Page 40 of The Rules of Their Red-Hot Reunion

‘Bolted out of there and called John. He collected me in the city and brought me home.’

Aisha stroked the back of his hand with the tips of her fingers. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that and I’m sorry Jason let you down and yanked all those old memories up again.’

‘I don’t understand how Jason can walk away from his family without looking back, how he can pretend they don’t exist. I’ve done everything I can to make sure my family is financially secure. They’d never have to work a day in their lives again if they chose not to.’

Aisha tipped her head to the side. ‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s a trust...if my parents or my brother, you, get into financial trouble, there’s a massive trust with millions in it as a backup plan.’

‘Me?’ Aisha squeaked. ‘Why am I there?’

He shrugged. ‘I started the trust when we first married. Every cent I earned working overtime went into it.’ He frowned at her. ‘Why do you think I worked all those extra hours? I needed to make sure that you would be okay.’

Aisha buried her head in her hands and shook her head. ‘God, Pasco!’

She hadn’t needed a saviour or a financial backup plan, she’d needed her husband. She’d needed his time and attention and that was why she’d walked. Yet, because he’d been so disappointed by his father, he went to the other extreme to be the exact opposite. And their marriage fell apart because they were useless at communicating.

His previous actions suddenly made so much more sense to her than they ever did before. He’d become a workaholic, someone who couldn’t sit still for more than a second. He needed to work because if he took a minute to relax, he thought he was becoming like his dad, and he couldn’t bear the thought.

Pasco was hard-wired to give his businesses everything he had. She now understood his need to succeed, his determination and his drive. It wasn’t because he was ruthlessly ambitious, but because he needed to protect the ones he loved, to plot and plan so that he would never let anyone down the way his dad did him.

She understood his impulse to make sure everyone’s ducks were in a row, but that wasn’t his job. She most certainly didn’t need the money in his trust, for him to be her backup plan. How to say this, frame this, without getting his back up?

‘Pas, you are not responsible for the actions of others, and it’s not your job to clean up your dad’s mess.’

‘He stole my mum’s money...’ Pasco hotly replied.

‘Yeah, he did.’ Aisha took a deep breath, knowing what she was about to say would be hard for him to hear. ‘But your mum played a part in letting that happen. And, judging by what you said about her repaying her own debts, she’s owned her actions and has accepted her part in the fiasco.

‘Your stepfather is rich, your brother is financially stable, I’m fine...none of usneedsyou to be our backup plan, Pasco. You are not responsible for our financial well-being. We have to be able to stand and fall by our own decisions.Ourchoices,ourconsequences.’

He stared at her, turmoil in his eyes. She pointed a finger at him. ‘Stop trying to control the world, Pas. Let the people you love, who love you, be your partners and not your responsibility.’

Something flashed in his eyes, an emotion she couldn’t identify. She could see he wanted to argue but it was late and she was tired, and she’d given him enough to think of for now.

He’d either see it her way, or he wouldn’t...she couldn’t impose her beliefs on him.

Aisha stood up, walked around the table, and slung her thigh over Pasco’s. He pulled his knees up, his hands instinctively going to her hips. Aisha brushed his hair back from his face and slowly lowered her head, allowing her breasts to sink into his hard chest. Her mouth touched his and she gently nibbled his lower lip. She was mentally exhausted and he, she assumed, was too. It was time to put this day behind them, to relax and recharge. And she knew a very good way to do that.

‘Think about what I said. But only much, much later.’

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