As soon as they got to the street, Hazel turned to Mabel. "So!" she chirped happily.

"Not here," Mabel snapped. She practically dragged Hazel by the elbow to a pub around the corner where they could sit.

"Jesus, Mabe, what the hell?" Hazel complained, rubbing her elbow. "I'm not one of your employees, you don't have to show me how tough you are. Wait. Oh, Christ, did I offend you with my indelicate behavior or something? Is that what this is?! When did you get to be such a prude?"

"It's not about that. Listen, you don't know what you're getting yourself into here. You can't just..." Mabel felt all the fight drain out of her and she slumped back against the seat. "Look. You don't want to get involved with him, he's dangerous. I'm trying to protect you."

"Oh my sweet Lord, you ARE offended by my indelicate behavior!" Hazel laughed loudly. "Oh, I never thought I'd see the day. Wait til I tell your mother, she'll be so excited."

"Shit, Hazel," but Mabel was smiling. "Fine, whatever, do what you want, you always do. I can tell it's true love. He obviously understands you on a very deep level."

"Oh shut it, you big lout."

"Just don't expect flowers and tickets to the theatre. He'll be too busy cleaning his gun and moving illegal merchandise."

"Yeah, ok Mabe. I'll let you know when we're ready to pick out curtains."

Mabel pushed aside her irrational jealousy and snorted. "Like you would ever need to do something as mundane as picking out your own curtains."

"I'll have you know, I'm fabulous with colors. All the women in Mother's flower arranging class said so."

"Oh, God, did she actually get you to go to that!? What did you do to get cornered into attending?"

And they were off. Eventually, they got food and Mabel lost track of time while catching up. Well, so what if she took a long lunch? What Alfie didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Because she was done telling him things.


The next day she scheduled a time to talk to Alfie and wore her annoyance like battle armor. Her mind raced all morning. He'd stolen her ideas. He hadn't consulted her about the execution and essentially went out of his way to implement them without her involvement. Also, Hazel still hadn't been home by the time she had to leave for work, and she was pretty sure she knew where she'd been all night. Ok, fine. Alfie was a bastard. That's not news, she shouldn't be surprised. But...it's just that...had she been misreading everything? She thought he'd been...interested. At the very least, she thought he'd respected her, respected her work. But she knew she was lying to herself about which of those misjudgments hurt the worst. Was she really that naive to see something that wasn't there? To think she'd had a chance with her boss?! Her terrifying gangster boss?! Good God, she needed to straighten her head out. At least some of her annoyance was reserved for herself but she really did have reasons to be annoyed with Alfie. Good ones. She reviewed her mental agenda as she headed to his office. This was important. She wasn't getting off track.

"Yeah," Alfie bellowed when she knocked. She let herself in. "Ah, Ms. Ziemann. How are you?" He seemed very...cheery. Distaste colored her mouth and she thought she might deposit her lunch on his desk. Seriously? He might as well be whistling.

"What are you doing with Hazel?" she spit out before she could regulate her brain filter.

Shit. That's not how she meant to start this conversation. She waffled between apologizing immediately and glaring while demanding an explanation. Before she could decide, Alfie spoke up.

"Well, I would have thought that was obvious," he smirked.

Now she did glare.

"I thought I would have a better chance of getting a tank from a member of the Tritton family," he stated.

Mabel stiffened involuntarily. Now she definitely was going to be sick. Fury and disgust flooded her and her hands clenched so hard it was painful.

"Ah ha. That's the reaction I was looking for. So it was you. I wondered about that. Hazel didn't seem to know, or didn't want to admit she knew. There were rumors, of course, but nothing concrete. Of course, if there had been, you would probably be the one with a knighthood. Relatively speaking."

She couldn't look him in the eye anymore. Without asking, she walked past his desk to the liquor cart he kept there and poured herself a healthy helping.

"It was your idea, wasn't it?" he asked, more gently than she thought possible. "The tank?"

When the silence had stretched longer than she could take, she forced her voice not to let her down. "More or less," she said steadily.

"So which was it? More? Or less?"

She turned to look at him. He had his arms crossed, one hand stroking his beard thoughtfully. She turned back to pour him his own glass.

"The military originally asked for an armored tractor, for moving Howitzers," she said quietly, handing him the drink. He accepted it and motioned for her to sit. "I knew tractors. It just didn't occur to me to use it for anything else."

He swirled the amber liquid in front of him, letting her talk.

"I tried to kick up a fuss, to prove it was my idea when it became clear they were going to run with it but no one would take my word for it because I was a woman. I showed them my notebook with my drawings and notes, but pretty soon it wound up missing. After a while, the production took up most of my day anyway, and it was a losing battle. So, I stayed until I could save up enough for a train ticket and room and board while I found a job in London. Then when I got here, I heard about you, asked around, and then ended up on your doorstep. You've been here for the rest." She felt immeasurably tired. She hadn't told anyone except her parents, not even Hazel knew. She may have guessed, but Hazel was too smart to stop the manna from heaven. Mabel couldn't blame her, not really. But it did feel nice to say it out loud and have someone believe her.

She met Alfie's eyes and he was looking at her like she was a sunny day after a month of rain. She swallowed thickly and busied herself finishing the rest of her drink. She wasn't expecting that and wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

When she glanced at him again, he was smiling at her. An honest, full out, smile. She felt herself smiling back, and she couldn't help teasing him, "I think that trial period may be over now, though, what do you think?"

"Mmhm," he grunted approvingly. His mouth quirked at the side and he continued to look at her, his gaze warm. "Well, in that case, you'd better stop by when you get done for the day and we'll figure out your pay, yeah?"

"Yeah, boss."


The rest of the day flew. Her head felt muddled with a constant whir of 'Alfie, Alfie, Alfie' playing in the background. He'd only wanted Hazel for information. He'd been checking up on her. He believed she was capable before he even knew, and had set about finding out the truth. The knowledge warmed her in a way she knew it probably shouldn't. She felt inexplicably excited about meeting with him again, just to be in his presence and revel in his approval. He'd looked...proud. Of her. She realized it was the first time anyone had looked at her that way. Her parents loved her, of course, but they'd desperately wanted her to stop making waves and take her place. With Alfie...he looked at her like he couldn't wait to see where she'd go next. It was thrilling.

'Dangerous, Mabe,' she lectured herself. Then she tried to tamp down the feeling of excitement that particular word stirred in her. Because dangerous, Mabe. She felt herself grinning all afternoon.

When Rachel and the rest of the girls tried to cajole her into coming dancing with them, she cheerily waved them off with explanations of "too much to do" and then putzed around until everyone else had left.

In the quiet, she found her courage and decided she could be a bit dangerous too.

She knocked on Alfie's door.

"Ms. Ziemann. There you are." He was standing in front of his desk but turned as she entered.

"Oh, are we back to that? What about all the bonding we did? I don't even rate a 'Ms. Z'?" she grinned as she settled into a chair. He grinned back, sat on the edge of the desk and crossed his ankles.

"Did everyone leave you here and go fucking around without you? Isn't this the night for whatever it is you do?"

"Well, other than the fact that my boss is making me stay late..."

"Am I now?"

"Yeah. Other than that, though, there's something I'd rather be doing anyway."

"Mmhm?"

Mabel let the silence stretch out, keeping her eyes on his and slowly bit her lip.

Alfie blinked. Then he swallowed thickly. "Fuck me," he said softly to himself, an air of awe in it.

Mabel rose from the chair and stepped into his space. She watched her fingers as she ran them up the buttons of his waistcoat and whispered, "Yeah, that's the idea."

Alfie surged forward, wrapped an arm around her waist and spun them, pressing her against the desk. Mabel grasped his shoulders for balance and stood still, in the vee of his legs and let every ounce of want show in her face. Then she reached up, threading her hand through his beard, and lifted her face. Alfie crushed his mouth to hers with a growl, and she wrapped her hand around the base of his skull and held on for dear life. His tongue traced her bottom lip and she shivered as she opened for him. He ran his palms up her back and gripped the back of her brown curls before pulling her head to the side to give him better access. She couldn't stop the soft moan as his tongue breached her mouth and explored. God, he was like a thunderstorm. Big and powerful, ominous and unavoidable and she felt lightening zing down her limbs and set her on fire. She twisted her hands in his collar and pulled him closer. It wasn't enough. She needed to feel him, needed to see him. She fumbled with the buttons on his waistcoat but he batted her hands away and moved to mouthing along her jaw, stopping and sucking at the point behind her ear. Then she did moan, loud and breathy in the stillness and she felt his fingers tighten on her waist. He quickly yanked the shirt from her skirt, anxious to get to skin and growling in frustration when he reached her satin chemise instead. It was her one luxury, beautiful underthings and she quickly reached behind herself to get to the zip on her skirt so he wouldn't tear anything. As her skirt pooled to the floor, he stopped long enough to look at her, peach satin brushing her thighs and garter belt holding up her hose. Alfie grinned lasciviously and brushed his fingertips along the hem of her slip and the thighs beneath.

"This? Is beautiful." Alfie breathed, grinning in her ear.

"Am I now?" Mabel teased. She tried not to sound like she was panting as she slid one booted foot out of the circle of her skirt and hooked it behind his calf, pulling them even closer. She could feel him, hard and pressing against her thigh.

At that, Alfie groaned and lifted her by the hips to slam her bum onto his paper-strewn desk. With one hand, he swept it clear, sending papers, phone, and lamp clattering to the floor and spread her thighs with the other.

'God that was hot,' Mabel thought.

"Am I now?" Alfie grinned at her, and she realized she must have said it out loud. She blushed prettily and he devoured her mouth once more. He worked on opening her shirtfront and when he pulled away from her mouth to focus on the tiny buttons she quipped, "How do you still have so much paperwork on your desk when I know you give it all to me?"

"Shut the fuck up," he commanded and ripped the rest of the shirt open, scattering the remaining buttons.

"Yes, sir".

Alfie's eyes flamed with desire. Mabel attacked his mouth, both hands fisted in his hair, and he rucked her slip up past her waist. His hands dipped under the smooth material to run over acres of glorious skin, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. She broke the kiss to gasp in a sharp intake of air when he held their weight in his palms and brushed over her taught nipples. Alfie removed his hands to strip her of her shirt before lowering his head to suckle her satin covered breast. The thin material soaked up the wet heat of his mouth and when he moved to the other one, the cold brush of air over the wetness made her nipples harden even more.

With a groan, Mabel reached for the fastening on Alfie's trousers, determined to stop his slow teasing. She gasped when he dragged his teeth over her nipple, but didn't stop until she'd freed him from trousers and pants and held his not inconsiderable weight in her hand. Slowly, she stroked his hardness and was rewarded with panting of his own. Deliberately, she dragged her thumb around the head and pressed lightly into the slit.

"Fuck," Alfie panted, pulling his head back and screwing his eyes shut.

When he'd taken a deep breath and opened his eyes, she looked at him, licked her lip, and squeezed.

Then Alfie was a flurry of motion, an oncoming storm that had finally arrived. He grabbed her and flipped her, pressing her breasts into the desk and presenting her bottom to him like a gift. He yanked at her knickers and she helped him as best she could, both of them beyond caring about anything other than more and there and now-now-now. As soon as Mabel was free of them, Alfie slammed into her, burying his length in her heat and causing both of them to cry out.

"God, woman," Alfie grated out through clenched teeth. "You'll be the death of me."

"Alfie," she moaned, pressing back against him and sliding him even further in.

Then he began to move. He started slow, but then was relentless, pounding into her, wringing cries of pleasure out of her with each thrust. He gripped her hips fiercely and she loved it, knowing she'd see bruises from his passion for days to come. She gripped the edge of the desk, matching him thrust for thrust, and savoring the sounds he made as he slid home. All too soon, she felt the heat spiraling out of control and tried to hold on longer. Alfie seemed to sense this and reached around her to stroke her. He used her wetness to rub, pushing her closer and closer to the edge, until she was rocking against him, convulsing around him, and calling out his name. Hearing her voice seemed to undo him and his rhythm became irregular, he thrust three more times until he was pulling out fiercely and streaming ropes of cum across her back.

He leaned against her, supporting himself on his palms as their breathing slowed and they came back down to earth. Then he gently reached an arm under her, helping her to stand. He had her raise her arms and almost reverently removed her slip before using it to clean them up a bit. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her against him, her naked back against his warm, solid chest.

"Mmmhmm," he rumbled into her hair, his nose pressed into the hollow under her ear. She shuddered, still feeling the aftershocks, and closing her eyes tight, to hold on to it as long as she could.