She had already told Douglas about Izzy’s death, but not about the part Tim and Nick played in her life. Now she was ready to talk, wrapped in her lover’s arms, his scent in her nose, his hand tracing the curves of her body. She told him about Tim, how he had encouraged her to turn to him in the aftermath of Izzy’s death. How the secret affair had allowed her to occasionally forget what had happened.

Her heart was racing. She had kept Tim’s secret for so long that it felt monstrous to betray it, but Tim had betrayed her first.

She leaned back with a sigh. ‘But then everything changed. Ritchie’s collapsed and my parents were left with a huge hole in their finances. There was nothing we could do but sell up and leave London. I was still in love with Tim, I thought he loved me. I was young, and it was a fairy tale. Then I found out I was pregnant.’ She swallowed hard, that old humiliation still raw. ‘I was so happy. I called him, and we arranged to meet. He sounded on edge. Christ, that should have given me a clue.’

‘Go on.’

‘I naively thought he would leave Cora and we’d set up home together, but it turned out it was a kiss goodbye, not hello. He told me that it was wonderful to see me, that I was adorable and would always have a place in his heart, but that I had my whole life ahead of me and it couldn’t include him. He said he loved me, but he didn’t want to ruin my life; or his. When I explained about the baby …’ She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. ‘I thought he would be pleased. I had this fantasy … but he told me none of it could happen, that it would destroy him, and he could end up in prison. I loved him, so I agreed to keep quiet.’ A tear makes its way down her face. ‘I managed to convince Mum and Dad that it was some random guy I’d met at a party, and since I was a total nightmare at the time, drinking and staying out all night, they believed me.’

‘Did you have an abortion?’ Douglas asked, wiping her tears for her.

‘No. Tim wanted me to, and offered to pay for it, but I couldn’t so I had her adopted.’ She sniffs. ‘It was hard, but it was the right thing to do. After that I moved back to London and sofa-surfed with friends for a while, but usually their parents got fed up with me pretty quickly. I was a mess.’

‘Poor Anna.’ His arms tightened round her. ‘Poor baby.’

She snuggled into him. ‘You won’t hurt me, will you? You wouldn’t treat me like Tim did?’

‘Of course not.’