‘Now, where were we?’ I said. ‘Ah yes, I believe you’re about to do as you’re told.’

‘Screw you, Dan. I have neither the time nor the inclination to play your stupid games. Your minion Jarvis bullied me into attending this nonsense. No one said anything about how long I had to stay. I’m going home. If you’ve actually got something worthwhile to say, send me a text.’ Sephy started to turn round.

‘You leave now and Nathan’s unfortunate accident could so easily turn out to be … infectious.’

Sephy froze. Slowly she turned back to me and, if I thought she’d displayed how much she despised me before, it was nothing to what she was showing me now. This woman was all hatred. The look on her face … I couldn’t help it – I burst out laughing. Sephy really was so refreshing – a what-you-see-is-what-you-get woman. The best kind.

‘I suggest you watch your back around me, you arrogant, murderous toad,’ she said.

And, with that, she turned and left the room, my laughter still ringing in her ears.

fifteen. The Night That Would Never End

Even though I’d laughed off Sephy’s hostility towards me, when she left the room, so did my laughter. What must it be like to have a woman like her at your side through thick and thin, good times and bad? Someone who’d tell you straight if you were being a dick, but would love you regardless? I’d never had that. Ever. There were women in my life, but they were there for what I could give them and for what I was, not who I was. Would I ever meet a woman who’d love me for me? Who would stick around if I were broke or ill? Someone to come home to? I shook my head. What on earth was I thinking? I’d made my bed and a bloody comfortable one it was too. When you got right down to it, I didn’t have anyone permanent in my life because I didn’t need anyone. It was as simple as that.

All the interruptions I’d suffered throughout the evening had obviously played on my nerves. My dinner guests were all people who wouldn’t spit on me if I were on fire, except perhaps my brother, Tom, and George. For Shaka’s sake! Of all the people present in my apartment, the only one who’d stayed out of my study was Jarvis. I was ready to give him a substantial bonus for that alone. The interruptions and the negativity had played merry hell with my mood. I was irritable, tetchy.

No more delays.