‘I can certainly try to do that,’ I say. ‘I’ll call you later, if that’s okay.’

‘Ingrid,’ he says, ‘stay safe. I thought I was doing the right thing … I didn’t think he would …’ His voice trails off.

Glancing up at Niall, who is still staring at me, my heart sinks further.

‘Okay. I know what you mean. We’ll chat later,’ I say and end the call.

‘Anyone important?’ Niall asks.

‘A work thing. Nothing that can’t wait,’ I say.

‘Was it Ryan Murray?’ he asks.

‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘No. Nothing to do with him.’

Our strange stand-off is broken by the sound of a voice, deep and loud, calling Niall’s name. He looks at me, his eyes wide. Reaching out to grab me again, he steps closer, but I step back. It’s getting harder and harder to stay calm.

‘No. Ingrid, get over here. You don’t understand,’ he says, and his voice is angry now. Scared.

The voice rings out again. He closes his eyes, shakes his head, and when he looks up, I can see that he is shaking. The overconfident alpha male I have come to know over the last few days has been reduced to a terrified little boy.

‘Please,’ he says, and reaches out a third time.

This time he grabs me by the wrist and starts to pull me back in the direction from where we’ve come.

‘You have to come with me.’

But I don’t want to. I want to get to my car and I want to get home.

The voice rings out again, closer this time. It’s not Declan, I know that. It’s deep, angry.

‘What’s going on?’ I blurt. ‘Who is that?’

‘It’s my da,’ he says. ‘Come on! You don’t understand.’

He pulls so hard on my wrist that it hurts and I slip again on the leaves, crashing to my knees.

‘Get up!’ he shouts. ‘You have to get up.’

‘Niall, stop! You’re hurting me. You’re scaring me!’ I can’t pretend this is normal any more. I can’t pretend I’m not petrified.

But he doesn’t seem to hear me.

‘You don’t understand,’ he wails. ‘You have to come with me. If he sees you … Come on! I know where we can hide.’

He is pleading with me now, pulling me back to my feet.

‘Let me go!’ I shout and pull away from him, breaking the hold.

‘You stupid bitch!’ he shouts. ‘You don’t get it! You won’t be safe. He has a fierce temper. Kelly, come on!’

It’s her name that makes me freeze to the spot.

When I look back at him, I see a man reliving a childhood trauma right in front of my eyes.