He huffs. “So you love Dan now?”
I twist my hands together. I haven’t declared my love for Dan to anyone, not even him, but I can’t deny it any longer. “I enjoy having him around. Will you give him a chance? For me?”
Angelos shuffles back down the bed and hands me the milk. “I don’t have to like him.”
“No, but while he’s here, you have to respect him.” I rise from the bed, not wanting to get into another argument. I pull his duvet over him and tuck it around his neck, placing a kiss against his cheek. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. Night.” I flick his light out.
“Night Mum.”
“Love you,” I whisper before I pad back into my room.
Dan looks up from his phone with a wrinkle in his brow. “How is he?”
“He apologised, but I still don’t understand what’s got into him.”
“Maybe he’s realised I’m a permanent fixture.” Dan places the phone on the bedside table with a sigh.
“Everything all right with you?” I take the few steps to the bed where he’s sat and run my fingers through his hair.
“Yeah, just waiting for an important text or a phone call about a job.” His hands slide up the back of my legs and I wish I didn’t have jeans on, so I could feel his rough palms against my skin.
I don’t pry. I know he won’t tell me any more, so there’s no point.
He rises from the bed and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m gonna take a shower.”
I nod and change into my pyjamas, then sit at my dressing table and take off my makeup.
Dan’s phone rings on the bedside table, making me jump.
Steam billows from the en suite bathroom and I lift the handset to take it to him in case it’s important. His phone vibrates in my hand, and the name Magnus dances across the screen.
My body freezes on the spot, my feet glued to the carpet, unable to move. The ringing pierces my ears, even though the phone’s gone silent. My hand still shakes as if the phone’s still vibrating.
There’s more than one person called Magnus. My brain tries to rationalise, but the seed of doubt is rooted so far into my heart, telling me not to trust this man.
He used me before. He could do it again.
A shiver wracks my bones, my heart racing as my temple throbs with a sharp stabbing pain in my head. I place his phone back on the night stand and clutch my belly, nausea taking hold as my stomach ties itself into knots.
I could just ask him who Magnus is. But he wouldn’t even tell me the truth about what he showed the cop the other day. This man is a master of lies. He’s been perfecting his game face since I was a teenager.
A cold sweat coats my skin. I sit on the bed staring at the phone. My body trembling. I take in deep breaths and regulate my breathing. He can’t hurt me anymore. Even if he finds me, he can’t hurt me anymore.
“You all right?”
I lift my head.
Dan leans against the bathroom doorjamb, a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his hair onto his chest, dampening the inked feathers there.
Magnus might not be able to hurt me anymore, but there’s something else that terrifies me. Something that deep down I’ve known all along. I’ve let my guard down again with Dan and he’s betrayed me.
Again.
“You look pale.” Dan walks over from the doorframe and reaches out a hand to my face.
I flinch, sickness rising in my throat. “I’m gonna be sick.” Barging past him, I rush to the bathroom and wretch into the toilet. The contents of my evening meal expels out of me as I wretch again.
Dan gathers my hair in his palms. “Shit. Do you think it was the pizza?”
