Chapters (50)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Ninteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Letter From the Author
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
‘That’s what I thought. He was at first. Sweet and funny but with that edge of danger. It’s attractive, you know?’
I nodded. ‘I know.’
‘But I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.’
‘You should go to the police,’ I said, fully aware of the irony.
‘I don’t want to. What will they do? He’ll deny it and then it will be even worse for me.’
‘Did he actually . . . hit you?’
She stood up and took off her leather jacket and for a moment I thought she was going to show me her bruises. Instead, she sat back down and said, ‘It was more like pushing and shouting and . . . he spat at me. In my face.’
‘Fuck.’
‘It’s next time I’m worried about. He said they’d get me.’
‘They?’
‘Him and the other bikers. His mates. I think it was just an idle threat, but . . . He said I’d tricked him. Made him think I was into him.’
‘I see.’
‘But he was always pestering me to go out with him and, in the end, I thought why not? I haven’t been with anyone for ages and I thought going out with Henry would be fun, just like going out with a friend. It was when it came to sex that . . .’ Her words trailed off.
‘You don’t have to tell me any more,’ I said, embarrassed for her.
‘Thanks. To be honest, I don’t think he even noticed that I didn’t really fancy him . . . I mean, I like sex, don’t get me wrong, I love it, but not with . . .’ She trailed off again.
I squirmed. This really was embarrassing.
She gathered herself. ‘It was when I tried to end it, after I realised what a stupid mistake the whole thing was, that he went mad.’
A horrible, selfish thought struck me. ‘Hang on – does he know you’ve come here?’
She shook her head quickly. ‘No!’
‘You’re sure he didn’t follow you?’ My pulse accelerated at the sound of a motorbike on the street and I rushed to the window. But it was some guy on a little Honda.
‘He’s at work. He definitely didn’t follow me. Don’t worry.’
‘OK. So what are you going to do?’
‘I don’t know. I just thought if I could get away for a few days, then I’ll talk to him. My sister lives in Cardiff. I’m going to head up there tomorrow.’ She met my eye for the first time. ‘I don’t want to be with him anymore. But maybe if I give him a few days to calm down, he’ll leave me alone.’
‘My God, Rachel. If he continues to threaten you, you have to call the police.’ I sipped my tea but it had gone cold and I spat it back into the mug. ‘Does Tilly know what’s going on?’