William had said he wanted to be left alone, and that was precisely what Lily planned to do. He would call when he was ready. If he was ever ready.

But that was his decision to make.

With that in mind, she left the alley—and the man—behind. She had every intention of heading back home and opening a bottle of wine to soothe the sting of their parting. Maybe even put on some Lana del Rey, give it a good cry and all that. Yeah, it definitely sounded like a plan.

She was nearly halfway to her flat when she realized she couldn’t actually get home. She swore, biting back the burn of tears. Now wasn’t this just lovely?

Her keys weren’t in her handbag. Or in any of her pockets.

Either she’d dropped them in that alley while William was ravaging her senseless, or she hadn’t taken them with her at all.

It wasn’t like she had been in her right mind before meeting William, exactly—and with her door locking automatically, it was more than fair to assume she had forgotten to slip the keys into her handbag. Ah, balls…

Her mood growing fouler by the second, she caught a taxi, gave the driver William’s address, and hoped to god the man had gone home and not on a bender. With Audrey out of town for the weekend and him the only one who had a spare set, she was fucked if she couldn’t find him.

Or, well, sentenced to shell out money she really didn’t have on a hotel.

Bloody hell, she didn’t even have panties, thanks to William ripping them apart.

Still, the thought of materializing on his doorstep grazed her insides. It was just too awkward, too raw. And what if he thought she was doing it on purpose? Finding excuses just to see him again? God that would have been humiliating…

Staying at a hotel started to sound like a bloody great idea, but by the time she’d almost made up her mind and blurted out a new address, the taxi pulled over on the bus stop opposite William’s building.

All it took was one split second.

One split second in which everything changed.

All this time, she trusted William to handle his own problems. She wasn’t a busybody, and she had zero desire to force herself onto his private matters, regardless of how difficult it was to keep herself at a distance.

But when she saw Patricia fucking Parson throw shit William’s way, she was out of that cab faster than the driver could return her change.

Something inside her roared as the woman wrapped her hand around William’s wrist, as she saw him tense up, his face blanching. Her phone was out and filming by the time the slap landed.

The video was shaky from her rapid steps, from the outrage rolling through her, but clear enough to be used as evidence.

God. Evidence. Her chest constricted at how wrong she’d been. She’d assumed whatever had happened between William and his ex was nothing more than a nasty breakup. She’d never even considered…

“Get the fuck away from him before your charges get any worse than they already are.”

She didn’t know how her voice managed to come out that strong given she was shivering on the inside, but Patricia let go of William. The tightness in her muscles loosened, then returned the instant William’s ex whirled around, clearly determined to give her the same treatment—

The woman stopped, eyes narrowed at the phone in Lily’s hands.

“You little bitch.” Her right hand balled into a fist. “You’re filming me?”

Lily never took her eyes off her, but she did ignore the question. “Call the police, William.”

When several seconds passed with nothing but silence dominating the night, Patricia laughed. “He won’t, sweetheart. He knows he’s done too much shit to play the victim here.”

Fuck. If the bitch had guilt-tripped him into believing that was true, then he really wasn’t going to call the police. But Lily wouldn’t stop filming either. Not until the woman got the hell away from them and William was safe inside his building.

Patricia took a step forward. Then another.

Sweat prickled at the back of Lily’s neck, but she stood her ground. She was pretty certain she was in for a beating, yet somehow that sounded like a far better alternative than backing down.

She always did hate bullies. But those who preyed on their supposed loved ones deserved their own special place in the deepest circle of hell.

Her gaze locked on Patricia’s, she checked her balance, reminding herself of those self-defense lessons she’d taken at college. The memories didn’t come easy, but what she’d cleared from the dust and cobweb-covered drawers of her mind at least made her confident she’d probably keep herself from ending up unconscious on the ground.

She blew out a thin breath.

This was it.

She was getting into a fistfight with an abuser.

As far as reasons for getting arrested went, it wasn’t a bad one. At least it would put Patricia in the law’s hands, as well.

Accepting her fate and keeping a death grip on her phone, Lily allowed her to come even closer. But just before they could come face-to-face, just as that bloody fisted hand twitched, William’s words rose above her frantic heartbeat.

“I would like to report an assault.”