Page 76 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

‘Idohave to,’ he said roughly. ‘If I don’t I’ll just get stuck here again, and you’ll stay with me because you’re loyal, and I’ll hold us both back. I won’t do that any more.’ His chest rose and fell quickly.

In this moment he was braver than her, she realised. Because now it came to it she was terrified. Jack had been right—she’d been using Dan as a safety blanket to keep her heart safe. ‘I’m going to miss you.’

‘We’ll see each other lots. It won’t be easy. I’m sure I’ll have grumpy moments. I’ll get the skills I need and then I’ll be right. I need my independence. I want it.’

‘You’re going to do great.’ She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and drew in a huge breath. ‘We both are.’

Try as hard as he could, Jack couldn’t find a comfortable seat in the first-class lounge at the airport. His phone burned in his hand.

Finally he gave in—only he dialled the number second on the list.

‘Jack?’ His mother answered right away and sounded worried. ‘Where are you?’

‘LA. At the airport.’

He had been for the last couple of hours, while he waited for Stephanie to reply to his offer. He’d thought she’d be quick about it, given she was all but surgically attached to her phone. And while he was waiting he felt unable to board the plane for the next leg of the journey.

‘Are you okay? We’ve been trying to reach you but your PA said you’d gone AWOL in Australia.’

He heard the anxiety in his mother’s voice. She knew that something was wrong. And he couldn’t hold it back—couldn’t think of a way to soften it.

‘I went there to find my birth father. Succeeded.’

There was a moment of silence.

‘Oh, Jack. How did you...? Why didn’t you...?’

He winced, hating hearing her pain. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly.

‘Why?’ his mother asked, her voice rallying. ‘You can’t be sorry. If we’d known we’d have helped you. You should have told—’ She suddenly broke off. ‘Was it okay?’

‘No...’ he murmured, leaning forward to press the heel of his hand to his forehead, hiding his face from the world. ‘It wasn’t. But you knew it wasn’t going to be okay, didn’t you?’

‘Oh, no, Jack,’ his mother whispered. ‘I never wanted it to be like that.’

‘When I was a kid, every time I mentioned him... asked... you changed the subject. You looked worried.’

He felt his anger building over that old sense of powerlessness.

‘Iwasworried,’ she cried. ‘We didn’t know anything much. And for a long time I was terrified he’d turn up and try to take you away from us. I never wanted to lose you. But I never wanted to drive you away.’

‘You haven’t, Mom.’ Now he felt even worse.

‘What happened?’

‘He’s a bastard. He doesn’t want to know me. Never did. He asked her to get rid of me.’

‘Oh, Jack. Your mother was strong. So strong to get away from all that. But in the end she felt she couldn’t cope alone. She knew we loved you. That we could give you everything she didn’t think she could. But all her love was foryou,Jack. She adored you. And she tried so hard to keep you herself.’

He knew that. In his head he understood. But somehow it still hurt.Whycouldn’t she have fought harder for him?Whycouldn’t she have straightened herself out and been stronger?

And as for Darren Thompson...? That bruise was too fresh. Too raw.

‘Jack?’ His father had come on the line. ‘Son, where are you? We’ll come get you. I always suspected...’ His father broke off.

‘You never asked about him,’ his mother said sadly. ‘You hadn’t in so long. I thought you were at peace with it. I didn’t think it bothered you,’ his mother said. ‘But ofcourseit bothered you.’

He’d not asked because he’d seen their reticence. Their anxiety. But now he realised they’d never spoken of it because he’dstoppedasking.He’dbeen the one holding back. And then he hadn’t told them he was looking because he hadn’t wanted to hurt them.

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