One of his competitors? Jason wondered if he was hearing him right. But they were smaller than he was. Paul had approached them before coming to him. He’d liked their ideas, he’d said, but suspected they hadn’t got the funds to back them up.
‘They have a benefactor, apparently,’ Paul enlightened him, as Jason struggled to get his head around it. ‘Someone who’s invested in the company, thereby allowing them to get their program up and running. I’m sorry, Jason, but I can’t afford to delay any longer.’
Jason felt his gut constrict. ‘Who?’ he asked.
Again, Paul hesitated. ‘I don’t think the information’s public knowledge yet, Jason. I’m not sure I should—’
‘No. Right. No problem.’ Biting back his anger, Jason cut him short. ‘I understand, Paul. Thanks for letting me know.’
Feeling as if the express train that had slammed into him had reversed to roll over him again, Jason ended the call. He didn’t need confirmation. He already knew who it was: Robert Fenton. And his motive: to make sure that Jason knew he could either walk away with something, as long as he kept his mouth shut, or with nothing.
Sixteen
JASON
Rachel stood from her desk as Jason pushed through the door into the main office. ‘Hi, Jase. Do you think I could grab you for—?’
‘Can you give me five minutes, Rachel,’ Jason said shortly, and then pulled himself up. The fact that he’d just been crucified by Robert Fenton wasn’t her fault. ‘Sorry. I, er…’ Smiling apologetically, he attempted to get his emotions in some sort of order. ‘Five minutes.’
Mark looked up from his laptop as Jason walked past his desk. ‘Oh,’ he said warily, obviously noting his dour expression. ‘I take it the meeting didn’t go too well?’
Answering with a sharp shake of his head, Jason banged through the door into the small office – and then stopped dead.
Confused as to what she was doing there, and why he hadn’t known she would be, he looked from his laptop to Karla, who’d just shot up from the seat behind his desk as if ejected from it.
‘Jason.’ She smiled nervously, obviously alarmed by his arrival, ‘I didn’t expect you back yet.’
‘Clearly,’ he said, his gaze going back to his laptop.
‘I was just typing up some job applications.’ Her face flushing with embarrassment, Karla moved back towards it.
But Jason was quicker. His gut told him that, whatever she was doing, it wasn’t filling in job applications. He was across the room in two strides, twisting the laptop around to face him.
Studying the screen, it took him a second to comprehend fully, and then he laughed in sheer disbelief. ‘Find anything interesting?’ he asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her.
Karla appeared not to know how to answer.
‘What are you doing, Karla?’ Jason asked, now working very hard not to lose his temper.
‘I was just’ – Karla dropped her gaze to the floor – ‘looking,’ she finished, with an awkward shrug.
‘I can see that!’ Jason lost it. ‘What the bloody hell were you lookingfor?’
Taken aback, Karla snapped her attention back to him. ‘Nothing,’ she said quickly.
‘Right.’ Jason held her gaze. ‘So you were just browsing my internet history out of idle curiosity?’
‘Yes. I…’ Karla trailed hopelessly off.
Fuck it!Jason dragged in a terse breath. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but he thought he knew why. Fenton suspected he wouldn’t go quietly. If the man knew nothing else about him, he knew he would never abandon his children. Not ever. He hadn’t yet fully considered the consequences of staying in their lives. The consequences of just up and leaving, though, that he had considered. Jason knew from experience how that might affect them. And he wasn’t about to do it. No matter what.
‘Did your father put you up to this?’ he asked, heading around the desk towards her.
‘No!’ Karla took a step back. ‘Why would he?’
Jason scanned her face, his anger mounting. ‘Why?’ he repeated, incredulous. ‘Christ…You really don’t get it, do you, Karla?’
‘No, I don’t!’ Karla swiped at a tear spilling down her cheek. ‘I don’t get why you’re so angry just because I’m looking at your bloody laptop! Unless there’s something you don’t want me to see?'
