“What the fuck is that broad thinking?” Anthony walks up behind me at the bar, and I have to turn around to face him.

He looks worried. “What are you talking about?” I ask.

“Your chick, Tonya Kelly. The cop.” He says, “the cop” like I wouldn’t know who he’s talking about. My eyes lower to the drink in my hand. I haven’t had one fucking moment go by where I didn’t think about her. From the way she felt writhing beneath me, to the pissed off and hurt look when I shut it down before the situation got any worse than was necessary.

I fucking hate this. I hate that I can’t get her out of my head, and I hate that I can’t have her. I’ve never had this problem before. And I don’t fucking like it.

“What’s she doing?” I ask, looking past him at Vince. Vince is in the corner of the room talking to his brother over a beer. They barely come in here anymore with the kids taking up so much of their time. I hope whatever my bad girl has gotten into, it hasn’t found its way back to either of them.

“She’s about to get slapped with a harassment lawsuit if she keeps her shit up.” I look him dead in the eyes, waiting for more. “She went to Tony's and waited for him outside his house. She keeps pushing for information.” He looks over his shoulder at Vince. “She’s worse than a fucking reporter.”

He turns like he’s gonna go tell Vince, and I stop him. My hand grips his shoulder. His forehead pinches, and his eyes narrow. “What the fuck, Tommy?”

“Don’t tell him, and tell Tony to keep his mouth shut.” He looks at me with disbelief. “I’ll handle it,” I say, standing up from my barstool.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You can’t go around making threats to an officer. You aren’t off the hook yet.”

“That’s not what I have in mind,” I say under my breath.

Anthony closes his eyes and lets his head fall back. “You’re fucking kidding me, Tommy. Tell me you’re not fucking around with her.”

“I’m not.” I’ve never been good at lying, and I sure as shit don’t like lying to him. But it’s partially true.

“Good. That’d be a fucking mistake.”

“Stay out of it, Anthony.” I’m done with this conversation. I turn to walk away and he doesn’t stop me. I feel like a prick, but I’m going after what I want.

Before I make it to the door, Vince and Dom approach me, and I know I need to stop and hear them out. I just hope it’s not about her. She really should know better; she shouldn’t be doing this shit. She’s gonna get herself into deep shit, and I can’t fucking have that happen.

“Tommy, you alright?” Dom asks. I’m sure they can see the stress on my face. I need to man the fuck up and play it cool.

“Everything considered, I’m doing just fine.” I talk easy, but the tension in my body is keeping my guard up.

“You know we got you. It’s all gonna be taken care of. Soon, too. We already got the witness stuff thrown out, the prints and the tire tracks are close to being gone too, and then they won’t have shit on you.”

I nod my head, not really listening. I’m sure I’m gonna get off, so I’m not too worried about that. But my bad girl is gonna get herself into some deep shit, and I need to stop that. I don’t want them thinking of her like they do Harrison.

“Has that bitch cop been bugging you?” Vince asks, and it takes everything in me not to make a fist and smash it into his face.

“She’s not a bitch,” I manage to say back, and he doesn’t like that answer. Dom seems surprised and takes a step back. He doesn’t get involved with this shit. I can’t help that the words come out. I don’t like him calling her a bitch. She may be a little rough around the edges. She’s a little pushy, but she’s not a bitch. Nothing about her makes me think that.

“She’s still a cop though, isn’t she?” Vince asks in a hushed voice.

“Yeah she is.” I answer him quickly, wanting to get rid of the tense air between us.

“She still bugging you?”

I answer him honestly. “I haven’t seen her in a few days.”

“Haven’t seen her?” he asks, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. “What’s that mean, Tommy?”

“Means she hasn’t been around to bug me. She’s not like the others, Vince.”

“I don’t like the way you’re talking Tommy.” Vince wraps his arms around my shoulder and leads me to the back room. “You talking like that to anyone else?”

“I haven’t said shit to anyone about anything.” That's always the correct answer to give.

“You sound like you’ve got something going on with her, Tommy. You talking to a cop?”

“Fuck no, Vince.” My body goes ice cold. I can't have anyone think I'm talking to a cop. That gets your ass killed.

“If you were anyone other than my cousin, I’d be thinking twice about believing the shit coming out of your mouth right now.”

“She’s a woman, is all,” I answer back.

“She’s a cop, Tommy. You can’t forget that shit. You can’t go easy on her just because she’s got tits. She’ll still use anything you say against you. Isn’t that one of their fucking lines?”

I press my lips into a tight line and nod diligently.

“Don’t fucking talk like that around anyone else. I can’t have anyone thinking you’ve got a thing going on with the cops. They can’t start spreading shit about you talking, Tommy. There’s only so much I can do to squash shit like that.”

He sounds desperate for me to listen to him. And I am, but only partially.

Even as he’s warning me away from her, I already know I’m going to lie to him. I already know I’m not going to listen. I think I’ve just been waiting for a reason to go to her, and she just gave me one.