She raised her voice even more so that she almost screamed. The journalists could write whatever they damned well wanted. She was hysterical with anger.

"I shall now tell you what I want to talk seriously about. It concerns the whole of our life together: tennis, children and broken promises."

Thomas went red in the face and that frightened her. It could mean physical violence. True, he had never hit her in public, but he had really hurt her at home and in hotel rooms. Several times she had been compelled to see a doctor for everything from facial bruises to broken ribs. And now when she thought about these incidents she realized she should have left him a long time ago.

"How can you talk about broken promises?" he bellowed.

"You have promised many times to be my support before important matches. It is you who have failed me and not vice versa."

Strangely enough, Elina's attitude towards him began to soften slightly, but she knew that at any time she would have another outburst which he would punish as usual by hitting her on the nose.

He was a tennis champion but he was also a common criminal. It was a violation of Swedish law to hit her. However, he was an extremely obnoxious thug.