BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (84)
  1. Chapter one
  2. Chapter two
  3. Chapter three
  4. Chapter four
  5. Chapter five
  6. Chapter six
  7. Chapter seven
  8. Chapter eight
  9. Chapter nine
  10. Chapter ten
  11. Chapter eleven
  12. Chapter twelve
  13. Chapter thirteen
  14. Chapter fourteen
  15. Chapter fifteen
  16. Chapter sixteen
  17. Chapter seventeen
  18. Chapter eighteen
  19. Chapter nineteen
  20. Chapter twenty
  21. Chapter twenty-one
  22. Chapter twenty-two
  23. Chapter twenty-three
  24. Chapter twenty-four
  25. Chapter twenty-five
  26. Chapter twenty-six
  27. Chapter twenty-seven
  28. Chapter twenty-eight
  29. Chapter twenty-nine
  30. Chapter thirty
  31. Chapter thirty-one
  32. Chapter thirty-two
  33. Chapter thirty-three
  34. Chapter thirty-four
  35. Chapter thirty-five
  36. Chapter thirty-six
  37. Chapter thirty-seven
  38. Chapter thirty-eight
  39. Chapter thirty-nine
  40. Chapter forty
  41. Chapter forty-one
  42. Chapter forty-two
  43. Chapter forty-three
  44. Chapter forty-four
  45. Chapter forty-five
  46. Chapter forty-six
  47. Chapter forty-seven
  48. Chapter forty-eight
  49. Chapter forty-nine
  50. Chapter fifty
  51. Chapter fifty-one
  52. Chapter fifty-two
  53. Chapter fifty-three
  54. Chapter fifty-four
  55. Chapter fifty-five
  56. Chapter fifty-six
  57. Chapter fifty-seven
  58. Chapter fifty-eight
  59. Chapter fifty-nine
  60. Chapter sixty
  61. Chapter sixty-one
  62. Chapter sixty-two
  63. Chapter sixty-three
  64. Chapter sixty-four
  65. Chapter sixty-five
  66. Chapter sixty-six
  67. Chapter sixty-seven
  68. Chapter sixty-eight
  69. Chapter sixty-nine
  70. Chapter seventy
  71. Chapter seventy-one
  72. Chapter seventy-two
  73. Chapter seventy-three
  74. Chapter seventy-four
  75. Chapter seventy-five
  76. Chapter seventy-six
  77. Chapter seventy-seven
  78. Chapter seventy-eight
  79. Chapter seventy-nine
  80. Chapter eighty
  81. Chapter eighty-one
  82. Chapter eighty-two
  83. Chapter eighty-three
  84. Chapter eighty-four

He’d spent the night on the hard, unyielding sofa, sleepless with rage and shivering for the lack of a blanket. As the first hint of the cold, white dawn sneaked its way through the slatted wooden blinds, he’d forced his rigid body up and had crept round, stuffing what gear he could lay his hands on into his holdall, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t wake Neve and then he’d have to face her all over again. The last thing he wanted to see was her hard, smirking face. She lay immobile in the bed. Jake wasn’t sure whether she was actually asleep or just—like everything else, it seemed—faking it. But he didn’t care. There was nothing more he wanted to say to her. He watched her from the doorway, curled up in the duvet, not a crease of worry on her smooth face. There was no doubt that she was a beautiful woman, but there had never been more truth in the saying that beauty is only skin deep. It was impossible to love someone whose heart was as soft and caring as a concrete block. But then could it have been love he’d felt for her when she had managed to decimate it so successfully in one sentence? There is indeed a very fine line between love and hate and Jake knew that he’d crossed it.

He knew that he was going to have to face her at work, but he had two whole days to think how he was going to handle that one. And Pip would help. Pip would know what to do. He’d give his friend a call as soon as he got back to the house in St Albans and dished the grisly dirt on his predicament. He should have listened to Pip months ago. His friend had warned him that Neve was bad news. Oh, how right he’d been—and then some! Okay, so he was going to have to put up with a lot of ‘I-told-you-so’ looks, but to become an object of ridicule among his friends was the least he deserved.

As he reached the front door, he looked at the immaculate interior of the apartment with its designer this and one off thats. His emotions were so depleted that he didn’t even feel like smashing any of it anymore. All he wondered was how he could ever have envisaged making this sterile box his home. Jake felt his door keys, cold in his hand, and left them on the table.