‘So what’s happened?’ I ask, clicking on the kettle.

Her eyes dart nervously towards Leon.

‘It’s OK,’ I say, reaching out to reassure her, but she recoils as if she’s in pain.

‘Anna, are you hurt?’ I ask, my voice high-pitched. ‘Has he hurt you?’

She averts her eyes, but she can’t stop them from filling up.

‘Oh God,’ I say, going to her and wrapping my arms around her. I can feel her tears instantly soak through the thin cotton of my t-shirt and hold her even tighter.

‘Where are the children?’ I ask.

She looks at me, as if in a daze.

‘The children?’ I say again, trying to ward off the alarm bells that are ringing loudly in my ears. I study her carefully, suddenly concerned for her and her children’s wellbeing. Her hands are trembling and she’s looking at me wide-eyed.

‘They’re with friends.’

‘So they’re definitely somewhere safe?’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘I’ll pick them up on my way home.’

‘OK, we need to get you all out of there.’

‘I can’t go to a hostel,’ she says, sobbing into my shoulder. ‘But I’ve got nowhere else to go.’

‘It’s OK,’ I say, rocking her as if she were a baby. ‘We’ll figure something out.’

As I look over the top of her head, I see Leon, his outline blurred as if in portrait mode, shaking his head slowly from side to side. He can read me like a book.

‘Could I use the bathroom, please?’ she asks, attempting to wipe away the mascara shadows that circle her eyes.

‘Sure, it’s just up the stairs and straight ahead.’

She offers an awkward smile to Leon as she leaves the room, which I hope will assuage any incoming wrath.

‘Don’t even think about it,’ he says, as soon as she’s out of earshot.

‘What?’ I say, feigning ignorance.

‘She’s not staying here.’

‘It hadn’t even occurred to me,’ I lie.

‘I mean it,’ he says, sounding as if he’s berating a child.

‘But what harm would a couple of days do? It will give her the space she needs and time to get herself back on her feet.’

Leon’s shaking his head. ‘You know nothing about her.’

I laugh scornfully. ‘I know everything about her. There isn’t another person in this world who knows more about her than I do. I know where she’s from, what her upbringing was like . . .’

‘Just because she comes from the same city as you doesn’t give you the inside track on who she really is.’

I wasn’t aware I’d told him she was a fellow New Yorker. He must be able to detect it from her elongated and high gliding vowels.