‘You shouldn’t have tried to go out wearing that dress,’ Rob said. ‘You know I can’t stand it when blokes eye you up, and they’d have been all over you in that.’
‘You bought me that dress,’ Suzie reminded him. ‘And what do you expect me to do? Walk around in a bin-bag for the rest of my life because you can’t handle other men looking at me?’
‘No, of course not. But I can’t help it if I get jealous sometimes.’
‘That’s your problem, not mine. And it doesn’t give you the right to attack me.’
‘I know,’ Rob conceded, reaching for her hand. ‘But it’ll never happen again – I swear.’
‘You said that last time,’ Suzie said, snatching her hand back. ‘And the time before that.’
‘Yeah, but I really mean it this time,’ he insisted. ‘I love you, and all I want is a chance to make it up to you.’
‘How?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Gonna buy me flowers again? Or maybe you’ll push the boat out this time and splash out on perfume, or jewellery?’
‘Whatever you want, it’s yours.’ Rob snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him. ‘We’re made for each, me and you.’
‘No, we’re not,’ Suzie argued, pushing him away. ‘Just leave me alone, Rob!’
‘Stop shouting,’ Rob hissed, no longer smiling as he grasped hold of her wrists. ‘You know what these nosy cunts round here are like. You’re going to get me arrested again.’
‘Good!’ Suzie yelled, angrily trying to pull her arms free.
‘Suzie, I mean it, pack it in!’ Rob said, a warning edge to his voice as he stared down at her. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, I just want to talk.’
‘Well, I don’t want to talk to you,’ she cried, wincing when his strong hands twisted her skin. ‘Get off me!’
On her way home from the shops, Holly hesitated when she saw the couple from across the road on the pavement outside their house. They looked like they were fighting again and, before she could stop herself, she yelled, ‘Hey, leave her alone!’
The man snapped his head round at the sound of her voice and glared at her. ‘You what?’
Holly’s mouth went dry. He was a lot bigger than he’d appeared from across the road, with broad shoulders, muscular thighs and heavily tattooed biceps that were stretching the material of his T-shirt almost to tearing point. But it was the anger in his eyes that really scared her, and she felt the blood drain from her face when he released his grip on the woman and turned to face her.
‘Rob, don’t!’ the woman cried, pulling on the back of his T-shirt when he started walking. ‘She’s only a kid, and you’ll definitely get arrested if you do anything to her. Just go inside and stop being stupid.’
Her words got through to him and he glared at Holly, and spat, ‘You’re lucky she’s here, you nosy little fucker,’ before turning and marching into the house.
‘Sorry about that,’ the woman apologized, walking over to Holly, glad that the woman from the second floor was no longer watching. ‘He wouldn’t have done anything to you, I promise.’
‘What about you?’ Holly asked, casting a nervous glance at the front door of the house.
‘I’m fine.’ The woman smiled. ‘He’s my boyfriend and we had a row, but he knows he’s in the doghouse, so he’ll be on his best behaviour from now on.’
Holly very much doubted that after what she’d just seen, but she returned the woman’s smile, and said, ‘Good luck, then.’
‘You live in the flats, don’t you?’ the woman asked before she walked away.
‘Yeah.’ Holly hesitated.
‘Thought I’d seen you at the window,’ the woman said. ‘I’m guessing you saw what happened last night?’ she added quietly.
‘No,’ Holly lied, aware that she was blushing. ‘Sorry. I, um, need to go.’ She readjusted her grip on the bags. ‘My mum’ll be waiting for the shopping.’
‘OK, well, thanks for trying to help . . .’
It took a moment before it sank in that the woman was waiting for her name. ‘Holly,’ she said. ‘Holly Evans.’
‘I’m Suzie,’ the woman replied. ‘And you know where I am if you ever fancy . . .’ Tailing off when she spotted a small white van driving up the road, she muttered, ‘Oh, shit, I forgot about him. Do me a favour and get rid of him before Rob sees him and thinks I was trying to sneak the guy in for a quickie while he was away. Tell him I’ll settle up with him later.’
Frowning when Suzie ran up the path and snatched the bin-bags off the top of the bin before going inside, Holly hitched the shopping bags up and walked round to the driver’s side of the van when it had parked.
Still in his seat, typing a message into his mobile phone, the locksmith rolled down the window when he noticed her, and said, ‘Sorry I’m late, love. I had to pop over to my workshop for my tools. Give us a sec while I send this and I’ll be right with you.’
‘No, it’s OK,’ Holly said quietly, leaning down in case Suzie’s boyfriend looked out and saw her talking to the man. ‘She asked me to tell you she doesn’t need you now.’
‘You what?’ The man scowled. ‘You’d better be joking! I told her I don’t work weekends, but she said it was urgent.’
‘Please don’t cause any trouble,’ Holly pleaded when he started unclipping his seat belt. ‘Her boyfriend got arrested for beating her up last night, and he’ll kick off if he sees you. She said she’ll call to settle up when she gets a chance.’
The man peered up at the house as if considering his options. Then, sucking his teeth in disgust, he restarted the engine and slammed his foot down on the accelerator, forcing Holly to leap out of the way.
4
Holly kept an eye on Suzie’s house over the weekend, but the blinds had been shut each time she’d looked, so she hadn’t
