Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
‘He tried to break it off,’ Abby is saying. ‘It went on for months, but he realised it was wrong, so he wanted to put an end to it. The girl threatened to report him to the hospital, because she was one of his patients and there’d been many times they’d slept together while he was at work.’
Sienna can no longer listen. She rushes from the room and shuts herself in the downstairs toilet, only just making it before she throws up the little food she’s eaten today.
It’s only seconds before Abby knocks on the door. ‘Are you okay? Please come out. I know hearing this is awful, especially today. I wanted to tell you before but… I feel dreadful keeping this from you for so long. I know it was wrong. I’m so sorry.’
Sienna throws open the door. ‘Tell me the rest. All of it. And then you can explain why you kept it to yourself.’ She heads to Abby’s kitchen, hears her following.
‘He said it all came to a head one night when she begged him to come over just one last time. He went. He didn’t want to, but he felt that he owed it to her. He told me that’s when it happened. When he… killed her. At her flat.’
‘No,’ Sienna says. She can’t digest these words. It can’t be Greg that Abby is talking about.
‘I told him he must be mistaken, that it must have been an accident, and he said no, that he’d never done anything more deliberate in his life.’ There are tears in Abby’s eyes as she says this. ‘I pressed him for more detail, and he just shut down.’
Sienna shakes her head. She doesn’t want to believe this. How is it possible for her mind to grasp the enormity of this?
Abby walks closer to her, tries to take her arm, but Sienna pushes her off.
‘He wouldn’t. This is a lie. You’re lying.’
‘No, I’m not. I’ve never been more honest about anything in my life.’
‘Does Holly know any of this?’ It’s impossible.
‘No. Greg said I was the only person alive who knew. He said he’s had to live with what he did every second of every day. That’s exactly how he put it. He said there was already this huge wedge between you because he was scared to let you in and let himself love you like you deserved. He was terrified of you finding out and leaving him.’
Sienna wants to believe at least this last part – that the whole reason Greg was so distant was because he was carrying around this huge, terrible part of himself.