CHAPTER 23
AFTER THREE MONTHS with Black, I became aware of a gradual shift.
I’d stopped worrying whether I’d stick around until the half-year mark to collect my money and get out of there and instead started questioning whether I was good enough. Would he want me to stay?
Rather than deliberately antagonising him, I found more and more that I was seeking his approval, although I still managed to piss him off effortlessly.
At the beginning of month four, he came down to breakfast smiling. I’d seen that look before. Usually, it meant I’d finish the day black and blue with my brain about to explode.
“What now?” Did he want me to learn Icelandic? Take on gang members armed with only a fork? Build a road bridge out of toothpicks? By that point, nothing would have surprised me. “Go on, giv
