Ninni burrowed her hands deeper into the jacket. ‘I thought I did. How do you know if you love someone?’

‘Good question. I thought I loved my girlfriend, turned out I loved all the things that came with her. And that turned dull faster than I thought possible.’

Ninni looked at him properly. He smiled and the smile reached his eyes.

‘Did she break your heart?’

‘No, she didn’t and I didn’t break hers. I was furious for a short time, but only because I had made such an idiot of myself.’

‘How?’ Ninni pulled back. ‘I’m sorry. Now I’m being nosy.’

‘No, it’s okay. I don’t mind. Roland, Fedra’s father, promised me for years that I would become a partner in his restaurant. That’s why I worked so hard. So when he gave it to Fedra instead, I finally understood that he never intended to give it to me in the first place. I think the loss of the restaurant hurt more than anything Fedra did. Stupid, isn’t it?’

‘Only if you stay angry, I think.’ Ninni took a deep breath. ‘I thought Karl and I would move in together, start a family, all of those things. We were together for almost two years.’

‘What did he do?’ Jack sounded even kinder.

‘Karl is a pilot and travels a lot. It wasn’t unusual for me not to see him for weeks on end, and then he would show up and stay with me for a period of time.’ Ninni couldn’t really believe she was telling him all this.

‘He cheated on you, didn’t he? He had someone else?’

Ninni smiled quickly. ‘Not really. It turns out that Karl is married and I was the someone else he had on the side. He even has children. I had no idea. I didn’t even suspect it, you know. After I found out, I couldn’t breathe for days. And I felt so stupid. I still do.’

There, she had said it out loud, to another person, instead of Frikk. She held her breath again.

‘I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that,’ Jack said softly.

Ninni shrugged. ‘Neither did his wife. I hate it that I didn’t understand anything until she sent me a picture of him and his kids. I would never have started a relationship with him if I had known.’

‘What did you do to him?’ Jack was suddenly walking so much closer to her.

‘I threw him out, of course, and told him to go to hell.’

She remembered Karl looking at her, mouth wide open, eyes wide open, and then actually trying to explain himself. Ninni closed her eyes for a second, sending the memory to the darkest corner where it belonged.

‘Good for you. How long ago was this?’

‘Last time I talked to Karl was just before you hit me with your car. I was yelling at him,’ she said.

Jack smiled. ‘See, I told you it was your fault.’

‘Yeah, no. You still drove the wrong way through the roundabout,’ Ninni said. The lights from the house caught her eye. ‘We’re here.’