Page 23 of Forever Mr Black

The next five seconds happen in a blur. Art launches at Jamie and grabs him by the throat, hurling him across the room. Then, he’s on top of him on the floor, raining down punch after punch as Jamie tries to defend himself.

I avert my eyes and clutch my torn blouse to cover my bra.

“Are you okay, Sophie?” Big Steve places a consoling hand on my shoulder.

The crack of bone against bone sends panic slicing through me. Art’s still pounding into Jamie, who’s long since given up trying to fight back. I feel sick. The red mist has descended. I’ve never witnessed this side of him, and I don’t like it.

“Make him stop,” I plead.

Big Steve looks worried. He grabs Art’s shoulders and tries to pull him off, but he angrily shrugs him away.

“Fucking hell, mate, leave it. You don’t want to kill him.”

Art carries on punching Jamie as if he hadn’t heard him. The sight of blood splattering onto the TV screens shreds my last nerve.

“Stop!” I scream.

Art’s hand freezes mid-punch.

Thank God he’s stopped.

He continues to glare at Jamie as he gets to his feet.

“Sort him out.” He turns to Big Steve. “Put him in the police car that’s waiting for him and fuck him off.”

Big Steve grabs Jamie under the arms and hauls him to his feet. His face is bruised and covered in blood. My stomach turns. I lower my eyes to the floor, unable to look. Big Steve slings his arm around Jamie’s shoulders and walks him out of the office.

Art cups my jaw with his hands and tilts my chin up, forcing me to look at him. Worried eyes search my face. “You’re trembling. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head and tell him what happened.

“Shh.” He strokes his thumbs across my cheeks, soothing me.

The blinkered, anger-fuelled Art from a few moments earlier has vanished.

Did I imagine it?

The sight of blood on his hands tells me I didn’t.

I swallow hard. “I wasn’t going to let him …”

Art briefly closes his eyes like he’s banishing the thought from his mind and presses a kiss to my forehead. “How come you’re here?”

“I tried calling you.”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t had much of a chance to look at my phone. I’ve been sorting out this shit with Jamie tonight.”

I hesitate. After the horrific scene I just witnessed, I’m worried what his reaction will be to hearing Theo’s turned up. I’ve already had to make him promise he won’t do anything stupid where Theo’s concerned. But there’s no way I can’t tell him.

“Theo.”

Art keeps perfectly still, looking at me and waiting for me to carry on.

“He was outside the apartment when I got back from work. I didn’t want to be alone.”

His jaw stiffens as he takes in what I said. “Did you speak to him?”

I nod.

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