‘Say you were in a relationship with a psychopath. What would that say about you?’ I asked.

‘Many people find themselves easily charmed by someone with psychopathic personality traits. They are, in general, charismatic people who enjoy manipulating others, so it can be quite easy to fall under their spell.’

I nodded and stared out of the window for a minute. It had started to rain outside, and the tapping distracted me.

‘Eve, have you met someone?’

I nodded, there was no reason to lie.

‘Do you believe he has some of the traits I mentioned?’

‘I’m not sure.’ I looked at the floor, not wanting to be probed by those eyes.

She spoke softly. ‘Be careful, Eve. You’re fragile at the moment and I’m concerned you may get taken advantage of. Let things develop gradually. As we discussed before, you need to make sure you’re comfortable before any relationship becomes physical. Otherwise there is a possibility it could hinder your progress.’ Her genuine concern warmed me like a blanket. I was touched.

We spent the rest of the session discussing my recovery so far. She commented that I seemed focused and asked if this was the result of meeting someone new. She was right. I was focused. Resolute on getting my life back. On righting the wrongs that had been done to me, the girl in the alley and Sophie. And any others. It was easy to suggest Ian’s behaviour was because of his treatment as a child, but there were thousands of people who suffered similar parental abuse. They managed to move on and function normally within a community. I could not allow it to unsettle me. I was not going to feel sorry for him. It was not an excuse.

My phone vibrating in my pocket jolted me out of my thoughts on my way home, hurrying through the streets as the rain became heavier. When I saw it was Ian, I almost didn’t answer it.

‘Hello.’

‘Hi, how are you?

‘Good thanks, how are you?’

‘Oh, you know, spending quality time with my dad.’

I shivered. What exactly did that entail? ‘How is he?’

‘Fine, a bit bruised. I’ve been telling him all about you. He loves hearing about what I get up to.’

There was a pause as I tried to come up with a response.

‘Is he able to talk?’ I wasn’t sure why I’d asked. Visions of Ian whispering awful things into David’s ear, tormenting him whilst he was powerless to do anything about it.

‘Not very well, he doesn’t make much sense. He gets easily confused. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’ll be home tomorrow. He’s out of hospital and back in the care home,’ he continued. I knew full well he’d never left.

‘Okay. Might see you at the gym,’ was all I could muster.