‘You need to eat, even if you don’t feel like it.’

‘It’s not that,’ I say. Given what I went through to reach this stage I don’t want to take even the smallest risk. ‘I just feel like eating the margarita, I think.’

They’re both watching me, their eyes like heat guns. But they’re not on my face, they’ve slid down to where my other hand is resting. That treasonous hand, sitting on my navel. Purely instinctive, but there it is, gently moving in circles over the tiniest bump.

‘Lina?’ Claire’s eyes come back up, meeting mine.

I can see the anticipation. She has guessed it; she knows. It’s no secret how much we want a baby, how hard we’ve been trying. I don’t have the energy to hide it from them. ‘Cain doesn’t know,’ I say. ‘I’ve not told him yet.’

A squeal, then Claire drops her plate on the coffee table and races over.

‘Oh my God, Lina. Finally some good news!’ She squeezes me tight. ‘At the same time as me? They’re going to be best friends.’

Axel turns his grin on to high beam. ‘Our lips are sealed. Congratulations, sweetheart. I know how much this will mean to Cain.’

‘I’m going to tell him tonight. I wanted to tell him at the house but that didn’t happen obviously. It’s really early so just pretend you don’t know until we get further along.’

‘Of course. Imagine them at school together, at each other’s twenty-first birthdays. I’m so happy, Lina. It’s been a traumatic twenty-four hours but I just know everything is going to go your way from here. I just know.’

‘I can’t wait to see Cain’s reaction,’ Axel says, his grin unshakeable. He’s not only been protective of Cain, he’s always been proud. The big brother Cain never had. ‘Last word I’ll say on it.’

‘Yeah,’ I say.

‘The no drinking makes sense now,’ Claire says, then winces. ‘Sorry for the peer pressure.’

‘Did you see the newspapers?’ I say, forcing the conversation to move on. ‘Amazing how quickly they were onto it.’

‘Nothing about the guy, though,’ Axel says. ‘Do they know anything about him?’

‘Not yet. They’ve got to formally identify him, and then I guess they’ll notify his family and release more information.’

‘And they think it was completely random?’

I shrug. ‘I guess. Who knows?’

‘He didn’t ask you for money, or…’ Claire lets the question tail off.

‘No,’ I say. ‘He barely touched me. He just showed me the cameras in the house and said he was going to kill us.’

‘And he didn’t do anything else to hurt you?’ Axel says. ‘I’d kill him again.’