Grace was listening to the radio in the flat above the pub when Nathan arrived. He must have gone to her house first; it was where she usually was on a Monday. But that night, she’d decided to work instead, though only for a few hours. She was unable to suppress her smile when he walked into the flat above the pub just before ten o’clock, demanding to know why she hadn’t been at home. He glared at her and she was certain he was thinking she would pay for that at some point.

‘So why weren’t you at home?’ he asked her again and she couldn’t tell if he was grinning or snarling.

‘I fancied working.’ She shrugged. Fearing he was about to lose his temper at any moment, she poured him a large whisky.

‘Here take this,’ she said soothingly. ‘It’ll warm you up.’

He took the glass from her and downed it in one huge gulp. She poured him another as he took a seat on the sofa. She kept filling up his glass every time he took a drink.

‘I know what you’re playing at, Grace,’ he said, and she froze.

‘What?’ she asked, as innocently as she could muster.

‘Trying to get me drunk,’ he replied, his words already starting to slur. ‘To take advantage of me.’ He winked. ‘Or trying to butter me up for something.’

He smiled, that menacing smile of his. The one that said he was in the mood for inflicting some pain. But for the time being, he seemed content to drink his whisky, and make her wait. The terror implicit in the anticipation of what was to come, was always part of his game plan.

They sat in silence in what had once been their living room. He must have been suddenly hit with a wave of nostalgia as he said, in all sincerity, ‘You’ve always been the best part of me, Grace.’

She laughed.

‘I love you more than anything or anyone in the whole world.’

She almost choked on the glass of water she’d just taken a sip of. ‘Are you kidding me?’ she said to him, her voice raised but not quite shouting. ‘You’ve never really loved me, Nathan. You don’t know what real love is. You wanted to own me. To control me. Because that is all you understand about love. You know nothing of the sacrifice that comes with loving someone. Doing anything in your power to protect them. To want them to be happy even if it costs you your own happiness. That is love.’

He seemed confused. ‘Of course, I love you, Grace. I always have, and I always will.’

He genuinely seemed to believe what he was saying. And she realized that, to Nathan, that was love. But he had to understand that it wasn’t.