Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- 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
- About the Author
‘No.’ Her turn to give the one-word, stubborn answers now, and they reach an impasse with her driving that finger into his chest and him pushing against it.
‘Get away from me, Safa. Get Harry. Get the other men and come back with the drugs. Do me in the neck and take me back because that’s better than being here.’
‘No.’
‘It’s not your choice.’
‘No.’
‘Stop saying no. It’s my life and my choice.’
‘No, you’re staying.’
‘I am not staying. GET AWAY FROM ME . . .’ He screams the words into her face but she doesn’t flinch. ‘I don’t know what you think I am. I’m not a cop or a soldier. I’m a fucking nobody . . .’
‘You aren’t a nobody.’
‘I am. I am a fucking nobody that did something weird once—’
‘Twice.’
‘Fine . . . I did those things, but the second one got me killed and I ended up here . . . that’s failure. I failed. I cannot be what you want me to be.’
‘Be Ben Ryder.’
‘Safa . . .’
‘Just be Ben Ryder,’ she says in a voice quavering with emotion. ‘This isn’t Ben Ryder . . . this isn’t you . . .’
‘This is me,’ he says in exasperation. ‘This is who I am . . . I want my life . . . I want to be with Steph and I don’t need a mercy fuck in the . . . holy fuck, what was that for?’ He reels back from the stinging slap delivered hard across his face, but the next one comes faster and harder than the first. Everything she has done for him. The support she has given him. The belief and energy and offering herself to him last night all so he can say that whore’s name and lash out with hurtful words. She batters him back into the wall with open-handed hits, striking him over and over.
‘Do something . . .’ she pleads. ‘Fight back . . .’
‘No,’ he growls and stands upright to take the next slap that stings to hell. They lock eyes. Hers dark and full of rage and his full of self-pity. She hits him again and he takes it. Again and he takes it. The sound of flesh on flesh rolling down the corridor. She purses her lips, furious at the lack of reaction. She hits. Something inside him snaps. When her hand comes at him again he catches it mid-swing and grips hard as he pushes her back with forceful steps.
‘You don’t know the impact you had on people . . .’ she whispers angrily. ‘The whole world knows your name . . . you meant something. You are something.’