‘So, everything has been sorted and is in order, Grace, just like you asked. I’ve moved what money I needed to, so everything in your new place will be entirely above board. Well, it will be as far as the taxman is concerned anyway.’

‘Thanks, Ivan. You are a legend,’ she told him, before giving him a kiss on the cheek as she got up to leave.

He took hold of her hand as she started to walk away. ‘Be careful, Grace. That Nathan seems like a real nasty piece of work. If he ever finds out what you did …’

‘Don’t worry. He won’t. Not unless I want him to anyway.’ She smiled at the irony of Ivan warning her about Nathan’s character. As if she didn’t know better than anyone else in the world just exactly what type of man Nathan was. It was that knowledge which sometimes kept her awake at night, but also what made her certain that she could take him down if she needed to.

Stepping outside into the street, Grace cursed as she felt the drops of rain falling onto her bare arms. She’d forgotten her umbrella and was supposed to be meeting someone on the other side of the city centre. She’d get soaked to the skin if she walked there. Taking her phone out of her handbag, she dialled his number.

‘Can you pick me up? I’ve forgotten my coat and my umbrella.’

‘I hope you’ve forgotten your underwear too,’ he laughed.

‘Behave yourself,’ she said, feigning her indignation.

‘Be there in five, babe,’ he said, and she could imagine his smile as he said it; that lovely relaxed grin of his that made her want to kiss him all over his face. She smiled too, thinking of the wonderful afternoon they were about to spend together. For a few hours at least, she would forget that Nathan Conlon even existed.

Chapter Eleven

Grace had just finished serving one of her regulars as she heard the doors of the Rose and Crown burst open. The sun rushed in behind him, illuminating his silhouette against the doorway. She groaned inwardly as he approached her. It had been almost four weeks since he’d walked back into her life and she’d had to endure seeing him almost every day since.

‘What are you doing here, Nathan?’

‘Is that any way to greet the love of your life, Grace?’ he smirked.

‘Jake’s not here,’ she snapped.

‘That’s okay,’ he said as he took a seat at the bar. ‘I’m here to meet a friend of mine. I’ll have a whisky while I wait.’

She poured his Scotch and placed it on the bar in front of him. ‘That’ll be £2.80,’ she said.

‘Piss off,’ he spat. ‘I can’t believe you’re still making me pay for my drinks. Are you serious?’