“One thing’s clear,” Bernard burst out the moment Günter finally disappeared into his own house. “You’ve let your emotions take over your brain — but risking everything just because you can’t control yourself? That’s beyond stupid!”

Bernard carefully arranged the breakfast table on the patio. The sun was still low, its rays not yet reaching the surface of the pool. The complex lay wrapped in peaceful silence; its residents were in no hurry to start the day.

Dajana crossed the courtyard with a proud smile on her face. It was as if Viktoria asking her for a favor had been some sort of distinction.

The afternoon sunlight shimmered dazzlingly on the surface of the pool.

“Hey there, neighbor!” Noud called out cheerfully.

“You filthy, red-haired, arrogant bastard!”

Noud rushed down the stairs, his lips pressed tightly together, forcing himself not to shout—or rather, not to scream it into the suffocating air of the stairwell. He was about to explode with rage.

He had never thought he would step into that stairwell again. The last time he’d sworn—solemnly—that he never would. And yet here he was, briskly climbing the stairs just to talk to that creepy man.

Ludmilla, María José, and Carlos froze as they stared at Noud standing in the doorway. For a moment, all three of them thought this was the end.

Carlos wasn’t particularly surprised to see the two elderly women. Terror and excitement flickered across their wrinkled faces as the moonlight lit them up while they fidgeted on his terrace.

With a hollow ache in his chest, Günter stared into the darkness from the terrace. He was no longer sure it was such a good idea to sit outside and wait for Viktoria to come home.