“Who is he?” he spat at her.
“What? What the fuck are you talking about? You think I have another man in my life, when I’ve had to deal with all the shit you’ve poured on me lately? Christ, if only you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Knew how you’ve succeeded in putting me off men for life. I swear I will never let a man get under my skin again. Never.”
“Yeah, you say that now. You will. No woman can live without having sex in their lives. You need us as much as we need you.”
“Really? How nineteenth century of you to even suggest that. You really have no idea. In your eyes, women are there to be used and abused at will, aren’t they? Be honest with me.”
His gaze drifted and in that moment, she knew she’d summed up her ex accurately for the first time in her life. How refreshing it was to have the freedom to do that since the divorce papers were finally signed.
“I loved you. I still love you, and I will get you back in my bed one day,” he replied, defiantly wringing his hands together on the table.
She stood up and motioned for him to leave. “No, I can categorically say that will never happen again. I despise you, Darryl. You ruined my life, the life we shared. We had it all, and you shattered it with your selfishness. Now get out of here and don’t come back.”
His shoulders slumped as he made his way to the front door. She kept her distance behind him. He opened the door and twisted to talk to her. She jumped back a few paces. He frowned. “Is that it? Is that what it has come to? That you fear me? Fear being within a few feet of me?”
“That about sums it up, Darryl, yes.”
He turned to face the front door again, but instead of walking through it, he slammed it shut. The next few seconds passed by in a flash. She had foolishly lowered her guard enough for him to get close again. His movements were like lightning. Was he pretending to be drunk all along? Within seconds, he had pinned her underneath him to the living room floor, his hand pressed firmly over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Please, don’t let him do this to me. Not again!
CHAPTER TEN
Sally gingerly got out of bed the next morning, sore and bruised. The mental scarring she’d acquired throughout her marriage paled in comparison to what Darryl had done to her the previous evening. He’d finally left the flat an hour after the attack began. She knew she should have reported the assault to the police as soon as he left, but just like the times he’d attacked her before, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She was embarrassed. How would she be able to conduct her day-to-day business at the station, knowing that the people she worked with saw her as a victim? That thought prevented her from picking up the phone, every time.
She ran a bath then looked at her pitiful reflection in the mirror. Darryl had always hit her. In the past he’d left bruises only in places hidden from public view, but not this time. When she had flopped into bed, exhausted, the vision out of her left eye had become limited pretty darn quickly. Thankfully, the cold flannel she’d held in place whilst reliving the events in her bed, had successfully suppressed the swelling enough that her sight was at least sixty percent of what it usually was. The thought of ringing in sick never crossed her mind, though, probably because she feared Darryl would return to the flat for a repeat performance.
While the bath continued to fill, she laid out the make-up she would need far more than she usually wore to work. Frustration, pain, and stupidity ran through her like a high-speed train. Her newfound sanctuary was in tatters because of the one person she’d sworn she would never let step foot over the threshold. She should have known not to trust him. Why did I care so much about the neighbours?
After a quick bath, she applied a thick layer of make-up and pulled a black trouser suit from her wardrobe in spite of the sunshine filtering through her curtain, announcing that a warm, sunny day lay ahead.
Satisfied she’d covered the bruises, she shoved the make-up in her handbag and headed off to work without even having a cup of coffee or breakfast. The last thing she wanted to do was linger in the room where the attack had occurred. During the drive into work, she made a mental note to ring her mother and ask if she could stay there for a few days, until her fears of Darryl returning had subsided. She cringed at what her parents would say when they laid eyes on her.
She walked through the reception area with her head down then trotted briskly up the stairs to the incident room. Sally sighed a relieved breath when she found the room empty. It would give her enough time to grab a coffee and let the caffeine work its way into her system, where it could help combat her feelings of shame.
Halfway through her cup of strong black coffee, she heard the rest of the team arrive for duty. She continued with her paperwork, head down, determined to get a lot achieved early for a change. Panic struck and held a tight grasp around her heart when someone knocked on the door.
“Good morning, boss. You’re in early,” Jack said, sounding a little more cheerful than he had the day before.
Keeping her head down, she replied, “Morning, Jack. I shouldn’t be too long here. Get everyone organised, will you, please?”
“Sure thing.” He left the doorway and walked into the room. Sally froze. Out of the corner of her eye, her bad eye, she saw his shiny black shoes come to a standstill alongside her. “Boss? What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Now, shoo… some of us have important work to do.”
His hand came into view, and she tried to turn her head away, but he caught her under the chin and angled her head his way. “Jesus… fucking… Christ! How the hell did you get that?”
“I had an accident after I left the pub. Clumsy really. I went arse over tip and ended up hitting my head on the pavement.”
Jack snorted. “No way. I don’t believe you. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to believe me, Jack. This has nothing to do with you, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d just rather pretend it wasn’t there.”
“That’s gonna be hard to do. You can barely see out of it. I’m going round there.” He stomped back towards the door.
“Round where?” she shrieked anxiously.
“To thrash that son of a bitch.”
“You’ll do no such thing. You hear me?” She finally looked him directly in the eye.
“Why not? Jesus, look at the state of you! He can’t get away with that, Sally.”
“It’s over with. Just leave it alone, Jack.”
“I will not. If you don’t report him for assault, then I’ll do it.” Jack’s face grew redder and redder as he spoke.
“You can’t do that without my permission. Please, don’t subject me to any of that crap. I’ll deal—I am dealing—with it in my own way.”
“Seriously? No further action is going to come his way? With respect, boss, you need your head examined. I know what the bloody guy has put you through during the course of your marriage. Admittedly, this is the first time he’s left any physical signs of abuse, but surely that’s all the more reason to go after the fucker.”