Page 95 of The Reluctant Billionaire

‘I get that you’re upset,’ he says, pacing back and forth in his office. ‘But it’s an emergency. I’m sure you’ve had work emergencies you’ve had to cancel stuff for in the past.’

‘Yeah, because it’s my business,’ I say. ‘And if it was a crisis at Totum, I’d get it, because your duty is to your investors. But you’re not these kids’ parent. You need boundaries, Aide. There’s always going to be something with these kids. You can’t just toss aside your plans and your personal life and my feelings anytime there’s a hiccup.Jesus.

‘It’s like you can’t bear to allow yourself a weekend of indulgence when other people are out there suffering. I get it!But at the level of wealth you’ve got to, there will always be that conflict, and you’ve got to find a way of squaring it off without thinking you have to sacrifice all your own pleasure in this desperate attempt to keep everyone else afloat.’

I pause, because I’m out of breath, and I’m so angry I’m shaking, and I’m also so angry that I can’t actually keep my train of thought straight in my head. I am fucking furious that he’s bailed on me without a backwards glance, and I’m equally furious that in his head he’s some sort of martyr whose focus on the greater good is so unwavering that it makes people like me, who just want to have a good time, look like they have their priorities wrong.

If it was a real crisis I’d be understanding. Of course I would. I’d be gutted, but I’d give him my blessing. But I know, I justknow, he’s doing this out of some fucked-up lack of boundaries rather than because there is no practical solution.

Aide’s a fucking tech genius. If anyone can find a practical solution that doesn’t involve him missing the wedding weekend, it’s him. I recall a phrase I read once.If you can afford to solve a problem, you don’t have a problem.Of course he could throw some money at this situation and get it sorted. But he just can’t help himself.

‘I wish I could get out of this, but I can’t,’ he says in this martyred, patient tone that makes my palm twitch, becausefuckis it self-righteous and irritating. ‘If I thought there were options, I’d have called you up first. But I’m doing this, and I’m just really fucking sorry I’ll be missing out on our trip. I know you’ll have a blast. Think of me when you’re partying away, yeah? I’ll probably be clearing squashed sausage rolls off the floor.’

‘Don’t you dare play the hard-done-by card with me,’ I tell him through gritted teeth. ‘It’s very clear that you’re doing exactly what you want in this scenario, and that’s wading in to play St Aidan again instead of treating the commitment youmade to me this weekend as anything remotely sacred. And don’t even think about trying to fly out on Sunday. I’ll speak to you when I’m back.’

And with that, I end the FaceTime and immediately put my phone on Do Not Disturb mode. It’s childish, and churlish, but I can’t take another second of the smug self-righteousness on that gorgeous face of his.

CHAPTER 36

Lotta

There was an empty spot in my bed last night where St Aidan, Christian martyr, should have been, and now there’s a very luxurious and very empty seat next to me on The Montague Group’s private jet, which is even more shit. He bombarded me with voice notes and texts and calls yesterday, but I only allowed myself to respond once.

I’d rather not talk to you till after the weekend. I know you believe you’re doing the right thing, but you’ve completely failed to consider my feelings, and that’s really hurtful. I’ll speak to you on Tues.

We’re in the Montagues’ jet thanks to my old friend Theo. I was at uni with him, I’ve known him forever, and we even fucked back when I was, like, seventeen. His family owns a massive group of high-end hotels, and Theo was the nightmare middle child and exhibitionist playboy until he reconnected with his now-fiancée, Nora, who was also at uni with us. Unlike Theo, she’s the most sensible person who has ever lived, and she’s been an amazing influence on him.

The man is besotted.

Also on the jet is my friend Honor Chapman, who we know through our gorgeous bride-to-be, Elle, and Honor’s husband, Noah, aka Dr Noah Thierry, aka Aide’s mate, at whose massive family vineyard the wedding is. While I’m always happy to see these two, I really hope Noah doesn’t go too Team Aide on me.

For his own sake.

‘Am I being unreasonable?’ I ask my friends, having filled them in on the sorry story of my absentee boyfriend as we took off. I cast a desolate look at the unoccupied expanse of soft cream leather beside me before taking a decent slug of my mimosa. Aide’s missing everything, including this flight, getting to know Nora and Theo, and the incredibly cute peony-print Zimmerman sundress I chose as my travel ensemble. I feel so hard done-by I’m tempted to throw a full-on tantrum. ‘And, obviously,yesis not an acceptable answer.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Nora says, sipping her drink. She’s willowy and gorgeous, with glossy light-brown hair and big green eyes. ‘I’d like to see Theo pull a stunt like that on me.’

Theo’sI wouldn’t fucking daregrimace makes me giggle, because I’d like to see him try, too.

‘It’s not cool in the slightest,’ Honor agrees. ‘But it’s incredibly irritating that he’s off doing good. It kind of gives him aget out of jail freecard, you know?’ She’s the ultimate private jet traveller in a sleek cream jumpsuit, her shoulder-length chestnut hair immaculately tonged and her full lips a perfect matte scarlet.

‘Exactly,’ I say. ‘Look, I know it’s a new relationship. We’re still trying to work out how we fit, but it’s not a great start to pull out of our first trip together so he can go off and sate his saviour complex.’

I may have muttered the wordssaviourandcomplextogether far too many times in the past twenty hours.

‘It’s not a bad turn of phrase for Aide,’ Noah says. ‘It’s a real thing. But I suspect with Aide it’s more a case of good, old-fashioned guilt.’

‘Yeah,’ I say despondently into my champagne flute.

‘That guy spends his life acting like he can’t believe he got a place on the lifeboat, so he won’t rest until he’s pulled every last person out of the sea,’ Noah observes.

That gets my attention.

I raise my head and gape at him.

‘Even if it means he capsizes himself, I reckon,’ he adds.

‘Jesus Christ, darling,’ Honor says with an eye-roll. ‘That’s a bit fucking depressing.’