The Guilty Couple(51)

‘You should have told me. I could have made suggestions. I could have helped.’

He sits back in his chair and gives me a long despairing look. ‘I don’t think you could.’

‘And then? After it closed?’

He shrugs. ‘Drinking heavily, drugs. Sex. Generally being an arsehole. Everyone I cared about fell away, like I was some kind of social pariah. I stopped going out, but I kept drinking.’

‘You were depressed.’

He sighs heavily and looks away. ‘It’s no excuse. I abandoned you when you needed me most.’

Looking at him, so cowed, so ashamed, makes my heart ache. For us both.

I reach for his hand. He looks up sharply, meeting my gaze. ‘What happened happened. We can’t go back and fix it but we can move forward. I’ve missed you, Lee.’

‘I’ve missed you too. You’ve got no idea how much.’

I pick up my glass and hold it across the table. ‘Shall we do that cheers now?’

He clinks his glass against mine. ‘To friendship and not fucking up again.’

‘To friendship and not fucking up.’

I sense a change in his mood as he sets his glass back on the table.

‘What is it?’ I ask. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘There’s something I need to tell you, Liv. It’s about Dom.’

I sit up taller. Just the mention of my ex-husband’s name has put me on high alert. ‘Go on.’

‘He came to see me, Dom did, at the gallery. It was a couple of months before you were arrested. You were at an art fair, I think.’ He takes a swig of gin. ‘He wanted to see the accounts. He said he needed to check what kind of assets we had. I thought it was weird because it was our business and he was only a shareholder but he was really insistent.’

‘Okay …’

‘So I showed him the files and when he saw we were running at a deficit he couldn’t get out of the gallery fast enough.’

‘Why would he do that? He’d never shown any kind of interest in the business before.’

‘Exactly. And he had this really panicky, paranoid vibe about him. He told me to be careful, because you never knew who was out to screw you over. I thought maybe he was talking about you, that you’d asked him for a divorce.’

‘I hadn’t, not at that point.’

‘Did he know about the affair?’

‘I don’t think so.’ I pause to think. Jack and I met at the exhibition in the April, kissed for the first time two weeks later and I confessed the affair to Nancy about a month after that. If what Lee is saying is right then Dominic knew about the affair before I told anyone, even before I told Nancy. How is that even possible? We were very, very careful.

‘I didn’t mention it to you at the time,’ Lee says, ‘because I knew Dom was being a dick and I didn’t want to stress you out even more. But after everything you’ve just said it feels like it’s another part of the puzzle.’

‘Maybe that’s when he decided to frame me, and he was looking for money to give Dani? But why look at our accounts? Why not use his own money?’

‘No idea. It’s why I sat next to him at your trial. I was hoping he’d let something slip, but he didn’t say anything useful. I feel like …’ he clears his throat. ‘I feel like I let you down, Liv. We all did. If there’s anything I can do now, just say the word.’

I feel a spark of optimism, for the first time in a long time. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’





Chapter 35


DOMINIC


Dominic’s feet pound the treadmill and a Spotify running playlist fills his ears. He’s in the spare room at home, sweating heavily as Grace watches YouTube videos in the room next door. Two days. He says the words in his head like a mantra as he pumps his arms and kicks out each stride. Two days. Two days. Two days. It will all be over in just two days.

Earlier, shortly before lunch, Dani sent him a photograph of Olivia standing outside a solicitors’. Within seconds he was googling the name above the door. He discovered a kernel of information: Tooby Davies and Partners specialise in family law. Olivia had to have gone there to enquire about overturning the custody agreement in light of the information Sonia had shared. She would have felt full of hope as she turned up: Dominic wouldn’t be in control anymore! She could get Grace back! They could go to a spa! He really wanted to see a photo of her disappointed expression as she left. His spent conviction didn’t change a thing. She’d still have to keep her distance from him and the house, and see Grace only when supervised by Esther and George.

He’s tempted to message Dani back to ask if she took a photo of Liv leaving but he resists the urge. She’s playing the same game that she started with the previous text, the one about Sonia; withholding information to make sure she gets her cash.

Two days. Two days. Two days. He ups the speed on the treadmill. He’s got this. Nothing’s going to go wrong.





Chapter 36


OLIVIA


We are gathered in Ayesha’s tiny living room – me, Lee, Smithy, Nancy and Ayesha – our knees touching as we sit cross-legged on the floor around her coffee table. As last-minute get-togethers go I’m amazed we could all make it. In my old life, the one that revolved around work, PTA meetings and Grace, I’d have to schedule social occasions months in advance to find a date that worked for everyone but here we are, glasses of red wine in our hands, the remains of a Deliveroo order piled up on the kitchen counter.