His head snaps to the side and my eyes go wide. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, oh God, that must've hurt, I'm so sorry! You just, you're so—"
Before I can finish, he closes the distance and kisses me.
I'm falling deep into the kiss. His mouth moves over mine with hunger, and I unconsciously kiss back. Wait. What the hell are we even doing? I pull back just as his hands start getting too comfortable, fondling me as if we aren't in the middle of a damn case and I didn't just punch him five seconds ago.
Anger flares again. I punch him again, this time on the other cheek. His head turns slightly from the impact. And we sit through another stunned silence. I panic again.
"Why did you do that?" I ask, breathless and mad. "Why did you kiss me?"
"You were so close to my face," he says, rubbing his jaw. "I thought you wanted a kiss."
"I hit you in the face! And the only thing going through your head when my face got close was to kiss me?"
He shrugs. "You invited it. I couldn't help myself." I raise my hand again, ready to slap some common sense into him, but he catches my wrist in a gentle grip.
He brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. "Hands like this," he murmurs, "aren't meant for violence." I flinch back. Maybe it's the softness of his voice or the boldness ofhim kissing my hand after everything, but my body reacts before my mind can process it.
Then, like I was possessed. I lean in suddenly, as if I'm about to share a secret, and kiss him. Hard. Biting his lip just enough to make him bleed. He goes stiff, and I feel him smile against my lips. His hands are still on my waist as I pull back, locking eyes with him, as I say the words he didn't expect to hear, "Get out." I stand up, my heart was going a million miles an hour, and he confuses me, I need space. He stands up and walks out with a grin on his face.
Once he's gone, I sink to my knees, grazing my lips he kissed with my fingers.
"Arrogant jerk," I whisper. He never backs off. Always trying to kiss me despite my warnings. Always pushing. Always testing boundaries. He had it coming. That was harassment. And he's definitely going to owe me double for what he put me through. "Stupid mafia jerk."
• • •
After he leaves, I let out a long breath and move to my bed where I’d spread the papers out, the documents fluttering slightly as I lie down, resting them across the cool sheets.
I try to immerse myself back in the file, but then my phone rings, smacking me out of my focus haze. I glance at the caller ID, and a smile spreads on my lips.
Tessa.
I pick up immediately. "Hey, tess. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing good," she says, her voice bright despite the exhaustion I can hear underneath. "The protest is going well. I think the judges are about to fold."
I sit up straighter. "Wow. I wish I could be there to really take on this case with you."
"Oh, no, no, no. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of this case here. She'll get justice. It's just we're going to have to take one more month in this city. But there's good news, which is what I wanted to tell you. So, we were outside, and somebody saw us sleeping in tents and offered us their house to stay in for the night."
I freeze. "Wait. You're sleeping in tents? Outside?"
"Yeah. Outside the courthouse steps," she says casually. "It's not like we have the money to stay in a motel for a month. So, we're camping outside. The police come here and there to harass us, try to move us out, but we just come back and sleep. Then in the morning, we go to the public showers and take a bath."
I shake my head. "Well, I do have a few euros with me now. I can send you money for you guys to stay in a hotel." She laughs. "Oh, and where did you get that fortune from? Did Aladdin come out of a lamp in your bedroom and give you a thousand dollars?"
I hesitate. "Well, here's the thing. I may or may not have gotten involved with Ilay."
There's a pause on her end. Then she says, slowly, "Oh, boy. Wait. Did you sleep with him or something?"
"No! I didn't. I mean, he's making moves and all that, and... he bought me a car."
She screams so loud I almost throw my phone down. "He bought you a car?! Wait. What kind of car is it, and why haven't I seen it?"
"Because I didn't want to distract you," I say. "But yeah, he did buy me a car."
"Wait. What kind of car?"
"It's a Porsche."
