‘And that makes it better, does it?’ Damian asks, jolting her from the memory.

Jenna’s so lost in her thoughts she can’t be sure what he’s asking her.

‘That she hits him,’ Damian clarifies, ‘not the other way round?’

‘Yes, it does.’

‘And you want to be with him?’

‘It’s none of your business what I want.’

‘Maybe it’s not, but someone has to point out that what you’re doing is fucking stupid. The man’s a master manipulator. Him and Kate.’

‘And yet you still paid two grand to come here.’

‘And what a mistake that was. What can I say, I was desperate. I would have paid Derren Fucking Brown to come to my house if I thought he could help me. And yes, I am an alcoholic. I’ve never denied that, but I’m not stupid—’

‘So you keep saying.’

‘I’ve got eyes!’ He slaps the side of his face. ‘I’ve seen what he’s doing to you. He’s got you under his spell and you’re too screwed up to see it. I tell you, Jenna. No good will come of shacking up with him.’

‘Who said anything about shacking up with him?’

‘Ah for fuck’s sake.’ He rubs his hands over his face then rests them behind his head and stares up at the sky. ‘Look, I’m a screw-up, I know that – I’m the first one to admit it. But you’d be better off with me than with him.’

There’s a part of Jenna that wants to tell Damian to fuck off and another that wants to give him a hug. Now she understands what he’s trying to tell her. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Tom, although that’s part of it. In his own clumsy drunken way he’s trying to tell her that he has feelings for her.

‘Damian …’ She waits for him to lower his chin and look at her. ‘We need to talk about what happened on the first night—’

He growls, low in his throat. ‘I fucked up.’

‘Yes, you did. You can’t do that, Damian. You can’t kiss women who don’t want to be kissed. And yeah’ – she holds up her hands – ‘maybe I shouldn’t have hit you, maybe that makes me no worse than Kate, but you gave me no choice. It was the only way to stop you. You were pinning me in the chair. You’re a big man. I know you were drunk and you thought it was funny but I couldn’t escape and that was scary. You scared me.’

Her words hit their target and he crumples, his head in his hands, his chin on his chest.