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He packed up the car boot with things he didn’t want to have to use, but she constantly told him he had to be prepared . Like he wasn’t, eh?

‘You need to be on the lookout.’ Her voice was too high-pitched. Too excited. ‘You can’t let anyone take you by surprise.’

‘I know, I know,’ he replied, trying not to let his annoyance coat his words with something she could attack.

‘Don’t be sharp with me. If it wasn’t for me, where do you think you’d be? I deserve your respect, so I do.’

She turned her cheek for the obligatory peck, repulsing him. But rather than suffer another tongue-lashing, he air-kissed her and stood back.

‘I think I have everything,’ he mumbled, anxious to put distance between them.

‘Did you remember the scissors?’

‘Yes.’ He muffled the groan that surged up his throat. He’d forgotten the scissors.

‘You can’t be leaving your DNA on the roll if you have to bite the tape off. Have you got the rope in case you need it?’

‘Of course.’ At least he’d remembered that. ‘Can I go now? It’s getting on.’

‘We do this for each other. You know I love you, don’t you?’

Whatever she construed as love, he had a different opinion. An opinion he could never verbalise. Not in her presence. ‘I wouldn’t be doing this for you if you didn’t love me. I’ll set off. Don’t want to look suspicious.’

‘How can you look suspicious when all you look is stupid?’ Her mood turned so quickly he wondered how it never tripped her up.

Once inside the car, he breathed heavily with relief. Freedom. A knock by his ear caused him to jump. Her face pressed to the glass, a finger gesturing to let down the window. He did as instructed.

‘Bring this. I have a good feeling about tonight.’ She pushed a leather pouch into his hand and walked back to the house.

He ran his finger over it and shivered. It was her treasured knife. How did she think of everything? She was so much cleverer than anyone he’d ever met, and that scared him.

With every turn of the wheels stretching the distance between him and the house, he began to relax, sinking into the comfortable leather seat. By the time he reached the corner at the end of the lane and pulled out onto the road, he was light-headed with relief.

A glance at the leather-bound knife on the central console was enough to make him sit up straight and concentrate. This night could be short and uneventful. Or it could be long and bloody. Though he knew he was forever cloaked in her shadow, night was a time for his power to reign without her influence pulsing between his shoulder blades.