‘Hey,’ she said lightly, offering a head nod and half-smile. He didn’t react. He just stared with a repressed anger that made her feel her skin would blister. It was highly intimidating. He wouldn’t even blink.

‘You’re back,’ Carlotta said, behind her.

Clover wheeled around with relief. ‘Oh. Yes.’

‘Did you have much fun up there?’

‘Oh. Yes.’

‘Would you like some gugelhupf?’

Clover looked at the tall marbled ring cake on the plate Carlotta was holding. ‘Oh. Yes.’

‘With tea?’

‘Thank you,’ Clover nodded. ‘That would be lovely.’

‘And the others?’

‘They’re just having their showers. They’ll be up shortly.’

‘Very good. Then I will bring it out in ten minutes.’

‘Great.’ Clover watched the housekeeper go and wished she wouldn’t. There was safety being in conversation with her. She didn’t dare to turn back and deal with another face-off from Foley. There was zero chance of small talk with him; he clearly couldn’t even countenance being in the same room as her.

She wrung her hands lightly and went over to the chess set which she and Matty had played last night. They hadn’t been able to complete the second game before dinner was served and she looked down at it now. She went to move a piece.

‘Don’t!’

The command made her jump and she looked up to see Ari crossing the space in a hurry. He threw his phone on the sofa. ‘Sorry,’ he said, holding his hands up apologetically as he saw her alarm. ‘I just meant . . . Kit and I have been playing this one game for . . . what, a couple of weeks now, mate?’

He looked over at Foley, but Kit didn’t respond at all. Ari looked back at her with a grimace.

‘You play chess?’ She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

‘There’s a lot of waiting around on the pro tour – sitting in airports, hotels. It’s a good way to pass the time.’ He gave a shrug. ‘Anyway, we’re playing a twenty-move game, but with no time limit. We’ve just moved into the middle game and it’s been tight as hell . . .’ He stopped talking as he took in her expression. ‘What?’ He looked down at the chess set and saw how the pieces had been moved. ‘. . . Oh shit.’

Foley was on his feet in a flash. ‘What is it?’ he demanded.

‘We didn’t know,’ Clover said quickly, to Ari. ‘If we’d had any idea . . .’

Foley charged over to where they were standing and stared down at the despoiled game. His chest heaved and Clover, standing inches from him, felt a frisson of genuine fear. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You’re sorry?’ In a whirl, he had turned and caught her arm in a vice-like grip. ‘You’re sorry? You come in here and just casually destroy something that had been going on for weeks? Something you knew nothing about?’