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Back Brutal Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. BRUTAL
  3. Dedication page
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Prologue
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. PART TWO
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. PART THREE
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. Epilogue
  55. BRUTAL
  56. By Mandasue Heller

‘Not sure.’ Evan shrugged. ‘I think he said something about her staying with a friend.’

‘Good,’ Marie said approvingly. ‘It’s too soon for him to get involved with anyone, so it would never have lasted.’

Evan nodded his agreement, and said, ‘Anyway, now we’ve broken the ice, I was thinking I might pop over there when I finish work tomorrow. Give him a hand fixing up his cars.’

‘Ah, he’ll like that,’ Marie said. Then, giving a sheepish little smile, she added, ‘I was actually going to ask you if you’d mind if I went to bingo tomorrow night? I saw Kelly and Liz earlier, and they said the jackpot’s on its third rollover, so it’s going to be huge. They’re going to the karaoke bar straight after, but I’ll give that a miss.’

‘No, go with them,’ Evan urged, glad that she’d made plans, because that meant he wouldn’t have to rush home. ‘And make sure you win that jackpot so we can retire and move to Spain.’

‘I’ll try,’ Marie laughed, resting her head on his chest. Then, teasing his nipple through his T-shirt, she said, ‘Fancy an early night?’

Evan took another swig of his drink and resisted the urge to sigh. He wasn’t really in the mood for sex while he had all this shit about his dad rolling round in his mind. But Marie was making an effort, so he supposed he ought to, as well.

‘Yeah, all right,’ he said. ‘But don’t be expecting a long one, ’cos I’m wiped.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Marie grinned, springing to her feet and grabbing his hand to pull him up.

24

Viktorya Radu woke to find herself in a pitch-dark room. The painkillers she’d been given had knocked her out cold, and she’d dreamed she was at home with her mother. It had been so vivid, she wasn’t immediately sure if that had been real and this was the dream. But the all-too-real pain that covered every inch of her body when she rolled over told her that she was far from the comforts of home.

As her vision began to adjust, she picked out the hazy outlines of unfamiliar furniture in the room. The bedsprings creaked when she sat up, and she gripped the edge of the mattress when a bitter taste flooded her mouth. Her head felt heavy and fuzzy, and she needed the toilet, so she dropped her feet to the floor and tentatively stood up.

Blindly feeling her way over to the door, she cried out in pain when she smashed her knee on the corner of a chest of drawers she hadn’t noticed. Almost immediately, a tapping sound came through the wall, and she froze when someone whispered: ‘Are you OK, love?’