His voice is broken. I gasp for breath. ‘I thought you were out with Julie.’

‘Why would you think that?’ he shouts, the veins at his temples pulsating. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, Julie and I were over years and years ago. Before I even met you. You need therapy if you can’t accept that.’

‘Ask your mother then. Ask Aiden.’

‘What have they got to do with it?’ he hisses through clenched teeth.

‘Your mother said you were infatuated with her. She told me you were on the phone to her last week.’

His body stiffens. He shakes his head. ‘My mother wouldn’t make up lies like that.’

‘Wouldn’t she?’ I ask. ‘So I’m the liar, am I? At least I know where I stand.’

His lips tighten. ‘And what did Aiden say?’

‘That love like yours and Julie’s never disappears.’

‘He didn’t think that when he married her.’

‘That sounds bitter. You do still care about her.’

He raises his eyes to the ceiling. ‘And all this nonsense is your excuse for kissing Aiden?’

‘I was very, very, drunk and obsessing about the fact that you didn’t love me.’

‘It’s all an excuse. You looked as if you were enjoying it.’

I put my hand on his arm and he stiffens. ‘I wasn’t.’

He pulls away from me. ‘You’re lying. Please don’t touch me. If you weren’t enjoying it, why were you doing it?’ He shakes his head. ‘You know I’ve always told you I couldn’t cope with infidelity. How could you do this to me? And with my brother. I feel bereft. Betrayed by both of you.’

‘Please forgive me, Miles. I love you so much.’

‘This has broken my heart, Saffron. If you must know, Julie and I have been texting because a friend of hers is a high-profile jeweller. Julie has arranged for her to commission the solid silver collar necklace you always wanted, you know the one, with circles like dollars linked together, and matching earrings, at a substantial discount. We were lying about the texts because we wanted it to be a nice surprise.’

He pulls a box out from a drawer in the bedside table and hurls it at me. I step aside. The box smashes onto the floor. Thousands of pounds’ worth of designer necklace spills across the floor in front of me. The necklace that I have seen at jewellery fairs and craved for so long.

‘You don’t trust me, and now I don’t trust you.’ He pauses for breath. ‘I don’t want you near me. Get out. Leave me alone.’

33

Caprice

Miles is shouting. Saffron is shouting. One of them mentions Julie.

‘Get out. Leave me alone.’

The noise is coming from the guest room, which means they didn’t sleep together last night.