‘You’d shaft me because I prevented a friend from losing money? You would give up everything you have here, out of spite? You need to think about this. There are implications. I don’t want to scare you, but I’m not the only one involved, and the others aren’t as nice as me.’

‘You’re not scaring me.’

‘No? Come on, Nick.’ His demeanour changes, he clamps his hand on to Nick’s shoulder. ‘Let’s not argue. When you’ve slept on it you’ll appreciate that I behaved perfectly reasonably. You would have done the same in my shoes.’

Nick glances pointedly at Angus’s hand. ‘You’ve got until Monday to put it right, or I’m going to the Serious Fraud Office.’

Angus frowns and says curtly, ‘I thought better of you. Go home, Nick. Take the rest of the day off. We’ll talk next week when you’ve had a chance to calm down.’

To his relief the house is empty when he gets back. Even though it’s only three o’clock he grabs a beer from the fridge and pops the lid. The hour it’s taken to get home has given him time to cool off. What has he done? Maybe he shouldn’t have lost his temper. He knows Angus well enough to understand his behaviour. He knows his father well enough as well. Wouldn’t he have done the same in Angus’s shoes? He reaches for his phone, finds Angus’s number, then puts it down. Not yet. He’s not grovelling. Monday will be soon enough. He hears the girls come in and wanders into the hall to meet them. Grace raises her eyebrows.

‘This is a surprise! What are you doing home so early?’

‘I missed you,’ he says.

‘Yeah, right.’

‘Have you been fired?’ Lottie asks.

‘No. Just fancied an early one.’

‘Well, it’s lovely for us,’ Grace says, looking puzzled.

Later that evening, he pokes his head round Lottie’s door to say goodnight. She’s awake and holds out her arms to him. He sits down on the edge of her bed, leans over and kisses her cheek.

‘Sleep well, Shrimpy.’

‘Shrimpy?’ She wrinkles her nose. ‘I’m not Shrimpy.’

In the darkness he flushes. ‘Damn, I’ll have to make up a new name for you,’ he says, adjusting quickly. ‘What about Octopus?’

‘No.’

‘Heffalump?’

Lottie giggles and thumps him.

‘Go to sleep, then. You can tell me who you are in the morning. Love you.’