I grab her hands, prying her fingers away. ‘Let it go.’ I rip it free, stumbling back.

‘Give it back!’

‘Unlock it,’ I say, low and mean. ‘What’s he texting you?’

‘Margot,’ Gabe says.

‘Unlock it right now!’ The rage is sudden. It’s him, it’s Cormac, he’s done this.

‘Mum, you’re being a psycho.’

‘Unlock this phone or you won’t get it back at all.’

The wall shakes. Gabe’s palm is hard against it, his eyes on me.

‘Stop it!’ he says. ‘Stop it, both of you.’ I see those brown eyes imploring me. ‘Margot, you can’t just go through her phone.’

‘Yeah, Mum. Give it back.’

‘July, she was trying to talk to you, she asked you to put it away and you didn’t so you can apologise to your mother.’

‘Me apologise?’

‘Yes. Hurry up.’

She looks at me, her eyes glowing with fury. ‘Sorry, Mum,’ she says. A verbal eye-roll.

‘It’s fine,’ I say. ‘But you’re not getting your phone back.’

‘Give it!’

‘No, I’m holding on to it.’

She gets up from the couch and strides away. The door slams as she flies from the room and up the stairs. A moment later her bedroom door slams too, and the house falls silent.

Then it’s Gabe and me. He’s just staring at me, setting me alight with his gaze. ‘Well, are you going to give it back?’

‘I can’t, Gabe. Her studies comes first.’

‘Her studies!’ He repeats it like a punchline. ‘So this has nothing to do with Hudson?’

I chew my top lip. ‘I just think he’s too old for her. And he’s not who you think he is, Gabe.’

‘She’s growing up too fast, you mean?’

No, that’s not what I mean. He’s a psychopath. I swallow the words in my throat. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

July has an iPad, so she can still message and FaceTime him. But if I unplug the wireless router she won’t be able to contact him at all. I do that now, tearing the plug from the wall and pocketing the cable. Gabe follows me.

‘I think you can hold it for an hour, Margot, a night at most, then you’ve got to give it back. It’s not fair, and she’s learnt her lesson, I’m sure.’

Someone is coming down the stairs.

‘Gabe, I think Hudson has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I think he’s dangerous.’

Gabe’s mouth opens but he doesn’t speak.

‘It’s a long story.’

Evan comes into the kitchen. ‘What happened?’ he says. ‘I was in the middle of a game!’

‘Just tether the internet off your phone,’ I say in a way that prevents any follow-up questions.

‘Right, okay, whatever,’ Evan says, retreating from the kitchen.

I take the bottle of wine, splash a little more in my glass and drink it quickly.