It wasn’t a problem, though, because she was almost ready to join Alice who was out there making coffee and toast.

They had intended to get out of bed earlier, but when they awoke at six they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off one another. Their lovemaking had lasted forty-five minutes and had ended with them declaring their love for one another.

Rosa had stayed on top of the bed, basking naked in the post-coital dream state, while Alice showered first. Even now Rosa was still feeling light-headed from the waves of pleasure that had washed through her body.

After she pulled on her jeans she walked over to the bedroom window and gazed out over London, the city she would soon be calling home. It looked set to be another fine day, and the clear-blue sky enhanced her mood.

It’s now official, she told herself. Alice and I are an item. She’s my girlfriend. The love of my life. The person I intend to grow old with.

During what had been a restless night, Rosa had thought long and hard about the process of transformation from Rosa Lopez, contract killer, to Maria Rodriquez, former government tourism executive.

Not much could happen until her work here was finished. Then she would return to Mexico, collect her half million dollars from Cruz, and add it to her savings. She’d then settle her affairs, which would include a quick sale of her home.

She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell Cruz that she was leaving the cartel and moving to London. He was bound to be angry and might even try to stop her.

So maybe it would be best not to tell him. She could just vanish, fake her own death perhaps. She couldn’t even be sure that he would bother looking for her.

But one thing she was sure of was that the path she had chosen to take was the right one. Alice was her future now and that future was looking brighter than ever.

At least it was until she finished dressing and walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

Rosa sensed straight away that something was wrong.

Alice was standing next to the sink with a stricken expression on her face, while clutching her mobile phone close to her chest.

She stared across the room at Rosa, her eyes shimmering with tears, her whole body trembling. It looked for all the world as though she had suffered a terrible shock.

‘Dear God, Alice,’ Rosa exclaimed. ‘What’s the matter?’

But Alice didn’t respond. She seemed frozen to the spot, and this sparked an ugly fear in Rosa’s gut.

She took a step forward, but Alice shook her head and said, ‘Please don’t come any closer.’

Rosa felt the blood stir inside her, a hot flush through her veins.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘Why are you like this?’