Bell gave a wary smile. ‘But . . .?’ she prompted, looking between them both. She had an instinct for provisos.

Hanna inflated herself with a nervous intake of breath. ‘Well, it’s Emil’s birthday tomorrow, and clearly . . . well, clearly he’s had a rough time. It’ll be the first birthday he’s celebrated since he was . . . God . . . since he was twenty-four –’ Her voice broke suddenly, and she pressed a hand to her mouth as a sob escaped her.

Max leaned forward, rubbing her shoulder. ‘Hey,’ he shushed.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, a single tear wiggling down her cheek. ‘Sometimes it just hits me.’

‘It’s bound to,’ Max murmured, glancing at Bell apprehensively.

Bell gave a worried smile back, but it was clear Hanna was buckling under the strain of pretence. She was mired in lies. Living two lives. This couldn’t carry on . . . It wouldn’t.

Hanna sniffed and tried to straighten up. ‘Sorry. Sorry.’

Bell waited, feeling her own nerves fray. She didn’t care if it was Emil’s birthday tomorrow. As long as what Hanna was about to tell her didn’t involve her in any way . . . She didn’t want to see him again; she couldn’t. The expression in his eyes as he’d looked at her across the bedroom, Hanna beside him . . . I’m awake. She never wanted to see him again.

Hanna composed herself. ‘Anyway, it’s his birthday tomorrow, and it’s only right it should be celebrated with his family. That’s what he wants, and . . .’ Hanna nodded, glancing at Max. ‘I don’t feel we can disoblige.’

‘Of course not,’ Max mumbled, patting her hand.

‘So you’re going back there tomorrow?’ Bell asked with relief. ‘Well, that’s okay. I can stay here with the girls –’

‘No, that’s the thing. He wants everyone there – including Max, including the girls.’

‘Good news, huh?’ Max said drily, his expression one of grim resignation.

‘But . . . I thought you said he wouldn’t even acknowledge their existence?’ Only the other week Emil had said to Linus that they weren’t his ‘proper’ family. How much had really changed since then?

‘He wouldn’t – back then. But he’s had time to adapt, and I think he appreciates now that Max has been a wonderful father figure to Linus –’

Father figure? Not father? Bell saw how Max flinched at the small distinction.

‘– and Tilde and Elise are Linus’s little sisters and, therefore, an inescapable part of his life. I think he’s finally accepting the reality of the life he’s come back to.’

Bell looked between her employers as Max gave a small snort and looked away. She knew he suspected what was really behind this new beneficence – if he’d won Hanna back, Emil could afford to be magnanimous in victory.

Hanna didn’t seem to notice their mental scepticism. ‘Please, Bell, we are going to need you there too. I know you don’t like him. Emil told me you were very protective of Linus, and that you think he’s spoiling him –’