Olivia was too consumed with her own grief to notice Josh’s distress, but Tara couldn’t ignore it. Leaving Justine to console Nick’s sister, she followed Josh out of the door. She checked the time. April would be waiting for her.

Josh stood with his head in his hands and his forehead resting against the wall. He didn’t acknowledge Tara’s approach.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

‘She didn’t love him,’ he whispered. ‘Not the way Nick believed. Erin always said he was a fantasist.’

‘Why are you here, Josh?’

He straightened up. ‘Olivia got in touch when she saw my comments about your group on Twitter. She thought I was coming out in support of Nick, and I haven’t had the heart to tell her the real reason.’

‘Will you tell me?’

‘I needed somewhere to direct my anger,’ he said simply. ‘You were right to say Nick had some pretty serious character flaws. I never met him, but I’ve often wondered why people fell for his charm.’

‘Including Erin?’

‘She loved me,’ he insisted, revealing a glimpse of his anger. ‘I was her husband and I lost her, not Nick. It made me sick to think a group of people who’d suffered more than he could ever know had been fooled into supporting him. Nick threw Erin away, for fuck’s sake. She should never have seen him that last time. It only fed his fantasy.’

‘And I wish we’d expelled him from the group as soon as we found out he’d lied about their relationship,’ Tara said. ‘But in the end, we’re not responsible for what happened. We didn’t make Nick do what he did.’

‘But we each played our part,’ Josh said, holding her gaze.

At first Tara thought the comment was a dig at her but then she registered what he had said. ‘Wait, are you saying you played a part too?’

‘The one thing that kept me going after Erin died was raising money in her memory, so when I received an unexpected donation and tracked it back to Nick’s little fundraiser, I was furious with him. I spoke to his bosses and made it clear that he wasn’t acting on our behalf.’

‘Because you thought he was misappropriating funds?’

Josh couldn’t look at her. ‘Because he had no right to be a part of the legacy I was building for her. His company investigated the matter thoroughly and I wasn’t surprised when they came back and said there was no evidence of fraud. I knew he’d be innocent, but still,’ he said. He took a breath. ‘I threatened to go public if some form of action wasn’t taken, and no investment bank wants that kind of publicity. That’s why Nick was asked to leave.’

‘Did he know it was you?’