I don’t mean to hesitate, but the beat of silence doesn’t go unnoticed, and she looks at me questioningly. It was a standard question that’s usually answered in a standard way: so-so. I never sleep particularly well, often restless and constantly telling myself that I’m safe, that he will never find me. But last night was a different kind of restlessness. When I finally made it into bed at nearly midnight, I found it impossible to clear my mind and stop thinking about Theo Kane.
‘Izzy?’ Jess presses, setting down her mug.
‘Something really strange happened on the way home.’ I take a seat opposite her, needing to get it all off my chest.
‘What?’
‘I was attacked.’
She coughs and splutters all over the table. ‘Oh my God. Are you okay?’ I can see her immediately start to assess my face and chest. ‘Where? Are you hurt? Who was it?’ Her urgent questions come one after the other, knocking me back a little in my chair. ‘Shit, Izzy, were you taking that fucking shortcut again?’
I shrug sheepishly, and she lands a furious glare on me. ‘I’m fine,’ I assure her, ignoring the fact that it could have been a very different story had Theo Kane and his entourage not shown up.
‘Damn it, I’m mad at you. What happened?’
‘Someone intervened.’
Her mouth snaps shut as I begin to chew on my lip, my hands gripping my mug tighter. ‘Intervened? Like saved you?’
‘Not just me. There was a woman I stopped to help. She’d been beaten up.’
‘Oh my God.’
‘She’s fine. Just a bit battered. I thought whoever was responsible had fled, but when I tried to help her I was attacked. He came out of nowhere.’ I shudder again, dreading to think what could have happened. ‘But he was interrupted by . . . some men.’
Her eyebrows rise, interested. ‘Plural?’
I nod. ‘Two of them, but one was . . .’ I pause, thinking how best to word Theo’s status. ‘The boss.’
‘The boss?’
I nod again. ‘Important. I don’t know. He was massive. Well, they were both big, but him exceptionally so.’
Jess leans forward over the table. ‘Massive?’
I’m nodding again.
‘Massive fat, or massive solid?’
‘Fit,’ I confirm. ‘And very tall.’
‘Handsome?’
‘Deadly.’ I think I mean that in more ways than one.
Her lips purse. ‘And what did he do?’
‘Took me back to his house.’
Her eyes widen.
‘Or mansion,’ I add.
‘Mansion?’
‘That was massive, too.’
She’s concealing a grin now. ‘I wonder what else would be massive.’
‘Jess!’
‘I’m just wondering,’ she argues, defensive. ‘Who was he?’
I get up from the table and rinse out my mug, then place it on the drainer by the sink. ‘I have no idea.’ I reflect a moment, remembering Theo evade that question when I’d wheezily asked it.
‘I do,’ Jess says. ‘A rich, hot man with a big house and, potentially, a big cock.’
My shoulders drop. She’s obsessed with cock, probably because of all the vaginas that are thrust in her face daily. I head to the bathroom to get showered and ready for my shift, and, of course, Jess is in hot pursuit, hungry for more information. ‘What did you do at his house?’ she asks, sitting on the loo as I turn on the shower.
‘Took care of the girl who was attacked. Twenty-one and a prostitute. Her father died. I think Theo was close to him.’ While feeding Jess’s curiosity, I’m also feeding my own. And I shouldn’t. Curiosity is a dangerous thing, especially when Theo Kane is the subject. I should never have mentioned it at all. Forget about it. That’s what I should do.
‘Theo? His name’s Theo?’
‘Theo Kane.’ I strip down and jump in the shower, not in the least bit bothered that Jess is sitting on the toilet watching me, now seemingly wide awake. I can see her mind racing. I inwardly laugh. And she hasn’t even met him. Didn’t see his mansion. Or have a gun offered to her. She has no idea.
‘Were there—’
‘No.’ I cut her right off.
‘You don’t even know what I was going to say,’ she protests.
I wipe away the condensation and give her a look through the glass. I know damn well what she was going to ask, and the answer will always be no. There were no sparks. There were no looks. There were no electric shocks each and every time he touched me. There was no loss of breath or lustful thoughts. I should never go there. ‘Nothing,’ I reiterate finally.
‘Well, that’s disappointing.’ She grumbles, losing complete interest in the conversation, which is exactly why I made the wise decision not to feed her intrigue any more. Now I just need to work on starving my own.*‘Who keeps taking my thermometer?’ I mutter under my breath, rootling through the basket on the trolley. Damn it, how many times do people need to be told?
‘Here.’ Susan passes me a spare with a knowing look, tapping her watch, a reminder that my shift is almost done, not that I stand much chance of getting out of here for at least another hour. I have handover to do, as well as observations on all the patients. Just one more shift tomorrow, I tell myself, seeing the biggest mojito awaiting my arrival in Vegas.