‘Ah, s’OK,’ he said, after that, and she looked into his face for the first time and realised that she knew him. Had spoken to him. He’d been in the club too. ‘I’ll get it … doctored … Just let me walk you home first.’

He sounded so sure that she nodded, and started to lead him home. Flakes of snow were beginning to fall around them, and everything seemed unreal.

And it was a while later, but all in that same second, that she was up in her room, and kicking her shoes off so she could climb into bed. She was still shaking, but she curled up facing him and felt better because he was there.

He sat heavily on the bed, making her tip and bounce as the mattress moved.

‘I don’t … Is it all right if I lie down?’ he asked. ‘Just for a minute?’

‘Yes,’ she told him. ‘Lie here.’

He lay down, his face towards her, and he gave a sudden, sharp intake of breath. And then he was struggling with something, until he gave a gasp of pain and relief. It was a knife that had been in him. A knife. She could see it in his hand and a small voice was telling her that this was wrong. That she needed to do something.

But even while it told her that, she was shutting down. Losing consciousness. Losing the world around her in favour of a softer one somewhere beneath all of this.

‘I’m cold,’ he said, and she opened her eyes again, and saw that he was pale. So pale. And his eyes were frightened.

She reached out to his face and began to stroke it. ‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘I’m here. I’m here.’

38

The scene was so very familiar to Niall. Another hotel bar, with Dina waiting for him, long-legged and intensely glamorous in her short black dress, her hair pinned in a loose bun so that most of it fell in artful, dark brown curls.

She was looking at her phone as he arrived, a drink already in front of her. It was always like this. His ex-wife would always be waiting, perfectly arranged for maximum effect.

He shook his head slightly and closed the last few feet between them. She looked up and smiled at him, her expression rueful this time.

‘I’m glad we get to see each other again,’ she said. ‘I hated being told not to talk to you.’

Niall sat, slowly, and then said, ‘We won’t be seeing each other again, Dina.’

Dina’s gaze settled on him for a moment, and then she laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Niall.’ She picked up her martini and took a very careful sip. ‘We’re free to do what we want now. Everything’s all out in the open.’

Niall laughed in return, a sound that was totally unlike her relaxed chuckle. It was a bitter sound.