‘It’s none of your business anyway,’ she muttered but he was looking at her closely and whatever was written on her face seemed to confirm what he was accusing her of.

‘Seriously? You go from me to banging some washed-up loser hockey player?’ His eyes sparkled dangerously.

‘I’m not and he’s not washed up.’ For some reason, she felt doubly irritated on Ward’s behalf at this description. ‘But more to the point, it truly has nothing to do with you regardless. We aren’t together anymore, Rob. We are so not together that I put two thousand miles between us,’ she stated.

‘But we could be. We could again. It’s not too late for us. You told me yourself how hard it was to walk away. And you know how much I want you.’

Before Hannah could even register the action, Rob had circled her waist, slipping his hands beneath her robe. She felt their warmth as they pressed against the silk of her pyjamas and she pulled away, pushing at his chest. But he was strong and his grip tight and she struggled to break free, her panic rising. She didn’t want this. But still, he persisted. Finally, her body acted instinctively. She pulled her knee up and planted it firmly between his legs, meeting its intended target.

In some situations, diplomacy had its limits.

Rob howled like a wounded animal but released her and Hannah took the opportunity to jump away. Hands shaking, she grabbed her phone, pulled up the emergency call button and held the screen up for him to see.

‘Get out,’ she warned. ‘I mean it, get out or you can explain to the police what happened. I will press attempted assault charges against you. I swear to God, we are finished. I want nothing to do with you. I never want to see you again. Do you understand?’

She realized she was trembling as the adrenaline flowed like a river through her veins. When they had been dating, he had never been like this. He had never made her feel unsafe.

Clearly, something about him had changed. He had become used to getting exactly what he wanted whenever he felt like it.

‘As if,’ Rob scoffed, but now his eyes glistened dangerously, and Hannah felt seriously scared. He truly did believe he had the upper hand here and she couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t be able to smooth-talk the police too, she worried, thinking hard. She wondered if there was some other way to extricate herself from this. Could she call downstairs for help? Alert Ed next door even? But it wasn’t as though a feeble old man could do anything, she thought, fraught with desperation.

Again it seemed as if Rob could read her thoughts.