Page 46 of How to Undo the Proud Billionaire

“How could I when you didn’t tell me the truth about who you are and who your sister is!” Radd raked his hand through his hair. “I asked if there was anything I should know, anything that could ruin this week.”

“I was under no obligation to disclose that information to you, or anyone else, Radd. And you’re using it as an excuse to push me away.”

Radd’s eyes narrowed at her accusation. “What?”

Brin felt the shudder of the jet’s wheels touching the runway, the change in the sound of the engines as the plane slowed. “And if that doesn’t work, you’re going to throw in how important it is that you acquire a signed signature for the purchase of the mine, and I’ve put that in jeopardy. You are not your name or your company!” Brin said, feeling like she’d gone ten rounds with a champion boxer.

“You don’t understand what it was like living with parents like mine!” Radd whipped back. “They dragged our name through the mud. They sold every asset my grandfather and great-grandfathers acquired, and Digby and I had to work our fingers to the bone to reclaim what was lost!”

“Everyone has a past, Radd. I grew up in the shadow of my sister. Nothing I ever did, or said, could match the brilliance and the beauty that is Kerry. But I keep reminding myself that my past is exactly that, my past, and shouldn’t be allowed to color or inform my decisions. Besides, I have no interest in being with a man who puts money and business first, someone who can’t stand up for, or defend, me.”

Radd leaned forward and that impassive, inscrutable expression and his blank eyes told her she was dealing with Cape Town Radd, not Kagiso Radd. The Radd he was in the city was hard and unyielding, dogmatic and determined. She’d lost the man she loved, he’d been devoured by this hard-eyed man sitting across from her.

Brin lifted her phone off her thigh and swiped her thumb across the screen. Pulling in a deep breath, she gathered her courage and turned the screen to him. His eyes widened at the picture he saw on her screen.

“We became friends, Radd, and then we became lovers and our connection scares the pants off you. From the moment you rolled out of bed at The Treehouse, I could feel you retreating, your mind going a hundred miles a minute, trying to find a way to put some distance between us. And then I found this picture of Digby and his girlfriend online—”

“How?”

Brin shrugged. “I saw the photo on your phone.”

“Snooping, too?” Radd muttered, frowning.

“Our seats weren’t that far apart.” Brin handed him an I’ll-fry-you-where-you-sit glare. “And you’re being petty.” Brin dropped her hand and continued to speak. “But it did make all the pieces fall into place.”

“Good for you.”

Brin ignored his sarcastic interruption. “This photograph of Digby’s girlfriend reminded you that you can’t trust people, that you mustn’t let anyone get too close to you. That scene with Naledi confirmed it. Youwantedan excuse to push me away, Radd. You were desperate for one, because you are too scared to love, too scared to take a chance, too scared to go there, probably because your parents, the people who are supposed to love you the most, didn’t and constantly disappointed you.”

Radd released a choking sound, but Brin didn’t give him the chance to speak. “And boy, you quickly found those reasons you were looking for. Do you really believe a PR campaign and a rehabilitation of your name process is going to bring you the peace you require? It’s not. Because until you believe you are more than your name, until you embrace who you are, fully and without reservation, and give yourself credit for the man you’ve become—hard-working, intelligent, trustworthy—it’s all just smoke and mirrors. You’re not trying to convince the world, Radd, you’re trying to convince yourself.”

Brin saw the color drain from Radd’s face, knew that he wanted to argue, but she held up her hand, silently asking him to be quiet.

“I kept telling myself that I’m not from your world, that I don’t fit in there, but the truth is, you don’t fit intomyworld, Radd. And it’s got nothing to do with money and power and celebrity and…stuff. I need the people in my world to have my back, as I would have theirs. I need trust and comfort and support, someone who is prepared to build me up, not tear me down. Someone who will let me love them and love me back.”

Brin placed her fist over her mouth, silently cursing the tears running down her face. “I deserve to have someone love me like that, Radd, I do. I’m sorry it couldn’t be you, but there it is.”

The plane rolled to a stop and Brin saw Skye standing in the doorway of the lounge. She dredged up a smile for him, unclipped her seatbelt and stood up. She looked down at Radd, who was staring at his hands, his expression, as usual, implacable.

“Don’t bother about getting me home, Radd. I contacted Abby and she’s collecting me. It’s been…” Brin hesitated. Lovely? Exciting? Soul-touching? Devastating? They all applied so she settled on “…interesting.”

“Goodbye, Radd.”

Brin forced herself to walk away and kept her eyes on the open door and the steps she had to walk down. She was furiously angry with him, hurt and disappointed that he wasn’t brave enough to love her, but his faults and actions didn’t dilute her love for him. He was the puzzle piece she’d been looking for all her life to complete her, the part of her soul she was missing. He was her shelter in the storm, her soft place to fall.

Radd, the man and not the image, was whom she wanted to be with, the face she woke up to every morning, the body she cuddled up against at night. The person she wanted to laugh with, love with, make babies with.

But she couldn’t do any of that on her own; it took two to have a once-in-a-lifetime love affair. He didn’t know it but Radd, scared and a little lost, held her heart in his hands.

Hot tears ran as Brin realized that, from this moment on, she’d have to learn to live without both.

CHAPTER TEN

“YOUDON’TFITinto my world…”

“I need the people in my world to have my back.”

“Someone who will let me love them and love me back.”

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