The unfamiliar voices wake me, my eyes snap open with a jolt and I fight the blanket that holds me down. Hands wrap around my back but I fight them on instinct.
"No! Don't touch me!" I shout.
"Shhh... I've got you" Rome whispers and my eyes stop jumping all over the room to land on his face.
My panic recedes. Embarrassment takes it's place.
Rome smiles gently and reassuring, his eyes look a little clearer, a little less tired, but not happy.
"Sorry" I mumble and look from Rome and our spot in the corner of the cloud like sofa to the other end, where two men sit stiffly in suits with appraising eyes and paper coffee cups.
"You're okay, sweetheart. Nothing to apologise for" Rome rubs a soothing hand over my back.
I should remove myself from between his legs and and sit up, but quite frankly, I don't want to.
"Good morning Dr. Swancott. I can genuinely say it's a pleasure to be able to finally meet you. I'm detective Walker, and this is my partner, detective Watts"
I look between them and Rome, they don't have cuffs out and they all seem relaxed enough.
"Is it over? Can I go back to my life now?" I croak with a sleepy voice.
"It's seems the parade of tortured women is over yes... what can you tell me about your boyfriend?" Walker sits forward to place his elbows on his knees.
"Well, he's very sweet. A gentleman. He doesn't deserve to be punished for this" I beg.
"Myles Hoffsteader is a gentleman?" Walker raises his brows at me.
He opens a folder on the table between us and shows me a photograph of a woman's bruised neck, obviously she's been strangled... my neck hairs stand up.
"No.... Definitely not" I balk at the idea. "Who is that?" I croak, looking at the familiar jaw and neckline.
I reach forward to scatter the photos to see the one underneath.
"Thea? Oh god, no... is she..?" I gasp.
Did Myles go there first last night?
"Thea's fine, her injuries have now healed," Walker takes in my reaction.
He notices my surprise.
"I can tell you Thea Lockhart would not describe your boyfriend as a gentleman in any matter," Watts scoffs.
"Oh, boyfriend..... Myles. I was speaking of Roman" I blush and dare a peek at the man.
He's got a sparkle back in his eye and a little curl in the corner of his mouth, he doesn't dare smile though.
"Rome's your boyfriend then?" Walker asks now, again, gaining my attention.
I'm not sure what the story is supposed to be, I wish we had of collaborated before now.
"It's new, but our feelings are genuine. Any mistruth Rome might have told you was purely for my own protection and at the request of myself. He hid me from Myles, not even my mother could know where I was. That's what my ex was like, he was a monster.... He poisoned me for a very long time, I would be dead without Dr Knight's resourcefulness and care"
I point out that we were not two adulterers who just shacked up in secret.
"Can you tell me how Myles poisoned you?" Walker asks while Watts sips his coffee leisurely.
"Pills, he prescribed me medications for a heart condition I didn't have, not that I knew that at the time. I trusted him, we were in a committed relationship and I never suspected his nefarious side"
"A committed relationship?" He nods thoughtfully. "And it was a normal relationship, healthy?" He asks. "Sexually?"
I swallow hard, I look away and out the window over the stairs.
Another bright blue day outside.
"If this is uncomfortable we could go to the station? Make it more formal, I can have a female officer interview you" Watts speaks up but I'm not sure it's a threat or an offer born from genuine concern for my emotions.
"The sex life Myles and I shared was never normal. He presented with sexual disfunction, the inability to ejaculate. He would lose arousal easily, frustration quickly took its place" I try to remain detached, like I would a patient.... Just now I am the patient.
"And what would he do, when frustration took hold?" Walker asks.
