Hannah’s voice, though harsh, shook. ‘I didn’t expect to find you two here. Or that Hannah Anna Butik is still Hannah Anna Butik.’

The man recovered first. ‘Hannah,’ he said in a tone so silky that Nico’s skin crept. ‘Why don’t you come through and we’ll talk?’ His dark hair was smooth and his business suit well cut. His voice was educated and his English an immaculate drawl.

‘Because, Albin, I prefer to hear your explanation right here.’ Hannah’s voice gained a splash of acid. ‘Let’s talk about why you stated this shop was unprofitable and that you were going to obliterate it in favour of some sleazy club. Instead, here you are …’ her voice dropped to a velvety hiss ‘… selling stock you haven’t paid for.’

Nico kept moving closer, studying a stand of scarves. They’d been folded and wound with precision but he would have paid a lot more attention to colour. Angling so he could see the man posed haughtily behind the counter, the woman pale and silent at his side, he unwound first a black scarf then a red one and left them out untidily. He might not have existed as far as Albin and Julia were concerned. They were totally focused on Hannah.

‘You are by nature impatient,’ Albin began condescendingly.

‘Bullshit,’ Hannah snapped. ‘Why is the shop still open and why are you selling my stock?’

Suddenly, Albin’s attitude changed. He tilted his head and shrank like a puppy who knows he’s done wrong but also knows he’s cute. ‘I fell on hard times—’

‘BullSHIT!’ Hannah howled, slapping her hands on the glass counter with a force that shook a display of purses. ‘All you ever fell in was a pile of money! What is going on?’

Albin dropped the act, tilting his nose up in a way that looked much more his natural style. ‘To acknowledge that we meant something to each other once I’ll tell you this much. The club was a fabrication designed to encourage you to leave and I never thought it would work so well. I suppose it wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been needed back in the UK but, believe me, Hannah, I was always going to get you out. You built your business on what I provided.’ He gave an elaborate shrug.

‘And … and your sex life?’ Hannah stammered. ‘Was all that sex-with-strangers stuff fabricated to make me want to get away from you?’

Nico winced at the shock and distress in her voice. Albin gave another shrug but amusement flickered over his face.