22

WHEN JAKE ARRIVED later that evening Danny was still in the shower and Louisa and Sarah were having drinks on the terrace with Jean-Claude.

‘Sarah’s in a terrible way,’ Louisa whispered to Jake when she went to greet him. ‘I think it might help if you talked to her.’

‘Shit!’ he seethed under his breath, obviously either having forgotten that Sarah would be there, or just not wanting to talk to her. ‘Who’s that with her on the terrace?’

‘Jean-Claude, our neighbour. Erik’s friend.’

‘OK. Get Sarah to come inside. Is there somewhere we can talk?’

‘You can use my study, Sarah knows where it is. Danny’s here too.’

‘Is she?’ he said sourly. ‘Well what a cosy evening we’re going to have.’

Not long after Jake and Sarah disappeared inside Danny sauntered down the steps from the small terrace outside her bedroom to join Louisa and Jean-Claude. The instant Louisa saw her her heart sank. Obviously there wasn’t much left of the bottle of wine she’d taken with her to the shower.

‘Hello, Jean-Claude,’ Danny drawled, flopping unsteadily into a chair. ‘Or should I say bonjour. Oh no, hang on it’s bonsoir now, isn’t it?’

‘Bonsoir, Danny,’ he said politely.

‘What’s that?’ she demanded of Louisa, pointing at Louisa’s drink.

‘It’s a kir,’ Louisa said, not bothering to hide her exasperation.

‘I think I’ll have one of those.’

‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough?’ Louisa retorted.

‘Nope. Whose car is that over … Oh my,’ she grinned, putting a hand to her face. ‘It’s Jake’s car. So where is he?’

‘In the study with Sarah.’

‘Giving her a bit of a seeing to, is he?’

‘Danny,’ Louisa winced.

‘Sorry,’ Danny said, reaching out for an olive. ‘So what brings you over here this evening, Jean-Claude?’ she asked, pulling the stone from between her teeth.

‘Sarah and I invited him,’ Louisa answered, knowing that she and Danny were heading fast towards a particularly ugly scene if Danny kept this up. As if it wasn’t enough that Jake had turned up in a foul mood.

‘Do you know what?’ Danny said to Jean-Claude who, Louisa thought admiringly though with embarrassment, seemed quite unperturbed by the rudeness in Danny’s manner.

‘What is that?’ Jean-Claude asked, smiling benignly.

‘Louisa is my favourite person in the whole world,’ Danny announced with a grin.

‘Oh, Danny, for heaven’s sake, shut up,’ Louisa groaned.

‘She doesn’t choose her men very well, but she’s pretty good at choosing her friends,’ Danny continued unabashed. ‘Aren’t you, Louisa?’

‘I think we should just continue as if she weren’t there,’ Louisa said, turning to Jean-Claude.

‘Oh no, don’t do that, Louisa,’ Danny pouted. Then quite suddenly she started to laugh.

Louisa glared at her and just as suddenly she stopped.

‘Can I refresh your drink for you, Jean-Claude?’ Danny offered, getting to her feet.

‘No, no, I am fine, thank you.’

‘OK. Well, I’ll go and get myself one, excuse me,’ and she made an airy path into the kitchen.

‘I’m sorry,’ Louisa said to Jean-Claude.

‘Please, think nothing of it,’ Jean-Claude smiled. Then looking warmly into Louisa’s eyes he said, ‘Are you going to tell Jake that you ’ave told me all that is going on?’

Louisa pulled a face. ‘I don’t think so,’ she answered. ‘At least not while he’s in the mood he’s in tonight. So please, when he comes back, don’t say anything, will you? Just pretend you don’t know him.’

‘That won’t be difficult when I don’t,’ Jean-Claude twinkled merrily. ‘Though I ’ave to confess I feel I do now you’ve told me so much about ’im.’ And then his eyes were serious. ‘It is going to be very ’ard for you when ’e goes, is it not?’

Louisa’s lips flattened in a smile as she nodded. ‘I have to admit, Jean-Claude,’ she said, ‘that if Consuela is lying about Martina and she really is dead, that I can’t stop myself hoping that maybe, I don’t know, in a year from now, two years from now, that he will reconsider and we can, well, try again.’

‘You would not be ’uman if you did not think that way, he said, patting her hand in a fatherly manner. ‘But let me give you a little word of advice. Don’t rush ’im. If it is the case that ’is wife is dead, ’e will need to grieve for ’er all over again.’

‘I know, you’re right,’ Louisa sighed, linking her fingers through his.

‘Oh là là,’ he chuckled, ‘you are much prettier when you smile and ’e is ’ere, no? ’e comes to see you because in ’is ’eart ’e loves you. No one will ever be able to take that away from you, Louisa. No matter what ’appens in the future, whether ’is wife is still ’ere or whether ’e chooses not ever come to back, what you ’ave ’ad now will always be special for you. And for ’im. ’e ’as done all ’e can to make sure of that. And think what a very courageous man ’e is, that ’e can think of someone else’s ’appiness at such a time as this in ’is life. Oh, no, no,’ he said as she made to interrupt. ‘I know what you are going to say, what ’e ’as no doubt said ’imself, that ’e ’as been very selfish to take from you what ’e ’as, and I agree, ’e ’as been selfish, but ’e is only ’uman too, Louisa, and remember, ’e ’as been going through a very bad time, ’e needs solace, like any other man would need it in such circumstances. And ’e ’as been honest with you from the start by never making any promises ’e knew ’e couldn’t keep. So what you ’ave ’ad together, what my beautiful country, she ’as ’osted, is a little touch of summer madness that will always remain in your ’eart.’

‘You’re a very special man, Jean-Claude,’ Louisa said softly. ‘Thank you for that. And thank you for understanding and believing all that I’ve told you. It’s not that I blame Sarah or Danny for not believing it, they’re too mixed up in it all themselves, but it’s so good to talk to someone who isn’t.’

Leaning against the counter in the kitchen Danny was staring desperately at the bottle of wine she had taken from the fridge. She knew she shouldn’t have any more, that if she did she would feel terrible in the morning, but it was so tempting, so very tempting, to drown tomorrow in the wine of tonight. She wasn’t ready for tomorrow, she hadn’t had enough rehearsals and she was so afraid she was going to blow it.

She turned to splash more wine into her glass, then hearing Jake’s voice in the hall she smashed the glass into the sink. Did he think she was so simple, of such little account, that she was going to let him get away with deceiving her friend the way he was? Did he truly believe that he just had to tell Erik to stop her doing something and she would stop? Did he really think he could just brush her to one side as if she didn’t matter, as if she hadn’t recognized the evil that was in him, when they both knew she had? Well she was going to show him and she was going to make damned sure when it was all over that he knew it was she who had outsmarted him and it was she who still had Louisa and still had Erik. She just wished she’d had a few more rehearsals, because she couldn’t afford to make a hash of this, not now she knew that Jake himself had killed Aphrodite – and what was more, Consuela had told her why he had killed her.

Hearing Sarah’s nervous laughter coming from the terrace Danny’s heart went out to her. Morandi was going to take the rap for what Jake had done, Jake was already seeing to that, unless she, Danny, did something to stop it. She had to get Jake out of the country before he did any more damage to any more people and then Consuela and his father could clear up the mess after him. Poor Morandi. Jake hadn’t done anything to back him up on using Consuela as his alibi and nor was he going to. Oh, he’d let Morandi think he was going to, but he’d never had any intention of doing it, that was obvious now. Even Erik had expressed surprise that Morandi was still in jail.

Still, she thought, padding off to her bedroom with a sudden return of exuberance, Morandi wouldn’t be there much longer and then Sarah would be happy, so would she and Erik and Louisa would just be thankful to be alive. Roll camera!

‘Oh no, don’t go,’ Louisa was saying, as Jean-Claude made to get up. ‘Stay for dinner. There’s plenty.’

‘No really, I shouldn’t interrupt your evening any …’

‘You’re not interrupting,’ Sarah told him. ‘You’re more than welcome here, you know that.’

Jean-Claude looked uncertainly at Jake who, even through his continuing black humour, managed a smile. ‘Stay,’ he said. Then catching Louisa’s eye he added, ‘please. Stay.’

‘So what have you got cooking?’ Sarah said to Louisa, plunging into the awkwardness.

‘Nothing. It’s all cold and it’s more or less prepared so we can eat when you’re ready.’

‘I just need to run upstairs and change,’ Sarah said. ‘I’ve been in these shorts all day.’

‘OK,’ Louisa said, smiling inwardly at Sarah’s lift in spirits since she’d spoken to Jake. She’d managed, in a quick whisper, to let Louisa know that Morandi was likely to be released the following day, but the circumstances behind it she hadn’t yet been able to relate.

‘I’ll just go and finish off the last minute things.’ Louisa said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink, Jake?’

‘No. I’ll just take wine with dinner,’ he answered, taking one of his own brand of cigarettes from his pocket. Then, as Louisa and Sarah disappeared inside, he clicked down his lighter and inhaling deeply, said to Jean-Claude, ‘Sorry, you must think me pretty rude, it’s just been a trying day one way or another.’

‘Please, don’t apologize,’ Jean-Claude said, ‘we all ’ave them from time to time.’

Jake was on the point of saying something else when Danny appeared wearing an extremely expensive and extremely revealing white lycra swimsuit. ‘Oh, Jake!’ she said feigning surprise. ‘What on earth are you doing here? And you, Jean-Claude, still here I see. Well, isn’t this cosy?’

‘The pool’s that way,’ Jake said, waving a hand vaguely in the direction of the pool.

‘Gosh, how observant you are,’ Danny remarked. ‘Incidentally, did Erik tell you, I’ve accepted his proposal?’

‘He told me,’ Jake sighed.

‘I’m so excited,’ she said to Jean-Claude, bunching her hands together over her chest. ‘I’ve never been married before. Oh, but you have, haven’t you, Jake, you must tell me what it’s like. Maybe you could give me a few hints …’

As Jake’s face turned murderously dark Jean-Claude said quickly, ‘I ’ave been married too, Danny, maybe I could give you a few ’ints.’

‘Oh, no,’ Danny said, wagging a finger, ‘I don’t want the bedroom secrets of gays, it’s those of real men I’m looking for. Men who get deliciously rough with their women, not men who bugger young …’

‘For Christ’s sake, Danny!’ Jake exploded

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth, ‘did I say something to upset you?’

Jake nodded towards Jean-Claude as though to tell him to go into the kitchen and let him handle this.

Jean-Claude needed no further bidding and going inside he found Louisa humming to herself as she dressed the salad and organized the cutlery.

‘Oh, Jean-Claude,’ she said, starting as he came in. Then grimacing when she saw his face she added ‘He’s not being difficult is he?’

‘No, ’e is being as charming as ’e can under the circumstances, at least with me ’e is. Can I give you a ’and with something?’

‘Yes, could you get the plates from the cupboard over there,’ she said, nodding over her shoulder towards it, ‘I just need to wash off these eggs. Where did you say Didier was tonight, by the way?’

‘Oh, ’e is down in the village, with ’is friends. ’e will be ’ome soon, I expect. Louisa? Louisa? What is it?’ he said, putting the plates down and going to her.

She said nothing, just continued to stare at the half-open window. Jean-Claude followed her eyes and then he too could see what she was seeing. The slant of the window was such that it was reflecting what was happening on the terrace, where, with one hand idly massaging Danny’s exposed breast, Jake was gazing down into her eyes and listening to what she was saying. She was smiling, Jean-Claude saw, then suddenly Jake laughed and grabbing her to him he crushed his mouth passionately over hers.

Louisa turned away, dropping the eggs in the sink.

‘No,’ Jean-Claude said, pulling her back. ‘Go out there and face it.’

‘No. You go out there. Just go and break it up, please.’

‘You want to pretend it ’asn’t ’appened?’ he challenged.

‘For now, yes. I’ll deal with it later, when Danny and I are alone.’

By the time Jean-Claude stepped onto the terrace the embrace was over and seeing him coming Danny wandered off to the pool. Jake watched her go, then turning to Jean-Claude and seeing the expression on Jean-Claude’s face he said, quite matter-of-factly, ‘She saw.’

Jean-Claude nodded.

‘Where is she now?’

‘Still in the kitchen, I believe.’

Pushing aside a chair Jake walked into the kitchen.

‘Hi,’ Louisa smiled as she saw him come in.

‘Quit pretending. I know you saw.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s OK, it’s …’ She stopped abruptly as he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pushed her up against the wall.

‘So, I kissed her,’ he raged, ‘What the hell? I kiss who I want to kiss, same as I screw who I want to screw … I’m married, you know that, I love my wife …’

‘Jake, you’re hurting me,’ she protested.

‘I told you it couldn’t go anywhere with us,’ he growled, tightening the grip on her arm, ‘I warned you …’

‘Jake, let me go!’ she cried.

But still he had hold of her and as his eyes blazed furiously into hers Louisa thought of Martina and felt suddenly sick with fear and a heartbreaking despondency that she had been so horribly, so unbearably wrong.

He let her go, so abruptly she staggered.

‘I told you, it’s no big deal,’ she said shakily as he started to turn away.

‘No, that’s right!’ he said, turning back. ‘It’s no big deal. None of this is a big deal. We had a good time together, but I told you that what we had was for the here and now. So why the hell did you have to go and fall in love with me?’

‘I never said that!’ she cried. ‘Never once have I told you …’

‘Oh dear, I haven’t just walked into a lover’s tiff have I?’ Danny smirked from the doorway.

Jake’s eyes stayed on Louisa as hers did on him, but she just didn’t know what she was seeing. Suddenly he turned away, snatched his keys up from the table and walked out.

‘Not staying for dinner?’ Danny smiled as he went past her. There was no reply, then Danny and Louisa were alone in the kitchen.

‘Well, at least you’ve had a taste of what he’s really like,’ Danny said, turning back to Louisa.

‘Danny, if I were you, I’d just shut up,’ Louisa warned, her voice trembling with fury.

‘Oh, come on, you knew all along what he was like,’ Danny said, helping herself to a handful of peanuts. ‘You just wanted to fool yourself. I don’t blame …’

‘Danny. I’m warning you,’ Louisa said, her hand tightening around the knife she hardly knew she was holding.

‘Louisa, for heaven’s sake, I only did it to prove to you what he was like! And look how much persuading he took. The very second your back’s turned he’s got my tits out. Mind you, I have to say, it was pretty nice.’

‘One more word,’ Louisa threatened. ‘Just one more word and I’m telling you, Danny, you’re going to find this knife between your fucking ribs, because I’ve taken just about as much as I can take of you …’

‘Louisa!’ Danny reprimanded. ‘I was only trying to help. And I’d better tell you now, that the real truth is Jake and I have been sleeping together all along …’

‘You’re a liar!’ Sarah yelled from the door. ‘I don’t know what’s the matter with you, Danny, whether you’re sick in the head or you just can’t stand the fact that he prefers Louisa. But you say one more thing, one more lie comes out of your mouth, then it’ll be me sticking that fucking knife into you.’

‘OK, come on, that’s enough,’ Jean-Claude said, coming in from the terrace. ‘Let’s all just calm down, shall we?’

‘Oh, Faggot Galahad to the rescue,’ Danny jeered and suddenly her head swung back as Louisa slapped her hard across the face.

‘You bitch!’ Danny gasped, real fury blazing in her eyes, but as she made to retaliate, nails brandished like claws, Jean-Claude grabbed her, wresting her arms behind her.

‘Let me go!’ she yelled, twisting and kicking. ‘I said, let me go!’

‘She needs a fucking straitjacket, that’s what she needs,’ Louisa hissed.

Danny stared at her, eyes dazed with confusion. This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t a part of the script. What had gone wrong? They were all turning against her? ‘Get out!’ she suddenly screamed. ‘Just get out, the whole lot of you! It’s my villa, so pack your fucking bags and go!’

‘With pleasure,’ Sarah snapped, and taking Louisa by the arm she marched her out of the house.

*

The following morning, having spent the night at Jean-Claude’s Sarah went off early to see Morandi’s lawyer in Nice and Louisa, having grudgingly decided that she should try to make peace with Danny, was on the point of going over to the villa when Jake drove up the lane.

She stood at Jean-Claude’s gates, wearing the now crumpled ivory silk dress she’d been wearing the night before, and waited for him to come to a stop.

‘I need to talk to you,’ he said, looking straight ahead.

She could see by the way he was gripping the wheel and from the hard line of his jaw that his temper hadn’t improved much overnight. ‘I don’t know, Jake,’ she said, her heart stinging with the bitter conflict of her emotions.

‘Please,’ he said, turning to look at her. His lips were pale, his scarred eye was covered by the patch, but the one she could see was bloodshot and heavy with tiredness.

Walking around the car she got in beside him and half an hour later, after a drive that made her thankful to still be alive at the end of it, they were in the sitting room of his house.

‘I wanted to say I was sorry,’ he growled, as she walked away from him towards the fireplace.

‘You could have told me that back at Jean-Claude’s,’ she said, turning to face him.

‘I know.’ His voice was tight with anger, but there was something in him that seemed to be reaching out for her. He was fighting it, she could see that as clearly as she could see the struggle to control his temper. She made no move towards him, his sudden burst of violence the night before had left her more shaken than she wanted to admit, but even so she still wasn’t afraid of him. ‘I wanted you here,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know why,’ he seethed. ‘Does there have to be a reason?’

‘Jake, for heaven’s sake,’ she cried. ‘What is wrong with you? What’s happened to make you so angry? And why are you taking it out on me?’

For several seconds he just stared at her, then wrenching the patch from his eye he threw it down on the sofa. ‘Plenty has happened,’ he said savagely. ‘Too much.’ Then lifting his eyes back to hers he said. ‘But you’re right, I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.’

She continued to watch him as he sank down on the sofa and propping his elbows on his knees bunched his fists in front of his mouth. They were silent for a long time, until finally, his eyes closed and he let out a deep groan of anguish. ‘I told you I couldn’t love you,’ he said, his voice cracked with anger. ‘I warned you, but you didn’t listen.’ He got to his feet and began to thrash angrily about the room. ‘Why didn’t you listen?’ he raged, slamming a hand on the surface of an antique chest. ‘I told you I love my wife, so why didn’t you listen?’ He swung round, looking at her as though he meant to hit her.

Louisa stood her ground, her dark eyes flashing the challenge.

‘For Christ’s sake!’ he suddenly cried. ‘What is it with you? Why the hell are you doing this?’

‘Doing what? What am I doing, Jake?’

‘You’re standing there looking like …’ He let his voice go and dropped his head, bringing a hand to it and pushing his fingers through his hair. ‘You’re driving me crazy,’ he said brokenly. ‘You’ve got me so I can’t think about anything except what I’m doing to you.’

‘Jake …’

‘No, don’t say anything, I don’t want to hear it.’

She stood silently, not knowing what else to do. That he should feel this way was everything she wanted, but not when it was causing him such torment.

At last he looked up and she could see from the look in his eyes that for the moment the storm had passed. ‘Come here,’ he said wearily, holding out his arms. ‘Let me hold you.’

She went to him, tears filling her eyes, love and pain and longing flooding her heart.

Long minutes ticked by as he held her, rocking her back and forth and gently stroking her hair as he stared absently towards the window.

‘I love you, you know that, don’t you?’ he said.

‘Yes,’ she whispered.

He pulled her head back so that it was resting in his hand. ‘But I’ve got no right to say it.’

‘It’s not about having the right, Jake. It’s about us and what we feel, now, here today. You can’t help it, any more than I can.’

His eyes moved over hers as though trying to find a way into her mind. ‘I want you, Louisa,’ he murmured. ‘I want you very much right now.’

‘I’m here,’ she said.

Taking her hand he led her into the bedroom. He undressed her himself, looking at her and touching her as though seeing her for the first time. Then removing his own clothes he lay down with her. As their bodies entwined, his so big and masculine, hers so slender and feminine, she could feel their love pulling them together more surely and more commandingly than the physical movements of their limbs. When he was inside her he turned his face away and she wondered, from the way he was squeezing her hands, if he was crying. And as the tears rolled down her own cheeks she felt the anger building in him again and held him as the frenzy of his emotions vented itself in the pounding of his hips and in the brutal way he crushed his mouth to hers. He was hurting her, but there was nothing she could do to stop it, and neither did she want to. But at the last, he was gentle and tender and let his tears mingle with hers.

‘They’ve found her,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll be leaving tomorrow.’

He was lying on his back now, one hand on his forehead as he stared up at the ceiling, the other holding her.

Louisa said nothing. There was too much sadness and pain in her to speak.

‘That with Danny, last night,’ he said. ‘It meant nothing, you know that, don’t you?’

Still she couldn’t speak.

‘I was trying to prove something to myself, I guess.’ He laughed dryly. ‘It didn’t work.’ He closed his eyes. ‘God, what a fool, what a bloody fool I was to think that hurting you would make this easier.’

‘Where is she?’ Louisa said, in a soft, shaky voice.

‘In Mexico. My father got the call yesterday from Fernando to say that Fernando had seen her.’

‘Fernando?’

‘An American-Mexican who’s been working on finding her since all this began.’

‘So Consuela’s been holding her own daughter hostage all this time?’ Louisa said incredulously.

‘Yep,’ he said shortly.

‘Did Fernando say anything about your little girl?’

‘Yeah, she’s there.’ He paused, then in a voice gruff with emotion he said. ‘Her name’s Antonia.’

As she felt the pain engulf him she tightened her arms around him. ‘Are they with Fernando now?’

He laughed bitterly. ‘If only they were. He was driven somewhere blindfold, allowed to see them, then was sent back to tell me how much it was going to cost me to get them back. I received that call this morning, just before I came for you. There are still a few loose ends to tie up here then I can go get them.’

They were quiet for a while as Louisa fought to keep lodged in her heart the choking knot of emotion and stop it making her cry out for him not to go.

‘What about you?’ he said, giving her a quick hug. ‘What will you do now?’

She opened her mouth to answer then closed it again as the pain and denial rose up from her heart. She couldn’t bear to think of what it was going to be like here without him and neither could she bear the idea of returning to London. She didn’t know what she was going to do, the days and weeks and months ahead seemed so bleak. ‘I suppose I’ll start by trying to sort things out with Danny,’ she said. ‘She threw Sarah and me out of the villa last night.’

‘She did?’ He shook his head. ‘God, that woman. I don’t know how Erik can stand it.’

Her heart jolted as he raised his arm to look at the time, but he made no attempt to get up. ‘You never did tell me exactly what Consuela told Danny about me,’ he said.

She pursed her mouth at the corner. ‘Do you really want to know?’

‘Probably not. Just give me the outline.’

When Louisa had finished, having told him of his apparent abuses to women, how he was supposed to have killed Martina, and how his father had cut him off he was silent for a long time, obviously deep inside his own thoughts.

‘And Danny swallowed it all,’ he said finally.

Louisa nodded. ‘There was a terrible scene between us after you’d gone last night, if I remember rightly I actually threatened to stick a knife in her.’

‘You did?’ he said surprised.

‘Yes. So did Sarah.’

‘She doesn’t seem to have too many friends right now, does she?’ he remarked. ‘Unless she counts Consuela as a friend.’

‘Well hopefully I can put an end to that when I tell her you’ve found …’ She stopped, suddenly not wanting to say the name. ‘Do you think Consuela knows you’ve found her? Is it she who’s demanding all the money?’

‘I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. It could be that her own people have turned on her and are out to make even more money than she’s paying them. I won’t know ’til I get there.’

‘But you truly don’t believe this is another hoax?’

‘No. Fernando wouldn’t lie.’

She was looking at his chest, watching the lazy movement of her fingers as she ran them through the coarse, dark hair and wondering what terrible fear and anxiety, what trepidation and nervousness must be pounding in his heart as he thought about the future, of how hard the road ahead was going to be as he tried to pick up the pieces with his wife and child from whom he had been parted for so long. And for her it was almost impossible to make herself accept that she was never going to see him again, that she was truly losing the one man in the world she felt she could really love. Would she ever, she asked herself wretchedly, get over that wonderful, astonishing, and maybe once in a lifetime coup de foudre that had finally brought them to this?

‘So Danny’s there all on her ownsome, is she?’ he said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and sitting up.

‘Until Erik comes around. Or unless I get there first.’ Why did they have to be talking about Danny now, when he was preparing to go, when there was still so much she wanted to say, wanted to hear? But she knew why he was doing it, he was trying to keep away from territory that was only going to cause them both more pain.

‘Erik won’t be there today,’ he said. ‘He’s been held up in Paris, won’t be back until tomorrow.’

‘Is he there for you?’

‘No. He’s there on his own business.’

‘Does he know you’re leaving?’

‘He will when I call him.’ He turned to look back at her. ‘I’m going to take a shower, do you want to come with me?’

She smiled as her throat tightened. ‘One last thing for us to share?’

He nodded, then swallowed hard as he reached out for her hand.

‘What time are you leaving tomorrow?’ she asked as they walked into the bathroom.

‘Mid-afternoon to Paris, from there to Mexico City.’

‘Can I come to see you off?’

He looked down at her. ‘Do you think that’s wise?’ he said, brushing a hand through her hair.

‘Probably not, but at least I’ll get to see you one more time.’

‘OK,’ he said, and stooping to kiss her he pushed the door closed behind them.