort of bloke, Tony was at his scariest when he was quiet. Steve gave him a snide look before going to sit on the other side of the room from us.

“Don’t listen to her — she’s just crabby because she got into another catfight. Handbags at dawn, it was,” I said, grinning at my friend. “She needs to learn how to act like a lady.”

Tony let out a loud laugh, and Steve scowled. He kept quiet, though, which was out of character. Normally, the man had a mouth on him that Niagara Falls couldn’t shut up. This niggled at me, because if Steve had gotten into a fight on the job, he’d be bragging about it with endless talk of “you should see the other guy.” The fact he was keeping schtum was worrying, and it reminded me of Lee’s threats when we’d visited the garage. Maybe Steve tried to pay another visit, and Lee had made good on his promise.

Hmmm.

Tony and I had just finished eating, so we packed up our stuff and left Steve to sit out the rest of his break alone.

“Have you ever suspected he might be up to something dodgy?” I asked my friend once we were out of earshot.

Tony shot me a cynical look. “Is the sky blue?”

I sighed. “He needs to be dealt with.”

“You’re telling me. As soon I have even the slightest bit of evidence, I’m turning him in.”

I nodded, wondering how long it’d take Steve to slip up. A little while later, we were on the beat, walking down the high street, when I caught sight of a disturbance outside a greasy spoon.

“I’m not letting you spend time with Jonathan until you clean up your act!” a woman yelled, levelling her hands on some tall guy’s chest and pushing him away from her. A kid stood in the doorway to the café, his thumb in his mouth and tears running down his face. I’d only seen her once before, so it took me a second to recognise Lee’s cousin, Sophie. The guy she was arguing with was about her age. He was tall and thin, and, if I was being honest, sort of slimy-looking. I was guessing from the nature of the argument that he was her son’s father.

“Is everything all right here?” I asked, stepping up to them as Tony went and bent down in front of the boy. He spoke to him quietly, asking if he’d been hurt.

Sophie turned to see who was interrupting and frowned when she saw me. “You again.”

I nodded. “Is this man bothering you?”

It took her a second to answer, as she glanced between me and the man. “Yes, he is bothering me. I want him to go.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, I turned to the guy and gestured down the street. “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave now. You’re upsetting this young woman.”

“That’s only because she’s trying to keep my kid from me,” he spat.

“Yeah, and can you blame me when this is the kind of attitude I have to deal with?”