“And that’s everything,” Poppy drained the last of her scotch and put the glass on the coffee table.

Elliot remained silent and she wondered if she had put him to sleep with her story.

She looked up at him and saw the tears rolling down his cheeks.

After telling Elliot her story she was jonesing for a cigarette.

Poppy had not had a cigarette since she arrived at the safe house, Elliot expressly forbade her from smoking indoors which meant her only opportunity to smoke was either before or after her morning run and PT which seemed contradictory.

She looked up at Elliot and reached up to touch his cheek to wipe away his tears.

“What’s wrong?” she sat up and looked at him concernedly; she didn’t understand his reaction.

“What’s wrong?” Elliot was shocked by her story.

“What you have lived through, the way you have been treated, how you have had to make a living… and what did I do? I threw you in the tank to be molested by lowlifes and then I beat you,” Elliot was still whimpering.

“I can’t believe the sacrifices you made for the sake of your brother,” he shook his head in disbelief.

“Look Elliot. I chose the life I live. I could have run away from Margaret and Ray-Ray. It’s not like I’m not used to being treated the way you treated me. You can’t imagine how many times I’ve been violated against my will, how many times I’ve been beaten, how many times I’ve been treated like I’m worthless. I’m hardened to it. What you said and did to me is nothing,” Poppy stood and went to the kitchen to pour herself another scotch.

“Your perception has only changed because you know I’m caring for my brother. Nothing has changed. I am what I am,” she took a long pull on her drink.

Elliot leapt off the couch and strode to the kitchen and took the glass out of Poppy’s hand. He took her by the shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“What you are is beautiful and I was stupid and prejudiced. I can’t forgive myself for the way I’ve treated you,” he said, his voice trembling.

“But I can Elliot. I forgive you,” Poppy returned his gaze.

Elliot brushed the hair out of her eyes and lowered his face to hers and kissed her.

She let him but she was passive. He broke the kiss and studied her face. It remained impassive.

“What?” Elliot looked confused.

“I don’t want your pity Elliot. I don’t want what I told you to skew whatever it is you feel for me. Do you even know what it is that you feel for me?” Poppy tried to pick up her drink and Elliot put his hand on her wrist and stopped her.

“I don’t know exactly what I feel for you Poppy. I’m confused. I can set aside how you live because you have to do what you have to survive and to care for Robert, that's not the problem,” Elliot sighed.

“I know what the problem and so do you. Say it. Say it’s because I’m transgender,” Poppy toyed with the glass.

“It’s because you’re transgender,” Elliot breathed.

“There you’ve said it. Because I’m transgender we have no future, we have no… whatever this is,” Poppy felt broken-hearted inside but she was an expert at concealing her emotions.

She put down the glass and walked back into the lounge. Elliot followed her and spun her around to face him.

“No it’s not that. You have it all wrong. I have deep affection for you. I want to get to know you better. It sounds stupid but I don’t want our situation to change; I want us stay like this… living together. I want to make love to you… I just don’t know how,” Elliot wrapped his arms around Poppy and kissed her before she could respond.

This time, she wasn’t passive. She put her arms around him and glued her body to his and kissed him passionately. She felt him become tumescent against her and she smiled when he gasped into her mouth when she sought his erection with her fingers. She stroked him though his shorts.

“I so want to make love to you; I just don’t know how,” Elliot repeated himself.

“Then let me show you… if you’re sure,” she smiled up him and his heart soared.

She looked up at him coyly.

“There are preparations I need to make and I want to make myself beautiful for you. I want you to remember our first time together as something special. Go to your bedroom and wait for me. I guarantee it will be worth the wait,” her coy smile changed to a lascivious grin and she squeezed his penis through his shorts and let him go.

Elliot watched Poppy walk away. Even in her flowing dress and flat shoes she exuded femininity and sexuality. She disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door and Elliot went to his bedroom, lay on the bed and tried to imagine what was to come.

Poppy did the things a trans woman needs to do prior to having sex and took another shower then put on a robe and went to her bedroom to dress. Elliot caught a glimpse of her as she walked past his open door on the way to her bedroom. He beckoned to her. He was naked, lying on the bed, his erect penis standing proud. Poppy smiled at him and shook her head. She would make him wait; build the anticipation. She closed the door on him.

She sat at her vanity and put on her makeup; not quite street-walker heavy but exotic and erotic: dark eyeliner and mascara to emphasise her emerald green eyes, rouge to highlight her cheekbones and red lipstick. She teased out her blonde hair. Her dark roots were showing and the colourful streaks were fading because she hadn't dyed her hair since she had been in protective custody. She doused herself in perfume and pondered how she would dress.

Elliot heard the doorknob rattle and he turned towards the door in expectation.

Poppy entered the room and Elliot was both shocked and surprised. She was wearing matching black satin and lace panties and bra, a black satin and red lace suspender belt fastened to vintage, long, black, fully-fashioned stockings with backseams, reinforced heels and toes, and gauzy welts. Poppy had deliberately chosen the six-inch black high-heeled sandals to show off the dark toes and Cuban heels of her nylons. She was wearing silver drop earrings, a silver choker necklace with matching bracelets and rings on her fingers. They were knockoffs of course but they glittered in the lamplight. She even wore a silver ankle bracelet.

The package was wrapped in a gauzy black see-through negligee tied loosely at the front. A miasma of exotic perfume preceded her.

“You're beautiful,” Elliot gasped as Poppy approached the bed.

Poppy had been with hundreds, possibly thousands of men, but she felt like a young girl about to lose her virginity. The truth was that Poppy had never truly made love to a man. She had been fucked and fondled by her customers and abusers but this was the first time that she was going to bed with a man because she wanted to make love to him, not because she had been paid to, because she wanted to manipulate him or because she was forced to.

Poppy and Elliot were as nervous as each other.

“Scoot over,” Poppy shoed him with her hands.

She sat on the edge of the bed, took off her negligee and began to unbuckle her heels which she had worn for effect during her entrance.

“Will you get mad if I ask you to leave them on?” Elliot whispered sheepishly.

She saw his cheeky grin and she couldn’t help but smile.

She climbed on the bed and crawled towards him on her hands and knees. She leaned over him and kissed him, deliberately not touching his body, making him wait, teasing him. Their kiss was passionate, her red lipstick transferred to his lips and he tasted it. It tasted exotic, like Poppy. Elliot yearned for her and tried to pull her to him but she resisted.

He pulled harder and she giggled which became a shriek of laughter when he dragged her to him and lifted her on top of him. She clung to his hard body, one leg curled so that his cock was rubbing on her gossamer-sheathed thigh as she kissed him. Her nipples were engorged and she was uncomfortably erect. She had tucked and taped, not wanting to disgust Elliot.

His hands were everywhere, caressing her shoulders, stroking her breasts, tweaking her nipples, pawing her thighs. She was a wonderland of pleasure for Elliot to explore. Poppy kissed his mouth, she bit his lip, nuzzled his neck and nibbled her shoulder; she rubbed her stockings seductively on his tender flesh and was delighted when he moaned.

Elliot suddenly rolled Poppy onto her back and she squealed like a schoolgirl. Elliot fell on her and kissed her, grinding his cock against her belly. He knelt over her and began to explore her body with his mouth. He kissed and nibbled her earlobes and then her neck and shoulders. He worked his way down to her breasts and spent some time there using his hands and mouth on her tender flesh and engorged nipples. Poppy entangled her fingers in his thick glossy hair and writhed beneath him, pleasure radiating from her aching breasts.

When he had Poppy gasping, squirming and moaning like a slattern he moved on. He investigated her flat belly and probed her bellybutton with his tongue. Poppy still had her fingers entwined in his hair and she tried to guide his face back to her breasts but he fought her and continued to move his mouth down to her pubis.

Poppy tugged and ripped at his hair, trying to get him to move away from there, even as his tongue licked the bare flesh above her panties.

“No!” she screamed, yanking madly at his hair.

Elliot looked up at her, his face hovering over the V of her pubis.

“Why?” he smiled up at her.

Her mascara was running and he was not sure if was because of the wicked pleasure he had illicited from her body or because she was sacred and ashamed of what she had hidden inside her panties.

“How do you do that?” he asked her matter-of-factly.

Poppy was caught off guard by the question.

“How do I do what?” she wasn't sure what Elliot was talking about.

“How do you get this delectable V in your panties and tights like that,” Elliot stroked the front of her panties softly.

“It doesn’t matter Elliot. There’s nothing there for you,” she whispered, imploring him with her eyes to leave that part of her body alone.

“Oops… too late… your secret is out,” Elliot grinned, pulling aside the gusset of her panties.

Poppy covered her face with her hands. She had never felt so ashamed.

Elliot knew that it was best to rip off a band aid rather than pull it off slowly and that was exactly what he did with the surgical tape holding Poppy’s penis along her perineum.

She gasped but not from pain. Poppy was completely shaved down there, freshly shaved, and Elliot was transfixed by what he saw.

Poppy’s penis sprung out from between her legs and Elliot let go of her panties so that it was straining against the satin and lace, the glans peeking up above the waistband.

“You don’t have to… of god!” Poppy wriggled like a slattern when the tip of Elliot’s tongue touched her glans.

“Please Elliot,” she tried to force his face away from her body again but he resisted.

He stroked her shaft through the satin panty material and Poppy shuddered and gasped.

“Please!” she implored him and Elliot’s mouth began the journey back up her body, stopping briefly at her belly, onto her breasts and finally he kissed her again.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him and drove her tongue into his mouth, his penis pressed against hers, rubbing against the silky fabric of her panties.

“I tried to hide it. I didn’t want to disgust you,” Poppy buried her face in his shoulder.

“You promised me that you would show me how to make love to you. When I make love to a woman I want… I need her to enjoy it as much as I do. Show me how to pleasure you,” he whispered in her ear and then nibbled her earlobe and pressed his cock harder against her rampant member.

Poppy nodded and squirreled her hand between their bodies. Elliot realised what she was doing and he eased his belly away from hers so she could take him in her hand. She locked her legs behind him and lifted her buttocks.

“It will work better if you put a pillow under me,” she whispered, a little embarrassed.

Elliot reached across and a little impatiently he snatched a pillow and shoved it under the small of Poppy’s back.

Poppy slid Elliot's penis inside the gusset of her panties, she was still too embarrassed to take them off. She nestled his glans in her puckered bud which she had heavily lubricated as part of her preparation. She was well aware of the length and girth of Elliot’s cock and men were often impatient, especially the first time they had anal sex.

“Are you ready?” she smiled up at him.

“Are you?” he smiled down at her.

Poppy nodded.

Elliot lowered his face to Poppy’s and kissed her gently then he kept his eyes on her face so he could see her expression as he slowly pushed himself inside her. When she winced he stopped.

“Don’t stop,” her voice was husky with lust.

He didn’t. He pushed his cock slowly inside Poppy’s anus until he was fully inside her, her face a mask of passion and desire.

She moved her legs so that her ankles were on Elliot’s shoulders. He turned his face and kissed the little wrinkles in her nylons and licked the ankle-strap of her sandal and Poppy wriggled her buttocks invitingly.

“You little minx,” Elliot smiled at her.

She put her hands around his neck and wriggled her buttocks again.

“Make love to me Elliot,” her eyes were filled with tears but they were tears of joy.

Elliot put his lips on hers and drove his tongue into her mouth mimicking the movements of his hips as he fucked her, slowly at first. She felt his cock quivering inside her and she knew that he was close. Poppy didn’t mind, she was close herself. Her cock was pulsing in her panties and every time that Elliot thrust his cock into her, his hard belly pressed against her penis adding to her excitement.

Elliot’s whole body shook and his breathing became uncontrollably ragged as he orgasmed. Poppy felt his cock throb and shudder inside her and the scalding heat of his semen as it filled her anus. She clung to him, grinding her buttocks into him as her own cock exploded, filling her panties and spattering Elliot’s belly with her emission.

The lovers clung to each other, kissing and grinding their bodies against each other, eking out every scintilla of pleasure from each other. Poppy raked her nails along his back and her heels grazed his flanks. Elliot bit her lip in his excitement and they tasted the saltiness of her blood which incited them both to an orgasmic high. Poppy was shaking uncontrollably, whimpering like a small animal underneath him whilst Elliot rode her, pounding his cock in and out of her as another climax wracked him.

They lay on the bed exhausted, Elliot trying to keep his full weight off her but Poppy wouldn’t let go of him.

“That was wonderful,” she whispered shakily, finally able to speak.

“It was amazing,” Elliot panted in her ear.

“Are you ok?” Poppy asked.

She was aware of the sticky mess she had made on Elliot's midriff, her slowly deflating penis pressed against him, the redolence of her semen.

“I’m in heaven I think,” Elliot smiled down at her.

He tried to roll off her and Poppy held onto him, preventing him.

“Can you hold me, stay inside me and comfort me?” she pleaded with him.

Elliot realised that the men who used Poppy climbed off her as soon as they had finished. She just wanted to feel wanted, needed, cherished and Elliot felt all those things for her.

She lowered her legs and wrapped them around his waist and locked her arms around his muscled torso. Elliot covered her face in kisses and nestled against her body, feeling her adoration, feelings he reciprocated.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, the weight of his body on hers was comforting. At some stage Elliot slid off her and lay beside her, snuggled up, their bodies a tangle of intertwined limbs.

They awoke around noon and made love again, quickly this time, knowing their time in bed was limited, ADA Brett Mendelsohn was due to visit later that afternoon. They showered together, Poppy at first embarrassed at showing Elliot her naked body but he soon put an end to her embarrassment and before they had finished showering Elliot had taken her from behind as she leaned against the glass shower wall. He soaped up her penis and brought her off with his hand while he fucked her.

Any trepidation Poppy had that Elliot was repulsed by her body had been put to rest. She was also amazed by his virility; he was insatiable.

Poppy emerged from her bedroom wearing her streetwalker hotpants, tank-top, L’eggs pantyhose and fuck-me-heels with her hair frizzed out and her makeup heavy.

Elliot had dressed in a suit in anticipation of the ADA’s arrival.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Elliot asked.

“You're the detective. How long do you think it will take Brett Mendelsohn to figure out something is going on between us if I suddenly start dressing like a housewife and treating you nice,” Poppy straightened Elliot’s tie.

“You need to be mean to me while he’s here. You can make it up to me later,” she leaned in and kissed him and then rubbed her lipstick off his cheek with her thumb.

She skittered away from him when he reached for her.

“Behave!” she gave him a serious look as the ADA pulled up outside in a nondescript white van instead of his usual Crown Vic.

Brett Mendelsohn was all business when he arrived. He struggled, trying to juggle two pelican cases and a tripod as well as his briefcase, he glared at Elliot who took the hint and gave him a hand with the equipment.

“The judge has set a trial date and advised the Napolitano Family lawyers that there will be no more delays. The heat will be turned up by them to find the material witness,” Brett looked around the room, setting one of the pelican cases on a table.

“I’m going to swear you in and record your testimony Miss Evesham. It’s only a precaution but you can never be too careful,” he busied himself setting up the equipment he had brought.

Poppy looked expectantly at Elliot.

“They're recording your evidence just in case the Napolitano Family rub you out,” Elliot said, trying to sound pragmatic.

“But we’re safe here right?” Poppy looked genuinely concerned.

“Look doll, if they try to take you out here it means they will try to take me out with you. Your ass might not be worth much, except as witness, but I have a family and roots in the community so you can bet your skanky ass that I’ll put up a fight,” Elliot snapped at her.

“Can you get her dressed in something other than ‘cheap American hooker’? I want the jury to believe her testimony,” Brett said, fiddling with the camera.

“Well toots, do you have anything besides ‘cheap American hooker’ in your wardrobe?” Elliot asked, knowing full well that she did.

Poppy flounced off to her bedroom to tone down her makeup and get changed.

“Do you have to make her scared like that?” Elliot growled at Brett Mendelsohn.

“What the fuck do you care? Fuck that whore! The Napolitanos killed the other witnesses. Robert Farragut and the concierge Stanley Britton both took two to the head so I’m not joking when I say they're going to turn up the heat and come looking hard for the tranny cooze,” Mendelsohn snapped back.

He set up the Sony u-matic video recorder on the table and Elliot went over to look at the 30 by 24 by 12 inch box with its myriad knobs and dials. It was state of the art and recorded video on ¾ inch magnetic tape. Elliot was fascinated and watched captivated as Brett mounted the camera on the tripod and plugged it into the recording device.

But both Elliot’s and Brett’s attention was diverted when Poppy entered the room dressed in her navy blue business suit, white cotton blouse, black patent leather heels and sheer flesh-toned L’eggs nylons. Her makeup was toned down and her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail the remainder tucked behind her ears.

It was not the first time Elliot had seen her dressed this way but he was still astounded by how professional she looked.

“First time I’ve seen you out of a cooch cooler honey, you don’t look half bad,” Brett pointed to the chair he had set up in front of the camera.

Poppy sat on the chair and demurely pulled down the hem of her tight pencil skirt whilst the ADA explained to her what he was going to do.

Brett started filming and had Elliot hold the bible while he swore her in. He gave a preamble to the camera, stating the case number, the charges against Luca Tattaglia and the reason he was recording the testimony.

“You are legally known as Paul Evesham but you identify as Penelope Evesham is that correct?” Brett asked.

Brett had warned her that her gender identity and her occupation would be difficult for the jury to deal with and challenged by the Napolitano lawyers so his strategy was to get it out front and deal with it.

“That’s correct, I was born male but identify as female,” Poppy kept her head up and Elliot was proud of her.

“And you were on the second floor of the Metropole Hotel on the night in question?” Brett was allowed some latitude with the recorded testimony and in any event there was no one there to object that he was leading the witness.

Poppy answered in the affirmative.

“What were you doing there Miss Evesham?” Brett got straight to the point.

“I was there with a customer. A man later identified as Robert Farragut,” Poppy replied.

“What were you and Mr Farragut doing at the Metropole hotel?” Brett nodded at Poppy to answer frankly.

“We were having sex. More specifically he was paying me for sex,” Poppy answered but she couldn’t help blushing.

“So let’s get it out there Miss Evesham… you are a transsexual prostitute, is that correct?” Brett said gravely.

“That is correct Mr Mendelsohn,” Poppy replied and couldn’t help cast a guilty look at Elliot.

Elliot nodded at her and smiled, letting her know that she was doing well and that he understood her embarrassment.

Brett Mendelsohn then led Poppy through her testimony including having her positively identify Luca Tattaglia in a photograph as the man who had shot and killed Pussy Raggio and George Basso.

After her testimony Poppy was craving for a cigarette and she cadged one from Brett Mendelsohn.

“You can smoke that shit in the laundry,” Elliot scowled.

“The cooze cleans up pretty good. If she didn’t have a pistol in her panties I’d give her one. You ever tempted?” Brett said to Elliot who was glad that Brett was busy packing up his gear and couldn’t see the guilty look on Elliot’s face.

“Never mind about the cooze, shouldn’t we be ramping up security now that we know that the Napolitanos are going to come after her hard?” Elliot asked.

“If I bring in backup they're more likely to sell you out to the mob than to protect you, you know how corrupt things are down at Police Plaza and City Hall. Anyway, I have her testimony now so if they come for her, just duck or use her as a shield,” Brett joked.

Elliot was not amused but he followed the ADA outside and helped him load the equipment in the van.

“Look the cooze ain’t all that bad. She’s got a kid brother she’s putting through boarding school, that’s the only reason she’s hooking,” Elliot felt the need to defend Poppy.

Brett stopped what he was doing and gave Elliot a serious look.

“You're not sweet on her are you Elliot? You know that would be dumb. Look, you got her all to yourself out here, she’s pretty and she’s got killer legs, a fine ass and great tits, if you want to give her one up the wazoo or get some head go crazy, but don’t let that thing get under your skin. When the trial is over we’ll toss her back on the street and she’ll be dead before she sucks her first cock,” Brett said dourly, shrugging his shoulders.

Elliot was barely able to contain his anger but he put on his poker face.

“I never wanted this assignment anyway. As soon as you’ve finished with her I can throw her under the bus and get back to doing some real detective work,” Elliot sniggered.

“That’s the spirit. You’re only gonna have to bird-dog the tranny slit for another couple of weeks. The trial date is set. Just keep your head down if the Napolitanos come looking for her,” Brett winked at him and slammed the doors closed on the van.

Elliot decided that he hated Brett more than he thought he did.

He went back inside, locked the place up and set the alarm. Poppy was just coming out of the laundry when Elliot grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. Even the reek of her recently smoked cigarette didn’t spoil the pleasure he took from kissing her.

“Well that was a pleasant surprise,” Poppy smiled up at him.

“Is this suit better than the cheap American hooker look I was wearing before?” Poppy teased him.

“Can I watch you take it off?” Elliot teased her back.

“Sure you can, come this way,” Poppy took his hand and led him to her bedroom.

She just managed to get out of the skirt before Elliot pounced on her.

*****

For appearances sake Elliot and Poppy kept their separate bedrooms but Poppy slept in Elliot’s bed every night. Elliot became more comfortable with Poppy’s gender and less sheepish about touching her genitals. He joked about her inability to fake an orgasm like a cisgender woman could. That joke cost him an evening in the doghouse but they were mostly inseparable.

And it wasn’t just the sex. Elliot became more infatuated with Poppy’s character, individuality, intelligence and warmth and Poppy came to realised that under his hard cool exterior Elliot was in fact a considerate and thoughtful man. Neither of them raised the question as to what would happen to their relationship after the trial. For the moment they were content to live together just like any other couple.

Elliot helped Poppy study for her law degree and they settled into a pleasant routine. Elliot traced the scars on her body with his fingertips but he never asked her how she had come by them. She would tell him when she was ready. The raised burn scars forming the letter R on her shoulder was particularly repulsive and Elliot thought that he would like some time alone with Ray-Ray.

It was visiting day and Poppy changed into her business suit to visit her brother at The Grosvenor School having to continually slap away Elliot’s hands. She loved that he couldn’t keep his hands off her but it annoyed her when she was busy doing things that she needed to do.

They chatted amiably during the drive to the school unlike the stony silence the last time they had visited. Poppy had to keep reminding Elliot to keep his eyes on the road not on her thighs as her pencil skirt kept riding up. Elliot reminded Poppy what he was going to do to her when he got her home and for the first time in a long time she actually blushed.

They parked in the same car park but this time Robert didn’t come bounding across the lawn to hug his big sister. A Lincoln Continental town car screeched into the car park parking diagonally behind Elliot, effectively blocking in his car. Elliot reached under his jacket for his weapon but it was too late. The doors of the Town Car were open before it had even stopped and two large men stood on either side of driver and passenger doors of Elliot’s car with their pistols drawn.

One of the men made a motion to indicate that they should roll down their windows and before Elliot could stop Poppy from doing so, she complied. The man reached across Poppy and aimed his gun at Elliot.

“Roll down the window and drop your weapon on the ground. Don’t do anything stupid or the bitch gets it,” the man moved his weapon and pointed it point blank at Poppy’s head.

Elliot carefully engaged the safety on his semi-automatic and then held it in two fingers and tossed it out the window. Poppy stared straight ahead; all she could think about was where was Robert?

Elliot’s police training kicked in. The first thing he thought of was that they were not going to kill him unless they really had to. The Mob had a strict rule that law enforcement officers were not to be harmed under any circumstances without permission from the Commission and then permission was usually only granted if the police officer concerned was corrupt.

He felt guilty about thinking about his own skin but secondly and more importantly to him was the realisation that they hadn't killed Poppy. It would be a simple thing for these men to shoot her dead and then simply drive away. Something else was going on here.

“Come on toots, we’re going for a ride,” the man standing next to Poppy’s door opened it and waved his pistol at her.

The man standing next to Elliot’s door put his pistol to Elliot’s head.

“Don’t do anything stupid. The tranny cooze ain’t worth it,” the man pressed the muzzle into Elliot’s temple.

The other man dragged Poppy from the car. She wasn’t really resisting, she was just unable to move because she was so scared.

“Don’t fuck me around toots. Look over at the car,” the gangster pointed his pistol at the Lincoln

Robert's terrified face was framed in the rear near side window. Poppy yelped and bolted towards the Lincoln but the gangster held her by her arm.

“Take it easy, lets behave in a nice orderly fashion,” the man holstered his weapon and led Poppy towards the Lincoln, holding her by her upper arm.

“Keys,” the other gangster took the pistol from Elliot’s temple but kept it trained on his head.

Elliot removed the keys from the ignition and handed them to the gangster.

“Drop them and keep your hands inside the car,” the gangster was having Elliot’s hands nowhere near him.

Elliot did as he was told and the gangster bobbed down quickly and picked up the keys.

“This is a simple transaction. We’re going to talk to the tranny cooze for a while. So long as she plays along the kid will be safe and so will the cooze. She does anything stupid and she watches the kid die and you don’t wanna know what we’re going to do to her before we take her out,” the gangster explained.

“You tell anyone or do anything that upsets our little plan, we take out the kid and we do it hard. Then we take out the cooze and we do it hard. We’ll send you some pictures so you can see what they got.”

“You go back to your little beach house and wait and we’ll bring you back your little boy-toy in one piece. You know that we’re gonna know if you fuck this up. We found you, the cooze and the kid, so we got our resources. You gonna play along? Just say yes or no,” the man waggled his gun at Elliot.

“Yes,” Elliot hissed through gritted teeth.

The gangster tossed Elliot’s car keys into a copse of thick bushes across from the car park and slowly backed away from the car, keeping the gun on Elliot. The other man opened the back door of the Lincoln and Poppy scrambled into the car and hugged her brother, kissing the top of his head and repeatedly asked him if he had been hurt.

The gangster pushed her across the seat and got in beside her while the other man who had his gun trained on Elliot backed into the front passenger seat. As soon as he was inside the car the driver sped off, spraying gravel across the car park.

“Put this on bitch!” the man in the back seat gave Poppy a blindfold which she dutifully put on.

She wondered why they hadn't made Robert put on a blindfold but there were too many thoughts spinning around in her brain for her to concentrate on one in particular.

Elliot got out of his car and picked up his pistol. His hand was shaking, not with fear but with rage. While he searched for his car keys his thoughts were running in circles. He knew that he needed to get control of his emotions and think this through rationally. He found his keys and went back to his car and sat in the driver’s seat, he put his hands on the wheel and forced himself to take a series of deep breaths.

He asked himself a number of questions: How did they know about Robert and where to find him? How did they know about Poppy’s recorded testimony? How did they know about the safe house?

Poppy’s testimony had only been recorded last week so the mob didn’t know where she was until then otherwise they would have tried to take her out before the recording could be made. That also meant that whoever had leaked the information to the Mob had only done so recently. The ADA would have had to file a copy of the transcript of Poppy’s testimony with the court so the leak had likely come from someone in the judicial system rather than the police, but that couldn’t be ruled out either. Everyone talked.

Elliot looked around and saw that everyone in his field of view seemed to be going around conducting business as usual. Although it had seemed to take for ever Poppy’s abduction it had taken less than a minute.

He started the car and put it in reverse. He would have plenty of time during the return journey to contemplate how the Napolitano Family had got their information but all he could think about was that they had Poppy. He smashed his fist against the steering wheel in anger and drove off.

The three gangsters said very little during the drive. Robert clung to Poppy. He told her that the man beside her had approached him while he was sitting on the bench waiting for her. Robert knew not to talk to strangers but he was inside the school grounds and he figured the nice man in the suit was either visiting his kid or was a school official. It was only when the man had put his big hand over Robert’s mouth and carried him away that Robert realised that he was being abducted. The man had told him to behave and he would soon see his sister so Robert had sat in the back of the car and behaved.

The man sitting beside Poppy was uncomfortably close and she scooted over as close as she could to Robert who was pressed against the car door. The driver had activated the door locks so even if they wanted to they couldn’t jump out of moving vehicle.

The man followed her across the seat and pressed against her.

“You look pretty good for a hooker. Is it true you got something special under that skirt? You look like a real woman to me,” the man whispered in her ear.

He put his hand under her skirt and pawed her thighs. Poppy squirmed but she kept Robert shielded so that he couldn’t see what the man was doing to his sister. The gangster’s fingernails laddered her L’eggs and then he found her panties and fumbled around.

“I can’t feel a braciole in those cooch-covers but I can’t feel no bernarda neither,” the man fumbled at the front of her panties.

“Leave the travestita alone. We got plenty of time to play with her when we get to the place,” the driver was watching them in the rear vision mirror.

The goon reluctantly withdrew his hand from under Poppy’s skirt.

Poppy held Robert close and comforted him, telling him that everything was going to be ok. The car left the highway and turned onto a secondary road and finally turned onto a road that was little more than track that wound through the forest and ended at a small cabin.

The man sitting beside Poppy pulled his gun and pointed it at her when the driver popped the door locks. He took off her blindfold and indicated for Poppy and Robert to get out, which they did, Robert clinging to his sister. Poppy stumbled on the gravel path in her high-heels as she made her way to the cabin.

The driver led the way and unlocked the door to the cabin and held it open while Poppy and Robert went inside followed by the other two mobsters.

“Take the kid into the room,” the driver told the man who had sat in the front passenger seat.

“No! No! No!” Robert clung to Poppy and refused to move, even when the man pulled on his arm.

“Fuck this. Do what you’re told kid or your sister gets it,” the other man put his pistol to Poppy’s head.

Robert wasn't mature enough to understand that the men could have killed Poppy any time they wanted but he certainly knew they could hurt her so he let go and complied. He was taken to another room and locked inside leaving Poppy alone with the three men.

“Sit!” the driver pulled a wooden chair out from a wooden kitchen table.

The main room of the small cabin was a combined kitchen, diner and family room. The place wasn’t connected to the power grid but it seemed to be well maintained.

Poppy sat in the chair, primly pulling down the hem of her skirt, the three men circled her menacingly.

“You can imagine what we can do to your brother. We’re keeping him until after the trial; he’s our insurance. We know about the recorded testimony, you’re lucky the ADA did that toots otherwise you’d be dead now but we need you to recant your testimony,” the driver explained.

“Let Robert go. I’ll tell the police and the ADA that I didn’t see the man who did the shooting. I’ll say the police coerced me and made me say it was him, that they threatened me. I’ll say anything you want, just let Robert go,” Poppy beseeched them.

“Do you know what guys will say to save their asses? I’ve had guys offer me money, their wives, their daughters, anything to spare them. It doesn’t matter, we’ve heard it all before,” the man said matter-of-factly.

“So we’re keeping the kid until the charges against Luca Tattaglia are dismissed with prejudice or he’s found not guilty. You’re going to retract all of your testimony and if they put you on the stand you’re going to recant… get it?” the man pulled out a chair and put his foot on it.

Poppy nodded her head.

“Don’t hurt him,” Poppy begged.

“He’ll be fine. He’ll be well looked after and after all this has gone away we will release him. He and you will be of no further interest to us,” the man wiped his hands figuratively.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do anything,” Poppy cried.

“Well that’s that then. Easy peasey Japanesey,” the man grinned evilly at her.

“We’ll take you back to your safe house and you tell your bodyguard that you are going to take back your testimony. Tell him that you’ll refuse to testify and if they use the recorded testimony that you will take the stand and say it’s all lies,” the gangster put his foot back down on the floor.

“Of course we’re all going to fuck you first,” he said clinically.

Poppy paled.

“Oh come on honey, you’re a hooker for god’s sake, this shouldn’t be something you haven’t done before,” the big guy who had sat next to her in the car said.

Poppy started to tear up.

“Cut that shit. We can do this two ways. You either take us on willingly or we bring out the kid to watch his sister being fucked against her will. What’s it going to be?”

Poppy just shook her head, composed herself and prepared to do what she needed to do.

She stood up and unbuttoned her jacket and hung it over the chair.

“What are you doing?” the big guy asked.

“I’m getting undressed,” Poppy replied, beginning to unbutton her blouse.

“Fuck that! We ain’t got the time,” he slapped her hands away from her blouse and pulled her to him.

His breath tasted of garlic and cigarettes but Poppy didn’t complain. As soon as he started to kiss her she opened her mouth and returned the kiss, her little brother’s life was at stake. She tried to put her arms around the big man but he was just too big so she clung to his shoulders as he kissed her and pawed at her blouse, ripping off the buttons.

The big man continued to kiss her whilst he pulled down the cups of her brassiere and groped her breasts. She felt one of the other men move in behind her and hike up her skirt, his hands squeezed her buttocks cruelly then he yanked at her panties and pulled them down to her ankles. Poppy obligingly kicked them away.

“Hey Frankie, let me get at her ass,” the man behind her whined.

Frankie, the big man, broke the kiss and pushed down on her back, forcing Poppy to bend over. He pushed her face into his crotch while he fumbled with his flies.

The man standing behind put his finger in the runner of her pantyhose crotch and enlarged the hole a little. She heard him spit and then felt his penis probing her sphincter. Poppy was experienced enough to relax her sphincter and as she did the man forced his cock inside her anus.

Poppy attempted to cry out but Frankie pushed his cock into her mouth. It was warm and pungent, tasting of piss and smegma. Poppy filled her mouth with spit so she could swallow the fetid substance and wash his penis with her tongue. This was not her first rodeo by any means. She had been defiled before by several men at the same time, often for the amusement of Ray-Ray, and she knew that being helpless as she was, the easiest and quickest way to get through the ordeal was to take the path of least resistance.

That meant pleasuring the men and getting them to cum as quickly as possible. To most women it would be unthinkable but for Poppy it had often been the status quo.

The man standing behind her gripped her hips and began to slowly fuck her. Poppy wriggled her buttocks to encourage him and encourage the flow of pre-ejaculate so that it would better lubricate her anus. She was rewarded almost immediately when she felt the man’s cock begin to slide in and out of her tight hole with ease.

“The pretty puttana has a tight ass and she knows how to use it,” the man behind her groaned as he fucked her.

“She knows how to use her mouth too,” Frankie held her head and fucked her mouth.

Poppy didn’t like it when men did that but she was in no position to complain. She used her lips and tongue to good effect, sucking Frankie’s penis which wasn’t as repulsive now that it was clean. She lifted her hand and put her fingers around the base of his thick pole and worked her mouth on it. Frankie obligingly let go of her head and let Poppy do what she was trained to do.

The man standing behind her knew how to fuck and he was in no rush, he was enjoying fucking Poppy’s snug rectum and Poppy would never admit it but he was stimulating her quite effectively. She was glad that she was heavily taped.

Frankie was close and she could sense his need as he put his hands back on her head. She could feel his cock begin to pulse and suddenly her mouth was filled with his creamy load. She swallowed it and he gave her more which she also swallowed.

Finished with her, and probably feeling a little sheepish about having sex with a transvestite, Frankie ripped his cock from her mouth and stuffed it back into his pants. He was quickly replaced by the driver who offered Poppy his long thick cock which she dutifully took into her mouth. This penis was immaculately clean and the man was gentle with her. Instead of holding her head and fucking her mouth, he caressed her cheeks and stroked her hair.

The man standing behind her was getting close too. He thrust his cock deep into Poppy’s anus and ejaculated. Poppy was ashamed that the feel of his throbbing cock against her prostate and the tight ring of her sphincter was evoking waves of pleasure. Her cock was so hard that the tape holding it to her body was coming loose.

The man fucking her stabbed her repeatedly in the rectum with his fleshy sword as the last of his spend filled her back package and began to dribble down her thighs. Then he suddenly stopped and ripped his dripping weapon from her puckered bud.

He joined Frankie in the kitchenette leaving Poppy alone with the driver.

“Ok doll; that's enough,” he extracted his cock from Poppy’s mouth and helped her stand erect.

He pulled her to him and kissed her and she clung to him feeling hot cum dribble out of her anus, run down her thighs and soak into her pantyhose. The driver lowered his face to her breasts and used his lips and his hands to stimulate her sensitive bosom. Her nipples hardened and she gasped with delight when he gently nibbled her nipples.

“Come on Salvatore. Finish up with the puttana, we gotta get going,” Frankie called from the kitchen but Salvatore, the driver, ignored him.

He kissed Poppy again and she responded by kissing him back and wrapping her arms around him, she raised her leg and rubbed her calf against him seductively. She told herself that she was only encouraging him so that the ordeal would soon be over but her body had betrayed her.

Salvatore turned Poppy so that her back was to the dining table and then lifted Poppy up and planted her derriere on the edge of the table, her skirt hiked up and her buttocks exposed. He hooked her knees under his elbows and lifted her legs so that he could place his cock on her sphincter.

He pushed it in slowly, his compatriot’s semen greasing the way. Poppy clung to him, sitting on the edge of the table with her legs splayed, moaning like a slattern. Her cock had burst loose of the tape and was standing up proud, tenting her pantyhose, aching for release.

Salvatore leaned forward so that he could kiss Poppy while he fucked her and she drove her tongue into his mouth and wrapped her legs around his waist so that his cock stayed deep inside her. Salvatore fucked her hard and fast which was what she wanted, not only because she wanted the ordeal over with but because she was aching for release and she flooded the front of her pantyhose at the same instant that Salvatore flooded her anus.

Poppy quivered with delight as her guilty orgasm erupted. It wasn't the first time she had climaxed whilst she was being used against her will but the shame of it never went away.

When he was finished coming Salvatore unwrapped her legs from around his waist and pushed her down so that she was lying flat on her back on the table panting, trying to control her breathing.

She squealed with surprise and repulsion when the man who had fucked her before Salvatore sprayed her face with his scalding semen. He had been watching Salvatore fuck Poppy and become aroused again and had been masturbating.

Salvatore returned from the kitchen with a roll of hand towel which he dropped in her lap.

“Clean yourself up. We gotta go,” he grunted.

Poppy rolled onto her side putting her back to the men while she wiped the semen off her face, from between her legs and from her thighs. She closed her blouse and dropped to her feet, bending down to pick up her discarded panties. She pushed her penis between her legs using her ripped pantyhose and panties to hold it in place then she pulled down and straightened her skirt.

Her handbag was still in Elliot’s car so she had no tissues, makeup or hairbrush to properly fix herself up so she did the best she could.

“Come on toots we gotta go,” Frankie mumbled around a mouthful of bread from a loaf he had taken from the kitchen.

“Can I see Robert before I go?” Poppy asked as she put on her jacket.

“Honey, you do not want your brother seeing you like this,” Frankie replied and Poppy could only imagine what she looked like.

Frankie dragged her over to the door where they had Robert locked away.

“Talk to him. Reassure him,” he grunted.

“Robert honey. I have to go but you have to stay here and be a good boy and these men will look after you. This will all be over soon and we will be together again,” Poppy called through the closed door.

“Poppy… don’t go… don’t go,” her brother cried and Poppy sobbed but Frankie pulled her viciously away from the door and frog marched her to the car.

He put her in the back seat and climbed in after her and Salvatore got into the driver’s seat. The third guy was obviously going to remain in the cabin to look after Robert. Salvatore locked the car doors and Frankie blindfolded her again and the car took off.

They were on the road for about an hour before Frankie took Poppy’s blindfold off. Any consolation she might have found evaporated when she saw that he had his cock out and he grabbed Poppy by the neck and pushed her face down into his groin.

She did what was required of her.

They threw Poppy out of the car at the beachfront park and sped off. She had to do the walk of shame along the walking track back to the safe house. Fortunately by then it was dark.

As soon as she approached the house her presence activated the security lighting, illuminating the surrounds of the house with harsh light. This was the last thing Poppy wanted because she knew that she looked a mess. Elliot came running down the path to greet her and came to a sudden halt when he saw the state of her.

It was only for a split second but Poppy saw the look of disgust and revulsion pass over his face. It was obvious that she had been sexually abused. Her hair was a mess, her makeup ruined, her blouse unbuttoned, runners in her pantyhose and the tell-tale silvery stains on her skirt.

“Poppy, where did they take you, what did they do to you, what did they want?” Elliot ran to her with his arms open.

“Don’t!” Poppy pushed past Elliot and strode to the front door.

“I can’t talk to you like this. Leave me alone until I’m ready to face you,” she ran to her bedroom and slammed the door.

The first thing that she noticed was that Elliot had put her handbag on her bed. She ripped off her clothes and threw them in the corner. If she could she could burn them she would. She put on a robe and went to the bathroom and stood under the scalding water until her skin was red. She douched repeatedly then climbed back into the shower, taking her toothbrush and mouthwash with her.

When she was thoroughly clean she went back to her room, pushing past Elliot who was waiting for her outside the bathroom.

“Now that you are safe I have to call the ADA and Chief of Detectives and tell them what happened,” Elliot pleaded with her.

Poppy spun around and stepped up to Elliot her anger flaring.

“They have Robert, Elliot! You don’t do anything yet! I’ll talk to you when I’m ready. Give me some space,” Poppy barked at him.

“Ok… ok… ok… is there anything I can do?” he asked, his face full of concern.

“Make me a drink. Make me a big drink. I’ll be out soon,” Poppy closed the bedroom door on him.

Poppy came out of her bedroom about half an hour later. She was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she was barefoot and her makeup was lighter than Elliot had ever seen it. He had never seen her dressed down this much before. She looked younger, vulnerable.

Elliot knew better than to try to engage with her; Poppy had made it clear that she would talk when she was ready. He brought a double scotch on ice over to where she was sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under her. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, he wanted to hold her and tell that everything was going to be ok. But she was radiating hostility and bitterness and he knew that trying to touch her was probably the worst thing he could do.

He had seen what she looked like when she came home and wished he could unsee it. He felt pity for her and he felt that he was useless. Men used her, men abused her, men treated her like shit and he believed it was his job to protect her from all that and he had failed.

Poppy gulped the drink down in a few swallows and waved the glass at Elliot who dutifully went to the kitchen to refill it. He returned with the bottle figuring he would save himself having to keep going back. Poppy took her cigarettes out of her purse and put a Newport in her mouth and glared at Elliot, challenging him to stop her lighting it but he said nothing. Instead he fetched a saucer from the kitchen and put it on the table so she could use it as an ashtray.

“Quite the lapdog tonight aren’t you Elliot?” Poppy quipped and immediately regretted saying it.

Taking out her anger on Elliot would solve nothing.

Elliot remained stoic. He couldn’t imagine what the men had done to her but then again he could. He hated himself for thinking about it but he wondered if he could touch her again knowing that those mobsters had been in the places that he considered his. He knew it was selfish, he knew it was unforgivable, he knew it was hateful but he couldn’t help feeling what he felt.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my anger out on you but they have Robert and that’s all I can think about,” Poppy took another slug of liquor.

“Ok,” Elliot decided that acceding to her wish to tell him what happened only when she was ready was the only way to deal with the situation.

“They took us to a cabin, a cottage, whatever the fuck. It was somewhere in a forest, I have no idea where, I was blindfolded,” Poppy began.

She told Elliot everything… everything except the sex. There was no need to; he knew that they had taken turns with her just by looking at her. In some ways her omission made it worse because Elliot could only imagine it: Poppy lying on the bed resplendent in her lingerie beckoning the men to join her one after the other, Poppy being held down and brutally taken while she screamed, and all the permutations in between.

“I have no choice Elliot; I have to recant my testimony. They have my brother, the only thing in the world I care about,” she didn’t cry, she was all cried out.

Elliot took it like a shot to the heart when Poppy said that Robert was the only thing in the world that she cared about. He didn’t know exactly what they had between them but he knew that she had become precious to him. She was an enigma, she was impenetrable but she was also vulnerable, she was beautiful, sophisticated and intelligent but she was whorish, street-smart and offensive. He had seen all sides of her and he thought he knew which parts of her were real.

Her sexuality and gender were a metaphor for her life, she was no longer a man but she was not fully a woman but whatever she was he cared for her.

“I’m duty bound to report the abduction Poppy. They’ll probably take my badge from me for not telling them immediately but I can use the excuse that they promised to release you and if I reported it they would torture and kill you both,” Elliot murmured, his head in his hands.

“But now that you’re back I have to report it to the Chief of Police who will bring in the FBI because it’s a kidnapping,” Elliot explained.

“It’s not going to change anything Elliot. I’m going to renounce my recorded testimony and if necessary I’ll take the stand and tell the court that I lied, that I never saw the man who committed the murders. I’ll say anything. I’ll say I did it hoping for a payoff, that I did it just to get off the streets,” Poppy lit another cigarette.

“The prosecutor will say that your testimony is coerced because the Napolitano family are holding your brother. He’ll say that the recorded testimony is the true version and that you are lying to save Robert,” Elliot explained.

“He can treat you like a hostile witness,” Elliot sighed.

“I will still have done what was demanded of me by those hoods. I’ll have played my part, they’ll let Robert go,” Poppy whispered.

“Will they?” Elliot reached for her hand but she snatched it away.

“Can you at least sleep on it? Can you wait until tomorrow?” Poppy stubbed out her cigarette.

“I’m just so tired. I need to sleep,” Poppy got up off the couch and padded down to her bedroom and closed and locked the door.

Elliot went to bed but he couldn’t sleep. He lay awake staring at the ceiling in the dark.

When the door opened he didn’t reach for his gun, he could tell by her scent that it was Poppy. She slid under the sheets. She was naked except for her panties, no sexy lingerie tonight. She snuggled up to him and Elliot held her close.

“It’s ok. We don’t have to do anything. Let’s just hold each other,” Elliot whispered when her fingers sought him out.

“I need it Elliot. I want it. I want you to make love to me so that I know that someone cares,” Poppy began to softly stroke him.

“Make love to me Elliot. Don’t fuck me, don’t bang me, don’t hump me… make love to me like you care,” Poppy whispered.

That’s exactly what Elliot did. They took their time, they knew exactly how to pleasure each other and they did it, but they did it slowly, tenderly, intimately.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms and when Elliot awoke he had made his decision.

“I’ll get Brett Mendelsohn down here first thing and tell him that you are going to disavow your testimony. He’s going to hit the roof and I’m going to have to play along. I’m going to have to treat you pretty rough,” Elliot explained to her.

“Well you’ve done that before… oh I’m sorry Elliot; I shouldn’t have said that,” Poppy snuggled up to him on the couch.

Elliot was wearing just his boxers and a t-shirt and Poppy had put on her negligee.

“You’ll need an excuse; a reason that you’ve changed your mind,” Elliot said.

“I’ll use a half-truth. I’ll say that I’m scared that as soon as the trial is over and I’m no longer in protective custody that the Napolitanos will kill me for revenge,” Poppy replied.

“I’ll call Mendelsohn. Go and get dressed,” Elliot stood up and went to the phone.

Poppy followed him and gave him a hug.

“Thank you,” she kissed his cheek then walked away.

Elliot watched her walk to the bedroom. It wasn’t just lust he felt for her; it was something else but he didn’t know what it was. He was too scared to even think about what it might be. He took the receiver out of the cradle and made the call.

To be continued