Chapter 54

Malmesbury? Christ. Well, at least she had her book lying there in the drawer to deal with that slimy poke. Hell. And hadn't she just made it plain she didn't want him? So every single word she'd said was a skewer, sitting there just far enough, so if he moved they'd prick him. Well, it still wasn't going to kill him to walk out that door without a backwards glance. He'd go to Massa, wherever it safe.

He raised his gaze, catching sight of himself in the glass. And even worse, seeing her, beneath that damned pale-faced hanging of Messalina, combing her hair.

What the hell was this? This was his chance to be free of her. Finally. To scarper back to his old life. So how could his deepest self say that life would be nothing without her? Was his deepest self yelping mad? The amount of times she'd broken his balls in the last weeks? He was lucky he'd any left.