‘She’s asking if we’ve had sex.’ Her cheeks are flushed with embarrassment. When Gabe meets my eye I simply shrug. I feel like I’m in a game of chess and I have absolutely no idea what my opponent is doing, I just know that a move is coming, and if I don’t figure it out I will find myself in checkmate. He was clever enough to manipulate me, a married woman. July stands no chance. I remember that someone had taken the photos Cormac sent me, which means someone else was there. Could Joe be Cormac’s dad or uncle or much older brother? What if this is all some sick game they’re playing together? Or what if Cormac is playing his own game and Joe is just a pawn, too? The thought takes shape as a hard knot in my stomach. What evidence do I have? I look down at the message thread and realise all of his text messages say wrong person. And then there is the photo message he sent of him kissing me. There are the payments. N. Schultz. The name means nothing to me. I was hoping something would click into place, a connection would appear through the fog. I suppose I’d better call Simms soon and do some explaining.

‘Margot, what’s going on?’

I swallow, eyeing July who is looking at her phone again.

‘I just want to talk to her about Hudson. Put your phone away for a moment please, July.’

‘I knew you would do this,’ she says. ‘I knew you would hate him.’

‘It’s more complicated than you think.’

She looks down at her phone again, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

‘What?’ I say. ‘What’s funny? I told you to put it away.’

‘Margot, calm down,’ Gabe says. I realise I’m standing too close to her.

‘He’s texting her,’ I say.

‘That’s fine,’ Gabe says. ‘Why is that a problem?’

The room heats a few degrees. I just need to buy a day or two to speak to Simms, to work things out. ‘I don’t want you to see him until after all of your exams.’

‘My last exam is in two weeks.’

‘Two weeks it is then.’

‘That’s not fair!’

‘Margot!’

‘We own that phone, your father and I. So if I say don’t use it’ – an invisible force pushes me closer – ‘I mean don’t use it.’

‘What are you doing?’ she asks.

‘Margot, is this the right way to go about it?’ Gabe says, and I could slap him. But I don’t. Instead I fix my attention on July, who is clutching her phone in her lap.

‘Hand it over,’ I say, reaching for it.

‘No,’ she says, twisting away.

‘Give it to me right now, July.’

‘Leave me alone,’ she says.