‘So, I was wondering … do you fancy a rematch?’ I asked, adopting my most seductive tone.

There was a very slight intake of breath from Leo. ‘I certainly do …’ he began. ‘And, would our mini-chaperone be joining us again? Not that it’s a problem, of course,’ he added hastily.

I grinned. ‘No, our little chaperone is otherwise engaged. So we’re free to be as badly behaved as we like, although it will have to be outside of office hours this time …’

‘Excellent! That suits me just fine …’

Usually, we went to Leo’s flat after work. Working in the City, he started early and finished early, which fitted with my schedule perfectly. On the evenings we met, I could spend a couple of hours with him, before getting on the train back to Surrey with a spring in my step.

He was an exciting and voracious lover, with a dangerous edge to him that only added to the excitement of our trysts. He pushed me further than anyone ever had before and I found it addictive and electrifying.

Returning home to Ben after I’d seen Leo was like coming down from a drug-induced high. He was so tentative and wary around me that it just made me despise him even more. I had thought about leaving him numerous times but he was too useful with Elodie, allowing me to indulge my needs and get away from the claustrophobia of the house during the day. I loved Elodie, but found being at home with her boring and stultifying, whereas Ben didn’t seem to mind. Not that I gave him any choice.

Ben and I rarely had sex these days, which suited me just fine. The only times I forced myself to let him anywhere near me were after we had had a particularly vicious, often violent, row. I knew I needed to keep him sweet, so I would work my magic on him until he was back onside, knowing he would stay because of Elodie.

He was undoubtedly a good father and he and Elodie were becoming increasingly close. It used to irritate and upset me when she turned to him first for comfort, but I also knew that it benefitted me in the long run, as she stopped being clingy and tearful about me going out to work each day.

Thankfully, moving to Surrey meant we now had almost no contact with his awful family or nosy, horrible friends. I kept a close eye on his movements to make sure that he wasn’t seeing them behind my back or getting friendly with anyone new in the area. To begin with, he would whine that he didn’t want Elodie to lose touch with her grandmother and suggest that we should visit her. But I would create such a scene that he gradually stopped mentioning it. In fact, the last time resulted in a physical fight so violent that it left him nursing a black eye and cracked cheekbone, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t want to risk it.