“Those two won’t do anything crazy, and they can get ahold of us whenever they want. And after that surprise”—he kissed her cheek, her ear—“I have another surprise lined up for you. A very big one . . .” He pulled her hips toward him. His mouth formed a smile, but his eyes didn’t join in.

It confused her a little.

“Do you remember when we first met?” he whispered. “You were still living with your mother, and I was in that room in Rotterdam. I used to live on macaroni with ketchup, and I didn’t have a penny to take you out to dinner.”

She nodded. She could remember it all very well, but it felt like scenes from the life of a different couple.

“When we decided to move in together, we had nothing. But we felt rich, because we only needed each other.” He rubbed her shoulders. “Guess what the good news is?”

“Tell me.”

“We still have each other. Lately, I haven’t appreciated just how special that is.” He kissed her tenderly on the lips.

Her fingers stroked the rough fabric of his polo shirt. She breathed in Werner’s scent as if discovering it for the first time. How long had it been since they had last stood so close together, actually made contact with each other? Their conversations were always about the children. School. Work. The house.

“I miss it sometimes.” Her voice was emotional.

“What?”

“Us.”

He held her chin and kissed her on the lips again, then on her nose.

“Should I call Arianne to cancel?”

He let her go. “Of course not. Go and work that beautiful body of yours into a sweat. I’ll see you later.”

“But . . .”

“I’ll take care of Sara.”

“Are you sure—”

“It’ll be OK. You get going.”

9

9

Ralf looked at his friend, who was replacing his cap with a balaclava. All you could see were those glittering brown eyes and part of his mouth.

Ralf had already pulled his own balaclava over his head. It was itchy and smelled new. He followed Brian’s gaze toward the house. The yard behind it was dark, with just a pale glow emanating from the swimming pool.

They had seen two children bike away. Shortly afterward, their mother had left the house and driven off in her Fiat.

“What if there are more people inside?”

“There aren’t,” said Brian. “Just the dude. And the dough.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You leave the thinking to me.”

Ralf’s phone began to buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out like it was on fire. Mom showed on the screen. He dismissed the call and put the phone on silent. “She figured out I’m not there. That’ll be yet another drama.”

“Stay at my place tonight. We’ll have something to celebrate soon, anyway. I’ll call up a few girls and—”

“What about Naomi?”