Sian flinched at the sound of the front door, even though she had been expecting Gavin’s arrival since she’d called him twenty minutes earlier. Christian had gone just over an hour ago, only leaving when the police had finally turned up. He’d mentioned Nathan knowing he was Sian’s weakness. She would do anything for her son, even if it involved having to speak to Christian.

She had deliberated over calling Gavin. She didn’t want him to think she was falling back on him in a moment of weakness, despite the fact that that was exactly what she was doing. She just didn’t want to be on her own in that house any more.

‘What’s he done to you?’ Gavin asked, closing the front door behind him.

‘Nothing,’ Sian said, heading down the passage and into the kitchen. ‘He just came to wind me up and it worked. Do you want a drink?’

Gavin followed her. ‘I thought you had a restraining order or something?’

‘I do. The police took their time turning up, though.’

‘Did he hurt you?’

Sian reached up to the cupboard above the microwave and took out two mugs. ‘No.’ She moved to the kettle, lifted it from its base and filled it with water.

‘You could probably do with something stronger than tea,’ Gavin suggested. ‘Where’s Keeley?’

‘With your Tyler.’ Sian opened the fridge and scanned its shelves. There was barely anything inside. The irony of working in a supermarket yet having empty cupboards didn’t escape her. ‘Nothing left here.’

Gavin leaned against the kitchen worktop. ‘I’ll pop to the shop in a bit. You haven’t told her yet, then? About us.’

‘Is there an us?’ Sian returned to the kettle and set about making tea.

‘Do you want there to be?’

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted, keeping her back turned to him. ‘I don’t know anything any more.’

‘I like you, Sian,’ Gavin said hurriedly. ‘You know that. I know I’m not perfect and I know you’ll have heard plenty of stuff about me, but most of it’s not true, okay? I want to make a fresh start, put everything behind me.’

With her back still turned, Sian rested her hands on the kitchen worktop and took a deep breath, as though the words that were about to leave her required her full energy. ‘Nathan’s appeal has been rejected.’

For a moment, Gavin said nothing. Everyone knew what had happened within Sian’s family a couple of years earlier: it had spread through the valley like a virus, picking up embellishments and false details on its way. Christian Coleman had a history that could rival any of the inmates Gavin had met during his own stint in prison. News of his poisoning had mostly been met with applause.

‘Shit,’ he said finally, knowing there was little else he could offer. ‘I’m sorry.’

Sian poured milk into two cups and passed Gavin his tea. ‘It’s just so unfair. Nathan was protecting us, yet he’s the one stuck in that bloody place while that bastard walks around without a care in the world. I should have left him years ago, then none of this would have happened.’

‘Hey,’ Gavin said, setting his tea down and stepping closer to her. ‘None of this is your fault, okay?’

He put an arm around her and Sian rested her head against his broad chest. He ran a hand over her hair and held her close to him. She looked up and kissed him. She didn’t care any more. She didn’t care whether he was the wrong type, or whether her daughter was seeing his son. Why did her happiness always have to come second to everyone else’s?

She kissed him again. His hands ran over her waist and slipped beneath her top. Remembering why she couldn’t let this happen, Sian grabbed his wrists. It was too late. He had already looked down. He had already seen enough exposed flesh to know what she’d been trying to keep hidden.

‘Did he do that?’

Sian pulled her top down over the waist of her jeans and turned back to the cupboards. ‘There’s some biscuits in here somewhere.’

Behind her, Gavin sighed. ‘Sian. Did he do that to you?’

She had studied the stain of purple and black bruising in the bathroom mirror that morning, ashamed to see herself in the reflection. It made her look like a victim, and she was tired of being a victim. ‘It’s nothing.’

‘Doesn’t look like nothing to me. Why’d you let him in here anyway?’

She turned back to him, anger streaking her face. ‘He’s only just been here,’ she snapped. ‘You think they’d be this colour that quickly?’

‘So he’s been here before, then. Are you still seeing him? You need your head looking at.’

Sian swiped a hand across the worktop, sending the sugar tin flying across the room. The lid bounced across the tiled floor as a shower of sugar fell at Gavin’s feet. ‘I can’t do this,’ she shouted, her body shaking with a sudden and uncontrollable rage. ‘I can’t go back to having someone questioning my every move, making me explain myself all the time.’

Gavin looked stunned for a moment, taken aback by her burst of anger. ‘Fine. Then don’t.’ He turned to leave.

She didn’t want him to go, not really, but she knew he couldn’t stay either. ‘Gavin …’

‘No, it’s fine, Sian. Forget it. I don’t need this either. I’ve got enough drama of my own without taking on yours.’ He stopped in the kitchen doorway and turned back to her. ‘Why are still protecting him?’

‘I’m not.’

He rolled his eyes, shook his head and left. At the sound of the front door closing behind him, Sian turned and lashed out, knocking her mug from the worktop and sending the tea splashing to the floor, scalding her bare feet.