Unspoken: A story of secrets, love and revenge T. Belshaw (good books to read for beginners txt) 📖

though it was a natural part of a relationship. She gasped and held her arm across her stomach as she forced herself to stand.

The bastard isn’t going to get away with this. She closed her eyes and thought of the terrified Alice and Amy, fighting for their lives in the snow. She could call the police, but what would they do? Even in this enlightened age, it would take months, perhaps years to be rid of him. He could claim the flat was part his, as he had paid his share of the rent on odd months, but she had felt so secure in their relationship that she hadn’t kept records. The rent always went out of her bank account and his share, when he did cough up, was usually handed back to him later in the month anyway.

Jess managed to pick up her bag and dropped it on the kitchen table. She pulled out her phone, rang her best friend, Sam and tearfully explained the situation.

‘Jess, get out of there, I’ll come around to pick you up in five minutes.’

‘I’m not leaving, Sam. He is.’

‘Jess, get out of there. Get the cops, they’ll sort him out.’

‘They’d let him go in an hour or so, Sam.’ Jess thought about Alice’s attempt to report her abuse all those years ago. What was the term they used? A Domestic. ‘They’ll just say it was a domestic, he’ll promise not to do it again, and they’ll allow him out without any restrictions. He’d have to do it a dozen times before it went to court.’

‘I’m not sure you’re right on that, Jess, but I’m coming over anyway. Don’t do anything stupid. If he comes at you again, run.’

‘He’s just gone for a lie down,’ Jess said. ‘I want to sort this out, Sam. He’s not going to get away with it.’

‘Five minutes,’ Sam promised.

It actually took six minutes by Jess’s watch. They were six of the longest minutes of her life, as she looked repeatedly out of the window, then over her shoulder to see if Calvin had come back into the room. She got a sterilised pad from the first aid box and dabbed at the cut on her forehead, then, thinking she might need to wash a little more thoroughly she switched on the jug kettle to get some boiling water. Sam arrived just as the kettle switched itself off. Jess hurried down the stairs and opened the door before she could ring the doorbell that might alert Calvin to her arrival.

Sam took one look at her battered face, stormed past her and took the stairs two at a time.

‘Sam, NO!’ Jess called after her.

Calvin came back into the lounge just as Sam appeared on the top step.

‘Well, well, if it isn’t the lovely Samantha,’ he said smoothly.

‘You, lousy, low-life, scumbag,’ she yelled. She rushed towards him stopping about a foot short. She stuck her face into his. ‘You like to hit women, eh? Well try and hit me?’

Calvin gave a nervous laugh. He knew Sam did a version of Martial Arts, but wasn’t sure which. He decided to tough it out anyway.

‘And here’s me thinking you’ve come round for that threesome we talked about.’ He took a step back.

Sam laughed scornfully. ‘I can’t think of anything less stimulating than being naked in the same bed as you.’ She took a quick glimpse over her shoulder to Jess. ‘Did I tell you he asked me out, that night at the Venetian?’

‘LIAR!’ yelled Calvin, stamping his foot like a petulant two-year-old.

‘Oh, but you insisted on giving me your number, Calvin. The number of the pay-as-you-go phone, that Jess knows nothing about.’

Calvin’s face went a deep shade of crimson.

‘LIAR!’

‘I’ll ring it shall I?’ As Sam looked down to pull her phone from the pocket of her jeans, Calvin hit her, sending her sprawling across the carpet. The phone fell out of her hand and landed at Jess’s feet. Calvin was on Sam in an instant. He sat astride her, lifted her head and slammed it repeatedly on the floor. Sam raised her hands groggily, and tried to fight back, but Calvin was too strong, suddenly his hands were round her neck and she was struggling to breathe.

Jess tried to pull him off, but he kept his grip on Sam’s throat. Jess rained blows onto the back of his head as he sat astride her best friend, but her blows had little, if any, effect. She looked around the room for anything that might help her get him to release Sam, but there was nothing worth hitting him with. Then, from the kitchen, she saw the steam still rising from the jug kettle spout. She rushed into the kitchenette and grabbed the kettle, pulling the plug from the socket as she turned back. She stood over Calvin, grabbed his hair with her left hand, and yanked his head up. His hate-filled eyes held hers as he squeezed even harder on Sam’s throat.

‘Let her go, Calvin or you get this.’ Jess allowed a few drops of boiling hot water to run from the spout of the kettle onto his upturned face. Calvin screamed, released his grip and held both hands to his cheeks.

‘Not my face, please, not my face.’

‘Get off her or you’ll get the whole fucking kettle full,’ Jess shouted. ‘Off her, NOW!’

Calvin rolled off, and Sam, holding her neck whilst gasping for air, rolled the other way. Jess stood over Calvin while he writhed around, still clutching his face. ‘I’ll call the police; I’ll tell them what you did.’ He took his hands from his face and looked up pleadingly at Jess. ‘Is it bad? Is it really bad? Tell me the truth.’

‘Not as bad as it will be if you aren’t out of here in ten seconds flat,’ said Jess.

Sam wasn’t about to take any more chances. She rushed to the kitchen and picked up the biggest, sharpest knife she could find in the knife block. She hurried back to Jess’s side